Much Hyped Halo 3 Arrives to Great Reviews

The countdown to the long awaited release of Halo 3 has nearly completed. It's the biggest game of the year and the buzz and hype behind the game has been noted repeatedly by bloggers and journalists over the past several weeks. The game has already sold over 1.25 million copies worldwide in pre-orders alone. It is a crucial must-succeed game for Microsoft and the Xbox console which has been carried on Master Chief's soldiers ever since the first Halo game. i4u reports that game is receiving great reviews from game reviewers so it looks like Halo 3 will live up to the enormous hype. GameSpy said Halo 3 lives up in the hype and that the game is the reason many people bought an Xbox 360.

For many gamers, Halo 3 is the reason they bought an Xbox 360. As the biggest title in the 360's arsenal, Halo 3 is undoubtedly the most hyped game in existence. Notice, however, that we didn't say over-hyped. We've put in some serious hours reviewing this game, and after several exhaustive playthroughs both solo and co-op as well as countless bloodthirsty multiplayer rounds, we can announce that Halo 3 is everything that it needed to be to fulfill our wildest gaming fantasies... and then Bungie showed us The Forge.

We've also listed some review links at the boom of this post. With glowing reviews like these Halo 3 may be the reason many more people decide to buy an Xbox 360.

In Halo 3 Master Chief returns to protect Earth from the Covenant. The Covenant is an alliance of alien races determined to exterminate humanity. Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN-117 - aka Master Chief - is the last of a group of special supersoldiers genetically and cybernetically engineered to defeat the Convenant. The first-person shooter game can be played as a solo game or as a multiplayer game with up to four other people on Xbox live. The game can be played on a regular Xbox 360 but there is also a $399 Xbox 360 Halo 3 Special Edition for die-hard Halo fans.

There are several product tie-ins related to this blockbuster release from Bungie. USA Today reports that Marvel Comics has a special four-issue Halo Uprising series. Todd McFarlane has even designed special Halo 3 controllers and miniature action figures. There was even a Halo 3 car in the Dover NASCAR race. There's also the upcoming Halo movie -- more details on that here.

PC World reports that a pirated version has found its way on to the Internet. Microsoft will be trying to shut that down as quickly as possible.

At midnight tonight Halo 3 will finally be sold in stores and the buzz and hype can move on to the next hyped-up game. Even Bungie may look into other projects now that Halo 3 is complete. In the meantime, here are some more Halo 3 resources to keep you in the know.

Halo 3 Official Website

Develper Bungie's Halo 3 website.

Xbox's Halo Central.

Amazon.com's Halo 3 page.

Halo 3 Trailers: Gametrailers.com, Yahoo, YouTube

Halo Resources: Halomega, Wikipedia entry, Halopedia's Halo 3 entry -- note: there are spoilers here.

Halo 3 blog posts: Technorati, Google Blog Search

Reviews: Ars Technica, GameSpy, GamePro, IGN, 1UP, EuroGamer, GamesRadar, teamXbox, PALGN, Destructoid,CVG, 2old2play, Shacknews, Xbox360 Fanboy,Aeropause,MTV Multiplayerblog,PC World, Firing Squad and Kotaku. Techmeme also has some review links.