Merging My Hobbies: Halo 3’s Theater
![40954[1].jpg](http://lowspec.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/40954%5B1%5D.jpg)
Including Halo 3’s Theater feature is a gutsy move on Bungie’s part, considering how easily it allows players to discover and document flaws or glitches. But for the most part the game typically looks far more incredible in stop-motion fly-throughs than it does at its standard breakneck pace. As I’ve carefully maneuvered my camera through former games I’ve realized just how much artistry I’ve missed. I always loved the way real-life photography gave me a new appreciation of my subject. The same happens as I’m snapping images from Halo 3. Where once I saw a standard sci-fi shooter with somewhat generic art design, I now see a painstakingly detailed world.
I burned through Halo 3’s entire campaign without once examining the intricate instrumentation of the Ghost’s control panels or the lovely, cerulean ripples of plasma that sparkle around the barrels of its cannons as they fire. I never really appreciated the fleeting crackles of yellow energy that dance, weblike, across players’ bodies as their shields go down. I didn’t notice the precision of the animations that unfold as one player sticks another with a Spike Grenade.
(The rest of this article is published at The Escapist).