Halo 3: ODST Community FAQ – E3 Info + More!
This was a forum thread I created on Bungie.net, the official website of Bungie, a video game developer known for Destiny and Halo.
Original Source – Dec. 23, 2008 / Source 2
General Q&A on Halo 3: ODST
What is Halo 3: ODST?
First announced as Halo 3: Recon, the game was renamed ODST because it simply better described the game.
ODST stands for Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. Also known as Helljumpers, these ODST’s are the most hardcore of marine. They always enter the scene using drop pods, feet first, feeling the burn of the atmosphere.
This game is an expansion of Halo 3. It is set between Halo 2 and Halo 3, right after the Prophet of Regret’s slipspace escape from New Mombasa. As an ODST, your job will be to secure New Mombasa.
Why are we securing New Mombasa?
Due to the Prophet of Regret’s slipspace escape, the city was destroyed. Rubble is everywhere, and the Covenant has taken over. Due to a rough landing, you will awaken with six hours already gone by. You’re job is to locate your squad and find out what happened during the six hours you were out, playing through flashbacks as your comrades.
When will it be released?
September 22, 2009
Will there be a beta/demo?
No
How much will the game cost?
Confirmed to be $60 with a Collectors Edition being $100. Here’s a closeup view of the controller.
How many players will the game support?
1-4 players for Halo 3: ODST’s Campaign and Firefight modes.
There’s also a second disc packed in that contains the traditional Halo 3 multiplayer experience. That disc has all the functionality you’ve come to expect from Halo 3’s multiplayer – every feature (Theater, Screenshots, B.net integration, the Forge, etc.) and every one of Halo 3’s 24 maps, including Citadel, Longshore, and the Midship remake, Heretic.
Will the game have multiplayer? Forge? Theater?
Yes. The game is an expansion of the regular Halo 3. Multiplayer has been confirmed by Bungie:
“There are multiplayer maps that will appear as a part of the Halo 3: Recon [ODST] package. This includes the aforementioned Mythic Map Pack in addition to a few others. You can also experience the entire Recon [ODST] campaign cooperatively with up to 4 players.”
Basically, same Multiplayer, same Forge and Theater, different campaign.
Halo 3: Recon will still make use of Screenshots, Forge and Saved Films just like Halo 3 does.
But I heard it will come with Halo 3 multiplayer maps! Right?
Correct. The second ODST disc contains the traditional Halo 3 multiplayer experience. That disc has all the functionality you’ve come to expect from Halo 3’s multiplayer – every feature (Theater, Screenshots, Bnet integration, the Forge, etc.) and every one of Halo 3’s 24 maps, including Citadel, Longshore, and the Midship remake, Heretic.
Will we be able to download the news maps off the disc?
Not confirmed
How do I get Recon Armor?
To receive the Recon armor, the player must complete all Vidmaster achievements from the original game and ODST. The armor will then become available in Multiplayer.
Why are all of the weapons the Halo 3 versions instead of the way they were in Halo 2?
SImply because the game is built from the Halo 3 engine. It’s an an expansion of the original Halo 3 game. To completely redo every single weapon/vehicle/physics, etc. could take years.
Will the new weapons featured in Halo 3: ODST be available in any part of Halo 3 multiplayer?
No.
Is the BR/AR in the game?
The BR is not, but the AR is.
Which retailers have Sgt. Johnson as a bonus?
Click here and here
How does the health system work? Will we have shields?
You have ‘stamina,’ when you lose this, you’re health starts to go down. You’ll have to find health packs in order to reach full health again.
Will you be able to disable VISR?
Yes. You can use the ‘X’ button to turn it off/on.
Will we be able to change all the armor on the ODST?
Yes, in Firefight.
Will we be able to enter abandoned building throughout the city?
Most likely.
How many players can play Campaign/Firefight?
1-4 players via Xbox Live or system link. 2 player offline. Not confirmed about AI for Firefight if fighting alone.
Can ODSTs board vehicles?
Yes
Will the controls be the same? What about Bumper Jumper?!
