Halo 3

***Halo 3*** is a 2007 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the *Halo* franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in 2001's *Halo: Combat Evolved* and continued in 2004's *Halo 2*. *Halo 3*'s story centers on the interstellar war between twenty-sixth century humanity, a collection of alien races known as the Covenant, and the alien parasite Flood. The player assumes the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier, as he battles the Covenant and the Flood. The game features vehicles, weapons, and gameplay elements not present in previous titles of the series, as well as the addition of saved gameplay films, file sharing, and the Forge map editor—a utility which allows the player to perform modifications to multiplayer levels.

Bungie began developing *Halo 3* shortly after *Halo 2* shipped. The game was officially announced at E3 2006, and its release was preceded by a multiplayer beta open to select players who purchased the Xbox 360 game *Crackdown*. Microsoft spent $40 million on marketing the game, in an effort to sell more game consoles and broaden the appeal of the game beyond the established *Halo* fanbase. Marketing included cross-promotions and an alternate reality game. The game was released in September 2007.

*Halo 3* grossed US$170 million in its first day of release, and $300 million its first week. More than one million people played *Halo 3* on Xbox Live in the first twenty hours. To date, *Halo 3* has sold in excess of 14.5 million copies. The game was also the best-selling video game of 2007 in the U.S. Overall, the game was very well received by critics, with the Forge and multiplayer offerings singled out as strong features; however, some reviewers criticized single-player aspects, especially the plot and campaign layout. *Halo 3* is frequently listed as one of the greatest video games of all time.

## Synopsis

### Setting

*Halo 3* is set in a science fiction setting during the years 2552 and 2553. Humanity is at war with an genocidal alliance of alien races known as the Covenant. After years of conflict, a Covenant fleet discovers Earth during *Halo 2*. "Halos" are massive ringworlds, ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter, scattered across the galaxy. These rings were constructed thousands of years ago by a race known as the Forerunners as weapons of last resort against the parasitic alien species known as the Flood. When activated, the Halos would destroy all sentient life in the galaxy, depriving the Flood of its food. The Forerunners disappeared after they activated the rings. In *Halo: Combat Evolved*, whilst fleeing the Covenant, the UNSC ship *Pillar of Autumn* stumbled upon one of these ringworlds, Installation 04. Against the wishes of the ring's artificial intelligence (AI) caretaker, 343 Guilty Spark, the human supersoldier Master Chief destroyed the ring to stop the threat from Halo and the Flood. The Covenant, unaware of the destructive nature of the rings, attempt to fire another ring, Installation 05, during *Halo 2* in order to fulfill their religious prophecy. One race in the Covenant, the Elites, learn the truth about the rings, and join forces with humanity in order to stop the installation's firing. Though they are successful, the unexpected shutdown triggers a fail-safe protocol, priming all the rings for firing from one location, referred to as the Ark. Still oblivious to the true nature of the rings, the Covenant High Prophet of Truth and the remaining loyalist Covenant proceed to head to Earth, where they believe the Ark is buried.

*Halo 3*'s protagonist is Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, an enhanced supersoldier known as a "Spartan". Master Chief fights alongside the Arbiter, a disgraced Covenant Elite commander. Two other Elite characters, N'tho 'Sraom and Usze 'Taham, appear as the third and fourth players in cooperative play. Supporting characters from previous games return, including human soldiers Avery Johnson and Miranda Keyes. Also playing a role in the story is the Flood leader known as the "Gravemind". In *Halo 2*, the Gravemind escapes from confinement, invades the Covenant mobile capital city of *High Charity*, and captures the human AI Cortana.

