You Better Grab That Inhaler, It's The First 15 Minutes From Halo: Reach

If you’re anything like me, surely you were awake at midnight last night (this morning?), but still found yourself far too frightened to beg your mother for a ride to the local Game Stop for your copy of Halo: Reach. Well fear not, now you too can live out the excitement of Bungie Studio’s latest epic, right along side the rest of society who already got their copies -well, at least for the first 15 in-game minutes of the single player campaign. Oh, what’s that, you’re not even fully sure what Halo: Reach even is? Oh man, can somebody lend me a nerd boner over here?

This is the story of Noble Team, a squad of heroic Spartan soldiers, and their final stand on planet Reach, humanity’s last line of defense between the terrifying Covenant and Earth. This darker story is echoed by grittier visuals amid a backdrop of massive, awe-inspiring environments. Characters, enemies, and environments are rendered in amazing detail by an all-new engine designed to deliver epic-scale encounters against the cunning and ruthless Covenant. [Xbox]

After the jump, we’ve posted the first 15 minutes worth of in-game footage, so mind you that the video contains some mild spoilers. But we invite you to take the leap, watch the footage and then decide whether or not the urge to play sick this week is far too incredibly overwhelming. It’s okay, your employer will understand…or fire you. It’s really a 50/50 crapshoot on this one.

Special thanks to G4tv for the tip.