The marketing of Halo 3 was wildly awaited, as the game was the third in the original trilogy 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.

What does the Halo 3 trial download have to do with any another video game? Well, it has a great deal to do with the sale and promotional effort for a video that was originally planned for release on the Xbox system. Microsoft had become concerned that Crackdown wouldn’t sell well.

Therefore, they used a marketing gimmick, the one of bundling Crackdown with an access code for 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 just over a year, but for a lesser well-known game that’s absolutely fantastic.

Microsoft had resorted to the Halo 3 trial download tactic because of adverse reports about the game from the game testers. They found the unusual nature of the game off-putting, 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 loser. It may seem dodgy practice at first to attempt to force sales of a game that’s expected to be unpopular, but in retrospect 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 bundled 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 various superhuman powers such as super strength and super agility. In order to obtain these powers, players have to accumulate 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 example, a firearms orb appears if the enemy was killed with a gun.

So, although at first sight this video bundled with the Halo 3 free download seems to be nothing but a veiled marketing gimmick, in fact, it exposed gamers to a fascinating new gameplay world.