Master Chief is back for the final fight, and this time, he is doing it in high-definition graphics with more awesome weapons and many new ways to take out the enemy.

If you think that manning a laser or missile turret was cool previously, wait till you rip them out of the ground and bring them along as you exact mayhem on the clueless grunts and brutes.

The first thing that caught my attention during a half-day test drive of the game - on a 40-inch Samsung LCD screen - was the leap forward in graphics quality. Faces look more detailed and the environment more realistic.

On top of the old frag-and-plasma grenades, you can now throw spike grenades which stick to surfaces and bodies, and go boom!

A whole new bag of gadgets now offer new gameplay strategies. The bubble shield throws up a huge energy shield which deflects all ranged attacks although the enemy can walk through it. And while Master Chief cannot fly, with a portable grav lift, you will be jumping to the high ground in seconds!

Early in the game, I managed to pick up a new side arm called Spiker, which literally nailed the enemies with purple spikes. If you like to see aliens and vehicles getting decimated, then you will take to the Spartan Laser and the Graviton Hammer like fish to water.

Spartan Laser is a huge gun that takes about five seconds to charge before unleashing a huge red laser that destroys everything in its path. It needs time to recharge but its sheer firepower makes X-man Cyclops look like a wuss.

My favourite is the Graviton Hammer, which brings the power of melee back to the player. Just think of it as Mjolnir - the magical hammer of Thor. Everything you smash with the hammer flies across the air - flesh, bone and vehicles.

Halo 3's storyline, however, does not start off as well as Halo 2. In Halo 2, the beginning was more engaging with the cinematic video cutting back and forth between Master Chief and the alien rebel Arbiter. In Halo 3, you start by simply crash landing from the sky!

When Halo 2 ended, Master Chief was on his way to chase the final leader of the Covenants. Halo 3 starts with him landing on a human planet, and I was left wondering what happened in between. The gap is filled in a series of comics called Halo Uprising. Unfortunately, only the first of the four has been launched.

The engaging and challenging gameplay more than made up for the poor beginning. This is no walk in the park - ammunition is limited and with only two weapons to carry, you have to keep making choices. The enemies also seem smarter - they will try to outflank you or jump at you from above.

I had to restart several times at one particular area where I faced tens of aliens which attacked me from all sides until I discovered the solution - hide and stay alive instead of charging into the fray. Because if I stayed alive long enough, my alien ally would arrive to help me take out the enemy!

It's not something I'm proud of, but a Master Chief's got to do what a Master Chief's got to do to get to the next level. Better a living coward than a dead marine!