BLOG about halo : A shortest time software thing blog

HALO  BLOG

Halo was released in 2001 and since then the military science fiction franchise has become a massive success. Twenty years later Master Chief is still relevant with the latest Halo game being released in 2021. So, let’s travel back in time and see where it all started. This is the Evolution of Halo! Halo: Combat Evolved was the first game in the Halo series developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Before being acquired by Microsoft,

 Bungie was already working on Combat Evolved as a third-person shooter game intended for Windows and Macintosh. "The Dropzone is clear." However, they were facing financial difficulties, which made them contact several companies that would be interested in acquiring them, including Microsoft. At the time, Microsoft was planning to enter thevideo game console market with the Xbox. When the Xbox was released on November 15, 2001, Halo was also released as a launch title for the console. Microsoft understood that they had to put their best foot forward if they were going to compete with the already established PlayStation 2. So, Halo:

 Combat Evolved became anexclusive first-person shooter title for the Xbox. At first Bungie wanted to make a third-person shooter game, but this was later changed to first-person. Halo is a futuristic game set in the twenty-sixth century. As the player, you assume the role of Master Chief while accompanied by artificial intelligence, Cortana. Your objective is to uncover the secrets of theartificial world of Halo while battling aliens.  Halo was released at a time when most shooter games weren’t that good and had unimpressive graphics. Halo had sophisticated AI and graphics for its era and immediately set a new standard for video games.

 Another impressive feature of this game was the 3D environment that allowed players to move around. Players could crouch or jump and get to experience combat either on foot or in a vehicle, ranging from armored tanks to alien aircraft. With a split-screen mode, you could invite your friends over to your placeto engage in an intense shootout. The game also included five competitive multiplayer modes, for between two and 16 players. The multiplayer was very well received and considered to be one of the best multiplayer games at the time. Halo wasn’t an instant runaway success, but over the years players learned to love the game. In total 4.2 million copies were sold for the Xbox  and another 670,000 copies were sold for the computer. 

The game earned Microsoft $192 million dollars. Fun Fact Did you know that the original title of the game was intended to be simply “Halo”? Microsoft Game Studios added “Combat Evolved” because they believed that “Halo” was not descriptive enough. Due to the success of the first Halo game, Halo 2 was highly anticipated and released in 2004. The graphics were improved, and new elements and enemies were added to make the game more exciting. In addition players could assume the roles of Master Chief as well as the alien Arbiter. For the first time players could also play Halo online with Xbox Live. The game became the most popular title on Xbox Live, until 2 years later when Gears of War was released. Halo 2 was an instant success. 

Three weeks before the game was released, several stores across the US alone had a presale record of over 1.5 million copies of the game! On the day of its release, over 7,000 video game stores stayed opened at midnight to sell copies of the game to excited fans. This led to Halo 2 making $100 million dollars on its opening day! Halo 2 was a commercial success, and is often listed as one of the greatest video games of all time. In total, a whopping 8 million copies of the game were sold! Almost immediately after the release of Halo 2, Bungie started working on Halo 3, which was released in 2007. It was an exclusive game for the Xbox 360. The Story of Halo 3 centers on the interstellar war between twenty-sixth century humanity and the alien parasite Flood. The game concludes the story arc begun withHalo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2. 

The online multiplayer was improved. The game features new weapons, vehicles, as well as gameplay elements not found in the previous titles in the series. With Forge map editor, players could modify maps in multiplayer levels and insert or remove game objects, such as weapons and vehicles. Microsoft spent $40 million dollars on marketing the game in an effort to broaden the appeal of thegame beyond the established Halo fanbase. The marketing strategy worked and in the first 24 hours alone more than 1 million people played Halo 3 on Xbox Live. In the first day of release Halo 3 grossed $170 million dollars! To date Halo 3 has sold in excess of 14.5 million copies! Halo also won several awards including“Game of the Year” by Time magazine.  

While the Halo series was a commercial success, Bungie could no longer cope with the rate at which Microsoft expected them to produce new games. Following the release of Halo 3, Bungie announced it was splitting from Microsoft to become an independent company again, while still working on some Halo games. However, Microsoft passed the torch of leadership to 343 Industries,  an internal division responsible for the Halo series.  Fun Fact in the three years it took to develop Halo 3, Bungie Studios employees consumed 1,000 pounds of bananas, 24,000 gallons of soda and 20,000 pounds of pizza. Halo Wars is the first spin-off game from the Halo series developed by Ensemble Studios and releasedexclusively for the Xbox 360 in 2009.

