Halo 3 Mystery Unravelled!

[Aquanox]

Halo 3 Mystery Unravelled
Clever Bungie fans piece together clues to reveal weird sites and pictures.
by Rob Burman, IGN UK

UK, June 15, 2007 - This week some of you may have received a cryptic email from Microsoft which includes a somewhat bizarre poem which talks of "history circling back upon us". Although on first glance it appeared to be nothing but gobbledy**** it seems a bunch of genius Halo 3 fans over at Bungie.net may have pieced together the clues and come up with an idea as to what it all means.

The key to unraveling the paper trail behind the clues was a logo visible on the right-hand side of the image (see below). Many people reported seeing this logo repeatedly cropping up on Halo 3-related websites and so the hunt for cold, hard facts began.

The first real breakthrough came when CrazyBoy3, a poster over at Bungie.net, proved he wasn't so crazy after all when he spotted a Circuit City ad that included the logo and a reference to http://halo3.com/comic. The comic tells the story of an African man who sees the Sentinels arriving on Earth.

So far so interesting. But there's more to the comic than first meets the eye. By moving panels around in the back section of the comic a set of numbers is revealed - 206, 16, 233 and 65. Tap these into your internet browser and you'll find two different sites. The first is a naff-looking aliens website, which also displays the logo from the email.



This is the original email that started it all.


But, more importantly, there's a link to http://206.16.223.65/ , which currently displays countdown timer. The thing is, what's it counting down to? Many are speculating it could be a brand new Halo 3 video, or perhaps just some fresh information. With just over five days left on the clock I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

In addition to the countdown paper trail others posters on Bungie.net have uncovered what could be more clues for Halo 3, from a website called lyca.com. Again, much of it appears to be nonsense and at first glance the new page appears to be a just picture of Hello Kitty. However, on closer inspection of the site's source code there's a reference to a different image, which another poster on Bungie's forums claims to have seen before, on a UFO website. The spaceships on the page look vaguely like Convenant or Forerunner logos.

So what does all of this mean? To be honest we're not entirely sure, but we have it on good authority that they will be more clues in the next 24 hours. We'll be sure to keep you posted on any developments and if you fancy trying to decoding the puzzle for yourself, head on over to Bungie's forums and get stuck in.

Haha, I've tried it myself and it was kinda freaky.

:arrow Source

[unr3stricted]

Yeah I read the original post by the Bungie.net user last night. Pretty sweet.

[Two4DaMoney]

Anyone else sick of these gotd@@@ games that bungie play lol. I want to see the campaign so bad. Nevermind multi because I'm not into it.

[Fedos]

This is certainly interesting, especially the Forerunner references. Is it at all possible that the Forerunners are not extinct as we were led to believe and that the last remnant of their race will make an appearance in Halo 3? Or is that something that Bungie is not likely to explore?

[Pump Action Pimp]

It's not the gfx that sold me over to the xbox side, but the story o halo is just so well srcipted, and multiplayer is addictive. But story is unbeatable. How can some people even comapre killzone to halo.
Killzone's storyline is tooooo linear, lame.

[ThatHurt]

can't wait to see the single player shots.
then at least people will stop talking about the mp gfx.

[Blu-Ray]

I honestly don't know whats going on...

[exYle]

I honestly don't know whats going on...

Long story short: Xbox.com sent lots of people a Halo 3 letter consisting of jargon. Someone found something in the letter, which was a reference to the new Halo comics, due this summer. The comics talk about how the Forerunners came to Earth and built the Ark. In the comic, it revealed a bunch of numbers, which are actual sites. The site is a countdown.

My guess is that the countdown is for the third Halo ViDoc. Bungie said there would be a lot of them.

[Morganator]

I played both Halo one and two and did like the story quite a bit but my only gripe about the game is what they call the main character. Master Cheif? Come on! They could have done better than that. The name is completely redundent of itself.

[exYle]

I played both Halo one and two and did like the story quite a bit but my only gripe about the game is what they call the main character. Master Cheif? Come on! They could have done better than that. The name is completely redundent of itself.

In truth, Master Chief's real name is John (just John, we don't even know if it's short for Johnathon or something). Master Chief is short for his military rank - Master Chief Petty Officer. In the military, all soldiers are reffered to by their rank and then their name (e.g Sergeant Johnson), but as MC has been raised by the military for so many years, he no longer has an attachment to his name.

[Linkedscorpion]

Oh My, this is why i love bungie

[Morganator]

In truth, Master Chief's real name is John (just John, we don't even know if it's short for Johnathon or something). Master Chief is short for his military rank - Master Chief Petty Officer. In the military, all soldiers are reffered to by their rank and then their name (e.g Sergeant Johnson), but as MC has been raised by the military for so many years, he no longer has an attachment to his name.

Ah! I see. Thanks for clarifying that. I was wondering why it sounded redundent. Anyways this whole hidden message thing is kinda interesting.

[Knuckles126]

Again, thats just maddening the unhelpful. Why aren't these things ever clear?

[super_noob]

i dunno i guess they thought turning it into a lil riddle makes it funner for people or something

[MEMEROOT]

this kinda thing is great ... make games clever... why is the marketing smarter than the game we play? oh yea cause the morass of humanity is thick as s**t and cant do it but will admire those that do.

[exYle]

Again, thats just maddening the unhelpful. Why aren't these things ever clear?

Because when you discover the answer to these puzzles, you feel like you've accomplished something and can't wait to hear more news.

[Knuckles126]

Because when you discover the answer to these puzzles, you feel like you've accomplished something and can't wait to hear more news.

What is their to accomplish? When you think you've figured out the puzzle, or in this case, unraveled the mystery, you are left with more questions than you started out with in the first place.

[exYle]

What is their to accomplish? When you think you've figured out the puzzle, or in this case, unraveled the mystery, you are left with more questions than you started out with in the first place.

And your thirst for knowledge increases. You anticipate further news even more now. Fairly effective marketing ploy.

[Knuckles126]

And your thirst for knowledge increases. You anticipate further news even more now. Fairly effective marketing ploy.

The only things I've uncovered thus far is that Master Chief is somehow related to Jessica Fletcher...

[SilentDeath]

Time is repeating itself again as it did before, for it was human kind that activated the rings long ago. Humans were the forerunners, and it will be humans again who activate the ark.

[exYle]

The only things I've uncovered thus far is that Master Chief is somehow related to Jessica Fletcher...

It's pretty obvious you have nothing to contribute to the thread. If a game like Mass Effect or Bioshock did a similar marketing ploy, I'd bet you would all ears to see how the riddle was solved.

[Black_Barney]

The only things I've uncovered thus far is that Master Chief is somehow related to Jessica Fletcher...

Master Chief is Jessica Fletcher! Nooooooooooooooooo!

(Pet Detective, badly quoted)

[Knuckles126]

It's pretty obvious you have nothing to contribute to the thread. If a game like Mass Effect or Bioshock did a similar marketing ploy, I'd bet you would all ears to see how the riddle was solved.

I'm all ears right now...what makes you think I'm not?

Are you saying I hate Halo? Come on...I love Halo.