There will never be a game release like Halo 3 ever again. The entire gaming landscape has evolved so much in over a decade that a single game release could never possibly have the same scale of launch Halo 3 had.

While Halo 3 had a somewhat satisfying campaign mode, everyone will only remember the game for its multiplayer. And at it's peak, it was like nothing else. Yes, there was already a good variety of multiplayer games on PC in '07, but for consoles there was only 1 top game that everyone would gravitate around, and that was Halo 3.

Everyday, turning on the console, logging into Xbox Live and opening your friends list you'd just see an endless amount of those playing it. You probably forgotten when exactly you added most of these people, but you know Halo 3 was the way you met.

Maybe you spent your time in Matchmaking, trying to improve you true skill ranking and got trash talked from people when you end up losing.
Or just joining anyone's open Custom Games lobby to play the classic infection/mini games that have been passed around within the other peoples File Shares.
Or trying to make a new map with Forge to share with others, and who knows, it could be featured on the Bungie Favourites that week or added to one of the different Matchmaking playlists for others to play as well.
Or using Theatre mode to capture those amazing plays you got to put on your File Share so others could see that amazing Overkill with 4 Sniper rounds you got in the Lone Wolves playlist.

So much of Halo 3's design has gone to shape the online multiplayer landscape we have all found ourselves in over the last decade, it's legacy forever implanting itself within the gaming world as a pillar for others to build off of to refine and improve. But I will always come back no matter what.

I'll always remember the friendships I made that are long since gone. The custom game nights where we played the same version of 1 map for over and hour. The number of attempts to create a Forge map only to give up half way through. And my endless fight to improve my online ranking until I hit my own skill ceiling and admitting defeat.

"Finish the Fight" was the tagline that was plastered everywhere for Halo 3 up to release. I thought it was just a 3 worded way to sum up the story but now I know it doesn't mean that. When I 'Finished the Fight'? It was the Fight in my life before I got to play Halo 3. Were it so easy I'd forget this game and move onto the next, like many others.

But I could never do that. Spartans may never die, and all go Missing in Action some day, but Halo 3 will always live on through out time so long as I and many others will stand. Because now this is my Fight, and that's only Finished when I'm no longer standing.