Global warming, move over; `Halo 3' release combats invasion threat to planet.

Byline: Thomas Caywood

WORCESTER - Futuristic plasma rifles blasted away at alien hordes occupying Earth in homes throughout the region yesterday with the long-awaited release of the "Halo 3" video game for the Xbox 360 console.

In the world of video games, it was the release of the latest gotta-have game.

"This is the best thing that has ever happened to video games. People played `Halo 2' for thousands and thousands of hours," said Tegan G. Folsom, 16, of Shrewsbury.

Tegan eagerly picked up his copy of the sci-fi shoot-'em-up game at the GameStop store on Lincoln Street with his mother, Susan D. Folsom, shortly after school let out. He had tried to talk her into letting him pick up the game at midnight yesterday morning - GameStop opened in the dead of night to accommodate Halo enthusiasts - so he could skip school and battle aliens all day.

Even with "the fate of the galaxy in the balance" as the back of the box paints the game's doomsday storyline, Mrs. Folsom was having none of it.

"He tried to talk me into it," she said.

"That died in about 30 seconds," Tegan admitted sheepishly.

Nick C. Daigle, 14, of Rutland, got his hands on a $60 "Halo 3" game and a $20 copy of the "Official Halo 3 Strategy Guide" earlier than many area teens because Rutland had a half-day of school yesterday for teacher training.

His mother, Nancy E. Daigle, brought him to the Circuit City store at Greendale Mall with two friends in tow just after 1 p.m. to pick up the copy of "Halo 3" they had reserved about a month ago. From there, she drove the teens to Solomon Pond Mall so her son's friends could pick up a copy of the game their mother had reserved at another store - in December.

"We played `Halo 2' for an hour before we came just to get ready," Nick said.

His friends, brothers Joe J. Oliva, 14, and Tom A. Oliva, 12, of Rutland, said they've been having friends come over on weekends for marathon Halo playing parties to prepare for yesterday's release of the trilogy's third installment.

"Me and Joe play every morning," Tom said.

Nick said he plays Halo for about an hour a day, but his mother said it seems more like a couple of hours a day to her.

"Halo 3" immerses players in the role of a "biologically augmented super soldier" known by his rank, master chief, in the year 2552. The player blasts his way through the game with a variety of machine guns and deadly lasers, seeing on the screen what the character would see, as opposed to seeing the character himself. In this genre, the player is known among gamers as a first-person shooter.

The game is rated M for mature, but despite the on-screen mayhem of explosions and spurting alien blood, most of the young video gamers picking up copies of "Halo 3" yesterday cited the game's cinematic narrative as its most exciting feature.

"There's a real story. You kill the aliens, but there's a reason," Tegan Folsom said.

"What's the reason?" wondered his mother, who said she has some concerns about video games in general.

"They're attacking Earth," he said.

Luke A. Fontaine, 15, of Shrewsbury, said "Halo 3" is just good fun. His dad, Bruce A. Fontaine, drove him to the GameStop store in Worcester straight from school. The impending release of the game was all his friends could talk about, said Luke, who admitted he'd likely play the game for an entire weekend if he had the time.

"It's fun, and it has a deep story," he said, with a shrug.

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Sixteen-year-old Tegan G. Folsom, of Shrewsbury, purchased "Halo 3" after school yesterday.

PHOTOG: ELLEN HARASIMOWICZ