Welcome to the final part of our journey through Metacritic’s twenty top-rated Xbox 360 games. If we’ve not been acquainted yet, please do catch up with part one and part two and then join us back here as we look at the final seven games. Will they be the shining emeralds that everyone has made them out to be, or will they just be some pitiful jet painted green?


7. Halo 3 (94)

The series the defines Xbox, the game that is played online millions of hours a week and the futuristic Spartan who doesn’t need the other 299 to back him up; there’s no way you cannot know Halo. The third iteration in the series may have the weakest single-player campaign of the three games, but it more than makes up for it with a fantastic all-around package. New features include a ‘Theatre’ mode to watch-back clips of your single-player/multiplayer/co-op experiences, ‘Forge’ mode, which allows you to manipulate the attributes of multiplayer maps, and online co-op for up to four players -- a first for the series. Halo 3 is continuously updated and will be for two more years according to developer Bungie. There’s no reason to not jump on the Halo 3 bandwagon, especially with the game at budget price.

What we said: “Halo 3 is great value for money. Featuring single player, co-op, online co-op, multiplayer, a replay mode and, numerous editing features -- this is the definitive Halo experience, despite the weak campaign story.” 9.0 out of 10.

Deserves top twenty status and score? Of course. If anything, it should be higher on the list. It’s still as relevant as the day it was released. Not many games can lay that claim. An essential purchase for every 360 owner.