In the next scheduled release for the Halo Master Chief Collection is the release of Halo 3, the next chapter for Master Chief. This time taking the fight back to Earth and to finally finish the fight against the Covenant. With so many memories flooding back, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed to finally play Halo 3 on PC, as Halo 2 was where the franchise veered away and became console bound.

With the Master Chief Collection released on PC, I finally had a chance to experience it the way I always wanted to – on the PC. For those that have played Halo 1 & 2 you know that Halo 2 left a bit of a cliff hanger leading into Halo 3, leaving the trilogy unfinished for PC players. Sure, I played it on Xbox when it first released, but I’ve always been a PC player at heart and with Halo 3 finally released, I get to complete that experience.

Halo 3 kicks off straight from the end of Halo 2, with the Master Chief taking the fight back to Earth to take on the Covenant once more, and finally defeat the Prophet of Truth with the help of allies such as the Arbiter, Sergeant Johnson and Commander Miranda Keyes. The campaign was epic in scale, with moments that just screamed mic drop, along with shock and aww. These were epic set pieces and experiences that couldn’t be matched when initially released and still hold up extremely well to this day.

Gameplay felt smooth with the option to run the game in its original graphical setting at 60fps, but the PC release allows this to be changed, unlocking the framerate and stepping up to ultra graphics settings really pushes the game into overdrive. The game just runs smoothly in either story mode or multiplayer, with no signs of blurring, screen tearing or anything at all like that, especially when you can bump the field of view right up to 120.

Talking about smooth, all the bells and whistles are here that you would expect coming over to PC, with the Halo 3 experience built from the ground up, from the 60fps gameplay, up to 4K Ultra HD support, ultrawide support, adaptive sync support, FOV customization, variable frame rate and of course mouse and keyboard support with custom key binds, something you would expect when using a mouse and keyboard.

A solid part of the Halo 3 experience I have to bring up is the game’s music. With so many feelings rushing back, you can’t go past some of the most iconic video game music of the last 20 years, with the original music composed by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori, both household names in video game soundtracks. Hearing Finish the Fight musical score all over again brings a chill down my spine, and at that moment I give a little squeal of excitement.

One of the biggest draws to the Halo franchise is the multiplayer experience. Halo multiplayer in general – not just Halo 3 – was, and still is, the game that you can play with friends or competitively again and again, as the struggle of Red vs Blue never ends. Included are all your favourite game modes, such as classic Slayer, King of The Hill, Capture the Flag and Infection, along with 24 multiplayer maps to keep you busy, such as Cold storage, Blackout and my favourite, Sandtrap. They are a great source of entertainment, especially when driving around the map on the Elephant with a full squad was always my squad goal.

For those that are fans of using the Forge and Theatre, a load of new assets are now available such as the anti-air wraith tank and elephant. So if you feel like you were missing something for your perfect multiplayer map, there might be something new that can make it just right. Bottom line, just like the campaign, the multiplayer mode runs extremely smoothly, even with the FOV running at 120 and set to unlocked framerate.

Along with the graphical upgrades given, the Master Chief Collection brings new life to the franchise in ways that make me not just want to experience the game all over again, but wanting to share it with everyone. The Master Chief Collection: Halo 3 brings a beautifully crafted story, a classically composed soundtrack and a multiplayer mode that makes your palms sweaty trying to get those epic 360 no scopes. Halo 3 has always been one of those games that you say to yourself, I’ll play for 5 minutes more, and before you know it, it’s been 2 hours. All I can say now is go finish the fight!

Written by: Simon Hayward