If you've been wanting to try out the new Halo TV show without losing pennies on a Paramount Plus subscription, now's your chance.
The good folks at Paramount Studios have decided to make the first episode of the video game-inspired series, titled Contact, available for free on YouTube through April 7.
Anyone who lives in a region where Paramount Plus is currently available (i.e. the US, Australia, Canada, Latin America and the Nordics) can take advantage of this limited-time promotion, though audiences elsewhere will have to wait. a little more for the debut of Halo on the small screen. .
Eligible viewers can watch the full series premiere via the link below:
A nine-episode adaptation of a two-decade-old game franchise, Paramount's big-budget television series follows the exploits of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced super-soldier tasked with defending humanity against the alien villain Covenant in the 26th century.
Having begun airing on March 24, early reviews for the show were decidedly mixed, with some describing Halo as "an intriguing mess" and others calling it "solid enough to break the video game adaptation curse."
In our own review of the Paramount Plus series, we said that while it's visually stunning, it falls into the trap of pandering to video game fans and everyday audiences alike, ultimately resulting in an unbalanced sci-fi adventure that struggles. to please both. party.
That said, reviews of the series shouldn't deter would-be fans from judging Halo for themselves, especially since its first episode is now available to stream for free.
However, as mentioned, UK viewers will have to wait until later in 2022 to see Halo on Sky and Now TV, when Paramount Plus launches as part of the former.
Analysis: try before you buy
This limited-time partnership with YouTube not only gives fans the chance to try the Halo TV show for free, it also gives Paramount Plus a chance to bolster its strength as a new streaming service.
While Netflix, Disney Plus, and HBO Max continue to build libraries and subscriber bases, Paramount Plus is just beginning to show itself as a real player in the online entertainment market.
Recently, the streamer's parent company, ViacomCBS, was renamed Paramount Global (or, more simply, Paramount) in an effort to generate more name recognition for the company's core studio. The announcement also came with a commitment to invest more than €6 billion in new streaming content over the next two years, with Paramount expecting its still-young streaming service to surpass 100 million subscribers by 2024.
To achieve this figure, the legendary entertainment studio is betting on the appeal of its myriad franchises. In addition to the Halo TV show, Paramount Plus subscribers can soon look forward to a Knuckles-centric Sonic series and exclusive benefits for movie franchises including Mission: Impossible, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and A Quiet Place.
So while Halo's lackluster success may not have provided the start studio bosses hoped for, Paramount Plus is definitely on its way to disrupting the streaming competition in the near future.