Yes, they will be the same configurations. The only difference is that the ‘X’ button for equipment will be replaced with the low-light vision mode, VISR.
Any vehicles in the game?
Mongoose, Warthog, Tank, Wraith, Banshee are confirmed
Can we still flip vehicles?
Since you aren’t a SPARTAN it will probably be harder, or just won’t happen.
Who are my enemies? Will I fight Elites?
Your enemies are Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, Drones, and Brutes. You will not fight Elites in Halo 3: ODST (Confirmed here). The Flood will not be in the game.
Will Master Chief be in the game?
No. When the game takes place, Master Chief is hunting down the Prophet of Regret.
Who is the main character?
An ODST nicknamed “The Rookie.”
Why an ODST as the main character?
“The reason why we chose the ODST is it’s absolutely a character that we’ve had ideas about how to develop and put more front and center in Halo games,” says Recon creative director Joseph Staten. “It’s a character our fans are often asking to play so it was a natural fit. He’s got an opaque visor so you don’t see his face. It’s perfect!”
Who are the other ODSTs that we play as?
“Each scene is really set up to highlight the core aspects of that particular character,” says Staten, “Dutch is a big guy. He carries heavy weapons. His scene is one where you’ve got a Spartan Laser and a rocket launcher and you’re taking on vehicles. Or you’re Romeo. He’s a sniper. He’s kind of a dick. He’s a wiseass. In Halo games you’ve been the Chief for a thousand years and the Arbiter for a bit of time, too. It’s a really nice feeling to jump into someone else’s boots for a while.”
Will we fight the Flood
No. The Flood have not arrived on Earth yet.
Will we have rechargeable shields?
No. ODSTs are not SPARTANs so they don’t wear the MJOLNIR armor. You will have the ability to regenerate health through health packs.
Any new weapons or equipment for the ODSTs?
The ODSTs will have a few new weapons. Confirmed weapons are the new silenced SMG and a silenced pistol, both with a scope. Brute Plasma Rifle is making a return. The player will be able to access a few new gadgets. One of them being a PDA, which shows a 3D wireframe of the city. Another gadget is a filter called VISR, a low-light vision mode. This filter will allow the player to view the game in a type of night vision, except instead of a green hue of everything, the look will remain dark but everything will be outlined with neon lights.
ODSTs will not be able to use drop-cover equipment.
Will the game be a first-person shooter or third-person?
The game will be in first-person.
Will the gameplay remain the same as Halo 3?
ODSTs do not have shields (but have the ability to regenerate health), will lose the motion tracker and lose the ability to dual-wield weapons. The ODSTs are also slower, shorter, and can’t jump as high.
Don’t worry, it’s all part of the plan according to Bungie.
“It’s immediately a different feel. It’s scarier. It’s a lot more tense. You don’t feel like a chump. You feel like a very capable ODST marine, but it’s a different feeling,” says Staten.
What does The Rookie sound like?
During the demo that Gameinformer viewed, The Rookie did not speak. However, it’s been confirmed that actor Nathan Fillion, known for his roles as Captain Malcom Reynolds in Firefly and Serenity, will voice the squad leader.
All four ODSTs will all be based on the likeness of the actor portraying them.
“Some of the people who play ODSTs in [the game] were just normal ODSTs in Halo 3,” says Staten, “so if you like the voice cast in Halo 3, we have elevated some of them to a cinematic level.”
Who/what is the Superintendent?
The SI will play a large, yet unclear role in ODST. It appears he will help you throughout the game.
“We talked about him as an infrastructure AI, but he is part of the city. He’s responsible for a variety of tasks in the city. As the trailer suggests, he’s not in the best of shape, but he’s certainly capable of watching you at least. Keeping it clean. That’s his job,” says Staten.
All information about the Superintendent can be found here.
