September 25 was a day for the history books. All across the globe, gamers gathered to witness and, ideally, obtain a fabled copy of their long awaited prize, shipped from the Studios of Bungie Software to the nearest game store.
Halo 3.
Never has any other first-person shooter reached this height of anticipated status.
Surprisingly, the first Halo was initially conceived as a real-time strategy game. In 1999, however, Bungie Studios stated that the early build of the game was based on a real-time tactical strategy model, much like the company’s earlier success, “Myth”. Unlike Myth, the new game would take place in a science-fiction setting. By 2000, the demonstration of the game was completely different than it’s early inception, and advocated a third-person shooter mode with pilot-able vehicles such as the all-terrain “Warthog”.
Little did Bungie know that their project was going to grow into one of the biggest video game franchises of all time.
The game evolved as a space opera with numerous influences from other science-fiction works. The Halo, a ring-like space habitat, can be seen as a reference to sci-fi author Larry Niven’s Ringworld. The bio-engineered and cybernetics enhanced super soldier breeding concept can be compared to the children raised by warfare from Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game.”
In June of 2000, Microsoft, looking for a company with a game it could acquire to accompany its new console, saw something special in Halo and announced plans to acquire Bungie Studios. The game became exclusive to the XBOX, and Bungie rewrote the build as a first-person shooter.
Bungie’s space opera was released alongside the XBOX on November 15, 2001. It was received with mixed reactions. Many critics accused the game of having dull level design. However, the sheer fun of the involved storyline help balanced its flaws.
The first person-shooter genre had caught on in the console world and its denizens wanted more of Master Chief. This player-controlled character received instant fame, rivaling the likes of Mario, Mega-Man, Sonic, and Samus Aran from Nintendo’s Metroid series.
Riding on their success, Bungie began production on Halo 2 in 2002. It was showcased in 2003, displaying a new graphics engine with bump-mapped textures. Master Chief sported new armor, and the war between humanity and the fanatical alien race the Covenant was brought to our home planet, Earth. The game utilized the Havok physics engine to give a gravitational realism to the in-game world. It also gave players the much-needed ability to wield multiple weapons at once.
Following development, Microsoft promoted the game as much as they could with trailers, product sponsors, and etc. Halo 2 was released in 2004 and was considered one of the best sequels ever produced. The graphics were beautiful, the soundtrack was on par with great cinematic musical compositions, and with the use of XBOX Live Internet service, Halo 2 had multiplayer function that proved to be a phenomenal success. XBOXusers logged on for countless hours, fragging multi-colored Master Chiefs controlled by other players on Deathmatch and Capture-The-Flag servers.
The release of Halo 2 was not without criticism. The single-player campaign was too short for some reviewers and the abrupt cliffhanger ending was dissatisfying to many. But Bungie and Microsoft were not done yet.
In 2006, a cinematic trailer reunited Master Chief with fans of the Halo universe.
During the game’s production, the advertising campaign for Halo 3 was unprecedented. Real-time CGI trailers brought home the message that Halo players still needed to “Finish the fight.” Director Peter Jackson cooperated with Bungie towards the production of a Halo movie (work on the project is currently halted). The epic nature of the storyline in Halo 3 was used in the “Believe” campaign, a series of short documentaries that depict marines recounting their personal experiences with war. There is even a product tie-in by a limited edition Mountain Dew beverage called “Game Fuel”. The sheer amount of advertisement is equal to that of an epic movie like “Star Wars” or “Lord of the Rings.”
In September 25, 2007, Halo 3 was released. This was truly a red-carpet event. Hundreds lined up on the eve of release to grab their copy. Some more dedicated members of the Halo universe dressed up as the Master Chief himself.
In a university prank, MIT students visited the Harvard campus and transformed a statue of John Harvard to appear as Master Chief with his trademark assault rifle, in a reference to Master Chief’s original name, John 117.
The game’s reviews thus far have been mixed. There have been complaints about the packaging as many customers found scratches on their Limited Edition games due to the faulty hub that holds the discs. The single player campaign is being booed as too short, as in Halo 2, and some levels are felt to be uninspiring and dull. The Multiplayer feature, some game -+review sites claim, accounts for most of the reason to purchase the new installment.
The Forge mode is one of the highlights of the game, allowing players to create their own maps. There’s also the Movie mode, where players can make clips of their death-match feats.
A person can argue that Halo is just like (and no better than) any other first person shooter. Regardless of the truth of this statement, there is no denial that the game console community has been given a first-person franchise they could be proud of. The PC gaming community has Duke Nukem, the Doom marine, Gordon Freeman of the Half Life series, Ding Chavez of Rainbow Six, and numerous others; The XBOX console community can proudly claim Master Chief as their own. Whether the newest installment is groundbreaking or not, what counts is the enjoyable experience, and that’s what Bungie, Microsoft, and John 117 provide best.