Long ago, on a lost Windows Vista machine, Microsoft's big green soldier promised to "end the fight." Thirteen years later, PC players never found out what happened to Master Chief's merry army, floating orbs, and squid-faced Keith David. Now, with the arrival of Halo 3 through The Master Chief Collection, the circle is finally complete. The old soldier may be a little wrinkled, but this final installment of Bungie's original trilogy is still a hell of a lot of fun.

Little has been done to the visuals in Halo 3 beyond bumping it up to higher resolution and 60fps. This is a good thing, because while the reworking of "Halo 2: Anniversary" was brilliant, it was an ugly game that needed to be made more spectacular. halo CE: Anniversary, on the other hand, was a haphazard mess, taking the stunning, broad strokes of the original and replacing them with poorly considered effects. with ill-considered effects and filthy assets.

Halo 3 mostly holds up. Yes, the character models look really rough. The texture quality, especially at earth level, betrays the fact that this game was released in 2007. But if Bungie can't create absolutely stunning landscapes, then so be it. Shattered highways weave through towns surrounding vast oceans. Brutalist temples line the vast deserts, city-sized cruisers battle it out in the sky, and Bungie was best in class when it came to spectacular skyboxes long before "Destiny."

But this is a shooter, not a sightseeing trip, and Halo 3 is the pinnacle of Bungie's sandbox. Every battle is a playground, a mob of enemies to deal with using weapons and "equipment" (one-hit-kill tools like bubble shields and grab lifts). The narrow jungle of the first level gives way to a huge arena, where more powerful weapons and tougher vehicles are deployed. Faster than expected, the parasitic Flood revive dead fighters as screaming, waddling infected, throwing their own wrenches into the fray.

The sandbox peaks with the shooter's answer to "Wanda and the Colossus," the scarab fight; Bungie knows that fighting this giant walking crab is the best part, and you will fight it four times during the campaign. First, it swarms a squad of bikers with bazookas and kicks them in the knees with high explosives. Finally, they can take a step ahead with their Hornet VTOLs. But why take the easy option when you have Warthog and a huge, well-positioned ramp?

It's a form of shooter not often seen on the PC; even "Destiny 2," with much of its "Halo" DNA, is too tied up in loot wars to be glued to such a playful toy box of kills. Every weapon has its uses, even a "Halo" pistol. Whether it's disabling tanks with a power drain, blocking a route with deployable cover, or keeping hordes of Flood at bay with a fungal meat prison, every piece of equipment adds a new dimension to the battle.

This spirit carries over into the game's now legendary multiplayer scene, even if carbines and battle rifles have once again tipped the balance. Thankfully, the precision shooting in Halo 3 has been toned down from the pistol of the first game and the BR of the sequel. It remains deadly with a mouse, but not so deadly that other weapons have no place.

As with the campaign, there is really nothing like the multiplayer in Halo. Smaller rounds have their charms, allowing you to sew through phenomenal maps, outmaneuver enemies, and learn the routes and timing of weapons like energy swords and rocket launchers. But in the larger team fights, rolling tanks and uncontrolled explosions always take a heavy toll, not unlike "Battlefield," a military toy box haphazardly tossed out over a stunning exotic landscape.

This is my favorite version of the "Halo" formula. It has the right amount of weapons on the optimal map lineup, and none of the streamlined loadouts and abilities that appeared in later games. But as we have found in previous MCC releases, it is not something that can be engrossing beyond a light distraction. The rounds drag on too long, especially in the larger modes, and the teams are often unbalanced from the start, making it painful to stick with a 20-minute game that you know you've lost.

Perhaps spoiled by a decade of refinement in the competitive shooter field, Halo 3 rejects the part of the brain that wants to master the game and rise through the ranks. It is truly best approached as a silly playground of tanks and aliens.

However, with each new release, the problems with the "Master Chief Collection" front end become harder to ignore. Don't get me wrong, the port itself is good enough. At this point, I'm comfortable playing "Halo 3" at resolutions, frame rates, and viewing angles appropriate for the latest PC releases. However, the subtitles are inconsistent, the audio balance is off, and I wish 343 had added an alternate key binding option at this point.

The real problem is philosophical: MCC organizes all content in "playlists" (sets of single-player levels, shooting maps, and competitive modes). In multiplayer, it works. It is truly brilliant to be able to jump into a random game of Capture The Flag across a map equivalent to the entire series, each bringing a different arsenal of weapons and vehicles.

In single-player, however, the game takes away identity from each arc. When the over-designed loading screens remind me of par times and score indicators, I am painfully aware that I am not playing "Halo 3". That's not true. I am playing the B-side of "Halo 3" on Master Chief's Greatest Hits album.

But it is Halo 3 that I am playing on my computer. Sure, it's a bit scratched up, and the "Master Chief Collection" is not ideal packaging. After all this time, there is still nothing as great as "Halo 3."