You The Last of Your Kind!
Bred for Combat, Built for War.
You are the Master and Fear No Enemy.
Bent on Humankind's extermination, a powerful fellowship of alien races known as the Covenant is wiping out the Earth's fledgling interstellar empire. You and the other surviving defenders of a devastated colony-world make a desperate attempt to lure the alien fleet away from Earth. Shot down and marooned on the ancient ring-world Halo, you begin a guerilla-war against the Covenant. Fight for humanity against an alien onslaught as you race to uncover the mysteries of Halo.

Halo, the award-winning and critically acclaimed science fiction epic adventure, is coming to the PC, courtesy of Bungie and Gearbox Software. Packed with action, Halo contains all the thrilling gameplay and rich story that made it a smash hit with gamers all over the world. Now you can take the battle online with all new multiplayer including new maps, weapons and vehicles available only on your PC!

• Live the rich sci-fi epic adventure that is Halo!
  
• Experience the ultimate Halo challenge with all new online multiplayer for up to 16.
  
• Take on the world in any of the 15 multiplayer maps including 6 brand new maps never before seen!
  
• Unleash destruction with incredible weapons and vehicles including brand new armaments for intense online multiplayer games.
  

“Halo is still a tremendously entertaining game on its own merits, and it can easily be placed in the same category as other all-time greatest shooters, like Doom and Half-Life.”
- GameSpot Review 9 out of 10

“Nearly two years after its release on the Xbox, Halo finally arrives on the PC ... and it's just about everything we hoped it would be.”
- GameSpy Review 5 out of 5

The Story:

The year is 2552. Planet Earth still exists, but overpopulation has forced many of her former residents to colonize other worlds. Faster-than-light travel is now a reality, and Earth's unified government, through the United Nations Space Command, has put its full weight behind the colonization effort; millions of humans now live on habitable planets in other solar systems. A keystone of humanity's colonization efforts is the planet Reach, an interstellar naval yard that builds colony ships for civilians and warships for the UNSC's armed forces. Conveniently close to Earth, Reach is also a hub of scientific and military activity.

Thirty-two years ago, contact with the outer colony Harvest was lost. A battlegroup sent to investigate was almost completely destroyed; only one badly damaged ship returned to Reach. Its crew told of a seemingly unstoppable alien warship that had effortlessly annihilated their forces.

This was humankind's first encounter with a group of aliens they eventually came to know as the Covenant, a collective of alien races united in their fanatical religious devotion. Covenant religious elders declared humanity an affront to the gods, and the Covenant warrior caste waged a holy war upon humanity with gruesome diligence.

After a series of crushing defeats and obliterated colonies, UNSC Admiral Preston Cole established the Cole Protocol: no vessel may inadvertently lead the Covenant to Earth. When forced to withdraw, ships must avoid Earth-bound vectors -- even if that means jumping without proper navigational calculations. Vessels in danger of capture must self-destruct.

On Reach, a secret military project to create cyborg super-soldiers takes on newfound importance. The soldiers of the SPARTAN-II project rack up an impressive record against the Covenant in test deployments, but there are too few of them to turn the tide of the war.

Existing SPARTAN-II soldiers are recalled to Reach for further augmentation. The plan: board a Covenant vessel with the improved SPARTAN-IIs and learn the location of the Covenant home world. Two days before the mission begins, Covenant forces strike Reach and annihilate the colony. The Covenant are now on Eath's doorstep. One ship, the Pillar of Autumn, escapes with the last SPARTAN-II and makes a blind jump into deep space, hoping to lead the Covenant away from Earth.

Features:

• New to Halo for the PC: Halo allows you to take the battle online with gamers from all over the world in a variety of customizable individual and team based games. Experience the all new multiplayer with the addition of new maps, weapons and vehicles. Halo's been enhanced for play on the PC with the precision offered by the mouse and keyboard and the support of high-end hardware allowing up to 1600x1200 resolution!
• Rich sci-fi experience: Halo transports you into a science fiction universe fresh out of a Hollywood movie. With a detailed, twisting storyline, complex characters and cunning enemies, Halo will fulfill every sci-fi enthusiast's dreams.
• Vehicle and foot-based action: Tackle missions any way you choose, be it storming an enemy base or taking the wheel or gunnery position in a variety of powerful vehicles. Vehicles range from stolen Covenant flyers to human tanks and more.

• Intense online multiplayer shootouts: Take the battle online with gamers from all over the world in a variety of individual and team-based games such as King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, Race, Oddball, Death Match, and more
• Huge Weapon Variety: Enemies can be crushed with a vast array of human or Covenant weaponry, ranging from the stealthy semiautomatic pistols and needler guns to the fierce rocket launchers and fuel-rod gun.
• Incredible mission variety: Fight the Covenant in a variety of missions as they uncover the dark secrets of Halo. Among the many objectives: to attack enemy outposts, raid underground labs for advanced technology, rescue fallen comrades, steal alien vehicles and weaponry, and snipe at enemy forces.
• Indoor and outdoor combat: Fights are seamless in Halo's ultrarealistic indoor and outdoor environments as gamers hunt the Covenant in a variety of single-player and multiplayer battles.

• Optimized for the PC: With the precision of mouse and keyboard support, playing Halo is like never before. Take advantage of their high-end graphic cards and see Halo in superhigh 1,600x1,200 resolution.
• 5.1 compatible: Enjoy a complete surround-sound experience! Enemy troops yell out the front speakers, while friendly troops yell assistance from the right. Meanwhile, hear bullets fired from behind and watch them strike the targets in front of them.

Screenshots:

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Minimum System Requirements: 733 MHz. 128 MB RAM. 1.2 GB Hard-Disk. Drive 8x CD-ROM drive Win 98SE, Me, XP, or 2000, 32 MB T&L capable video card. Sound card, speakers, or headphones required for audio. Input Device, Mouse or compatible pointing device. Internet Connection of 56.6 Kbps or LAN for online play; broadband to run a server.