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Halo (franchise)

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The official logo for the Halo franchise.

Halo is a science fiction video game series created by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The series centers on the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced human super-soldier equipped with technologically-advanced battle armor, and his artificial intelligence (AI) companion, Cortana, as the humans of a futuristic universe battle the Covenant, a theocratic alliance of alien races. In this science fiction setting, the term "Halo" refers to the Halo megastructure, a large orbital construction, similar to those first popularized by the 1970 novel Ringworld by Larry Niven, though smaller in scale.[1][2]

The video games, particularly Halo: Combat Evolved, have been praised as being among the best first-person shooters on a game console, with Halo being the Microsoft Xbox's "killer app".[3] This has led to the term "Halo killer" being used to describe console games that aspire to be better than Halo.[4] Halo's sequel, Halo 2, broke sales records for a media release,[5] and Halo 3 sold more than US $170 million worth of copies in the first 24 hours of release, breaking Halo 2's record.[6] As of October 4 2007, all three Halo games combined have sold more than 20 million copies.[7]

The strong sales of the game series has lead to a massive Halo franchise. Currently, this include five bestselling novels, two series of graphic novels, and numerous other licensed products, from action figures to Mountain Dew. Several spinoff games have also been announced, including the upcoming real time strategy game Halo Wars and Halo Chronicles, which is being developed by Peter Jackson. The series' award-winning music has been composed by Martin O'Donnell, and soundtracks have been released for the three main games. The cultural impact of the Halo series has been compared by Brian Bendis to the Star Wars franchise,[8] and with those who enjoy the series being dubbed the "Halo Nation".[9][10]

Overview

Common elements

The series features several recurring science fiction and action game elements. The main trilogy featured first person shooter gameplay, along with third person vehicular gameplay. Since the second title, the games have had a multiplayer element. Halo structures, alien races, and cyborgs are prevalent science fiction elements that appear in the series.[11] Halo introduced the concept of limiting the amount of weapons players could carry to only two; this forces players to pick weapons carefully.[12] There is also the option to fight with melee attacks using their weapon as a cudgel. Players can carry a certain number of grenades, which can disrupt masses of enemies or flush out entrenched foes; together, this "weapons-grenades-melee" format forms the "Golden Triangle of Halo" gameplay,[13] which has remained mostly unchanged since the series' debut. In Halo: Combat Evolved, the player's health is measured in both hit points and a shield which can continually recharge.[14]

Halo 2 introduced several new gameplay elements, chief among them the ability to hold and fire two weapons at once, known as "dual wielding".[15] Players could now hijack enemy vehicles, or have their own transportation stolen from them. Halo 2 was the first game in the series to fully support a multiplayer mode over Xbox Live, and used "matchmaking" to randomly pair players looking for certain types of games to streamline the task of finding matches.[15] Halo 3 added several new gameplay features, including a class of items known as "equipment" and heavy support weapons.[16] Bungie included a map-editing tool known as the Forge.[17] Rather than creating entirely new maps and geometry, Forge enables players to insert game objects, such as weapons and crates, into existing multiplayer maps.[17] These alterations can occur in real-time in special multiplayer maps. Players can view replays of their games using "Saved Films", watching a multiplayer match or mission from all angles.[18]

Story

The three main games in Halo series focus on the adventures of the main character, Master Chief. The story of the entire series is set several centuries into the future. With the development of the "Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine", the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) began traveling across the galaxy and colonized other worlds. Humans colonized over 800 planets over the span of 200 years. Planets were categorized into "Inner Colonies" and "Outer Colonies"; the Inner Colonies are the oldest, closer to Earth and more developed than the others, while the Outer Colonies are often in rebellion. These rebellions led to the creation of the SPARTAN-II Project by the UNSC in an effort to hold the colonies together. Twenty-seven years before the events of the main trilogy, communication with an Outer Colony is lost and the ship sent to investigate is destroyed by the Covenant.[19] The Covenant Hierarchs declare humanity an affront to the Gods and order its destruction. By 2535, almost all of the Outer Colonies have been destroyed by the Covenant; the alien's technological advantage proves almost impossible for the UNSC to beat in space engagements. These events are referred to in the video games, but their full descriptions are outlined in the novels Halo: The Fall of Reach and Contact Harvest.

