HALO COMBAT EVOLVED: NEWS

HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED- the story
It's the 26th century and mankind now faces the ultimate threat, the Covenant, a religious order composed of several blood thirsty alien races. With their highly advanced technology they've turned entire surfaces of human colony planets to molten glass. The UNSC has desperately attempted to halt their attack, but advanced technology ranging from superheated plasma weapons to nearly impenetrable shielding have proved to be more than the humans could handle. The situation continues to degrade as billions are slaughtered and more mighty UNSC ships are turned into nothing more than flaming debris.

The only hope for mankind is the SPARTAN project. These super soldiers were trained and augmented with the latest combat technology since they were just children. Their incredible abilities, coupled with power suits codenamed MJOLNIR MARK V, make them a deadly threat to the Covenant in ground engagements. The undefeated SPARTANS, after tackling dozens of other daunting missions, now have a new assignment: defend the UNSC's last major stronghold between the Covenant and Earth, the colony planet Reach.

After the human fleet gets torn apart and 700 million people on Reach are murdered from aerial attacks, the only surviving SPARTAN, Master Chief John-117, returns to the Halcyon class Cruiser, the Pillar of Autumn. In a desperate attempt to lead the Covenant away from Earth, the lone ship makes a blind jump with a great majority of the Covenant fleet that leveled Reach, in pursuit.

They find themselves in a distant and unexplored system with a big secret, a massive ring artifact orbiting the gas giant Threshold. This mysterious construct called Halo has an environment quite similar to that of earth, complete with landmasses, varying climates, and a completely breathable atmosphere. The Covenant fleet quickly begins its attack on the Pillar of Autumn which forces Captain Jacob Keyes to order an immediate evacuation. The Master Chief, the ship-board AI named Cortana, and several escape pods full of humans flee the ship before it's destroyed and make crash landings on the surface of Halo. It's now your job to survive and stop the Covenant from finding the ring's secrets.

HALO OUTAKES
What is Halo? Halo is the next title being released by Bungie Studios, creators of past great games such as the Marathon and Myth series. Bungie, now part of Microsoft's gaming division, has been known to make games that revolutionize and change genre's. The Marathon series set a new standard of science fiction with it's enthralling plot, while the Myth series of games brought a whole new level of class based strategy games. Halo certainly adds up to be another stunning addition to this already stellar track record.Halo is mainly a first-person action game, however vehicles are operated in a third-person perspective and add a new depth to combat. Players can use a total of twelve weapons and four vehicles that each serve a vital role during the player's meetings with the Covenant, a consortium of alien races bent on human destruction. The story spans nine chapters with stunningly cinematic cutscences and four different difficulties to choose from. A more in depth look at the story, and the events leading up to the game, can be found on our very own story page.Features and InnovationsGraphics and Physics By harnessing the power of the Xbox and new innovations in graphics hardware, Bungie was able to craft environments that are both expansive and highly detailed. Unprecendented texture quality with bump-mapping and an advanced lighting system and define a new level of realism and beauty for the action genre. Sparks fly, plasma shots boil out and disapate upon impact, and tracer rounds flash brilliantly through dark corridors thanks to particle system that was implemented. Inverse Kinematics allow physics to complement the eyecandy as the player sees breath-takingly fluid animations in characters and vehicles realistically reacting to the brutal terrain by bouncing, spinning and often flipping violently. Combat Halo is truly "Combat Evolved." Major strides in artificial intelligence allow enemies to dodge fire, flank their opponents, take cover, and work as a cohesive unit on the battlefield. Marine comrades react in a similar fashion and often provide the player with some much needed assistance when you find yourself grossely outnumbered. Advances in technology give Bungie the power to create battles on an epic scale. Scores of Covenant patrols advance on human forces with vehicle support both on the ground and in the air. The humans provide a hefty resistance thanks to their lethal arsenal of weapons, tanks, and jeeps. When human technology falls short, the player has the option to make use of Covenant weapons and vehicles, adding another facet to this already robust combat system. Sound and Music Few can argue against Halo's technical achievements in the field of sound. A great deal of effort was put into allowing player to hear all the unique sounds present on a battlefield. The sheer number of sounds one will encounter during the game, ranging from the crisp crackling of gravel under your feet to the jarring thud of a rifle butt impacting upon stone, truly add to the immersion. Xbox hardware gives players with 5.1 Dolby Digital setups an even better experiance. This technology will give the perception, for example, that a hissing shot of plasma is actually jetting through your room. Besides gunfire and ambient sounds, combat dialogue is quite prevalent throughout the game. Marines will yell out in terror, acknowledge your skills, and taunt the enemy. The Covenant Elites let out gutteral growls and the Grunts, a humorously high pitched chatter. The brilliantly composed soundtrack is quite unique when compared to other games thanks to its mature and cinematic sound. Multiplayer Bungie recognized that a vital part of a game's longevity lies in it's multiplayer which is divided up into two parts. The first part is cooperative mode whichl allows you and a friend to blast your way through the singleplayer campaign with a split-screen view. The second part builds off the traditional multiplayer gameplay, but takes it to a whole new level of customizability. There are 26 game modes offered with the game, each is based off of one five different base modes which are capture the flag, slayer (deathmatch), race, king of the hill, and oddball. If you wear out the preset 26 game modes, then you can create your own using the myriad of options available. More information regarding multiplayer can be found here. PC/Mac Version? Despite all the rumors and conjecture rampant on the internet, Bungie has confirmed that Halo will definitely be released for the PC and Mac platforms. Unfortunately, very little is known about the status of these versions because Bungie has yet to hammer out the details. System requirements and what extra features it'll include are still up in the air, but online play is a sure bet. More information regarding Halo's presence on these platforms will be made in the comming months.