So here we are, many months after the beta and a mere hour away from the release of Halo Reach, and I'm just now getting this montage I made out of footage from the Halo Reach Beta.

Since I don't have the uber skills as most of you readers out there, I decided to focus the montage around something I am good at...dying. This Halo Reach Death Montage, titled "Memorial", adds some emotion, dramatic music, and slow motion to some of the very cool death animations and other scenarios that are brought to life in this great game.

Check it out after the break. Be sure to watch in HD.

The embargo on Halo Reach reviews was lifted on Sunday at midnight, and since then the reviews have poured in, with 35 currently being tracked by metacritic.

The reviews so far have been overwhelmingly positive, with an aggregate review score of 93. That score currently ranks it as the second highest rated game of the year, behind Mass Effect 2 (96). There is still time for it to catch ME2, as plenty of reviews will continue to poor in, but 96 would be a large climb for it to make.

The game has scored even better at the big review sites. Joystiq, 1UP, Gamepro, and Destructoid all gave it perfect scores, with IGN not far behind with a 95.

Bungie has worked very hard to make a great game with Halo Reach, and they're not about to let a bunch of griefers ruin it. That's why Bungie has worked with Microsoft to take their ban control up to the next level with Halo Reach, with their "Banhammer Battlestation".

Bungie will have the ability to ban you from voice chat, ban you from hosting multiplayer games, ban your console, ban your gamertag, and ban you from earning credits. These are all in addition to the bans we already knew about, which include the temporary matchmaking ban you get when quitting games as well as the Xbox Live ban that those naughty pirates got for downloading the game early.

Further, Bungie promises they can also escalate some in-game issues to Microsoft for Xbox Live bans if they're bad enough.

So, the moral of the story is play nice.

Bungie just let loose some information about which playlists will be available initially in Halo Reach. These playlists are different than the ones we saw in the beta, with (obviously) some additions as well as several changes.

Remember, these are just the launch playlists and they will, of course, change over time. We'll keep this post updated as they do (as well as inform you with a new post).

We've got the full list, as well as details and limits for each, after the break.

Halo Reach is right around the corner, and a couple of retailers have made some last minute adjustments to get your preorder. The best thing about both of these is that in addition to great bonuses and savings, both will also get you the game on release day.

Amazon is now offering $0.99 release date shipping to go along with their $20 gift card, and Best Buy is offering as much as $30 in gift cards. These are far and away the best preorder deals, and it's not too late to cancel your old ones and switch over to these.

We've got full details and the links to get the bonuses after the break.

Before I even introduce this video, I'll start by saying that it's a really cool video, and you should take the time to watch it.

The video gives us a behind the scenes look at the sound production of Halo Reach. You'll be taken into the studio, and get to see how all the Halo Reach sound effects, as well as music, are created. If you have even a slight interest in sound production or one day working in videogames, this video is a must watch, although it just won't be the same going through that launch for the game's space battle knowing that the sound in side our cockpit is really just someone shaking a desk with a lamp on it.

Next, we get some insight into the game's score from none other than the master Halo composer himself, Marty O'Donnell. If you love his work as most Halo fans do, be sure to support him by picking up the Halo Reach Soundtrack at Amazon.

As usual, the video is embedded up above.

The Halo Reach Launch Festivities are under way, and day 6 brings us a walkthrough of the entire first level of Halo Reach, or so I'm told.

I'll have to defer to hearsay on this one, as I haven't watched the video since it contains some slightly spoilery stuff and I want to go into the game completely fresh. If you're not a spoilerphone like myself, you can find the video of the entire first level of Halo Reach (including the intro) after the break.

Part 2 of the Remember Reach Live Action trailer was extremely cool. You know what would be even cooler? More of that.

Today is your lucky day, because that's exactly what we have here, via an extended edition of the much loved "Deliver Hope" trailer. The original was 1:11, and this new version clocks in at 2:28, more than twice as long.

The majority of the new footage takes place prior to our bomb toting Spartan getting taken down, at the height of the battle. Check it out after the break.

So we know these last 7 days counting down to the release of Halo reach are going to be hard on you. That's why Bungie intends to ease your pain ever so slightly with their Halo Reach launch festivities.

And we know that the next 7 days after Halo Reach finally does release are going to be awesome for you. That's why Bungie intends to make them even awesomer with "Invasion Week", which among other things will give you some free stuff.

All in all, you'll net two free Halo themed premium Xbox Live themes, as well as lots of other stuff to keep you happy over that span. Oh, and if you're a lowly silver subscriber, you'll be able to get a taste of the joy that is Halo Reach multiplayer when Xbox Live gold is opened up to you for free on September 17th-20th.

Find all the details after the break.

[UPDATE] It looks like only the Invasion premium theme will be free. The other premium theme is 240ms pts.

This is the last week of our team-up with MyTeeSpot to give away free Halo Reach t-shirts. To celebrate, we're giving away two shirts this week. Last week, our rules for entry were a little bit tougher than in week one, and we actually had a very small number of entries, meaning that the few people that did enter had a very good chance of winning.

This week, we're taking it even further. This will be our hardest entry yet. Couple that with the fact that we're giving away two shirts this week, and anyone that enters will have an extremely good chance of winning to the point that it's almost a given. Even with the tougher entry, it will still only take you a matter of moments to enter. Here's how to enter:

1. Sign up for a Gamefly trial
2. Email us with the email address you used to sign up.

Viola, that's it!

Hit Read More below to find out more about Gamefly, as well as find out info about the week 2 winner.