The main story arc of the trilogy begins with Halo: Combat Evolved and is set in 2552. The Covenant arrive at Reach, the UNSC's last stronghold other than Earth, and vitrify the planet. The last SPARTAN-II thought alive, the Master Chief, escapes on the ship Pillar of Autumn to supposedly random coordinates selected by the A.I. Cortana which she had obtained from ancient Forerunner hieroglyphs. The ship arrives at the titular Halo, Installation 04, and is engaged by the Covenant. After being forced to the surface of the ring, the Flood, a parasitic alien species, is released by the Covenant and 343 Guilty Spark, a Monitor of the ring, leads the Master Chief to activate Halo's defenses in an effort to destroy the Flood. The Halo is designed to starve the Flood of food (sentient life) by exterminating life for thousands of light-years in every direction. Upon discovery of the Halo's method, the Master Chief detonates the fusion reactors in the crashed Pillar of Autumn, destroying the ring, and escapes in a Longsword Stealth Fighter.[20]

In Halo: First Strike, the Master Chief travels back to Reach, located in the Epsilon Eridani system and links up with the few survivors of the vitrification. He and a few other SPARTAN-II's proceed to attack a Covenant space station and rendezvous point, where a Covenant fleet is massing to attack Earth. The space station is destroyed, buying time for Earth to prepare a defense.[21] Soon after, in Halo 2, a small Covenant fleet appears at Earth. Badly beaten by the human forces, the Covenant High Prophet of Regret flees to Installation 05 taking the human ship In Amber Clad with it. At "Delta Halo", the Master Chief kills the Prophet of Regret. The successful assassination of the Prophet leads to the Brutes replacing the Elites as the preferred fighters of the Covenant, leads to a schism in the ranks. The Covenant Elite Arbiter, with the aid of Miranda Keyes and Sergeant Johnson, prevents the firing of the Halo by the Brute Tartarus, inadvertently putting the rings on standby; all the remaining installations can be activated remotely from "The Ark".[22]

The Master Chief stows away on a Forerunner vessel headed back for Earth, where the Covenant have conquered the planet and excavated a Forerunner artifact in the Kenyan desert;[23] this sets up the action for the final video game in the trilogy, Halo 3. Despite the best efforts of the now-allied Elites and humans, the High Prophet of Truth activates the artifact, which opens a slipspace portal to the Ark. The Master Chief and the Arbiter travel through the portal onboard an Elite ship and prevent Truth from activating The Ark. They then activate a new Halo ring being built to replace Installation 04—which Master Chief destroyed—in an effort to destroy the Flood once and for all while still sparing the rest of the galaxy.[24] Because the ring is not completed the resulting pulse destroys the ring and damages the Ark. The Arbiter escapes the explosion, but the Master Chief and Cortana are left drifting in space, trapped in the severed rear half of their ship. The Master Chief puts himself in cryo-freeze as he and Cortana wait for their rescue.

Games

Box art for Halo: Combat Evolved

There are several games that comprise the Halo series, which centers around the story of a trilogy of games. The three main games in the series were released in chronological order, with each new installment following the events of the previous installment. There are also several sequels planned to continue the series.

Main trilogy

The series began with Halo: Combat Evolved, the first Halo video game in the trilogy. It was released as an exclusive Xbox title on November 15 2001.[25] The game introduced many of the common themes in the series. Players battle various aliens on foot and in vehicles as they attempt to uncover the secrets of the eponymous Halo. A PC port was developed by Gearbox Software and released on September 30, 2003.[26] A Mac OS X version was released on December 11, 2003.[27] A stand-alone expansion, entitled Halo: Custom Edition, was released solely for the PC and allowed players to create custom content for the game.

