Bungie’s Marcus Leto took the stage at Microsoft’s E3 briefing to show off the world premiere of Halo: Reach’s unseen campaign. The clip shows Noble Team pushing on through a beach as Covenant Pods fall from the sky and attack – all looking very epic in terms of scale, even by Halo’s standards. Announcement and video after the break!

It’s hard to keep your eye on what’s in front of you though, when set pieces are being triggered off at every other second you can’t help but glance (not that I’m complaining). My one huge gripe was not seeing much variety in the demo regarding the “openness” of enemy encounters, still – Ghost-splitting, space combat and unseen executions helped wet my appetite for later this fall.

Halo: Reach drops September 14. More footage to come!

We’re just hours away from the official public launch of the Halo: Reach beta and Bungie have certainly pulled out a lot of stops with the launch. What we’ve got to remember though is that this is still just a beta and there really is a full fledged game coming out this Fall. You can probably put money on at least one more surprise after everyone gets over their healthy portion of beta testing. Keeping this in mind, is it too crazy to suggest that Bungie might plan on putting a user-powered level editor in Reach before launch? Let’s take a look at the evidence:

*Disclaimer* This is just an observation and by no means is any of this information concrete, though I felt it’d be interesting enough to throw it out there anyway.

In the top left corner you’ve got the Game Type (Stockpile), followed by the Map Name (Sword Base), but what’s that in the bottom right corner, Bungie? Yeah sure they make Halo but having the developer name plastered over the image where other metadata lies serves no real purpose – or does it?

The fans have been lighting up the forums for a while. Could Bungie be preparing for a full-fledged map maker? And could that line of data change from “Bungie” depending on the say… the author. User-generated levels anyone? Wouldn’t that be one heck of a surprise!

I could be wrong and I’m probably reading into this a little too much, while doing so I’d love to get your thoughts on the issue – let us know what you think. Either way with E3 coming up I guess we’ll find out sooner than later (preferably the former).

Here is the extended version of the live-action short we posted earlier. Coinciding with the release of the Halo: Reach Beta, the clip shows the backstory and the transformation of Reach’s future Noble Team leader, Carter 259. Video after the break.

Didn’t manage to catch the brand new Halo: Reach live-action short that premiered across television networks this evening? Watch it here in all its glory.

Directed by award-winning director Noam Murro, Birth of a Spartan tells the tale of (future Noble Team leader) Carter 259’s transformation from man to Spartan. An extended version will launch tomorrow on Xbox Live, including the launch of (www.welcometonobleteam.com) which will apparently allow users to upload photos of themselves to be converted into Spartan-IIIs – hopefully the process isn’t as painful.

A new Halo: Reach website (www.welcometonobleteam.com) popped up this morning on the internet and augmentation apparently begins on Wednesday – nice! Trying to make sense of it some have pointed out that it may host the live-action short by Noam Murro, said to premiere on Tuesday evening. Makes sense doesn’t it? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

With just one week to go until the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta is activated, Joystiq have unleashed a huge amount of ‘Pre-Beta’ footage for those who can’t survive the wait. From amour customisation walkthroughs to straight up comparison videos, this in-depth look is sure to answer many questions those following the game may have. Hit the break or head on over to Joystiq for more footage, HD goodness included – just don’t forget to flip the switch!

Early this morning a Taiwanese site leaked a trailer for the upcoming Halo: Reach beta. While we can’t yet confirm the videos authenticity, it certainly looks real. And by real we mean really promising! Check out the full trailer after the break!

The new trailer (posted below) shows off some of the new features gamer’s can expect from Halo: Reach when it drops on May 3rd. Some specific additions contained in the trailer include jetpacks, assassinations and the new Invasion and Head Hunter multiplayer modes.

Let’s be honest, do you need any other reason to check out the video? It’s Halo, it’s new, and if the footage below is any indicator, those fortunate enough to have beta invites are in for a treat.

Update: It’s official! Bungie has released the trailer on their homepage.

During tonight’s X10 it was announced that Halo: Reach’s Multiplayer Beta would go live on May 3. I do hope everyone has their ODST disc ready, the wait is almost over. To top off the great news, we’ve had the pleasure of some sweet accompanying box art, after the break.

Since the EB screen leaks this week Halo fans have been dying to see what Reach looks like in action and I, for one have been anticipating the new HUD. Thanks to Edge, here it is…

While it looks familiar to anyone that’s played Halo 3, Reach’s HUD sports a new radar which now locates your targets within a 3D space and a health system that’s similar to last year’s ODST. Also pinched from ODST is the return of night vision, the visor highlights various environmental features and overlays information about them.

In the latest issue of Edge, Bungie discuss Combat Evolved as being a source of inspiration for Reach. Even more interestingly, Reach is apparently pushing the Xbox 360 “as far as it’ill bend.” We’ll see how this all holds up this Fall.

Don’t forget to check out the gallery below.

Source: Edge #211 February 2010

Halo fans can finally look forward to some concrete information on Bungie’s mysterious Halo: Reach next month. In addition to that classy cover art, Game Informer’s February issue will have 10 pages worth of exclusive Reach details, screenshots and artwork. GI will also be updating their Halo: Reach hub throughout January with expanded information on the prequel, a look at the Halo franchise and the creative minds behind it’s success.

The next online update is scheduled for January 12.