Sean Alexander

Cutting to the chase – the signup is here: http://www.halo3.com/. And the Monday Night Football commercial was stunning – animated but captured with live actors and done by famed FX house Digital Domain. It made for a nice treat after launching our CTP. You can download it in HD on Xbox Live now. It’s a teaser but here’s what I think I know (spoiler alert):

• I’m convinced the two kids at the beginning are Master Chief and one of the other Spartans. The Spartans have been trained from a very young (pre-adolescent) age per the Halo books.
• We learn that first contact with the alien races had not been made when the Spartans were children, which means they exist for more worldly battles.
• The spot he’s in is the same as the kids, but gone is the lush fields, replaced with sand and tufts of dead grass.
• We see a more “human” Master Chief. His helmet was blown off by a grenade, the Warthog behind him thoroughly trashed and he’s shell shocked.
• Cortana (Chief’s AI) can be briefly heard whispering, “Chief” before the radio crackles with other groundchatter saying they’ve lost the chief. He’s still there.
• A little girl says, “Time to go”. It sounds like the little girl from earlier in the spot.
• New toys. Incoming Plasma, some sort of geodesic super-shield.
• Once more into the fray.

Here’s what we do know:

• Every object in the ad was taken from Bungie or approved by Bungie (creators of the game and owner of the license)
• It takes place near the end of the E3 trailer
• The action takes place on Earth
• More details here on Bungie’s site. http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9255

My love of Halo has waned (waiting for a new chapter) but with this ad, I had shivers like a kid again. It got me to thinking – will the Halo movie be animated like this (using live action)? The lines are blurring.

You can get a cool still frame from the movie in HD here: http://www.firingsquad.com/media/gallery_image.asp/1249/1