The Hindsight: Halo 3 series concludes with our article on the final level of the game: Halo. We’ll take an in-depth look at the replacement for Installation 04, and hopefully uncover some yet-to-be-revealed secrets about this newly-created ringworld.

To commemorate the occasion, Bungie mission designer Dan Miller – the designer in charge of this level – has kindly agreed to provide commentary, offering some insight into the production of this mission.

So, click the link below to be taken to the Hindsight: Halo 3 page, where you’ll find the Halo article – complete with Dan’s comments – as well as the pre- and post-credit cutscene articles.

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Join us as we plunge into the depths of what was once High Charity… where the gameplay is questionable, and the writing unparalled. With references stretching as far back as 1999 – before Halo:CE was even announced – this level contains some of the most interesting and enjoyable dialogue of the entire trilogy.

Hit the link below to be taken to our Hindsight: Halo 3 page.

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Looking at the peril and promise of a Halo film…

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Experience demonstrated that whatever the Helljumpers managed to accomplish during the first so-called golden hour would have a disproportionate effect on the success or failure of the entire mission.

– Halo: The Flood

At 2008’s Tokyo Game Show, Bungie released the second part of the teaser for their new project, along with a slew of interviews; and the Halo community’s theories were proven correct, as the lone drop pod that fell from the sky landed, and an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper emerged from it.

A great deal of the questions regarding the plot of the game have been answered along with this reveal – the game is confirmed to take place during Halo 2, while the Chief and the main cast of characters are on Delta Halo; it has also been officially stated to be a first-person shooter – and not a tactical, squad-based game.  Lastly, it is planned for release in Fall of 2009, alongside Halo 3 multiplayer maps (no worries, though, since it has been confirmed that the next map pack will be released in early 2009).

While much information has been revealed, Bungie’s latest teaser trailer still demands a closer look – so read on for our analysis of the announcement trailer for Halo 3: Recon.

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A detailed account of how the beloved science fiction of Aliens influenced the Halo trilogy.

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And here we are, now one full year after the launch of Halo 3, yet still, Bungie’s managed to rekindle the same fervor and excitement garnered in those months prior to the game’s release. The interesting fact which has emerged from yesterday’s reveal is that this same excitement is somehow still in support of the same exact game – Halo 3.

In the weeks leading up to this year’s E3, Bungie began dropping interesting viral quips from a clever face that we’ve come to know as “The Superintendent.” This character perused Bungie’s forum offering advice to random members, telling them to “keep it clean” or to “proceed with caution.” These short bursts of marketing pollination culminated in a countdown for a teaser reveal during the Electronic Entertainment Expo’s final day. As controversy would have it, the countdown plans were changed by Microsoft in an effort to balance their pool of announcements for that event.

Fast forward to September 25, 2008, where we’ve already had a pair of short, but illuminating Bungie.net updates releasing cryptic information about the Superintendent, who he is and what he does. With all of the earmarks of the Halo franchise, it didn’t take a much closer inspection to realize that this project, whatever it might be, was deeply involved with the Halo fiction.

Making amends for the events of E3, Bungie released the 60-second teaser yesterday, which, with the pieces of the lead-up communiques on Bungie.net, make a pretty compelling case for an interesting expansion to the story of Halo.

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Hindsight: Halo 3 continues its campaign breakdown with the seventh level of the game.  Warthogs speeding through lush alien forests, intense aerial battles, double Scarab action, and even the death of a Prophet – this one has it all. Click the link below to be taken to the Hindsight: Halo 3 page, where you’ll find the series’ eighth installment – The Covenant.

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The conclusion to a series covering the design methodology of encounters found in the Halo trilogy…

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Admittedly, this was not the first time I had visited the West Coast.

My previous trip to this side of the country took me to Los Angeles, helping write a low-budget film for a friend. But even with that reckless abandon of all responsibility, it was not preceded by anywhere near the anticipation and glee which accompanied my trip just this last weekend. So, after a pair of mechanical failures, two hours sitting in a hot airplane while watching the first half of the psychological horror/romantic comedy known as Fool’s Gold and finally six additional hours of travel, I arrived in downtown Seattle for PAX ’08.

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Although the third and final “Architecture of War” article has been in the can for a while, I’ve been wanting to do a piece on a completely different part of the Halo universe. Next week, we’ll be looking at “The Enemy,” the final element of our series on encounters, but for now, we’re going to do something just a bit different…

The following is a detailed look at the history and nature of the Gravemind, as well as an exegesis on the Flood parasite and its various forms…

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