It is easily the biggest game of the year. The most massively marketed game in recent memory, and possibly the most anticipated game ever. Ever since Bungie left gamers hanging on a cliff in 2004, fans have been salivating, hungry for any tidbit or glimpse, desperate to finally finish the fight.

But was it worth the wait? Absolutely.

Halo 3 drops you right into the action, not long after the ending of Halo 2. Master Chief’s landed in the jungles of Earth, and the game doesn’t waste any time before throwing you head-first into the fray. There’s a short scene of exposition, providing you with your first glimpse of the game's beautiful graphics engine and a taste of the signature pitch-perfect dialog, and then you’re off shooting baddies in the head.

Bungie has perfected the art of small, constant encounters, and it shows here. There are no puzzles to solve, no mazes to navigate. You’ll move from firefight to firefight, with the occasional crust of narrative thrown your way. What makes this so different from previous games is how that narrative is delivered, and more importantly, how it sticks. The disorientating plot of Halo 2 is gone, and while Halo 3 isn’t going to steal any Best Screenplay awards from BioShock, it’s certainly a step in the right direction that you’ll actually understand what the heck is going on this time around.

Enhancements to the gameplay look small at first, but really add to the immersion of the campaign. The new Equipment items add a surprising amount of depth to your battles. Throwing down a Radar Jammer or a Flare is a great way of confusing the hordes of enemies surrounding you, which you’ll have to do a lot thanks to improved enemy AI. Bubble Shields are great for catching your breath, and suckering an enemy vehicle over the game’s Tripmines is as rewarding as sticking a Brute with a Plasma Grenade.

There’s more interaction in the world, as well. See that turret? You can pull it off its hinges and carry it around like a super-badass, bringing messy death to those foolish aliens who cross your path. Physics in the game are more impressive, meaning that making Warthogs and corpses fly through the air with a well-placed grenade is even more satisfying than before. There are also many new vehicles in the game, and many situations designed specifically around using them. The most stunning of these is near the end of the game where you have to take down two Scarabs, giant walking Covenant tanks that could end your fun in a hurry. You and a computer-controlled ally have to attack the Scarab's legs on a Mongoose, the Human's futuristic version of an ATV, with your Marine buddy firing rockets while hanging onto the back for dear life. The entire fight is very Empire Strikes Back but cranked up to full volume, and you'll reload the checkpoint multiple times just to toy with the numerous ways to blow the Scarabs to bits.

Halo 3‘s campaign isn't long, just like the previous games. With nine levels at about an hour apiece, this isn't the most drawn out game on the market. But playing through the campaign multiple times is much easier this time around, thanks to online cooperative play and Bungie's addition of an optional scoring system for the campaign. Going through the frenzied encounters with three of your buddies makes each firefight more fun, and knowing that how you perform affects your group's overall score for the level adds to the challenge. Online co-op has long been desired, and Bungie made many social gamers very happy indeed with its inclusion.

There are blemishes with the campaign, of course. Some of the later levels don't sparkle like the earlier ones, sometimes your AI allies are dumber than they really should be, and yeah, the gameplay is definitely not revolutionary. But the pros far outweigh the cons here. For once, the single player portion of a Halo game is engaging, entertaining, and exciting, so much so that the issues that come up seem paltry in comparison. This is the best single player experience in a Halo game—by far.