Aside from all of the movies and hot new television shows this summer, the much-anticipated release of Halo 3 is stealing all of the limelight. Hitting the shelves on September 25, this title is expected to break several sales records on its opening day, as gamers across the country are looking forward to its epic battle storyline and advanced multiplayer features. "'Halo 3' is much more than a video game release; it's the biggest entertainment event of the year," quotes Peter Moore, the current vice president Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. Well Halo 2 set records by finishing in $125 million in its first day of sales when it was released in November 2004, Moore expects that Halo 3 will top those figures as it is the final episode of the action-packed trilogy. He has good reason to feel confident; Halo 2, now available to customers for almost three years, has remained at the top of list of games played most often by XBOX Live users.

But what can gamers expect for this upcoming thriller? First and foremost, a conclusion to the ongoing storyline will unfold which is expected to leave players awed in their seats. With Master Chief looking to finally put an end to the Flood, the finale of this suspenseful trilogy combines strategy and action into one exciting experience. Advanced multiplayer options will be available as well; Halo 3 integrates smarter enemies, a larger range of weapon choices, and newly intensified multiplayer battle arenas. The new bubble shield also gives users the opportunity to remain protected while battling it out with their gruesome opponents. It should be noted that to compensate for these additional features, the control schema is different than that of Halo 2. Even more fascinating is the fact that gamers ill be able to relive their performance with the saved film feature. The unforgettable epic moments that occur during gameplay can be stored on the XBOX 360’s hard drive with the simple push of a button after battle and viewed at a later time.

In order to hopefully bring forth more publicity to the upcoming release of Halo 3, Microsoft has even developed a special edition Zune music player containing Halo media that gamers will be thriving to get their hands on. This collector’s item comes with trailers, artwork, and music from all three titles of the Halo series, giving Halo fans a piece of memory. It was released on June 15, and retails for approximately $249.

But Microsoft hasn’t stopped there. For gamers who have never had the fortune of purchasing an XBOX, Windows Vista users will now be able to play Halo 2 online via Windows Live. Users will be able to compete and team with others by networking to the Windows Live server, which is said to contain very similar features to the XBOX version in addition to the capability of chatting online with teammates and opponents. With all of this Halo hype, will the finale of the saga live up to its expectations? We will find out on September 25.