Finishing the fight: Ars reviews Halo 3

After a three-year wait and the birth of a brand new console generation, Halo 3 is set to hit stores on September 25. Halo 3 marks the final part of a long-standing tradition for Microsoft's gaming platform. What started as an unassuming title for Macs has gone on to spawn not only one of the most successful franchises in all of gaming, but a generation of gamers raised by the unassuming but ever-vigilant John 117, Master Chief. Halo is Microsoft's Mario: an icon of and a benchmark for the system itself. It has become Microsoft's image in the gaming industry.