Skip to main content

Halo: The Fall of Reach Launch trailer looks to the past to explain the future

If you plan on picking up either of the limited editions for Halo 5: Guardians, you’ll have the chance to check out Halo: The Fall of Reach, a three-part animated series based on the 2001 novel by Eric Nylund. While it might seem odd to include an adaptation of a 14-year-old book that takes place before the original Halo in the limited editions of Halo 5, the series’ launch trailer helps to give some answers.

As with Nylund’s novel, Halo: The Fall of Reach chronicles the origins of the Spartan program under Dr. Catherine Halsey — the intellectual base for the Cortana AI — and sees John 117 (eventually the Master Chief) and a collection of recruits as they’re kidnapped from their home planets and are forced to become the ultimate soldiers.

Recommended Videos

Unlike Halo: Legends, which used an anime visual style, The Fall of Reach resembles a watercolor painting — almost realistic, but with just enough artistic flair to separate it from the games. If it looks familiar, it’s because the series was produced by Sequence, the studio behind the unlockable Terminals featured in the past few Halo games.

“We’re the best possible option: your only option. Blue Team is ready,” a teammate tells the Master Chief. Sound familiar? It’s the same Blue Team that will be featured in Halo 5: Guardians, albeit with a few … membership changes. The series has certainly taken some drastic turns since the days of the Master Chief being the supposed last hope for humanity.

Currently, the only confirmed way to watch Halo: The Fall of Reach is to purchase the Digital Deluxe Edition, the Limited Edition, or the Limited Collector’s Edition of Halo 5: Guardians. The series will then be made available on the Xbox One’s Halo Channel, similarly to how Halo: Nightfall was made available with The Master Chief Collection.

Both Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo 5: Guardians arrive exclusively for Xbox One on October 27.

Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
We need to stop arguing about difficulty settings in games
A boss swings a weapon in Lies of P: Overture.

It seems as though every six months or so the discourse around difficulty settings in video games lights up across pockets of the internet -- typically tied to the release of the latest soulslike. These games pride themselves on being a challenging experience in which overcoming the odds through skill and dedication is the ultimate reward for most players. Many enjoy piecing together the lore, exploring the world, or playing with the fashion as well, but it is the sense of pride one gets from overcoming these tough, but fair, obstacles that has made it one of the most popular genres in recent memory.

Naturally, this leads to some debate about whether or not these games should offer any difficulty options, and if they do, like Lies of P: Overture has not so long ago, if playing on a lower difficulty "counts," is not the "developer's intent," or one of a handfull of other reasons that miss the point entirely. There is no argument to be had surrounding difficulty settings and it is time we stopped pretending there is.

Read more
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is coming to Mac with some fresh upgrades
V looking at himself in the mirror.

Mac owners will finally get their chance to play one of the best open-world RPGs in recent years when Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition hits the Mac App Store on Thursday, July 17. Alongside the core game, all its updates, and DLC, this new version will take full advantage of Apple silicon technologies and brand new spatial audio to make it the definitive way to play.

After an initially rocky launch, Cyberpunk 2077 has managed to pull off an impressive redemption story through major bug fixes, performance updates, and a huge Phantom Liberty DLC paired with its 2.0 version. The game will hit version 2.3 alongside the Mac release and has fully delivered on the rich storytelling and visually impressive world CD Projekt Red promised. However, one thing no one predicted was Mac support. Now, CD Project Red has not only brought the hit RPG to Macs, but fully optimized the experience for that hardware.

Read more
Gamescom Opening Night Live 2025: How to watch and what to expect
The Gamescom Opening Night Live stage.

I'm still reeling from all the Summer Game Fest 2025 announcements, but Geoff Keighly is already gearing up to take to the stage again to kick off Gamescom with his annual Opening Night Live kickoff presentation. This is the last major gaming event for upcoming video games to show themselves off to a wide audience before The Game Awards at the end of the year, and we already know some big titles are scheduled to appear. To give you a refresher, Gamecom Opening Night Live 2024 was where we first saw Borderlands 4, plus deeper looks at Civilization 7 and Monster Hunter Wilds. Will this year be able to stack up? We can't say for sure yet, but I can tell you how to watch it and what games you can expect to see.

When is Gamescom Opening Night Live 2025?

Read more