Halo: The Fall of Reach – Out Now Digitally and Own it on Blu—ray and DVD from Monday Halo A-Z Glossary

Content Media had released the highly anticipated Halo: The Fall of Reach on VOD across The UK, Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America, available on iTunes and other major digital platforms.

After releasing the live action features Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn and Halo: Nightfall, Content Media is ready for the next chapter of the epic Halo saga: animated feature Halo: The Fall of Reach will reveal the beginning of the well-known science fiction universe on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD.

Based on the Halo novel of writer Eric Nylund, the 65-minute feature tells the dramatic tale of the origin and intrigue behind the SPARTAN program that propelled characters like the Master Chief and Dr. Catherine Halsey into the pantheon of Halo lore. The story reveals the events that brought Master Chief and Blue Team together, including their Spartan training and their daring mission to strike back at the Covenant during the first days of the deadly alien invasion.

To celebrate the release and following our feature on the background of Halo, here is a A-Z Glossary of the World of Halo...

A – Aribiter: This is a religious and highly honorary title bestowed upon Elites within the Covenant ranks. The Aribiter appears in Halo 2 as a way for a dishonoured Elite to make amends for his failures.

B – Banshee: When it comes to Halo aircraft, the Banshee is definitely first on the list. Just for the sheer capability and the fact it manoeuvres so well means it’s such a valuable piece of Covenant technology.

C – Covenant: The Covenant are the main adversary who are fighting to eradicate the Human race. They feature as the main antagonist throughout all of the games and are a mixture of different alien types such as Elites, Brutes and Hunters.

D – Didact: This ancient warrior once was the sole protector of the entire Forerunner race. He managed to get himself wrapped up in a political fracas with another Forerunner sect and was put into cryptum (a cryogenic sleep.) When awakened, he was abandoned and left to die by the hand of the Flood where he came across Gravemind. This Flood leader then turned him into a twisted, dark monster and ultimately led to his attempted destruction of the Human race.

E – Energy Sword: This shaped plasma weapon is wielded by the covenant Elites or ‘Sanghelli’ warriors. It is considered a great honour to wield one of these on the battlefield and it’s excellent at hand to hand combat. The weapon is superheated plasma which is surrounded by magnetic lines which give it its rigid but curved shape.

F – Flood: This parasite is the reason the Halo rings were created. These beings attach themselves to living hosts and change them into mindless monsters. They are, without a doubt, the most potent threat that the galaxy has every, and will ever, face.

G – Gravemind: The leader of the Flood (or at least the central hub of communication) is a collection of sentient minds that can control infected beings in any combat form. Its one and only goal is to infect the galaxy and spread its disease to every planet possible.

H - Halo Rings: These rings are the central part of the game and why it has been called Halo. These giant structures were built by the Forerunners, ancient beings who were conceived by the precursors. These ringed weapons were designed for one purpose: to destroy the Flood and anything that had been infected by it. However, to achieve this goal, Halo Rings would destroy all life in the galaxy to deprive the Flood of food.

I – Insurrectionists: This was the name given to the rebels that opposed the UNSC and created a civil war between the two. This war ceased between the two after The Covenant invaded, as the rebels had enough to deal with repelling the alien forces than picking more fights with the UNSC.

J – Jiralhanae: Also known as Brutes, these primitive beasts are used as the muscle in the backbone of the Covenant forces. Covered in hair and weighing about five times the usual human being, understandably, humans named them Brutes. They are incredibly tough and quick, as well as having excellent hunting skills to track prey down.

K – Kestrel: This is a human invention that was created to allow seamless mobility and is technically classed as a combat hovercraft. Three ducted fans power this small machine which also packs either autocannons or M302 rocket pods.

L – Lightrifle: This gun is lethal at long ranges and contains a substance called ‘hard light’ which is where the weapon gets its name from. These dangerous weapons were the personal favourites of Promethean Knights which the UNSC found out when on planet Requiem.

M – Master Chief: The main protagonist of the game and also the reason the series exists. He was kidnapped at the age of 6 and taken to a secure facility where he underwent rigorous training and conscripted into the Spartan-II program which consisted of altering the human body to be more powerful. Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is the central cog in the UNSC fighting force and why the Covenant have such a hard time defeating the Human race. He also is paired with his AI counterpart, Cortana, and formed a fantastic bond between the two.

N – Needler: This is a Covenant weapon that allow the crystal bullets to track onto targets. This was usually used by the lesser Covenant fighters as it was more of a spray-and-pray type gun instead of being about precision.

O – ODST: This stands for ‘Orbital Drop Shock Troopers’ and refers to the UNSC Marine Corps dropping behind enemy lines to fight firstly the Insurrectionists and now the Covenant. They undergo brutal training regimes to make sure they are the best of the best and second only to the Spartans (Master Chief.)

P – Pelican: The Pelican was designed as a drop ship and is one of the most prominent modes of travel in the Halo Universe. It can travel from orbit to atmosphere with ease and will definitely be around for the foreseeable future as a dependant aircraft.

Q – Yanme’e Queen: A Yanme'e Queen is the leader of a Yanme'e hive. Little is known about them, besides the fact that they are extremely large, with elongated abdomens, requiring the support of subservient males carrying them on cushioned litters for transport.

R – Railgun: This is a UNSC weapon specializing in long range combat. It is an electromagnetic launcher that fires a single shot of explosive charge that reduces an enemy to dust. The only drawback is that it is immensely heavy and only has the capacity to hold one round per magazine.

S – Spartan: A Spartan is a ‘biologically enhanced super-solider’ that fronts the UNSC forces. Master Chief is one; he just started off as a mere human boy before undergoing ‘cybernetic augmentation’ and being paired with Mjolnir armour. This allows the wearer to become even faster, stronger and take damage that normal humans would not be able to withstand.

T – Thomas Lasky: His mother was of high status inside the UNSC and so Lasky was always predestined to join the military. He’s been made most famous from the YouTube series ‘Halo: Forward Unto Dawn’ where it depicts his early career through the Corbulo academy. This also centres on the Covenant attacking this academy and Master Chief saving Lasky and some fellow students. He survived this ordeal and ended up as a military official and commanding his own ship, The UNSC Infinity.

U – UNSC: This stands for ‘United Nations Space Command’ which was bought about when the Insurrectionists and then the Covenant war began as the UN declared that human forces needed a presence in space. It details five different branches which are: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Spartan.

V – VISR: This stands for ‘Visual Intelligence System, Reconnaissance’ and enables a soldiers’ view of the battlefield to be enhanced. It allows the viewer to see who are friendly and who are enemies and allows contact with central command.

W – Warthog: This is one of the most famous vehicles from the Halo universe and is the main ground vehicle used in combat. They can either be used for transportation or can be used as light armour vehicles with mounted machine guns on the rear.

X – Team X-Ray: A team in the Spartan-III Program, that disappeared mysteriously in 2541 during a training exercise after a sighting of a “floating eye”.

Y – Yanme’e: These flying carnivorous beasts have the capability of using tools, weapons and even picking up soldiers in battle. They have a bioluminescent exoskeleton and though being very large, have the ability to fly short stints when required.

Z – Zealot: These are the crème de la crème of Elites and top the Covenant military hierarchy. The natural traits shown from these warriors is ruthless brutality and a skill that involves tracking and destroying targets.

Win Halo: The Fall of Reach on DVD

HALO: THE FALL OF REACH IS AVAILABLE NOW DIGITALLY AND ON DVD AND BLU-RAY ON MONDAY 7TH DECEMBER 2015 AND IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW