Bungie Unveils Halo

Bungie Software, the developer behind Marathon and Myth's real-time strategy series, formally unveiled its latest project this morning during the keynote address of Apple's interim CEO Steve Jobs' at the Macworld Expo in New York City. Called Halo, the squad-based shooter employs a free-roaming world with no pauses or levels brought to life by stunning OpenGL visuals and true-to-life physics.

GameSpot News took a look at Halo in action, as did other gamers during the live broadcast of the keynote. Even though the game is still a year away from completion, we liked what we saw. And what made it even more amazing was that Bungie displayed the Halo demo on a G3 Mac and the demo was being rendered in real-time.

Editor's note: One word of warning, our footage and screenshots were taken from a VHS copy of the keynote footage and in the process of transferring that footage to digital format, the image quality has been degraded. In fact, the undegraded copy of the live broadcast we viewed on tape kept our production department speechless for several minutes. We assume that the media savvy gamers at Bungie will grant gamers a significantly higher quality video of the game in motion along with additional screenshots soon.

The footage focuses around a group of three human fighters drawing two aliens into a well-timed trap. A group of aliens in their hovercrafts give chase to a band of humans in a beautiful looking off-road vehicle. Throughout the chase, the truck struggles to avoid the aliens' laser fire while keeping all four of its wheels on the ground. The truck displays handling characteristics and real-time physics details that most driving simulators only dream of. The footage ends as the aliens find themselves captured by the human fighters, who triumphantly raise a Bungie flag on the top of a nearby mountain peak. But don't take our word for it, take a look at the in-game screenshots or the game footage linked to the right.

When Halo ships, players will be able to choose one of two races - humans or aliens - and battle against each other in massively multiplayer guerilla deathmatches. A variety of weapons, ranging from swords and handguns to heavy lasers and orbital bombardment, will be available to both sides. Halo's impressive 3D engine lets players take the war into the air, underwater or indoors. Look for Halo for Windows and Macintosh-based systems in mid-2000.