Halo 2, the sequel to Combat Evolved, was released on the Xbox on November 9, 2004 in two different editions. The standard Halo 2 edition has traditional Xbox packaging and a single disc with the single-player and multi-player components. The Collector's Edition has a specially designed aluminum case, along with an additional bonus DVD, extra booklet and slightly different user manual. Unlike its predecessor, the game fully supports online multi-player via Xbox Live and held the top spot for the most played game on Xbox Live for two years until the release of Gears of War.[28] It also still holds the record for the longest streak as the number one game on Xbox Live. A PC port for the Windows Vista operating system was later released by an internal team composed of both Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios called "Hired Gun".

Halo 3 is the third game in the Halo series and ends the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved.[29] The game was released on the Xbox 360 on September 25, 2007 in North America and Oceania, September 26, 2007 in Europe,[30] and September 27, 2007 in Japan.[31] The game features vehicles, weapons, and gameplay not present in previous titles of the series, as well as the addition of saved gameplay films, the Forge map editor (which allows the player to perform modifications to levels), and file sharing.

Spin offs and sequels

The success of the main trilogy has spurred the creation of sequels, as well as spin-offs. Halo Wars is a real time strategy game being developed by Ensemble Studios for the Xbox 360 that takes place before Halo: Combat Evolved in the year 2531.[32] Ensemble claims that particular effort has been put into a control scheme that is simple and does not have the control issues many other titles had when porting real time strategy games from PC to consoles.[32][33] The game was announced at X06, where a pre-rendered trailer was shown. At E3 2007, a montage of gameplay clips featuring many aspects of Halo Wars was revealed, followed up by a demonstration video on the official site.

Halo: Chronicles, originally announced on September 27, 2006 at X06 as an untitled project, will be a 'new trilogy' of Halo games. These titles are to be co-written, co-designed and co-produced by Peter Jackson, with his recently formed Wingnut Interactive. The series has been confirmed to be episodic.[34] A Halo-based character, Nicole Spartan-458, has also appeared in fighting game Dead or Alive 4 as the result of collaboration between Tecmo's Team Ninja and Microsoft's Bungie Studios.[35]

Alternate reality games

Further information: Marketing for Halo 3 and I Love Bees
File:ILoveBees-Homepage.jpg
The ilovebees.com homepage displaying a message from an in-game artificial intelligence.

Several alternate reality games were used to help promote the release of the games in the main trilogy. Cortana Letters, a series of cryptic email messages, were circulated prior to Halo: Combat Evolved's release.[36] I Love Bees was used to promote the release of Halo 2. The game was centered on a website created by 42 Entertainment, commissioned by Microsoft and endorsed by Bungie. Over the course of the game, audio clips were released that eventually formed a complete five-hour story set on Earth between Halo and Halo 2.[37][38] Similarly, Iris was used as a viral marketing campaign for the release of Halo 3.[39] It featured five web servers containing various media files related to the Halo universe.

Halo DS

In January 2007, IGN editor-in-chief Matt Casamassina claimed he played a version of Halo for the Nintendo DS.[40] Due to speculation, on October 2, 2007 he demonstrated on-camera, and in-game footage of an early-development style version of Halo DS.[41] The then work-in-progress game includes a DS version of the Halo 2 map Zanzibar, with dual-wielding.[40] On October 5, 2007, Bungie employee Brian Jarrard explained the Halo DS demo was in fact an unsolicited pitch that was never taken on.[42]

Music

Three soundtracks, composed by Martin O'Donnell, have been released based on the Halo game series. The Halo Original Soundtrack contains most of the music found in the game. Due to the varying nature of gameplay, the music present was designed to use the game's dynamic audio playback engine. The engine allows for the mood, theme, and duration of music played to change according to changes in the gameplay.[43] To afford a more enjoyable listening experience, O'Donnell rearranged some of the music of Halo into standalone suites, which follow the narrative course of the game. The soundtrack also contains music that was never in the game, including a variation on the Halo theme that was first played at Halo's debut at Macworld 1999.[44]

For Halo 2's soundtrack, producer Nile Rodgers and O’Donnell decided to split the music into two separate volumes. The first, Volume One, was released on November 9, 2004 and contained all the themes as well as the “inspired-by” music present in the game (featuring Incubus, Hoobastank, and Breaking Benjamin). The second release, Volume 2, contained the rest of the music, much of which was incomplete or not included in the first soundtrack, as the first soundtrack was shipped before the game was released;[45] the second volume was released on April 25, 2006. Halo 2, unlike its predecessor, was mixed to take full advantage of Dolby 5.1 Digital Surround Sound.[46]

