Title: Halo 3 ODST (Recon)
Tags: Halo 3 ODST update bungie
Blog Entry: Halo 3: ODST Developer(s) Bungie Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios Platform(s) Xbox 360 [ 1 ] Release date(s) Q3 2009 [ 1 ] Genre(s) First-person shooter [ 1 ] Mode(s) Single player , co-op , online co-op , multiplayer , online multiplayer , Forge, and Meta-game [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Media DVD-9 [ 1 ] Input methods Gamepad Halo 3: ODST (formerly named Halo 3: Recon ) [ 3 ] is a standalone expansion for Halo 3 , based in the fictional Halo universe. [ 4 ] In the game, players will take on the role of a UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) during the events leading up to Halo 3 . [ 1 ] Contents [ hide ] 1 Gameplay 2 Synopsis 2.1 Setting 2.2 Characters 3 Development 3.1 Pre-production and trailer 3.2 Audio 4 References 5 External links // Gameplay Although the gameplay of Halo 3: ODST bears a strong resemblance to previous Halo games, [ 5 ] the player will not assume the role of Master Chief as in the main Halo trilogy, but rather a lone UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Trooper in the city of New Mombasa. [ 2 ] Since the ODST does not possess Master Chief's superhuman abilities and armor, he is more vulnerable to weapons fire, thus forcing the player to act more cautiously. While the game is not focused on stealth gameplay, some elements of stealth will be incorporated throughout as you look for your missing team. [ 2 ] Synopsis Setting ODST takes place in the Halo universe in the year 2552, during the events of Halo 2 . While the characters of Halo 2 are on the Forerunner ringworld known as Delta Halo , ODST follows what happens at the city of New Mombasa on Earth, in the midst of an invasion by the hostile Covenant . [ 6 ] Characters The main character of the game is an unnamed member of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (also known as Helljumpers or "ODST") referred to as the Rookie. ODSTs often deploy in small, one-man Human Entry Vehicles (HEVs), launched from spaceships in the upper atmosphere. [ 5 ] [ 7 ] During the game the Rookie is separated from his four teammates and must find out what happens to them. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] Development Pre-production and trailer ODST began development in March 2008. [ 10 ] Bungie community director Brian Jarrard stated in an interview that the game "was a labor of love to [Bungie's] fans" who wanted more Halo -related content. Bungie veterans wanted to flesh out story elements, and fans wanted more action on Earth. "At the end of Halo 2 , fans wanted to know what happened back on Earth, how humanity was defending it," Jarrard explained. [ 11 ] Because Bungie did not want to do "more of the same," the main character was made an ODST. "The ODSTs have always been fan favorites and the events that unfolded on Earth is something fans still clamor for after being 'short changed' in Halo 2 ," Jarrard said, [ 12 ] in reference to complaints that Halo 2 ended too abruptly. [ 13 ] In an interview on MTV on July 16, 2008, Microsoft’s head of Xbox business, Don Mattrick, stated that Bungie was working on a new Halo game for Microsoft, independent of the franchise spinoffs Halo Wars and Halo Chronicles . [ 4 ] An announcement of the new Halo project was expected at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2008 game exposition, with Bungie unveiling a countdown on their web site, but the announcement was shelved by Microsoft. [ 14 ] Microsoft stated that it wanted the game to have its own event. On September 25, 2008, a year after the release of Halo 3 , Bungie debuted a teaser for the new project on their web site. [ 15 ] A full trailer was released during the Tokyo Game Show on October 9, 2008, officially unveiling the game's name as Halo 3: Recon and a release date of Fall 2009. In an unusual approach for Bungie, the trailer was comprised of prerendered graphics, instead of being created using the game engine or existing assets; story director Joseph Staten explained that it was too early in the game's development to spend a large amount of time on the trailer, and it would not have allowed Bungie to add touches for fans to discuss. [ 10 ] In post-trailer interviews, Bungie staff members told gaming press that ODST was the last installment in the Halo trilogy. [ 16 ] Though Bungie does not consider the ODST a full game [ 17 ] (staff member Luke Smith compared it to The Frozen Throne , an expansion to Warcraft III ), the game will ship with Halo 3 map packs, [ 6 ] and ODST will not require Halo 3 to play. [ 18 ] Smith made sure to point out the game would not be a crossover into the stealth and squad-based genres, noting "This isn't Brothers in Arms : Halo or Splinter Cell : Halo ." [ 11 ] On November 25, Jarrard announced the game had been retitled to Halo 3: ODST as a "more straightforward" description of the game. [ 3 ] Audio Bungie's audio director Martin O'Donnell will contribute music for ODST , as he has done for the previous Halo games. Due to ODST' s shift to a new protagonist, O'Donnell wanted to create new music that was evocative of Halo but branched in a different direction. [ 10 ]
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