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Halo: Reach coming in fall 2010

By Tor Thorsen

E3 2009: During a Halo 3: ODST demo on GameSpot's show floor stage, Bungie developers narrow the launch window of its next installment in the hallowed sci-fi franchise.

LOS ANGELES--For Halo fans, the high point of Microsoft's E3 Press Conference on Tuesday was the announcement of Halo Reach, an all-new game from Bungie Studios. Staffers from the now-independent developer said that the game had been a top-secret project for some time and that it would arrive sometime in 2010.

Though Bungie did not divulge any further details at the time, many followers of the Halo series assumed that it would be based on the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach, a prequel to the game trilogy. The brief trailer (below) seemed to mimic the Eric Nylund-penned book's plot, which follows the brutal conquest of the UNSC fortress world by the multiracial religious-fanatic alliance known as the Covenant. Its final title card, "Falls 2010" (emphasis added), seemed further indication that it would re-create Fall of Reach's vicious and bleak storyline.

Now it appears that the trailer's final words were actually a hint about the game's release date. During a Halo 3: ODST demo on GameSpot's stage show on the E3 show floor, Bungie staffers took a viewer question about when the multiplayer beta for the game--set to begin sometime in 2010--would start. Their response confirmed the game itself would stick to the September to November launch window of prior Halo games.

"We don’t have an actual firm date for it yet, but I don't anticipate it being day and date with the game," one Bungie staffer said. "I can say you will need the Halo 3: ODST disc to access the beta when it does become available. I can confirm that that beta will go live sometime between the release of Halo 3: ODST on September 22 and the release of Halo: Reach next fall."

By Tor Thorsen

137 Comments

  • loopyed

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 6:16 am GMT

    i would have thought they would do something like this and I'm happy they are! I just hope that they will focus more on the single player experience like they did in Halo:C.E and what they slightly failed at in halo 2 and 3

  • darkhalo_666

    Posted Jul 15, 2009 2:57 pm GMT

    prequal but who know i think it could be a sequal

  • djnostrom

    Posted Jul 3, 2009 2:44 pm GMT

    one word...sweet

  • killersrike

    Posted Jun 22, 2009 5:56 pm GMT

    wtf!, thers going to be a new halo called halo reach!

  • gedbyz

    Posted Jun 21, 2009 11:10 pm GMT

    @DaveA6489-Your analogy about the mops was a completely horrible analogy
    sorry, but i have to say that.

    If the reviews are good I might get but if not probably not.

  • FallOfReach

    Posted Jun 20, 2009 9:04 pm GMT

    Halo: Reach really excites me if it's done right...... PLEASE STICK TO THE STORYLINE FROM THE BOOK!!

  • JunkyMcMuffin

    Posted Jun 17, 2009 9:26 pm GMT

    then its Guitar Hero:Halo 2011, Halo:the platformer 2012, Halo the Puzzler 2013, Dance Dance Revalution: Halo 2013, then finaly Halo 4 in 2014....Im tired of Halo, I think its needs a vacation till the next Xbox.

  • why9090909090

    Posted Jun 17, 2009 3:11 pm GMT

    it looks as if its when the covenant first attacked earth or whatever, because when the bomb went off the guy was like wtf?? so yeah this seems to be before the events of Halo 1, and i look forward to that because i didn't look into halo all too much outside of the games, so it would be nice to know what happened before the events of Halo 1. Looks good!

  • raza3

    Posted Jun 16, 2009 10:57 am GMT

    wtf!? it gome in 2010????

  • DarkXtasy77

    Posted Jun 14, 2009 11:07 pm GMT

    Aight so... Halo) Great game it was so new to our generation making it one of the most profital things in history.... Halo 2) Good new graphics but storyline sucked because your already to back to earth to f*ck up everyone and win then BOOM... Gameover but the multiplayer was good in that and they made more money then Halo 1.... Halo 3) 2nd best storyline kinda sh!tty ending BEST multiplayer.. but biggest disappontment because they couldve done more.... Halo ODST) a way to get people to spend $30 on something that will make MUHLAH..... Halo Reach) in a boardroom meeting with bungie "Hey bill since you wrote the sh!tty story about that sci fi game i need a new house so lets take sh!tty graphics and another cliffhanger ending so we can make another and the same slayer with the same weird announcer guy and fuse it all in a $60 disk that everyone will be hyped about so they'll give us money"

  • biggy887766

    Posted Jun 14, 2009 1:18 am GMT

    yes it is milking the cash cow but as long as its good people will buy it. Besides its not like master chief is the only part of the halo universe

  • billaboy69

    Posted Jun 13, 2009 12:34 pm GMT

    they really want that money.they are spitting these things out one per year now.thats whats great about the popularity of games.the more money they generate,the bigger the production staffs get, which makes games come out faster and still have great content.the question is,will we have th money to keep spending on all these games.its not like it used to b where ud buy 3 or 4 games a year.now its which game will i buy next month.LONG LIVE THE WORLD OF GAMING AND ITS FOLLOWERS.

  • nicktaylor326

    Posted Jun 13, 2009 9:13 am GMT

    Reminds me of the opening from Homeworld, eerily similar music too...

  • Sapphire-D

    Posted Jun 13, 2009 4:59 am GMT

    Looks interesting! Looking forward to playing it!

  • lukas1051 posted Jun 13, 2009 2:22 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    lukas1051

    Posted Jun 13, 2009 2:22 am GMT (hide)

    Another Halo game... Seriously MS, drop it, the franchise isnt THAT good, and it just seems to be getting quite tired now. From what I've seen, I haven't exactly been excited.

  • Gothic-360

    Posted Jun 12, 2009 8:39 pm GMT

    this gonna be awesome... but tecnically is not a full game, just an expansion, but with full 60$ price... I dont care that much about if its 40 or 60(because 9/22/09 is close to mi birthday) I hope halo reach will be badass...

  • ZeerusX

    Posted Jun 12, 2009 1:46 pm GMT

    Not only that, but the animation just looks SO canned compared to newer shooters. They look like they move like there ice skating.

  • ZeerusX

    Posted Jun 12, 2009 1:42 pm GMT

    Looks incredibly gimicky.

    Not only that, but the graphics look like crap compared to true next-gen games.

    All this is is a late-gen re-skin of Halo 3 to get more money in the coffers.

  • Athonline

    Posted Jun 11, 2009 1:56 pm GMT

    The original Halo was the best IMO, Halo 2 multiplayer was better than Halo 1. Halo 3, worse out of the three, the story is still AAA but the gameplay for me it was more like been there, done that, some features however on multiplayer were great and fun, too bad. Halo is one of the best sci-fi FPS series(maybe the best on consoles), but still Half-Life series is the best imo.

  • StegrShmil

    Posted Jun 10, 2009 12:18 pm GMT

    @ vicktortm

    I hope it is basically the same. Halo is the best sci fi first person shooter out there, and therefore should not change.