The completion of Halo 3 was wildly 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 downloaded video game demos in the history of the Xbox 360. But what many people don’t realize is that the Halo 3 trial download helped 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 effort for a game that was originally planned for release on the Xbox system. Microsoft had become worried that Crackdown would not sell well.

Therefore, 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 half year of its release. Those aren’t Halo 3 numbers, which sold 8.1 million units in slightly over a year, but for a lesser well-known game that’s absolutely terrific.

Microsoft had resorted to the Halo 3 trial download tactic because of adverse opinions about the game from the game testers. They found the nonlinear nature of the game off-putting, often leaving them asking themselves what they were supposed to be doing next.

As a result of this, the powers that be thought that something had to be done or the game would be a loser. It may appear shady practice at first to try to push 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 version bundled with the Halo 3 trial download, people play as an agent who is assigned to defeat the kingpins, or leaders, of various 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 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 game bundled with the Halo 3 free download seems to be nothing but a veiled marketing trick, in fact, it exposed gamers to a fascinating new gameplay world.

If you like Halo 3 and are interested in learning more about it, why not visit Halo 3 Info on our website called Halo 3 Insider Secrets