Halo 3: Game blasts into stores Tuesday.

Byline: Stanley A. Miller Ii

Sep. 24--Space Marines, mount up: It's time to save the human race from hostile aliens, one last time.

When "Halo 3" goes on sale Tuesday, it's going to be the bestselling videogame of the year, and quite possibly one of the fastest-selling ever.

Legions of "Halo" fans are ready to reprise their role as the enigmatic Master Chief, a silent-and-deadly super solider defending humanity from an extraterrestrial onslaught.

Thousands of stores nationwide -- including several in the Milwaukee area -- are opening at midnight tonight to start selling the latest installment in the popular sci-fi shooter.

Fans will scramble home with their games, pop the discs into their Xbox 360s and begin blasting baddies -- or each other in multiplayer mode -- in the visually stunning futuristic world that makes up the "Halo" universe.

"It's the number one thing on people's minds," said Daniel Brown, manager of Video Game Control, 1633 Miller Park Way. "It's going to be big. We haven't had as many preorders for any other game."

Brown, whose …