Too soon? I don't think so. Already, there seems to be a 'review' of the game out on the internet.

Lets see if we can keep all of the Halo 3 reviews here, unlike what happened with MP3 and Warhawk.

http://n4g.com/xbox360/News-64212.aspx

Myro from GameTrailers.com has posted a scanned page from GamesMaster to prove that the UK magazine had in fact given a 5 out of 5 to Halo 3 in a preview of the pre-release, final build of the game.

This update is to confirm the earlier rumor of "Finished Halo 3 Previewed, Scores Perfect 5/5 by GamesMaster Mag."

Please note that the article is not a review. It is a preview of the pre-release, near-final build of Halo 3. Which means unless Bungie has made some unexpected (and unnecessary) huge changes to Halo 3 between the time of this preview and the time Halo 3 went gold, GamesMaster should be giving Halo 3 a high mark when it's finally released.

From the scanned page:

GM SAYS
The only, only criticism we can think of is that, while it looks great, it doesn't look *amazing*. Which is a stupid thing to criticise it for really. You wouldn't refuse Scarlett Johansson a snog because she had a bit of spinach stuck in her teeth, would you? Of course not, so we'll just have to get over it.

Which basically leaves us with only the good things to say about. And when we say 'good" we really mean, 'exceptional'. One thing's clear: a whole lot of love, and effort has gone into making it a well-rounded game. The single player combat is an evolution of an already near-perfect system - and it's only going to get better with four-player co-op. On top of that you have a multiplayer mode that's simply bursting at the seams with cool features and options demonstrating that Bungie have thought about what people want from the game, and have gone out of their way to deliver it.

Our thoughts then? We're *hugely* excited - mainly because, as a package, few games can claim to be so generous. Make time to play this, this one's going to take some playing...

HOW DOES IT PLAY?
Exactly like Halo. Well, almost - there are subtle control differences, but it still plays and feels exactly like Halo, which, let's face it, is a very good thing - mainly because it reminds you of how much Bungine have perfected it. WHere it feels dramatically different is in the scale. The size of the environments, the amount of enemies, the better AI - everything comes together to make combat in Halo a much grander experience, that's quite simply second to none.

ANY PROBLEMS?
None *really*. We did feel a slight twinge of disappointment in the fact that it doesn't look *amazing* but that's about it.

BEST BIT SO FAR
Probably getting the Elephant jammed in a canyon, and watching our team perish as Warthogs and Banshees came crashing down from the sky in a mental moment of metal carnage.

GM VERDICT

GM LOVES
+ The perfected combat
+ The scope of it
+ The awesome multiplayer element

GM HATES
- That everybody online will completely murderise us!

MOST WANTED RATING: 5

Four play co-op, epic battles, the best multiplayer ever, huge amount of custom options - this isn't just a sequel, it's a *gift* to anyone who calls themselves a gamer.

CAN'T WAIT?

MOST LIKE: ... Halo 2, 95%
BIGGEST RIVAL: ... Call of Duty 4 (TBC)
OUT SOONER: ... BioShock, 92%

Sounds realy good, my guess is it will average between 9,2 and 9,7 some sites will give it a bad 8,5 just like MP3 to get attention. People alwais complain Halo was nothing special, I think the mix of great single and multiplayer combined with great weapons, vehicles and enemys make the Halo series so well balanced that it deserves great scores.

Well, they say Halo was revolutionary for console shooters, but I have only played it on the PC....

It really was, though there are people out there who I'm sure would argue that point. Before Halo, FPS console controls were really pretty much crap, especially if you played PC games. Even Goldeneye, the most highly touted console FPS before Halo, really had rubbish controls when you got right down to it.

Halo was the first truly polished console FPS and paved the way for console FPS gaming in the future. Before Halo, console FPSs were largely the brunt of PC gaming jokes.

^^ I´ve played both but a long time after release, still I don´t get why everybody hates the PC version, ok it came out way to late as did Halo2, still its a solid game any very fun. I agree that Halo did much to bring shooters to Consoles, the PC is still the primary platform (at leats for multiplayer shooters) but Consoles (not just the Xbox) owe a lot to Halo for showing how well shooters can work on consoles, I´d say Halo and Golden Eye where real eye openers... wow that joke is corny... I feel like I need to do updates for Brawl :)

EDIT: damn, rocketpig beat me to my own opinion, oh well he´s got a rocket, can´t ceep up with that :)

I seriously can't understand why people trash Halo, The magazine reviewers that give it low scores do so out of spite or to get attention, and the gamers who do it, do so because it is the best, but of course not everyone believes one game is the best FPS on a console.

I personally will take a controller over mous and keyboard, I play Halo on the PC with a 360 controller, and do more than fine. I guess many people are purists.

And Don Wii, your avatar looks a lot like John Mayer, just noticed that :D

"Please note that the article is not a review."

Sorry, as stated in the "preview," it's not a review.

Nice

I don't get why they rated a "preview" unless it was just a way of getting around Bungie/Microsoft's review embargo that isn't being lifted until later in the month. I haven't read the magazine before though so maybe they do it with all their previews (I've never seen another magazine or website do that and it would seem to be unfair if they did it to works in pregress).

"Which means unless Bungie has made some unexpected (and unnecessary) huge changes to Halo 3 between the time of this preview and the time Halo 3 went gold, GamesMaster should be giving Halo 3 a high mark when it's finally released. "

Even if it is a preview build, you get a glimpse as to what works/doesn't. And, if they are going to review it, I doubt they would give it any less than a 5/5.

Either way, we get to read some stuff about Halo 3 and, hopefully, keep all of the Halo 3 reviews here.