The release of Halo 3 was fervently awaited, as the game was the third in the original three-part series of the Halo videos. Therefore, the Halo 3 free download was one of the most frequently downloaded video game demos in the history of the Xbox 360. But what many people don’t remember is that the Halo 3 trial download went on to make another game ie Crackdown.

But what does the Halo 3 trial download have to do with any other video game? Well, it has a great deal to do with the distribution and marketing work for a video that was originally planned for playing on the Xbox system. Microsoft had become worried that Crackdown would not sell well.

Therefore, they employed a marketing tactic, 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 half year of its release. Those aren’t Halo 3 numbers, which sold 8.1 million copies in slightly 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 adverse opinions about the game from the play testers. They found the nonlinear nature of the game confusing, often leaving them asking themselves what they were supposed to be doing next.

Because of this, the powers that be thought that something had to be done or the game would be a dud. It may seem dodgy practice at first to try to force sales of a game that’s expected to be unpopular, but in retrospect people love 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 one associated with the Halo 3 free download, people play the role of an agent who is detailed to defeat the kingpins or leaders of various gangs. To do this they use some superhuman powers such as super strength and super fitness. In order to gain these powers, players have to build up experience by beating enemies who then release experience orbs. The interesting part of the system was that the kind of orbs released depended on the manner in which the agent killed the enemy. For instance, a firearms orb appears if the enemy was killed with a gun.

So, although at first sight this video bundled with the Halo 3 trail download appears to be no more than a veiled marketing trick, in reality, it exposed gamers to a fascinating new gameplay world.