Joe Staten adds:
“It still hopefully feels like Halo, but from a human perspective. People are concerned about whether their buddy lived or died – very granular day to day tactical things. They’re not worried about where the Forerunners went or how the Flood began. That’s not their concern. Their concern is ‘What the -blam!- happened to Dutch?’ ‘How did that tank get blown up?’ ‘What did you say to me, -blam!-?’ ‘Let’s get going.’ It’s that kind of thing…sort of without the swearing.”
Halo 3: ODST Links
– JOE STATEN SHOWING OFF HALO 3: ODST DEMO AT E3
– PART 2 OF DEMO
**GAMEPLAY TRAILER**
–
TEASER TRAILER
We hope you haven’t dedicated too much time and stress to this 12-hour long countdown event.
We’re excited to finally share this with you.
Enjoy this CG-teaser.
OFFICIAL TRAILER
We’ll have more to say later, but for now, check out our official announcement trailer which builds upon the teaser and provides new insights into what awaits next Fall.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE> ODST Q&A: 10/10/08
Bungie happily announced Halo 3: Recon, earlier this week at TGS during the Microsoft Keynote speech to attendees of the Tokyo-based show. In the keynote’s wake there’s been a whole mess of questions about Halo 3: Recon that we’re going to clear up
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 10/24/08
The Doppler readout on Halo 3: Recon since we last spoke.
* Dorje showed us all how cool a 3D Cube could be.
* In lieu of the lightmapper, Milton and Ken are brokering a better way to shingle a building.
* Dan Miller is out back taking a break from the most expensive game of hacky sack in the world to think about pimping his ride.
* Vic has a thing for Zebras.
* CJ Cowan just made a Brute Chieftain introduce the business end of his Hammer to some dudes.
* Mat is doing “almost nothing except for making the cache system build a faster environment and adding per-bsp scenario resources to make it easier for multiple artist to paint in the fun.” Yep, almost nothing.
* A whole bunch of men are building bridges to nowhere.
* Scott Shepherd is making a better face; not a butter face.
* Marty is taking a break from making Halo 3: Recon music to score his daughter’s wedding.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 11/07/08
It’s less of a full update and more of a briefing this week, but not for lack of work being done. Last Friday, instead of writing the Update, I went and played some of the early parts of Halo 3: Recon. Even with some new tricks at my disposal, foes are every bit as savvy as they are in our previous games maybe even more so, considering some of the advantages they had in this particular case.
There’s a highway around Mombasa and Dan has made it something you can play on.
Dave, Andrew and a friend from MS, Greg, have a treatment of a sweet loading screen involving the Superintendent.
While Dan’s working on the streets, Lars is working beneath them.
Tim made a tank, but it doesn’t have a turret.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 11/17/08
Game Informed
Many people have already started receiving copies of the latest issue of Game Informer which features a sweet Halo 3: Recon cover story (cover art painted by Bungie concept artist, Jaime Jones). We’re not going to ruin their story so you should definitely go check it out for some firsthand insights into Halo 3: Recon and what you can expect next Fall. However, some excerpts and snippets from the story are starting to spread around the internet and in some cases, causing some concern or confusion amongst our fans. Again, I’m not going to get into too many details because it’s Game Informer’s story to tell, but I did want to clarify two main questions I’ve seen on the interweb…
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 11/21/08
In the wake of the Halo 3: Recon trailer and Game Informer’s recent Halo 3: Recon cover story, we figured it was about time we took a more personal look into the profile of the back-in-black badasses of the UNSC, otherwise known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. [/url]
NAME CHANGE
The upcoming Bungie project formerly known as “Halo 3 : Recon” will now be known as “Halo 3 : ODST.”
TRAILER STILLS
We snapped some updated stills and a new wallpaper from the Halo 3: ODST Trailer and added them into our online collection.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 12/12/08
* The door to Marty’s office has been shut. The “RECORDING” light has been on. Blindfolded outsiders have been shuffled into his recording studio.
* Marty and the audio team have also been doing off-site recording in LA and earlier this week even helped all of Bungie get our SAG cards by recording us as crowd sounds for possible use in ODST. Thanks Marty!
* All of the ODST mission dialog is written and implemented thought the current implementation is often the dulcet tones of Joseph Staten coming through my headset.
