We’re less than two weeks away from Halo 3’s release, and you know what that means right? Yeah, the Halo 3 marketing campaign is in full swing. Microsoft is really going all-out this time, and clearly wants to break that record of $125mil made in one day that they achieved on November 9, 2004. With Halo plastered on everything from Slurpee cups to 360 controllers to Pontiac cars, it seems like they have a real shot. Yet, in-between the IMAX events and Game Fuel consumption Microsoft and Bungie have concocted a very unique advertising campaign that has gamers throughout the internet tubes talking. I’m talking of course about the Believe campaign.

Unlike most advertising campaigns, which focus on showing off game footage and new features, the Believe campaign focuses on the themes that are present in Halo 3’s story. In fact, there is absolutely no gameplay shown in the TV spots. Instead, the spots focus on a very large diorama of an epic battle in East Africa between the Covenant and the UNSC. In the commercials, various scenes depicted in the diorama are shown while classical music plays in the background, ending with the camera panning up at the Master Chief, seemingly defeated and being held up by a Brute chieftain. A plasma grenade in the Chief’s hand then begins to activate, and the figure suddenly animates, looking up at the screen. The commercials end by telling the viewers to “believe.”  

The diorama is the star of the TV spots, and rightfully so. At 1200 square feet and more than 12 feet tall, it is larger than some apartments. It depicts the “Battle for New Mombasa” (though the setting doesn’t seem very urban to me), and does a superb job of visualizing the struggle between humanity and the Covenant. I’m a fan of diorama-building, and made a few military-themed dioramas when I was younger, the biggest of which was about two feet by four feet (the scale was smaller than that of the Halo 3 diorama though). I was really proud of myself at the time, but it is absolutely nothing compared to the excellent work that has been done on the Believe diorama. The detail is absolutely unbelievable, and the scale and size of it is truly impressive. Bungie has discussed the possibility of it going on tour to various launch parties and other events, and I think it would be awesome to have a chance to see it.

Still, the Believe campaign is about more than a diorama, however cool it may be. The TV spots and the making-of and “Museum” shorts that supplement them really drive home the brutality of the war that you fight in the games. The scenes really convey the feelings of sacrifice, hope, and bravery that are such central themes in the Halo series. The way the marines talk about the Chief, and the way he is depicted as seemingly sacrificing himself really give the impression that he is somewhat of a savior for humanity. Bungie is obviously preparing us for the story in the soon-to-be-released Halo 3. However, the recent commercials are only the end of the campaign, not the beginning.

The Believe campaign actually began quite subtly in late July, with Halo 3 advertisements disguised as pamphlets were handed out at Projekt Revolution events. The pamphlets advertised a fictional musical event honoring the Master Chief titled “Believe”, which was set to be played by the UNSC Symphony Orchestra on September 25, 2556. The pamphlet carried the tagline “freedom is always worth fighting for,” and with the exception of small logos for Halo 3 and Bungie and the ESRB rating at the bottom of the pamphlet, the ad was presented in an in-universe style, to make it seem like it really was a UNSC publication.

Almost simultaneously to the Projekt Revolution pamphlet, a new full-page Halo 3 ad began circulating in magazines. The ad had a calm tone, showing an image of the Master Chief walking along a deserted street on Earth, assault rifle at the ready. Towards the top of the page was a picture of a military medal and next to it some text telling of Master Chief’s many commendations and victories on many planets. It explained how the Chief is the embodiment of courage and hope, inspiring humanity. It then told us to “believe.” The ad also carried the tagline “A hero need not speak. When he is gone, the world will speak for him.”

Unsurprisingly, these ads caused a bit of a stir, most notably on the halo.bungie.org forums. A number of users immediately assumed that the advertisements meant that the Chief was going to die, and that conclusion frustrated a few members who were not interested in hearing spoilers. It didn’t help that around this time Marty O’Donnell had gone to the HBO forums and told people to start avoiding everything if they didn’t want to be spoiled. Frankie assured everyone that the marketing guys who were making the ads did not have access to the game’s full plot and the ads were not hinting at anything, but many people remained skeptical. After the release of the TV spots, the paranoia of the ads containing game spoilers grew even more. Logically, Bungie wouldn’t let the marketing people just make stuff up, right? The ads had to be rooted in the story of the game. Bungie continues to insist that the marketing folks are not releasing any game spoilers, but due to the consistency of all of the ads foretelling the possible demise of the Chief, it seems like a lot of people are not buying Bungie’s explanation (in Bungie’s defense Halo 2’s advertising campaign gave the impression that we would be fighting on Earth for the whole game, and that was hardly representative of what the actual game was). I guess we’ll all find out how literal the ads should be taken when the game comes out in a couple of weeks.

Some people have been bashing the ads, claiming they are boring, do nothing to get people interested in the game and need to feature more action and gameplay. Those who like the ads have been coming back with the argument that the ads are mature and intellectual, and not meant for the kids who just want action. Personally, I think there are probably more intellectual things out there than setting a video of a diorama flythrough to Chopin, but that’s just me. The ad isn’t meant for geniuses, but it’s not dull or boring either; it’s simply a unique new marketing campaign and I commend Microsoft and Bungie for thinking outside of the box and doing something that no other video game has done before. They could have easily aired a simple commercial containing 30 seconds of gameplay, or hell, even aired a commercial that just said “Halo 3 is coming. Go buy it.” and it undoubtedly would have been a success and pulled in more sales. With the Believe ads though, they are trying something new and innovative and are really stirring up conversation in the gaming community, and I think that’s exactly what they were going for. In that respect, the advertising campaign is already a success.  

However, as cool as I think the ads are, they didn’t really get me hyped to actually play the game. The Halo 2 TV spots, which featured the gameplay and footage that you would expect from a video game commercial, got me a lot more excited by comparison. However, I think this has less to do with the content of the ads, and more of the circumstances surrounding the game. With Halo 2, little footage or information had been released, and the fanbase was essentially in the dark about what to expect. Seeing a few seconds of new footage was huge. With Halo 3, we’ve been shown a lot more. It also doesn’t help that I’ve already played both multiplayer and campaign from Halo 3, and know exactly what to expect at this point. 

With a history of intriguing ARGs, awesome promotional tie-ins, and well-made trailers, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Bungie and Microsoft have come up with a marketing campaign like this for Halo 3. The promotion surrounding the Halo series is almost as interesting as the game itself, and the Believe campaign proves that. What will those guys think of next?