The soundtrack for Halo 3 was released on November 20, 2007. O'Donnell noted he wanted to bring back the themes from the original game in order to help tie together the end of the trilogy.[47] The tracks are presented, similarly to the previous soundtrack for Halo 2,[45] in a suite form. Unlike previous soundtracks, where much of the music had been synthesized on computer, the soundtrack for Halo 3 was recorded using a 60-piece orchestra, along with a 24 voice chorus[48] and was recorded by the Northwest Sinfonia at Studio X in Seattle, Washington.[49]

Development

History

The first Halo game was announced on July 21, 1999, during the Macworld Conference & Expo.[50] It was originally planned to be a real-time strategy game for the Mac and Windows operating systems,[50][51] but later changed into a third person action game.[52] On June 19, 2000, Microsoft acquired Bungie Studios and Halo: Combat Evolved became an exclusive title for the Xbox video game console.[53] After receiving Xbox development kits, Bungie Studios rewrote the game's engine, heavily altered its presentation, and turned it into a first-person shooter.[54] Though the first Halo was meant to include an online multiplayer mode, it was excluded because Xbox Live was not yet available.[55] The success of the game led to a sequel, Halo 2, which was announced on August 8 2002 at the Microsoft's New York X02 press event.[56] It featured improved graphics, new weapons, and a multiplayer mode on Xbox Live.[57][58] Halo 3 was announced at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo.[59] The initial conception for the third game was done before Halo 2 was released in 2004.[60] It utilized a proprietary, in-house graphics engine,[61] and employed advanced graphics technologies.[62]

Literary influences

A report published on IGN explored the literary influences present in the franchise, and noted Halo was influenced by The Culture and Ringworld, written by Iain M. Banks and Larry Niven respectively. It commented on the similarities between characters in Halo and other science fiction series, most notably Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. Some aspects of the SPARTAN Project and the design of the Drone species were perceived as reminiscent of the supersoldier program and Bugger species found in the novel. Minor aspects of the games such as Master Chief's name "John" have been suggested as originating based on a character named Jon 6725416 in Christopher Rowley's Starhammer.[63] A report written by Roger Travis and published by The Escapist compares Halo with the Latin epic Aeneid, written by classical Roman poet Virgil. Travis posits similarities between the plots of both works and compares the characters present in them; with the Flood and Covenant taking the role performed by the Carthaginians, and Master Chief's role in the series to that of Aeneas.[64]

Merchandise

File:Clixhunter.jpg
Several Halo ActionClix pieces.
Further information: List of Halo media

The Halo franchise includes several types of merchandise outside of the video games. Currently, this include five bestselling novels, two series of graphic novels, and other licensed products, from action figures to Mountain Dew. Numerous action figures and vehicles based on Halo have been produced. The task of creating Halo and Halo 2 action figures fell to Joyride Studios, while Halo 3's series were produced by McFarlane Toys. Bungie also teamed up with WizKids to make Halo ActionClix, a collectible miniatures game. The tabletop game features detailed sculpts of characters with dials that track a unit's health and statistics.[65]

Printed adaptations

There have been numerous printed adaptations based on the Halo canon established by the video games. The series has been adapted several times into novel form, with two more novels planned. Larry Niven (author of Ringworld) was originally approached to write a Halo novelization, but declined due to unfamiliarity with the subject matter.[66] The first novel was Halo: The Fall of Reach, a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved. It was written by Eric Nylund in seven weeks,[67] and published in October 2001.[67] The second novel, entitled Halo: The Flood, was written by William C. Dietz and served as an adaptation of Halo: Combat Evolved.[68] Eric Nylund returned to write the third novel, Halo: First Strike, which takes place between Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2. After being written in sixteen weeks,[69] it was published in December 2003.[70] Nylund also wrote the forth adaptation, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, which was published on October 31, 2006.[71] Bungie employee Joseph Staten wrote the fifth book, Halo: Contact Harvest, which was released on October 30, 2007. Bungie considers the Halo novels as additions to the Halo canon.[72]