* Damian is working on patrol cycles (think seek and destroy, not vroom vroom) for enemies in the Hub and adding some new behaviors for a foe.
* Barry is sitting at a teeny, tiny desk and adding decorators, details and signage to the Hub. He’s bringing things to life.
* Adrian Perez hooked up some stuff for some things that will add pretty visceral feedback elements to players.
* Halo 3: ODST is just a day away from the Representative Experience milestone and preparing for a team-wide playthrough of the whole game next week.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 12/19/08
As we noted in last week’s update, Halo 3: ODST is now what we consider “representational.” In layman’s terms, that means the game is theoretically playable end-to-end, although tons of game content is in non-finalized states. The playable spaces are all in, but while the plot plays out from start to finish, there’s still quite a bit of Microsoft Mike and studio talent in the mix, standing in until the professional actors lend their voices to us.
Right now, in ODST, it seems like Staten is everywhere at once. Marine voice actor, check. ODST voice actor, check. Female marine voice actress, he’s got that down too. The man has range.
We’re not going to dive too deeply into specifics now (obviously), but the entire studio was pulled “offline” on Wednesday – diverted from their other work – to play through Halo 3: ODST. For those of you who think it’s all work and no play at Bungie, this might not help to quash your unfounded assumptions, but quash them you should because while we certainly enjoy playing games, and while it’s our stated mission to craft kick ass games that we want to play, the first playthrough is all business. We don’t take it lightly…
KOTAKU article
That Halo 3: Recon issue of Game Informer is out there. People are reading it, people are absorbing stuff about Halo3: Recon, people are posting that stuff on the internet. What we know so far is that the game has a hub-like structure; you play as a rookie ODST troop, tasked with tracking down some lost squadmates. While you’re looking for them, the game is going to be a little bit open-world, as you wander the streets of New Mombasa looking for clues on their whereabouts. Once you find those clues, the game switches things up; you get a flashback of what happened to that soldier, and then you play that flashback, taking control of the troop in question for a more linear Halo level.
Also revealed is that you won’t have shields in the game (you are, now, just a man), and you’ll have an RPG-like PDA there to help you out.
KOTAKU article #2
Halo 3: ODST has flashbacks. That, we knew. You’re a rookie ODST troop, tasked with tracking down some lost squadmates.
While you’re looking for them, the game is a little bit open-world. Once you find those clues, the game switches things up; you get a flashback of what happened to that soldier, and then you play that flashback.
In the latest issue of game magazine GamesTM, Bungie’s Joseph Staten states that each squad mate has a “very distinct personality” i.e., they have names, faces, etc.
“The reason we decided to keep the rookie faceless and anonymous is to help smooth these clue-triggered transitions from one ODST to another,” says Staten. “[The game] is designed to put you in the boots of a bunch of fun, memorable characters so you can experience this awesome pocket of Halo fiction from as many points of view as possible.”
Interesting.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 12/26/08
The studio is closed for the holidays, so we’re not able to inject the Weekly What’s Update with the overly sweet, cream filling of verbiage you’ve gotten so accustomed to. To make it up to you, we’ve got some select Halo 3: ODST Concept Art to satisfy that sweet tooth.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 01/09/09
For those looking for hard and fast information, here’s the quick hit of stuff we can talk about:
* The Recording light was turned on outside of the Ivory Tower today as the final dialog recording for ODST gets underway.
* The once-discussed Tchou-shader is being beaten into submission by Bertone, Justin and the same-named creator.
* Jay and the audio team cut up and mixed a mountain of audio over the break.
* Spaces with fake names finding resting places.
* Lars is scheming, designing, and implementing things to achieve.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 1/16/09
Chances are if you’re checking out today’s Weekly Update, and more so if you’ve read this deep into it, you won’t have too many problems with the control scheme of Halo 3: ODST. You’re hardcore. Are there a few notable and interesting differences? Yup. Are we going to make interesting note of them here? Nope. But let’s just say that we’re not reinventing the way your thumbs have been trained to stroke the dual analog thumbsticks. Halo 3: ODST is, after all, still Halo at heart.
