Halo 3

Halo 3

Developers
Lead development	343 Industries
Original game	Bungie
Windows	Ruffian Games
Windows	Splash Damage
Publishers
	Xbox Game Studios
Engines
	Halo Engine
Menus	Unreal Engine 4
Release dates
Windows	July 14, 2020
Reception
Metacritic	88
IGDB	91
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Shooter
Vehicles	Automobile, Flight
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Africa, Sci-fi, Space
Series	Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo

Halo: The Master Chief Collection
⤏ Go to series page
Subseries of Halo
Halo: Reach	2019
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary	2020
Halo 2: Anniversary	2020
Halo 3	2020
Halo 3: ODST	2020
Halo 4	2020

This is a remaster of the 2007 sci-fi first-person shooter Halo 3, released as part of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection both in a bundle and as an individual product. It is the first version of the game on the PC.

General information

Official forums

Steam Community Discussions

Halo Insider Program

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Microsoft Store		Xbox Game Pass for PC
Steam		Uses Steamworks API for DRM.

All versions require a Microsoft account for both singleplayer and multiplayer.

The game can be purchased either individually, or in a discounted bundle containing all six games of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Remove the video files
Go to <path-to-game>\MCC\Content\Movies. Delete or rename FMS_logo_microsoft_7_1_.bk2. Notes Players can use the Anti-Cheat Disabled (Mods and Limited Services) option to speed up the launch even further.

Epilogue + Original Halo 3 Credits

Restores epilogue and credits from the original Xbox 360 version of the game that weren't ported properly.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Microsoft Store	%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\MCC\
Steam	%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\MCC\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1064271/pfx/

Local settings are shared between the Steam and Microsoft Store versions.

Save game data location

System	Location
Microsoft Store	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.Chelan_8wekyb3d8bbwe\SystemAppData\wgs\
Steam	<Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\976730\remote\<user-id>\Saves\SaveGame\halo2
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1064271/pfx/

Saves cannot be transferred between the versions.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Used to save Mid-Mission Checkpoints in Campaign and Playlists.
Xbox Cloud		Progress will transfer between the Xbox One and PC versions (Mid-Mission Checkpoint progress is not retained as not compatible).

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game general gameplay settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Cutscenes are 21:9 anamorphic. Use Halo 3 letterbox remover to remove the cutscene letterboxing at 16:9 and narrower resolutions.
Multi-monitor		Centered HUD is an option.
Ultra-widescreen		Spanned HUD is an option. Cutscenes are visibly pillarboxed at 32:9. Use the related community tool as a workaround.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		70-120° for player and vehicles (Hor+).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Exclusive fullscreen also available.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Options to adjust it manually added on November 17, 2020.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Toggle to enable/disable added on November 17, 2020.
High-fidelity upscaling		FSR 1 Added in July 2023 update.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Includes 60 FPS in-game cap option. Uncapped framerate supported, additional limits at 120, 180 and 240 FPS. See High frame rate to unlock the framerate in menus.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the engine page to force native HDR output, or the glossary page for other alternatives.
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

The game engine may allow for manual configuration of the game via its variables. See the Unreal Engine 4 page for more details.

Post-processing effects

Toggle post-process effects

Download Halo: The Master Chief Collection 3D Vision fix. Extract the contents to <path-to-game>\MCC\Binaries\Win64. Launch the game with Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) disabled in one of two ways. Launch the game with the "MCC Anti-Cheat Disabled" option that Steam offers. This will disable all achievements, but it does not require touching any game files. Download MCC_EAC_Bypass.rar, and copy the contents to <path-to-game>\easyanticheat. Remember to make a backup of the originals to re-enable playing multiplayer modes that require EAC. Hotkeys F6: motion blur toggle. Disabled by default. 5: depth of field toggle. Not disabled by default. When disabled, things can still look lower res than what was not blurred. 8: this toggles off HUD helmet textures. Not disabled by default, but recommended for fewer distractions. K: HUD toggle. This does not disable pause menus and some Forge menus. L: help OSD toggle. This shows a block of text with the current state of hotkeys and how to use them.

