In a year that at times has been quite dreary, Microsoft has decided to spread some festive cheer in a new Christmas advert that features Halo mascot Master Chief and various other Xbox properties.

In a particularly amusing moment, Master Chief can be seen playing fetch with a group of dogs, using his very own frag grenade. As you may expect, results are far from great and result in the canine pack returning the cooked grenade. Honestly, you've got to wonder what he's thinking...

The dogs also make their way into other company titles, such as Microsoft Flight Simulator and Minecraft - complete with their own blocky skin. It's genuinely really sweet and a lovely advert to wrap up a tough year.

Even Aaron Greenberg, manager of Xbox Games Marketing at Microsoft, commented on the advert, calling it "wonderful".

"Love this spot and so wonderful seeing our game franchises like @Halo @MSFSofficial @Minecraft featured!"

What did you think of Microsoft's Holiday advert? Let us know in the comments below.

[source youtube.com]