Halo

Halo, first-person shooter (played from the point of view of the shooter) electronic game developed by Bungie Studios and released in 2001 by the Microsoft Corporation for its Xbox console. Using state-of-the-art graphics, sophisticated genre improvements, and an array of weapons and vehicles, Halo’s first release, Combat Evolved, was a resounding triumph that helped make the launch of the Xbox a success in the console gaming market.

In Halo, players control Master Chief, a super soldier who is trying to uncover the mystery of a strange object, the Halo. The majority of enemies a player encounters are a part of the Covenant, an alien race bent on destruction. The Covenant is broken up into several classes, which include grunts, elites, hunters, and jackals, all of which have certain tendencies, weaknesses, and strengths. Players also encounter the Flood, a parasitic alien that takes over human and Covenant soldiers and causes havoc. Gamers are often flanked by computer-controlled allies who provide covering fire and support in tough battles. By allowing players to use a variety of items and weaponry in different situations, Halo won fans with a system that was easy to learn but also skill-intensive enough to provide a challenge for veteran gamers.

Viewed as one of the most important video game releases in history, the first version of Halo sold more than five million copies and spawned a number of sequels. Multiplayer game play, a weak point of the first release, was greatly improved in Halo 2 (2004), which quickly became one of the most popular titles on the Xbox Live online play network. Halo 3 (2007) concluded the story of Master Chief and continued the franchise’s success, grossing more than $300 million in the first week of its release. Halo: Reach (2010) introduced a new cast of characters—the elite military force Noble Team—in a single-player story line that served as a prequel to the original Combat Evolved. With highly customizable game play and a robust multiplayer matchmaking system that integrated aspects of social networking sites, Halo: Reach was hugely popular, with more than $200 million in global sales in the first 24 hours after its release.