Input

In-game keyboard and mouse control settings.

In-game general gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Pause function can not be rebound (by design).
Mouse sensitivity		Look, Vehicle, and Zoomed Mouse Sensitivity values.
Mouse acceleration		Mouse Smoothing also supported.
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Separate values for Look and Flight.
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Controller Remapping was added in the July 2023 update. For pre-defined presets, see Controller remapping.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion		Separate values for Look and Flight.

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger support		Steam version does not support Impulse Triggers.

DirectInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Nintendo controllers

Other controller(s)

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Controller remapping

The Universal Presets apply to all games in the collection.

• 

  In-game "Universal Default (Recon)" gamepad scheme.

• 

  In-game "Universal Reclaimer" gamepad scheme.

• 

  In-game "Universal Zoom & Shoot" gamepad scheme.

• 

  In-game "Universal Bumper Jumper" gamepad scheme.

• 

  In-game "Universal Green Thumbs" gamepad scheme.

Audio

In-game general audio settings.

In-game general accessibility settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Menu Music, Game Music, Effects, and Voice Chat.
Surround sound		7.1
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese				Mistakenly labeled on Steam as Portuguese.
Russian				Fan audio localization by Mechanics VoiceOver. Fan text localization by ОРЕОЛ, Halo Universe & spider91. Mod from Steam Workshop «Audio + subtitles» (same authors).
Spanish
Latin American Spanish

Network

In-game general network settings.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play		16	Co-op, Versus Co-op limited to 4 players
Online play		16	Co-op, Versus Co-op limited to 4 players
Asynchronous multiplayer
Crossplay		Supported platforms: Xbox One Implemented in November 2020. Campaign cross-play was implemented as experimental in April 2022.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking		Hosted on 343i's Dedicated Servers.
Peer-to-peer		Self-hosted lobbies are Peer-to-Peer.
Dedicated		Matchmaking Online matches are hosted on 343i's Dedicated Servers. No official dedicated server is provided.
Self-hosting		Can host peer-to-peer Custom Game lobbies.
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	4811, 52390-52397, 52401-52425, 52460-52638, 52855, 53070, 53274, 53490, 53719, 53962, 54085-54090, 54175, 54382
UDP	4379, 7551, 61421

This game supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for automatic port configuration.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D, Z3D, DirectVR Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11.1

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok Physics
Audio	FMOD, Miles Sound System, Wwise, iZotope	Utilizes multiple audio processing systems across the collection.
Interface	Unreal Engine 4, Scaleform GFx	The former is used for the Main Menu UI and Customization UX, whereas the latter is used for the in-game UI.
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	Xbox Live, Steamworks
Anti-cheat	Easy Anti-Cheat	Players have the option to launch the game without anti-cheat to play with custom modifications. Matchmaking is disabled in this mode.

Shortcut to launch without anti-cheat

Create a custom shortcut (Steam only)[citation needed]
Right-click on the original desktop or start menu shortcut created by Steam, and select 'Properties. In the URL textbox change steam://rungameid/976730 to steam://launch/976730/option1 Click OK, and launch the game using that link to run it without anti-cheat.

Featured Mods

• Ruby's Rebalanced Halo 3 Campaign - A campaign overhaul which refines the sandbox, rebalances the gameplay, expands encounter and level design, provides extra polish in every area, and restores loads of cut content.
• Halo Online Map Pack - A port of all of the Halo Online maps that didn't made it into Master Chief Collection through official updates.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7		10
Processor (CPU)	AMD Ryzen 7 2700U 2.20 GHz Intel Core i7-8750H 2.20 GHz		AMD FX-4100 3.6 GHz Intel Core i7-870 2.93 GHz
System memory (RAM)	8 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	14.4 GB (Singleplayer only)		19.1 GB
Video card (GPU)	AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile Intel UHD Graphics 630 1 GB of VRAM DirectX 11.1 compatible Shader model 5.0 support		AMD Radeon R7 360 Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2 GB of VRAM

A 64-bit operating system is required.

May be differences in System Requirements between the Windows Store and Steam versions of the game.