Halo: the universe, the fiction, the movie, and the 4th installment

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I recently revisted and finished the first Halo game, via the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition. What a treat. That moment where you find the recording in Jenkin’s helmet camera and discover the flood? The moment where a game that was just beginning to get painfully repetitive in its level design, suddenly becomes frantic as you try to escape the flood that are chasing you; the moment you first step out of the pelican to gaze upward at this ring-world you’re on; the moment when Cortana picks a fight with 343 Guilty Spark – each a classic moment in Halo history.

As excited as I am for next week’s release of Halo 4, I can’t even begin to express how much I really care for this saga. The universe that 343 Industries has been charged with maintaining is incredible. The fiction already spans almost as many characters and locales as the Star Wars universe. Core games in the Halo story line keep me enthralled, and you can imagine how badly I want to play Halo 3 over again before Halo 4 launches! But, rumor has it that a local retailer may be selling copies of Halo 4 early. If that turns out to be true, my weekend plan of catching up on Halo 3 might just be shot! 😉

But let’s not forget about Halo 4’s “Forward Unto Dawn” series. If you haven’t heard of it, you will, yet. The video series has been released on YouTube, but when it is compiled, it will be nearly 90 minutes of live action Halo bliss! That’s right, the first Halo movie. It had a ten million dollar budget and the last episode in the series was released on Machinima.com’s YouTube channel today, so go check out Halo 4 Forward Unto Dawn. If having more Halo fiction wasn’t enough, each episode of Forward Unto Dawn contains a short clip of what has been happening since we last saw Master Chief and Cortana at the end of Halo 3. Time for your refresher course, Halo 3 comes out in just a few days. I know what games I’ll be unwinding with this weekend!