Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3:ODST, formerly known as Halo 3: Recon, is a First Person Shooter video game exclusively developed on the Xbox 360. ODST was released worldwide on September 22nd, 2009.

Taking place in the Kenyan port city of New Mombasa, ODST follows a squad of elite Marine Orbital Drop Shock Troopers during the Covenant invasion of Earth on October 23rd, 2552. Knocked off course due to the Mombasa Slipspace Incident, these six Marines fight through the waste-filled and destroyed streets in order to link up and to destroy and evade the Covenant occupation force in the city.

ODST is a campaign expansion and prologue to Halo 3 which fills in the details of what happened in Southeastern Kenya from Halo 2 and Halo 3. An official five-part prequel comic, Helljumper, was released in the months following up to and after the release of ODST starting in July, and ending in November. A multiplayer beta of Halo: Reach, recently announced at E3 2009, is included with ODST.

Superintendent
On May 29th, 2008, a viral campaign for Halo 3: ODST started focused around the AI of the same name, New Mombasa's janitorial second generation dumb-A.I. construct that aids The Rookie and his squad in surviving the Covenant occupation of New Mombasa.

ONI Candidate Assessment Program V5.02A
On September 4th, 2009, a second viral campaign was released on Xbox.com, letting fans watch interviews of the main characters of ODST. These videos go into the background of each character, with Buck and a various teammate talking about their past, military career, their education, and about the misson ahead. Clips directed by Rupert Sanders can be seen via a marker the Marines place on their right temple.

Announcement
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First, different screens of areas of New and Old Mombasa come on screen, followed by HEV pods entering the atmosphere. Here you can see the Prophet of Regret's carrier on the right, then it moves behind buildings. The pods come into view as a large explosion (Caused by the Prophet of Regret's carrier entering Slipspace) appears, sending the pods off-course. Then, the Superintendent appears, and shows warning signs and then reboots. All the screens from earlier flash onto the screen, but heavily damaged from the blast. Then, a single HEV pod falls through the sky, when the Halo 3 Logo appears. The pod then crashes into the camera and goes black, followed by the words 'Prepare to Drop'.

The second part to the trailer, released on the 8th of October, followed on from this - the Superintendent reinitialized itself, attempting to assess the catastrophic devastation and tries to identify the object that survived. Later, after a Covenant Phantom dropship has passed by, the object opens to reveal a lone surviving Marine Shock Trooper to clamber out, wielding a modified M7S Caseless Submachine Gun. The Marine narrowly avoids a Jiralhanae patrol, before encountering messages from the Superintendent, presumably leading him to safety.

Elements from this trailer have dramatically altered from announcement to the present day.

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E3 2009 Gameplay
Shown to the press at Microsoft's E3'09 Media Briefing, the first gameplay trailer showcased the events surrounding the campaign and the new Firefight mode. It focuses mostly on the Rookie wandering around the streets of the city, looking for his lost squadmates, along with Dutch who fights during the Battle of ONI Alpha Base.

This trailer also shows the very first glimpse of Firefight, the brand new cooperative game mode designed specifically for ODST.

ViDoc: Desperate Measures
The first ViDoc of Halo 3: ODST, Desperate Measures takes a look inside the squad that consists of the main characters in the game. It summarizes the skills that each Marine has, along with what equipment they'll be using in-game.

Also shown are little clips of the flashback missions, namely, featuring GySgt Buck and LCpl Agu on a landing platform at NMPD Headquarters, where a police Pelican dropship was extracting the two Marines, before getting chased off by two Type-26 Banshee fighters.

ViDoc: Bip. Bap. Bam.
The second ViDoc for ODST first shown at the 2009 Games Convention in Cologne, Germany, ''Bip. Bap. Bam. shows off the new Firefight'' mode revealed earlier at E3 2009.

SgtMaj Avery Johnson is the narrator of the ViDoc, making a stylish entrance in a SOEIV "Drop Pod" over the Security Zone map. During the video, Johnson details the gameplay of this new gametype for ODST, along with telling how they can play him by pre-ordering the game at a number of participating retailers.

ViDoc: Terra Incognita
The third ViDoc for ODST released on Bungie's website, focuses on the development of Halo 3: ODST.

