New live action trailer for 'Halo: Reach'

A screenshot from the forthcoming Halo: Reach (All rights reserved - Microsoft Game Studios)

Microsoft continue their marketing onslaught for all things gaming with a live action trailer showing how the super soldiers of the Halo games attain their legendary physical abilities.

The young trooper, identified as the future leader of Halo: Reach's focal Noble Team, undergoes intensive biological augmentation to ready him to take part in an off-world conflict.

Bungie, the development studio behind all of the games in the Halo series, have made significant changes to online play for the upcoming game, and owners of Halo 3: ODST will be able to find out exactly how they play out in the Halo: Reach public beta testing that begins on May 3.

Microsoft have also backed a series of live action episodes scheduled for release in the lead up to the Xbox 360 exclusive adventure thriller Alan Wake, out on May 14 (May 18 in North America). Paris-based studio Quantic Dream recently went to great lengths to capture authentic performances for their characters in the PlayStation 3 game Heavy Rain, hiring film and television actors for the production.

The one minute clip is to be shown before showings of Iron Man 2 in North American cinemas (opening April 30), and is also being hosted on WelcomeToNobleTeam.com, where users can upload their photos to see what they would look like as one of the futuristic Spartan warriors. There is also an extended three-minute cut that has started circulating on YouTube.