To make the game more challenging and interesting, Bungie have decided to leave the skulls in Halo 3. Skulls were easter eggs first introduced in Halo 2, and these skulls create an effect ranging from the useless to terrifying against the player (ie. making enemy stronger). Instead of only appearing in “Legendary” game difficulty like in Halo 2, now skulls can be found throughout different difficulty settings (Normal, Heroic, and Legendary). In Halo 2, these skulls were hidden secretly from players and usually it is very far our of the normal game path of the level. It is the same old situation in Halo 3. In addition, skulls now have an important role in the Halo 3 Meta-game. They multiply the amount of points you can receive in the meta-game. So by activating them in the lobby, it will give you a point multipliers.
Overall, Skulls can make for a very interesting play experience, and really help to show who is the Master of the game through meta game scores. This page contains a list of all skull effects and skull locations from Halo 3. Skulls now play an important role in the Halo 3 Meta Games.
Note: You must start from the beginning of the level in order to find the skulls and all Halo 3 Skulls can only be found in “Normal” difficulty setting or higher.
Gold Skulls:
Silver Skulls: