The release of Halo 3 was wildly awaited, as the game was the third in the original trilogy of the Halo series. Therefore, the Halo 3 trial download was one of the most downloaded game demos in the history of the Xbox 360. What many people don’t remember is that the Halo 3 trial download helped make another game – Crackdown.

But what does the Halo 3 demo download have to do with any other video game? Well, it has a lot to do with the sale and marketing effort for a video that was originally meant for release on the Xbox system. Microsoft had become worried that Crackdown would not sell a lot.

And so they employed a marketing gimmick, the one of bundling Crackdown with an access code to the Halo 3 trial download. And it worked a treat in that Crackdown sold 1.5 million copies within the first six months of its release. Those aren’t Halo 3 figures, which sold 8.1 million copies in just over a year, but for a lesser well-known game that’s absolutely fantastic.

Microsoft had turned to the Halo 3 trial download tactic because of poor opinions about the game from the play testers. They thought the nonlinear nature of the game confusing, often leaving them wondering what they were supposed to be doing next.

As a result of this, the powers that be knew that something had to be done or the game would be a loser. It may appear dodgy practice at first to attempt to push sales of a game that’s expected to be unpopular, but in hindsight people like the game and it was a good thing that they were able to get the chance to play it.

In Crackdown, and that includes the version associated with the Halo 3 trial download, people play the role of an agent who is detailed to beat the kingpins or leaders of different gangs. To do this they use some superhuman powers such as super strength and super agility. In order to gain these powers, players have to build up experience by beating enemies who then release experience orbs. The clever idea in the system was that the kind of orbs released depended on the manner in which the agent killed the enemy. For example, a firearms orb appears if the enemy was killed with a gun.

So, while at first sight this game bundled with the Halo 3 free download seems to be nothing but a veiled marketing gimmick, in reality it exposed gamers to an exciting gameplay world.

If you like Halo 3 and are interested in learning more about it, why not go over to Halo 3 Info on our website entitled Halo 3 Insider Secrets