First, they decided to make a Halo game that wasn't a first person shooter. I call this the Mario syndrome, where you take your main character and put him in any other game imaginable. Mario is getting good at this - he can do just about any sporting event, fight all his friends, and even get lost in RPG, adventure, and regular old side-scrolling adventures! Halo Wars was the game that took the Halo first person shooter and made it into a real time strategy game that worked pretty good. This was an excellent game built with Halo models and one of the first and only real time strategies for a console based system that played well. This was a good step - but I don't want to see Master Chief playing basketball in the future so I hope they stick to appropriate titles.

Second, they are making Halo 3 ODST which is basically a full on Halo game without Master Chief. This is sort of surprising to me - they take out the lead character? That's what sold them tons of Mountain Dew and other merchandise by sticking his face on it. But, I guess they want the Halo Universe to stand on its own and doing a somewhat convincing job of it with this newest high profile release. Now, I haven't had a chance to play it as it doesn't come out till September 21st at Midnight (AT GAME ON!!) and I probably won't get a chance till then, but what I do know makes me excited. I know that it is a game that has a campaign mode that runs along side the story of Halo 3 from a different perspective. I enjoy Halo campaign modes and am excited about getting to play this storyline from a different slant which I'm sure will reveal more interested tidbits that will be used for future games. Not only does Halo 3 ODST have the regular campaign mode, but full multiplayer online support that will most likely dominate the bulk of players time. Halo has always been a very competitive game online and with the new improvements to an already winning system, I'm sure players will be drawn back into the Halo universe.

Having inside information, we already have tons of preorders for this game at Game On and people are getting excited for it. It's become the most talked about title at the store right now. We still have time to order more copies so if you are wanting a copy, head down and get one reserved so you have it the day it comes out. It's gonna be a stellar title with tons of people wanting to pick up a copy so reserving one is a great way to go. We also have a huge release party the night of September 21st starting at 6:00pm. There will be a tournament starting by 7pm and lasting till Midnight when we will award the winner of the tournament with the first copy of HALO 3 ODST free and then the game will go on sale directly at Midnight so everybody can pick up their copy of the game AND if you reserve a copy and can't make it at midnight, we will hold it for you till you can come in at your leisure. Did I mention that everyone that preregisters for the tournament gets a free T-shirt!

I'm interested to hear stories of your best memories of games like Halo, Halo 2, or Halo 3? Share with us in the comments.