Halo 3 Ad Brings Battle to Reality

A model museum constructed for a Halo 3 commercial recreates the fictional universe.

Details were announced for Microsoft's latest Halo 3 promotional scheme: a real-world replication of a Halo battle. Stan Winston, the creators of the creatures for Aliens and Jurassic Park, constructed a 400 square-foot, 12 feet high diorama scene that holds character models standing 8 inches high. It took a director Rupert Sanders and his team four days to shoot the commercial that tells the tale of the human struggle against the Covenant army. Within game's campaign, the diorama is explained to have been built as a tribute to Master Chief and his heroism, and to be kept on permanent display in the Museum of Humanity.

The ad will hit television on Tuesday, September 18 during ITV1's coverage of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League and will be made available on Xbox.com's Halo page on Friday, September 14 at 1 P.M. Eastern Standard Time.

Stephen McGill, Head of Gaming and Entertainment at Microsoft UK, commented, "It's amazing to see such the legendary world of Halo brought to life in such a creative way through the construction and filming of this ad. I'm sure the epic shots and dramatic scenes in the commercial will be a hit with Halo fans and newcomers to the franchise alike, giving them just a taste of what they have to look forward to when the game comes out on 25th September."