As of midnight last night, Halo 3 is now available for your playing pleasure. The game will not begin right where Halo 2 left off, instead, the comic mini-series, Halo: Uprising, will bridge the story gap between the ending of Halo 2 and the beginning of Halo 3. To know more before buying, read the insider info:

A first-person shooter, the game follows Master Chief and his struggle against the Covenant and the Flood. Largely on foot, the game also offers vehicles available for the player to use at certain points during the game. The balance of weapons and objects in the game has been adjusted to better adhere to what Designer Lars Bakken describes as, "the Golden Triangle of Halo." This includes weapons, grenades, and melee; all of which are simultaneously available to you at all times while on foot.

Halo 3 also introduces a new-to-the-series class called "support weapons." These are a group of exceptionally large, powerful and cumbersome two-handed weapons that, when carried, change the view to a third-person perspective and cause the player to move slowly.

When the game begins, Master Chief is back on Earth, where the Covenant loyalists (Brutes, Drones, and Jackals), led by the Prophet of Truth, have laid waste to most of the planet. Covenant ships are hovering over an excavation site a few miles from the ruins of New Mombasa and have uncovered a large artifact in this site, and Cortana is still the prisoner of Gravemind. The Arbiter, along with the Elites, Hunters, and some of the Grunts have split from the Covenant during the civil war at the end of Halo 2 and formed an alliance with the UNSC. Without giving away the whole plot, get in line today to get the gift that will keep on giving to you and your buds as you finish the fight.

» Finish the Fight.