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GAMING FEATURE

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HaloWars

Obviously, Microsoft and Bungie severing their connection certainly wasn’t it for Halo. A new studio, 343 Industries, was set up to carry the mainline Halo torch onwards, and the “Reclaimer Trilogy” was eventually born. It kicked off with Halo 4 , which launched in November 2012. Continuing to hone the established formula, it also saw the drop of a post-release story-driven multiplayer campaign, entitled Spartan Ops , which rounded out the main campaign’s tale. The following year saw the release of another spinoff game, delivering a whole bunch of arcade-influenced twin-stick shooting fun in Halo: Spartan Assault . It initially released on Windows and Windows Phone, before lobbing on Xbox early in 2014. Come October 2015, it was time for the first native Xbox One Halo to shine, in the form of Halo 5: Guardians . It saw Master Chief go AWOL with his team, with the player switching between he and his charges as they search for Cortana, and Fireteam Osiris.

After a long wait, it’s finally time to say “hello Halo!” again this month with the arrival of Halo Infinite . 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the franchise that launched the original Xbox, so let’s take a look back at some of the milestones along the way. Words Amy Flower W ith Microsoft joining the home console fray in 2001, there was a need to make a big splash with a Covenant scourge. Popular new additions to the gameplay included the ability to duel-wield weaponry, and full support for online multiplayer. In late 2007, Halo 3 rounded out the story of the initial trilogy, adding “killer app”. That killer app was Halo: Combat Evolved from developers Bungie, and none of the wildest dreams of anybody involved could have visualised how big their Xbox launch game would become. At the centre of the franchise is the story

After the success of Halo Wars years earlier, it was no surprise

that another RTS Halo was announced, in 2017’s sequel Halo Wars 2 . It aimed to adhere closer to the ongoing story of the current trilogy than the previous release did, which was accomplished by jumping forward some 28 years, bang into the middle of the mainline series goings-on. And now we’re up to date, with Halo Infinite set to complete the Reclaimer Trilogy, and stretch the limits of new-gen Xbox Series X|S consoles. With Microsoft promising the most expansive Master Chief campaign yet, there’s a lot for Halo fans to get excited about.

a selection of new weapons and vehicles, as well as a popular map editor, allowing players to tweak existing multiplayer maps. A real-time strategy spinoff, Halo Wars , emerged for the Xbox 360 in 2009. From a different

of Master Chief John-17, a super-soldier member of a group codenamed Spartans, as well as his AI companion – a name that will be familiar to Windows users – Cortana. The Spartans are on one side of an interstellar war between humans and an alien alliance known as The Covenant. Following its initial success,

Halo: Combat Evolved

development team, it was set 21 years before events of Halo:

TO INFINITE AND BEYOND! As of early 2021, the Halo franchise had sold 81 million units. That’s a whole lot of Master Chief!

Combat Evolved , and delivered satisfying military combat for

Halo: Combat Evolved became the first of a trio of games from Bungie, now known simply as the “Original Trilogy”. It laid the template for what was to come, delivering a gameplay combination of first-person shooting via an ever-expanding arsenal of wild sci-fi inspired weaponry and third-person driving, in vehicles named after animals that range from the Kestrel and Mongoose through to the now legendary Warthog series. 2004 saw the release of Halo 2 , a continuation of Master Chief’s fight against The

those with less of a penchant for all-out action. Meanwhile, shooter fans got to play with Halo 3: ODST from Bungie, putting them into the boots of the United Nations Space Command, or Orbital Drop Ship Troopers. FPS Halo: Reach then launched in 2010,

Halo Infinite

which ended up being Bungie’s Halo swansong. This was also a prequel to the original game, still involving the fight against The Covenant as our heroes battle to protect the human world.

• Halo Infinite is out Dec 9

10 DECEMBER 2021

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