The game developers at Bungie were entering unfamiliar territory, making the largest enviroment they ever created as the freely-explorable level of New Mombasa. It also says the differences and similarities of the ODSTs and the SPARTAN-II soldiers, such as jumping height and the fact that no motion tracker is present in ODST.

We Are ODST
A 2 minute live-action short made exclusively for the launch of Halo 3: ODST will be released on September 7th, 2009 on Spike TV with a run-time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. . This short is directed by Rupert Sanders, who previously on the Halo 3: Believe series.

This short showcases the 19th Shock Troops Battalion during their operations in the Human-Covenant War.

ODST Tour


To promote the upcoming release of the game, Bungie and Microsoft started an "ODST Tour", showcasing the game's Firefight mode to fans all across the United States. Beginning August 22nd in Redmond, Washington, this tour will last for nearly a month, coinciding with the release of the game.

Pricing


Early after its announcement, Bungie stated that they did not see ODST as a regular $60 game. At E3 2009, Microsoft confirmed that Halo 3: ODST would retail at the standard normal price of $59.99, which they think that the game features warrant the normal price tag.

As a bonus feature for those who pre-order ODST at select retailers (including such stores as GameStop and Amazon.com), a token to play as SgtMaj Avery Johnson in Firefight will be included.



Contents:
 * Halo 3: ODST Campaign
 * Halo 3: ODST "Firefight" mode, a cooperative campaign mode where up to four players can assume the role of an ODST squad and fight together to take on increasingly challenging waves of enemies. Facing increasingly challenging waves of enemies together, striving to earn the highest scores possible, while various Halo 3 Skulls are progressively activated.
 * Three new maps of a second Mythic pack on a standalone disc.
 * All three Multiplayer Map Packs (Heroic, Legendary, and Mythic).
 * A key to the upcoming Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta.

Special Edition
A "Halo 3: ODST Collector's Pack" is available alongside the standard version. This includes the game itself, along with a limited edition UNSC-style Xbox 360 controller, and will retail for $99 USD (£60 GBP). The Collector's Pack is only currently available at GameStop in the USA, EB Games in Australia, and Game.co.uk in the UK.

Strategy Guide
Prima Games will release 272-page strategy guide on the release date of Halo 3: ODST for $25 USD.

Contents include :
 * Move Out Soldier - Complete coverage of the single player missions. With labeled maps for New Mombasa and tactics included for the Legendary level of difficulty.
 * Team Up - Intense Co-Op strategy to ensure you and your squadmates survive. With input from the actual developers and testers to give you the inside track.
 * Clan Wisdom - All Halo 3 multiplayer maps with breakdowns and tips from some of the best clan players out there.
 * Rise Through the Ranks - Detailed info on every Achievement from Halo ODST and Halo 3. More than a list, instructions and tips for every one.

Original Sountrack
"Overall I think this score is a bit more intimate and personal. We're telling a human story, not a cyborg story. This isn't a space opera but a story that takes place on earth in one city. Although the player get's to inhabit the shoes of several characters, they still primarily should feel like one person discovering the mystery that lies behind the ruins of New Mombasa"

- Martin O'Donnell to Music 4 Games.

Like previous games in the series, Halo 3: ODST will be released alongside an Original Soundtrack comprised of music heard in the game. This soundtrack features seventeen new tracks, composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, on two discs. Though over three hours of music was composed for ODST, only two hours will be released on the soundtrack.

Trivia

 * The tagline for the game is Prepare to Drop, which references the method of Orbital Drop used by the ODST's for quick insertion into operations.


 * A teaser trailer for Halo 3: ODST was Keep It Clean released on September 25th, 2008 at 07:07:07 am PST, which coincided with the one year anniversary of the launch of Halo 3. The trailer was viewed through the many security cameras around New Mombasa. The time at which this trailer was revealed is a reference to Bungie's long-time "obsession" with the number seven.


 * Bungie released the track played in the Announcement Trailer, named "Prepare to Drop". It's track length is 1:17, a reference to John-117. The track is available here.