The Halo universe was first adapted into the graphic novel format in 2006 with the release of the Halo Graphic Novel, a collection of four short stories.[73] It was written and illustrated by graphic novelists Lee Hammock, Jay Faerber, Tsutomu Nihei, Brett Lewis, Simon Bisley, Ed Lee and Jean Giraud. At the 2007 New York Comic Con, Marvel Comics announced they would be working on an ongoing Halo series with Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. The first part of the series, titled Halo: Uprising, bridges the gap between the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3.[8]

Film adaptation

In 2005, a script for a film adaptation of Halo was written by Alex Garland[74]—which D.B. Weiss and Josh Olson rewrote during 2006[75][76]—for a 2008 release. The movie was to be developed and released by Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox, under the creative oversight of Microsoft, but there have been complications with the distributors, and it is subject to change.[77] Peter Jackson was slated to be the executive producer,[78] with Neill Blomkamp as director. The film has continually resumed and stopped preproduction;[79] while Blomkamp has declared the project dead,[80] Jackson says the film will still be made.[81] Blomkamp commented the Master Chief worked from a video gamer's perspective, but dramatically does not hold much weight because of his faceless nature. The character as depicted in the film would have been "the most important supporting cast member". Instead, "other characters around him [...] did most of the emotional heavy lifting", with their story exploring their perception of the Master Chief.[82]

Reception

The Halo franchise has been highly successful commercially. During the two months following Halo: Combat Evolved's release, it sold alongside more than fifty percent of Xbox consoles.[83] By April 8, 2002, it had sold a million units.[84] Halo 2's sales generated US$125 million on its première day, making it the fastest selling United States media product in history.[85][86] As of May 9 2006, 8 million units of the game have been sold worldwide.[87][88] Prior to the release of Halo 3, the series had sold 14.8 million copies.[89] GameSpot reported 4.2 million units of Halo 3 were in retail outlets on September 24, 2007, a day before official release[90]—a world record volume release.[91] Halo 3 also holds the record for the highest grossing opening day in entertainment history, making US$170 million in its first twenty-four hours.[91][92] Worldwide, sales exceeded US$300 million the first week, helping to more than double the sales of the Xbox 360 when compared with the weekly average before the Halo 3 launch.[7][89] At the end of 2007, Halo 2 and Halo: Combat Evolved were the the number one and two best-selling Xbox titles, respectively, and Halo 3 was the best-selling Xbox 360 title.[93] Likewise, all the Halo novels have appeared on Publisher Weekly's bestseller charts, and the Halo Graphic Novel sold more than 100,000 copies,[94] a "rare hit" for the games-to-comics genre.[94] All the Halo novels became Publishers Weekly bestsellers,[69][68] and Ghosts of Onyx and Contact Harvest also appeared on The New York Times bestseller lists as well.[95][96]

Critical response

Aggregate review scores
Game Metacritic Game Rankings
Halo: Combat Evolved
97 of 100[97]
96%[98]
Halo 2
95 of 100[99]
94%[100]
Halo 3
94 of 100[101]
93%[102]

Overall, the Halo series has been well received by critics. Halo: Combat Evolved has received numerous Game of the Year awards.[103][104] IGN listed it as the top Xbox game of all time and was ranked the fourteenth best game ever on "IGN Readers' Choice 2006 - The Top 100 Games Ever".[105][106] Conversely, GameSpy ranked Halo: Combat Evolved tenth on its list of "Top 25 Most Overrated Games of All Time", citing repetitive level design and the lack of an online multiplayer mode.[107] Halo 2 also received numerous awards.[108] IGN listed it as the number two top Xbox game of all time.[105] After its initial release, it was the most popular video game on Xbox Live.[109] Halo 3 was nominated for and won multiple awards. It won Time magazine's "Game of the Year" and IGN chose it as the Best Xbox 360 Online Multiplayer Game and Innovative Design of 2007.[110][111][112] Most publications called the multiplayer aspect one of the best features; IGN said the multiplayer map lineup was the strongest of the series,[113] and Gamespy added the multiplayer offering will greatly please Halo veterans.[114] Complaints focused on the game's plot. The New York Times said the game had a "throwaway" plot and Total Video Games judged the single-player aspect ultimately disappointing.[115][116] The series' music and audio has received enthusiastic response from game reviewers.[114][117][118]

