Halo: Fireteam Raven

Halo: Fireteam Raven is a cooperative arcade sci-fi shooting game from arcade legends Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix in a unique partnership and collaboration with 343 Industries.

The game was initially released as an exclusive to Dave & Buster's in North America, but was later released internationally. As of May 2018, there are no plans to release it for non-arcade platforms.

In 2021, a number of Fireteam Raven-themed armor permutations and skins were added into the Halo 3 component of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The update was appropriately titled Series 6: Raven.

Plot
Fireteam Raven takes place concurrently with the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. The game opens on September 19, 2552, with the arriving in the Soell system at Installation 04, being met by the Fleet of Particular Justice. Fireteam Raven are briefed by Major Antonio Silva on their mission; defend Pillar of Autumn from Covenant boarders. The team then proceed to battle a variety of Grunts, Jackals and Elites inside the ship, making their way through the internal corridors. Eventually, the team are commandeered by Wellsley to take a spacewalk into a breached compartment and man the ship's M910 Rampart turrets, fending off Covenant strike fighters. Eventually, the team re-enter the ship and link back up at their drop pods. On their way back, they encounter Master Chief entering his own lifeboat.

At this point, they are informed that Captain Keyes has ordered all personnel to abandon ship. The team enter their drop pods and proceed to land on Installation 04 in time to watch the Pillar of Autumn crash in the distance. The team then begin making a twenty-eight hour hike across the installation, guided by Wellsley, to reach the ship's crash site. They arrive in time to observe a raid being conducted by allied UNSC forces, and proceed to assist by manning a Warthog. Eventually, the team help the Marines secure the ship, and are consequently taken to Alpha Base. Here, the team is debriefed by Major Silva, though the meeting is interrupted by the start of a Covenant attack. Fireteam Raven help the Marines fend off several waves of dropships, before manning some captured Shade turrets to begin fending off aircraft. The attack is eventually reinforced by a Lich, Upright Chalice, though the Lich soon departs.

Eventually, Fireteam Raven are recalled for Falcon extraction, as a new threat has emerged in the canyons near the ring's Control Room. The Fireteam are deployed into the canyon, gunning down Flood forms from the gunships' machine gun turrets, before unloading onto the canyon floor to provide a distraction for combatant Flood and Covenant in the area so the Master Chief can achieve his mission of destroying the ring. The team are eventually pressed in by Flood forces before being saved by the Master Chief, who promptly departs. Eventually, the Falcon lands to extract the Fireteam once again, though is hit by a Wraith plasma mortar round, causing the helicopter to crash in another part of the ring. Fireteam Raven survive the crash, and move to take cover in a Forerunner structure nearby, while battling more Flood and Covenant. Eventually, the team are faced with two Flood Juggernauts, though are able to defeat them in time for a Pelican dropship to land and extract them.

The dropship takes Raven to join another UNSC attack on Pillar of Autumn's crash site, this time with the aim of stopping the Covenant and Flood on the ring from preventing the Master Chief from destroying the Installation. Raven are deployed in a Warthog to attack the Covenant head-on, but are soon stopped by a Scarab. The squad then get into the back of a Falcon and board the Scarab from the air, taking it down. They proceed to fight some more Flood and Covenant forces before the Pillar of Autumn's fusion drives are detonated and ring explodes. Fireteam Raven are killed in the explosion.

Characters and setting
Set in the timeframe of the original Halo: Combat Evolved, this new immersive experience hot-drops players feet first into the boots of Fireteam Raven – a group of elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST) – on the surface of Alpha Halo as they try desperately to prevent the alien Covenant alliance from taking control of the ancient superweapon.

Gameplay
Fireteam Raven takes the form of an arcade light gun shooter, supporting between one and four players. The standard arcade unit for the game supports four players, though smaller two-player editions are available. Each player controls a member of the eponymous Fireteam Raven, and uses the game's turret-mounted recreations of the M247H machine gun to shoot at enemies on screen. A later edition of the game, released in 2022, replaces the machine gun controllers - designed to be used while sitting down - with an MA5B assault rifle recreation, allowing the game to be played standing up. In game, players are unable to change weapons and are instead provided weapons at certain intervals alongside grenade pickups which can be launched using an additional button on the controller. Some sections of the game pit the player as operating the gun turret of certain vehicles such as Warthogs or Falcons, where they get access to unique weapons.

When playing, players can scan a QR code at the arcade cabinet to link their Xbox LIVE account and allow Halo Waypoint to track their progress in-game. This data can then be viewed in the player's online service record and via global leaderboards. Additionally, linking an Xbox LIVE account with Fireteam Raven will grant that player access to an exclusive nameplate for use in Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Campaign levels
The Fireteam Raven campaign features six missions:

Game features

 * 130inch Panoramic 4K Display
 * 4-Player Action with Force Feedback Guns
 * 5.1 Surround Sound
 * Exclusive stats and rewards for players who link with their Xbox Live Gamertag/Account via a QR code

Arcade machine specification

 * Cabinet weight: 3060lbs
 * Height: 9'9"
 * Width: 11'4"
 * Depth: 9'9"

Soundtrack
Halo: Fireteam Raven does not feature an original score, but instead reuses and remixes tracks from prior-released Halo titles.
 * 1) Sentry Battle (Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack) - used during the levels Escape and Raven Down.
 * 2) On Deck (Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack) - used during the level Rubble.
 * 3) Crypt (Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack) - used during the level Alpha Base.
 * 4) Untethered (Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack) - used during the level Ice Canyon.
 * 5) Unearthed (Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack) - used during the level Raven Down.
 * 6) Advent (Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack) - used during the level Last Stand.
 * 7) Legacy (Halo: Spartan Assault Original Soundtrack) - used during the main menu, end credits and end-of-mission reports.

Reveal trailer
A reveal trailer was released on May 17, 2018 on YouTube, showing the first in-game gameplay of Halo: Fireteam Raven.

Pre-launch test
On June 16, 2018, in Rosemont Illinois, there was a pre-launch test of Fireteam Raven at the local Dave and Buster's.

Canon Fodder
In the run-up to the game's release, two issues of the story-focused blog Canon Fodder were released to detail the setting, story and characters of Fireteam Raven.

Release
Fireteam Raven was initially released on July 10, 2018, in a handful of specific Dave & Busters locations in the United States. By August 9, all Dave & Busters locations in the country had Fireteam Raven arcade cabinets installed, with worldwide release planned for numerous other countries over the next two months.