### Plot

After the events of the comic tie-in *Halo 2*'s *Hunt for Truth* DLC, the Master Chief arrives on Earth in east Africa, where he is found by Johnson and the Arbiter. The Chief and company return to a UNSC outpost where Keyes and Lord Hood plan a final effort to stop the Covenant leader, the High Prophet of Truth, from activating a Forerunner artifact the Covenant have excavated. The Chief clears anti-air Covenant defenses so Hood can lead the last of Earth's ships against the Prophet, but Truth activates the buried artifact, creating a slipspace portal which he and his followers enter. A Flood-infested ship crash-lands nearby; Elite forces arrive and vitrify the Flood-infected areas of Earth, stopping the threat. Following a message Cortana left aboard the Flood ship, the Chief, Arbiter, Elites, Johnson, Keyes and their troops follow Truth through the portal. Joining them is 343 Guilty Spark, who aids the Chief as he has no function to fulfill after the destruction of his ringworld.

Traveling through the portal, the humans and Elites discover an immense artificial structure known as the Ark, far beyond the edges of the Milky Way galaxy. Here, Truth can remotely activate all the Halos. The Flood arrive aboard *High Charity* in full force, beginning to infest the installation. Truth captures Johnson, as he needs a human to use Forerunner technology. Keyes is killed attempting a rescue, and Johnson is forced to activate the rings. Gravemind forges a truce with the Chief and Arbiter to stop Truth and defeat the remainder of his army, rescuing Johnson and halting the installations' activation. After the Arbiter kills Truth, Gravemind turns on the Chief and Arbiter.

The Chief, Arbiter and Guilty Spark discover that the Ark is constructing another Halo to replace the one that the Chief previously destroyed. The Chief decides to activate this Halo; the ringworld would eliminate the Flood infestation on the Ark while sparing the galaxy at large from destruction. To activate the ring, the Chief rescues Cortana, who has the Activation Index of the destroyed Halo, from *High Charity* and destroys the city. Arriving on the new Halo, Cortana warns that Gravemind is trying to rebuild itself on the ring. The Chief, Arbiter, and Johnson travel to Halo's control room to activate the ring. Guilty Spark explains that because the ring is not yet complete, a premature activation will destroy it and the Ark. When Johnson ignores his warning, Guilty Spark fatally wounds him to protect "his" ring. Although the Chief destroys Guilty Spark, Johnson soon dies of his injuries. Chief activates the ring, and escapes the ring's self-destruction on the UNSC frigate *Forward Unto Dawn*. However, the force of Halo's blast causes the slipspace portal to collapse, resulting in only the front half of *Forward Unto Dawn*, carrying the Arbiter, making it back to Earth.
A memorial service is held on Earth for the fallen heroes of the Human-Covenant war, during which the Arbiter and Lord Hood briefly exchange words regarding the fallen Master Chief. After the memorial service, the Arbiter and his Elite brethren depart for their home planet. Meanwhile, the rear half of the *Forward Unto Dawn* drifts in unknown space. Cortana drops a distress beacon, but acknowledges it may be many years before they are rescued. As the Master Chief enters cryonic sleep, Cortana confides to him that she will miss him, but he comforts her by telling her "wake me when you need me." If the game is completed at the Legendary difficulty level, the scene continues to show the piece of *Forward Unto Dawn* drifting towards an unknown planet.

## Downloadable content

The first DLC was titled *ODST* and was released on April 15, 2008. It's story was based around an ODST dropped into New Mombassa concurrent with the events of *Halo 2*. While a short campaign, it was praised for it's neo-noir styling and use of a non-superhuman player character to create additional tension.

The second DLC was titled *Reach* and was released March 3, 2009. It's story was also a prequel, taking place on Reach prior to the events of *Halo: Combat Evolved*. The main character was a Spartan-II tasked with escorting the Master Chief's frozen body to the *Pillar of Autumn* as the Covenant invade the planet. Though it was a foregone conclusion, the death of the player character at the end of the mission was shocking to many players.

The third and final story based DLC was titled *Titan* and was released on February 14, 2010. A sequel to the events of *Halo 3*, the plot takes place around an abandoned military base on the eponymous moon. Taking control of UNSC soldiers, the player character is tasked with eliminating Covenant soldiers who have occupied the base and refused to surrender following the events of the main trilogy.