Cultural impact

In an issue of The Escapist, author Roger Travis compared Halo's story to Virgil's Aeneid, saying the religious and political struggle described in the games relates to the modern epic tradition.[64] The game, particularly its protagonist, have been declared iconic, and a symbol of today's videogames; a wax replica of the Master Chief was made by Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas, where Pete Wentz declared the franchise and its characters were "as much of a hero today as characters like Spider-Man, Frodo, and Luke Skywalker were for previous generations."[119]

GamesTM stated Halo: Combat Evolved "changed videogame combat forever", and Halo 2 showcased Xbox Live as a tool for communities.[11] GameDaily noted Halo 2's launch is "easily comparable to the biggest in other sectors of the entertainment industry", marking the first time a video game launch has become a major cultural event in America.[120] Time magazine included the game franchise in the "2005 Time 100", highlighting that in the first ten weeks after the release of Halo 2 players spent 91 million combined hours playing the game online, indicating the game's power was "clearly very real".[121] A report published by The New York Times noted the success of Halo 3 was critical for Microsoft, persuading consumers to buy the Xbox 360 console which was experiencing waning sales compared with the Nintendo Wii, as well as helping restore the console's image. On September 25, 2007, the day before the release of Halo 3, Microsoft's shares rose 1.7 % based on sales expectations for the game.[122] Halo has been described as a series that "has reinvented a genre that didn't know it needed to be reinvented", with aspects of the games being duplicated in other FPS games multiple times.[123]

Machinima

File:RvB ep58 Sarge Donut.jpg
A scene from the machinima production Red vs. Blue.

As a highly popular video game series with a large and active fan base, the Halo games have been host to a wide array of video productions from an emerging entertainment medium, machinima. Virtually all footage is taken from the multiplayer modes of Halo, Halo 2 and Halo 3. Most are set outside Halo canon, though some are based on fan fiction closely relating to the official Canon. The saved film feature of Halo 3 allows camera angles not possible in previous games and other simplifications of machinima production.

The most notable of these is the comedy series Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, a parody of the Halo universe, created by Rooster Teeth Productions. It has achieved an unparalleled level of success in Halo machinima in specific, and machinima in general; it is largely credited with bringing attention to the genre.[91][124] Red vs. Blue generated annual revenues of US$200,000. Special promotional episodes were also commissioned by Bungie.[91] The series ended on June 28, 2007, after 100 regular episodes and numerous promotional videos.[125] Other machinima series include Fire Team Charlie, The Codex, and the in-game interview show This Spartan Life.

