I truly feel for the zoomers who didn't experience the sheer level of hype surrounding Halo 3. It was an experience that I don't think can ever be replicated again. People lining up for the midnight release, high schoolers staying home from school to play all day, hell people bought a mediocre GTA clone just to play the multiplayer beta for the game. And the best part is that it was all warranted. Halo 3 was a goddamn masterpiece. The pinnacle of the franchise, and quite possibly one of the greatest endings to a series ever.

Sure the story isn't as interesting as Halo 2's, with it simplifying the Prophet of Truth and Gravemind to what amount to mustache twirling villains. Sure the campaign is extremely short, and the level Cortana is dreadful. Sure the multiplayer map design and weapons don't feel quite as good as they do in 2. But as an overall package, you really can't get any better than this in terms of FPS games.

343 wishes they could make a game half as good as this.