 Halo Wars is a real-time strategy game in which players command armies from a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield.  The game is set in the twenty-sixth century, 21 years prior to the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. The campaign can be played aloneor cooperatively over the Xbox Live service. In this spin-off, players don’t assume the role of Master Chief but control armies of the UNSC units. Players control the armies to fight against the Covenant whose mission is to wipe out all of humanity. The Spirit of Fire is a set of new characters with the commander, Captain James Cutter.  Generally the game was well-received by fans and critics.

 Scott Steinberg from Digital Trends said that, Critics said the game lacked depth, control features and the campaign was rather short, with only 15 missions. In the year Halo Wars was released 1 million copies were sold, which made it the best-selling console real-time-strategy game. In total 2 million copies of the game were sold. Also released in 2009 was Halo 3: ODST, which was developed by Bungie. The story continues during and after the events of Halo 2.

 In the campaign players explore the ruined city of New Mombasa to discover what happened to their missingteammates in the midst of an alien invasion. Players do not assume the role of Master Chief, but instead control human soldiers, known as “Orbital Drop Shock Troopers”, which abbreviates to ODST, hence the name of the game. "Relax rookie, you don't mean nothing. Besides, now is one of thoose times Pays to be strong, silent type." ODSTs aren’t as fast, jump as high or have the advanced armor and reflexes of Master Chief though. The game also came with multiplayer modes. In total the game offered 21 multiplayer maps, as well as 3 additional maps that were later released. ODST also contains a cooperative game mode called Firefight, where players take on increasingly difficultwaves of enemies in a timed survival game. Initially ODST was conceived as a small side project. However, during development, the planned expansion grew in scope to that of a full-size game and because of that people had to pay $60 dollars for the game. 

This led to some criticism that ODST was not worth the price tag. Nonetheless the game garnered generally positive reviews. In total over 5 million copies were sold. Fun Fact From 2004 to 2010, 20 billion Halo games were played online. Resulting in 2 billion hours or 235,000 years of play time! In 2010 Halo: Reach was released which was also developed by Bungie. The game is a direct prequel to the first Halo game. The story takes gamers back in time before the first Halo game, namely the year 2552. The human world known as Reach is lockedin a war with the alien Covenant. Players assume the role of Noble Six, a member of an elite supersoldier squad known as the Noble Team. 

Microsoft gave Halo Reach its biggest game marketing budget ever and even created award-winning live action commercials.  Halo Reach features new weaponsas well as updated versions of old weapons. Players can also carry single-use equipment power-ups that offer temporary offensive or defensive strategies. The game set a new record for the franchise and grossed $200 million dollars on its launch day! Halo Reach was very well received, many, such as GamePro and IGN, even called it the best Halo title ever. The graphics and sound were praised, but the plot and characters were less positively received. Many people also loved the Multiplayer modes, such as slayer and capture the flag, as well as new game types to the franchise. 

It even won “Best multiplayer” by Spike. In total 4.7 million copies of Halo Reach were sold. Fun Fact Many of the Army troopers and Marines encountered in the game are named after Bungie employees and notable community members. In 2011 Halo celebrated its 10th anniversary with the release of Combat Evolved Anniversary.  It was a remastered version of the original game, that updated graphics and sound. It also includes cooperative play over Xbox Live, achievements and in-game collectibles. In addition, it was the first Halo game to include Kinect support. If we compare the two games we can see how much the graphics have evolved over a ten year period. Halo 4 is the first of the Halo series developed by 343 Industries for the Xbox 360. It is the fourth mainline installment and the story follows Master Chief who battles against a new faction that splintered off the remnants of the Covenant. 

The game features a new selection of weapons, enemies and game modes. One of the goals of Halo 4 was to incorporate more human elements. "I need you." Therefore developers chose to create a deeperrelationship between Master Chief and Cortana. Microsoft stated that Halo 4 was the most expensive video game title the company had created so far and over 350 people worked on the game. But it all paid off as Halo 4 set another record and grossed $220 million dollars on its opening day. The game was marketed with promotional events and videos, including the creation of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, which is a live-action film. "I'm your best chance for survival." The campaign can be played alone or cooperatively with up to 3 other players through Xbox Live. More than 1 million people played Halo 4 within the first 24 hours of its release on Xbox Live. In multiplayer mode players can customize their Spartan-IV super-soldier, and progress through ranks by earning experience pointsfrom completing matches and challenges. 

