Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3: Recon is an upcoming campaign expansion and prologue to Halo 3.

Overview
Although Bungie has consistently stated that Halo 3 was the last game in the trilogy, having ever ruled out possible Halo games in the same story line being released in the near future, an interview by MTV with Don Mattrick (Senior Vice President of Microsoft's Xbox division) revealed that Bungie's game is at the very least Halo-related, and that it is not Bungie's collaborative efforts on Halo Wars or Halo: Chronicles, but a "new" game.

Although a proper announcement was meant for July 16th, 2008 at E3, it was canceled by Microsoft because they wanted to focus on games by first-party developers that were coming out in 2008 - criteria which the Bungie project did not fit. It was also stated by Microsoft that they did not want to further lengthen their press conference so as not to stretch the attention span of the attendees, and that they wished to give the new Halo project an event of its own to release details on it.

The most popular rumor surrounding this new title is that it's a squad-based shooter in the Halo universe with the player filling the role of a Marine Captain. This could be the reason why Christian Allen, a former Marine and Red Storm employee who worked on the Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six series, joined Bungie in early 2007. As of October 8th, Bungie has confirmed that the player will take the role of a surviving ODST, that it is set in the ruins of New Mombassa, and that it will be released in the US "Fall" of 2009.

In a section of the video, what appears to be random letters and numbers contains the date "January 6, 2009" first thought to be a release date. But revealed at Tokyo Gaming Scene the release date is the fall of 2009, this has caused many fans to believe that this is when new information will be released, refering to Bungie previous hidden secrets in trailers.

Recon has been described as 'returning players to familiar grounds on a vital top-secret mission. Recon's gripping story, co-operative campaign and new multiplayer content that will have Halo fans 'Preparing to Drop' in Fall 2009'.

Trailers
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 EMP 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 new variant of the M7S Caseless Submachine Gun.

The Marine narrowly avoids a Jiralhanae patrol, before encountering messages from the Superintendent, presumably leading him to safety.

Speculation
Speculation about a supposed third-person-shooter, giving the player control of Marines or ODST's instead of Spartans, has circulated since long before Bungie revealed their next project would be Halo-related. Originally, rumours held that this would by the Peter Jackson game, Halo: Chronicles, but these rumours switched focus after the second part of the Keep It Clean trailer was released, depicting an ODST as the main character.

The presence of Christian Allen, who worked on the Ghost Recon series of games, as well as the presence of "Recon" in the game's title, also heightened speculation. In actual fact, Bungie has confirmed that it will be a first-person-shooter, like the previous three Halo titles, and that Christian Allen is actually working on a completely different project within Bungie.

The trailer seems to imply that the Superintendent will take the place of Cortana as a guide, albeit silent and separate.

Trivia

 * The tagline for the series is Prepare to Drop referencing the way ODST enter into the combat zone.
 * A teaser trailer for Halo 3: Recon was called Keep It Clean was released at 07:07:07 am PST on September 25th, 2008, which coincided with the one year anniversary of Halo 3. The trailer was viewed through the many security cameras around New Mombasa. Also an obvious reference to seven.
 * After the lone HEV pod drops and the Superintendent is scanning it the screen goes black and the words *SEARCH TERMINATED!* ONI.SEC.PRCTL.1A appears. This indicates that the organization ONI who have done a lot of behind the scenes work in the Halo series terminated the Superintendent search. [[Image:screenshot of this.png|thumb|right]]
 * The Superintendent AI seems very self aware, such as switching on lights around the area for closer inspection, switching them off quickly when the Covenant approached, and seeing the Marine ODST as Human. This could possibly be a clear indication of another "buddy" A.I. construct, such as Cortana or Serina, a common element within the plot.
 * It is possible that this game will have more stealth aspects, evidence as such a silenced attachment and a possible strategic first person mode that highlights the biggest threats.

Related Articles

 * Halo 3
 * Keep It Clean (Trailer)
 * Superintendent
 * Unnamed Marine Shock Trooper