Notes and references

  1. ^ Perry, Douglas C. (2006-05-17). "The Influence of Literature and Myth in Videogames". IGN. p. 6. Retrieved 2007-08-12. [Frank O'Connor, Bungie Studios] The idea of a Ringworld, first posited in sci-fi by Larry Niven in his brilliant novel of the same name, is actually a variation of a Dyson Sphere, a fantastically impossible object described by the 20th century physicist, Freeman Dyson…Ring-shaped artificial worlds have also been used by Iain M. Banks and others because they are cool. And that's why we used one.
  2. ^ Grazier, Kevin R. (2007-05-02). "Halo Science 101". Gamasutra. CMP Media. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
  3. ^ Craig Glenday, ed. (2008-03-11). "Hardware History II". Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008. Guinness World Records. Guinness. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-904994-21-3. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ Sparks, Ryan (2005-02-25). "Making a Halo Killer". Advanced Media Network. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
  5. ^ Downes, Steven. Interview with "Xerxdeej" (Part 2). tiedtheleader.com. (2005-08-23).
  6. ^ Henderson, Peter (2007-09-26). "Microsoft: First-day 'Halo 3' sales top $170m". MSNBC. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
  7. ^ a b Hillis, Scott (2007-10-04). "Microsoft says "Halo" 1st-week sales were $300 mln". Reuters. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
  8. ^ a b George, Richard (2007-05-18). "IGN Exclusive Interview - Halo: Uprising". IGN. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
  9. ^ Staff (2006-11-15). "New Halo 2 Maps Coming". Gamespot. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
  10. ^ Dawson, Brett (2007-09-24). "Halo 3 hype is justified". The Star. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
  11. ^ a b gamesTM Staff (September 2007), "Hail to the Chief", gamesTM, no. 61, Imagine Publishing, pp. 30–41
  12. ^ Fielder, Joe (2001-11-09). "Halo: Combat Evolved review at GameSpot". GameSpot. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Bakken, Lars et al. (2007). Is Quisnam Protero Damno!. Washington: Bungie. {{cite AV media}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |authors= (help)
  14. ^ Accardo, Sal (November 15, 2001). "GameSpy's review of Halo: Combat Evolved for the Xbox". GameSpy. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ a b "Halo Retrospective: Halo 2". UGO Networks. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  16. ^ Goldstein, Hilary (2007-08-10). "Burn, Baby! Burn!". IGN. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
  17. ^ a b Bungie (2007-08-28). "Bungie Podcast: 08/28/07". Retrieved 2007-09-02. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |publsiher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Finish the Fight". Edge (UK) (179): 66–77. September 2007. ISSN 1350-1593. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
  19. ^ "Halo Story Timeline". halo.bungie.org. Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  20. ^ Dietz, William (2003). Halo: The Flood. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-45921-0. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  21. ^ Nylund, Eric (2003). Halo: First Strike. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 332. ISBN 0-345-46781-7.
  22. ^ Bungie Studios. Halo 2 (Xbox). Microsoft.
  23. ^ Keyes: Terrestrial casualties from the subsequent bombardment were... extreme. Truth could've landed anywhere, but he committed all his forces here. East Africa, The ruins of New Mombasa. Then, they started digging. / Master Chief: What about Halo? / Keyes: We stopped it, but only temporarily. Now, the Prophet of Truth is looking for something called 'The Ark', where he'll be able to fire all the Halo Rings. If he succeeds, Humanity, The Covenant, every sentient being in the Galaxy... - Bungie Studios. Halo 3 (Xbox 360). Microsoft.
  24. ^ Arbiter: A replacement. For the ring you destroyed. / Master Chief: When did you know? / 343 Guilty Spark: ...What will you do? / Master Chief: Light it. / 343 Guilty Spark: Then we are agreed! A tactical pulse will completely eradicate the local infestation! I will personally oversee the final preparations. Though it will take time to fabricate an activation index, I will see to the letter... - Bungie Studios. Halo 3 (Xbox 360). Microsoft.
  25. ^ "Halo on Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  26. ^ "Halo: Combat Evolved PC version on Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2006-08-22.
  27. ^ "Halo: Combat Evolved Mac version at GameSpot". Gamespot. Retrieved 2006-08-22.
  28. ^ Gibson, Ellie (2006-11-20). "Gears of War ousts Halo". Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 2006-12-22.
  29. ^ Achronos (2006-05-09). "Halo 3 Announced" (HTML). Inside Bungie. Bungie.net. Retrieved 2007-08-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ Luke Smith (Lukems) (2007-05-15). "Finish the Fight on September 25, 2007" (HTML). Bungie Software. Retrieved 2007-05-16. On September 25, 2007, players will be able to finish the fight they started in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2. Halo 3 will release in Europe on September 26, 2007
  31. ^ Microsoft Games Studio (2007). "Halo 3 Page Xbox Japan" (HTML) (in Japanese). Xbox.com/ja-JP/. Retrieved 2007-06-15. 発売日: 2007/09/27
  32. ^ a b "Halo Wars: Ensemble Interview". Kikizo. 2007-09-17.
  33. ^ "Interview: Ensemble talks up the console RTS". Computer and Video Games. 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2007-10-04. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Unknown parameter |Last= ignored (|last= suggested) (help)
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  35. ^ "Building a Spartan - Go Tell the Spartans: The Making of Slugfest". Bungie Studios. 2005-12-13. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |acessdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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