The Forthcoming World of Halo

As always, the vast world of Halo is not without a fair selection of items, weapons and vehicles. For covering great distances on land, you'll get to ride a Warthog, the M12G1 LAAV "Gauss" Warthog, the Pelican Dropship, the Pelican Gunship and the Scorpion tank.
The development team vouched to introduce a new vehicle called the Mongoose, originally intended to appear in Halo 2, but was scrapped before its release. This two-seater doesn't have any weapons and is merely used as a means of fast transport (though players can still shoot from it).
The Covenant sport a decent range of vehicles as well: Banshee, Ghost, Phantom, Capital ship, Wraith and so on. No matter what you crave, SMGs, handguns or more powerful artillery, there's a huge assortment of weapons lined up for this one. For the humans: The Assault Rifle, BR55 Battle Rifle, M90 Shotgun, Pistol, M19 SSM Rocket Launcher, M7/Caseless Sub-Machine Gun, S2-AM Sniper Rifle M9 HE-DP Fragmentation Grenade and a whole lot more. But that's more or less, the usual stuff.

Another punk trying to be Master Chief.

Geez, how many of you Master Chief wannabes are there?

We are actually rather keen on seeing the new Spartan Laser in action - a very powerful laser that can take out vehicles, but is extremely difficult to use. As it turns out, the power of the Spartan Laser will spell 'doom' for the swift (abovementioned) Mongoose. So, while riding the Mongoose, you won't have to worry about small-arms fire, but you should steer clear of anybody who wields a Spartan Laser.

In addition, it should be cool to try out the new Covenant weapons, like the Brute Spike Grenade, which sticks to the wall and emits a cluster of nails into the air when it detonates. Your average Covenant baddie will also pack the following: Upgraded Particle Beam Rifle, Upgraded Covenant Carbine, a more powerful Needler, Brute Shot, Energy Sword, Plasma Grenade, Plasma Pistol, Brute Hammer, etc.

Beyond the Horizon

Beyond Halo 2 Vista and Halo 3, Bungie Software and Microsoft are laboring together with veteran developer Ensemble Studios, to create a new Xbox 360 real-time strategy, based in the Halo universe. As you all know by now, the game is called Halo Wars and is so far being developed in extremely hush-hush circumstances. We'll be sure to check in with you guys as soon as we get our hands on something concrete.

Though Halo 2 (Xbox) was a success, a huge number of gamers complained about many factors that were left incomplete. Most of these complaints were related to the game's somewhat hastily written plot. To the relief of many, Bungie is looking to circumvent such inadequacies in Halo 3. As we understand it, Halo 3 was said to have more plot twists than any other title in the series. Not necessarily a guarantee for a decent plot, but an encouraging trait nonetheless.

Ultimately, you can think what you want, but Halo remains one of Microsoft's most influential franchises with an exceptionally prosperous future ahead of it. With Halo Wars, Halo 2 Vista and Halo 3 in the pipeline, the persistent industry giant is cautiously working to reinforce its hold over a vast community of gamers, which is already thriving thanks to Xbox Live.