The Halo 5 Limited Collector's Edition, Limited Edition and Digital Deluxe Edition will include access to a special animated series from SEQUENCE, the studio behind Halo 4 and Halo 2: Anniversary's Terminal videos, and will be the only way to view said series at launch. A Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed to GamesRadar that the series, which is an adaptation of the Eric Nylund novel of the same name, will be viewable exclusively via the Halo Channel Xbox One and Windows app when Halo 5: Guardians launches on October 27. Register any of these editions to your Microsoft account and the content will automatically be available when you access the Halo Channel.
If you can't - or choose not to - get your hands on any of these special editions, you should still expect the series to be available separately (digital, Blu-ray, etc.) after the launch of the game.
Fall of Reach, if you're just diving into Halo's lore, tells the story of Master Chief and his fellow Spartans during The Covenant's invasion and destruction of the planet called Reach, while also providing backstory for major characters like Katherine Halsey and Cortana. The game Halo: Reach also followed a team of Spartans during this time period, though its plot and characters are (mostly) separate from the book. There are a few contradictions that don't quite line up between Halo: Reach and Fall of Reach, so we'll have to see if this new series explains such plot holes.
Interestingly, with the recent addition of Halo 3: ODST's campaign to The Master Chief Collection, Halo: Reach is now the only main series Halo game not available as an Xbox One game (though it will be available when Xbox One backwards compatibility goes public later this year). So if you want all the Halo history you can handle, you might need to hit up your local secondhand store to snag a copy.
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Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.