Just like previous Halo titles players could also use Forge, a map-editing tool for multiplayer maps. Halo 4 became another success, with almost 10 million copies sold worldwide. Halo: Spartan Assault was released in 2014. It was a top-down shooter game. The game is based on the events that happened between Halo 3 and 4. It became the first Halo title to also be playable on mobile devices. The game received mixed reviews. While some praised the game for its authentic Halo look and feel, others considered it a great disappointment. The microtransaction features of the gamealso received a lot of negative feedback. In 2014 a successor of the game was releasedknown as Halo: Spartan Strike. Players could use new weapons, vehicles, armor abilities in a campaign mode of 30 missions. The game was generally considered to be animprovement compared to its predecessor and it did not feature microtransactions.

 However, the lack of multiplayer features was criticized. Fun Fact Over 11 million Halo books including novels, comics, and strategy guides have been sold worldwide!  Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a compilation of Halo games released for the Xbox One in 2014.  The compilation includes Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo 4, and all their original multiplayer modes. Microsoft described it as the ultimate Halo experience. According to Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s Xbox division, the collection originally began just as an idea to create Halo 2: Anniversary, since it was the 10th anniversary of the game. "Gentlemen, We're lucky to have you back." During the development, 343 Industries decided to put all of the games featuring Master Chief on one disc. 

Each game received a graphical upgrade. The Master Chief Collection was well receivedfor its updated audio and graphics. However, many people were disappointed with its multiplayer aspect due to several bugs that gave users a bad experience. The bugs were later fixed in post-release patches.  An enhanced version was released in 2020 for the Xbox Series X and S. "Tell that to the Covenant." In 2014 Halo 5: Guardians was released as a sequel to Halo 4 and was also developed by 343 Industries. The story follows two fireteams of human supersoldiers: the Blue Team led by Master Chief and Fireteam Osiris led by Spartan Locke. New to the series are “Spartan abilities” that replace the Armor Abilities of previous games. Unlike other main instalments of Halo, Halo 5 does not feature split-screen, since the focus was on online play with Xbox Live. On launch there were twenty multiplayer maps and the game also included new multiplayermodes one of which was Warzone.  The overall gameplay and multiplayer were well received. Halo 5 even won several awards including “Best Multiplayer” and “Best Shooter” by Game Revolution. 

However, the single-player campaign received divided responses. Most of the criticisms were directed at its story, writing, and ending. Halo 5: Guardians was a critical and commercial success setting a new record with over $400 million dollarsin sales in its first 24 hours! In total 9.5 million copies of Halo 5 were sold. Fun Fact The Halo franchise is a massive success and has generated $10 billion dollars for Microsoft in total! A sequel to Halo Wars was released in 2017, with Halo Wars 2. The game was set 28 years after the original Halo War and shortly after the events of Halo 5 to make the story correspondwith the current timeline of the Halo franchise. The game has 6 different multiplayer modes. Each mode has different objectives that involve battling waves of enemies, controlling territories, or constructing a new base.  Halo Wars 2 wasn’t as well received thoughas many of the other Halo games. And finally there is Halo infinite which will be released at the end of 2021 and is one of the most anticipated Xbox games.

 It will be released for Windows, Xbox One and the Xbox Series X and S. It continues the story of the Master Chief and is the third chapter of the “Reclaimer Saga”. According to Microsoft it will be Master Chiefs greatest adventure yet to save humanity and the storyline will be much more human, with Master Chief playing a more central role than in Halo 5. Halo Infinite will feature split-screen again, in response to the backlash of its removal in Halo 5.  Following the gameplay reveal for Halo Infinite in 2020 many were disappointed over the graphics and performance. Eurogamer even said The general manager of Xbox marketing responded that it was still work-in-progress and that the final game would look much better. Perhaps it’s a good thing the game is delayed, I’m looking at you Cyberpunk.  Halo Infinite also has a free-to-play multiplayer. The multiplayer looks very promising and I’m looking forward to be able to play it later this year! It’s been 20 years since the first Halo game was released and to this day Halo keeps thriving and improving.  What is your favorite Halo game? And are you also excited for Halo Infinite? Let us know in the comments! These videos take a lot of time to create, so please subscribe!