 * The "Road to Recon" challenge, as named by Bungie, will give players the chance to unlock the MJOLNIR Mk.VI "Recon" (simply referred to as "Recon Armor") for use in Halo 3 multiplayer . This challenge will require unlocking the current Vidmaster Challenges from Halo 3, and three more Vidmaster Challenges only available through purchasing ODST.


 * On November 25th, 2008, Bungie LLC. renamed the in-development Halo 3: Recon to Halo 3: ODST. The reasons to why the upcoming expansion was renamed is due to the player playing the character of an ODST in the game, and to focus attention off of the fact that players will be able to receive MJOLNIR Mark VI Reconnaissance Armor.


 * Though the game takes place during the events of Halo 2 (First Battle of Earth and Battle of Installation 05); all of the character, weapon, and vehicle models were taken from Halo 3, creating an inconsistency within the canon, unless regarded as a Retroactive Continuity.




 * During an interview at Gencon 2008 in Brisbane, Australia; Alan Tudyk commented on a so called Halo 3 Supplemental, in which himself and fellow Firefly actors Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin would lend their voices to the game. All three of the actors played the role of Marines in Halo 3. Assuming that this supplemental is Halo 3: ODST, Tudyk and Baldwin will likely voice members of the squad in the game. The E3 2009 Gameplay Trailer confirmed Fillion, Baldwin, and Tudyk's roles as Buck, Dutch, and Mickey, respectively.


 * To accompany the launch of the Xbox 360's new Avatar Marketplace, Xbox LIVE members will be able to purchase a special clothing set featuring the ODST's Battle Armor . As of early September 2009, only a UNSC Marine Infantryman costume has been released.


 * McFarlane Toys will release a 6-inch figurine replica of The Rookie as a part of their "Medal Edition" line of Series 6, due out in October 2009  . Included in the package is the M7S/Casless Submachine Gun and exclusive Medals.


 * In early September 2009, Rooster Teeth began a four-part Red vs Blue special debuting ODST 's Firefight mode to the cast of Recreation. The first episode, entitled "Guys Like Us" (referring to both the cast of RvB and ODST being "normal" soldiers), can be viewed on Rooster Teeth's official website here.


 * Marketing for ODST will encompass a broad range of mediums, including print ads in magazines; with television spots taking center stage "with multiple ads prepared and sponsorship of key shows arranged" . Advertisements will be shown up to Christmas 2009 and into early 2010. Such ads can already been seen in the American version of the Official Xbox Magazine and even here on Halopedia. GameStop has already began their advertisements, showing off both UNSC and Covenant in the Firefight mode dancing to SgtMaj Johnson, a bonus unlock item for those who pre-order the game . Spike TV has designated September as the "Halo Month", with five programs lined up over the course of sixteen days . One such show will mark the debut of a live-action ODST short and a preview of Halo Legends 's ODST-centric film The Babysitter.


 * Copies of ODST were sold early in France, to which Microsoft responded by investigating and threatening to ban any players on Xbox LIVE playing ODST before its official release of September 22nd . Microsoft France lead manager Stephen Toulouse later stated that they would not ban legitimate buyers of the game.


 * On the morning of September 3rd, 2009, IGN.com released a teaser for the upcoming ODST with an article called "Death Comes to All of Us" and a description of "What could this surprising image mean for one soldier's future?" . This article contained an image of torn ODST insignia, possibly a flag or a uniform patch, laying on the ground. The author of this article, Hillary Goldstein, will reveal where this image is from on Friday, September 4th at 10:00am Pacific Standard Time. This image was later revealed to be from the upcoming release of the ODST live-action short.


 * Revealed at the Bungie panel at PAX 2009, many "characters" were considered for an expansion for Halo 3, most notably Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee.


 * In an interview with Microsoft Game Studios' Ryan Crosby on Joystiq.com, a sequel to Halo 3: ODST would be considered if fan and media reception exceeds expectations, and the need arises for a follow-up . Despite that, there are no current plans for a sequel, despite the hints of an "ODST 2" during the Epilogue cinematic.

Videos
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Internal Links

 * Halo 3
 * Halo: Helljumper
 * We Are ODST
 * Mombasa, Kenya
 * Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
 * ONI Candidate Assessment Program V5.02A