Halo is a highly popular video game series belonging to the science fiction genre. Between 2001 and 2007, Bungie Studios released three games in this series: Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 and Halo 3 .
The main storyline revolves around Master Chief, a super soldier powered by cybernetics and his Articficial Intelligence (AI) companion, Cortana. They belong to a futuristic human race, which battles the Covenant, a theocratic alliance of aliens. The “Halo” in the story refers to the large mega structures, or installations, and high-end weapons used in the game series.
In the background story talks of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine which allows inter-galactic travel. Headed by the United Nations Space Command (UNSC), more than 800 planets are colonized in the next 200 years. These colonies are categorized as inner and outer colonies. The inner colonies are closer to the earth and are more developed. Those further out are the outer colonies which are often in rebellion. The UNSC creates the SPARATAN II project to quell these rebellions and hold the colonies together. However, in 2535, the UNSC faces its worst crisis in the form of the Covenant, which declares humans are the enemies of the Gods.
The first of the Halo series trilogy, Halo: Combat Evolved , was released in November 2001. The story begins around 2552 when the Covenant occupies the UNSC’s last outpost – Reach. The last-known survivor from SPARATAN II and our hero, Master Chief, escapes with the help of Cortana to Installation 04. It is here that he battles the Covenant, but the Covenant releases the Flood, an alien parasite. The Master Chief is forced to activate the defenses of Halo to destroy the Flood. In Halo: First Strike , the Master Chief returns to reach and team up with other survivors of SPARATAN II. They attack a strategic military base of the Covenant. This temporarily stalls the attack on Earth planned by the Covenant.
In Halo 2 , the Covenant attacks the Earth, is badly beaten and escapes to Installation 05. He is killed by the Master Chief, an incident that sparks a schism in the Covenant ranks between the Brutes and the Elites. This stand off results into a situation where all Halo installations can be activated from the Ark. Master Chief escapes in a forerunner vessel headed for Earth, which the Covenant has already conquered. The battle for winning Earth back is the backdrop for the third series in the trilogy – Halo 3 .
Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 were released as Xbox titles, while Halo 3 is an Xbox 360 title. Halo 2 & 3 also support online multiplayers via Xbox LIVE. This highly popular game series has created a fan base similar to that of the Star Wars series, and the Halo fans call themselves “the Halo nation”. Many novels and other licensed products have been inspired by the series including the Mountain Dew soft drink. Their popularity and impact can be seen from the record-breaking sales figures. More than 20 million copies of all three Halo games were sold by the end of October 2007.
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