But this writer’s first foray into the Halo 3: ODST fray alongside a few studio squad mates definitely required some alterations to my traditional tactical approach (how do I run and gun?). At one point I found myself inquiring aloud if the Brute Shot had been powered up. It seemed to be doing a whole more damage than I was accustomed to.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 1/23/09
There are no Elites to fight in Halo 3: ODST.
And though we are still several seasons away from Halo 3: ODST’s retail launch, we’re going to bend a rule for you – just this one time – and provide you with a small snippet of the story timeline coupled with a brief explanation covering why you’ll be encountering packs of Brutes when you drop into Halo 3: ODST and explore the dangerous, war-torn streets of New Mombasa, come Fall.
If you’ve yet to play through Halo 2, hit the brakes and steer clear of this next section.
**ODST WALLPAPERS**
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 1/30/09
Things are moving along like clockwork.
Continue to set your own internal expectations for Fall 2009. That’s the time frame we’re targeting. That’s the time frame you should continue to expect.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 2/6/09
All twenty-four Halo 3 Multiplayer maps will be in the box. All shipping maps: The Heroic Map Pack, The Legendary Map Pack, Cold Storage, The Mythic Map Pack, and three brand new exclusive maps are included.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 2/27/09
Thanks to stosh and a little bit of software magic, we’ve re-purposed Jaime Jones’ ultra-badass Halo 3: ODST Game Informer cover to show off your handiwork. Peep it below. Click it to gigantify.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 3/20/09
What was a once a swank lounge boasting more monitors than most people could dream of is now the Official Halo 3: ODST War Room boasting slightly less monitors than most people could dream of. The Halo 3: ODST Project leads are locked inside with and won’t return to the studio’s fold until the All Clear has been sounded, signaling the completion of ODST’s post-production.
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 5/01/09
Speaking of playing. We’ve kept busy over this last spell putting the latest builds of Halo 3: ODST through some very blistering paces. While we have a small army of incredibly talented folks employed under our test gurus here at the studio, it’s important to know what the rest of the gang thinks about the overall experience too. After all, we make it our business to develop games that we want to play. It should come as no surprise that one good way to ensure that happens is to actually play ’em ourselves. Shocking!
But it’s not all fun and games.
Testing, Testing, and More Testing – Playtest Interviews
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 5/08/09
More Playtest Interviews
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 5/29/09
This is gonna seem kinda strange, but indulge me. I want you to picture a fishbowl. Goldfish, party of one. If it helps, go ahead and shut your eyes. Maybe take a few deep breaths, but don’t go snoozing on me, we’ve got a little bit of ground to cover. Got the fishbowl in mind? Good….
**CAST OF ODST: MICKEY, DUTCH, ROMEO, ROOKIE, AND BUCK 5/31/09**
– JOE STATEN SHOWING OFF HALO 3: ODST DEMO AT E3
– PART 2 OF DEMO
**GAMEPLAY TRAILER**
**ODST DEMO WITH STATEN AND TWO HOSTS – NEW INFO**
**FEET FIRST: BASICS OF BEING AN ODST**
BUNGIE WEEKLY UPDATE 6/05/09
“The Bungie E3 Strike Team dropped into Los Angeles and cut a brutal swath of destruction that began with the Microsoft Keynote and didn’t end until the final throes of the Electronic Entertainment Expo this past Thursday. Any press outlet that mustered up enough courage to request hands-on time with Halo 3: ODST was rewarded for their bravery with no mercy and lashing roundhouse kicks. Oh, and plenty of hands-on time.
For a recap of all the Bungie E3 action, go ahead and get into some of the Post Carnage we’ve compiled in our blog…”
**1UP Halo 3: ODST E3 Demo w/Brian Jarrard**
**IGN H3: ODST Demo w/Joe Staten**
May 31, 2009 info + GamePro.com InterviewCAST OF ODST: MICKEY, DUTCH, ROMEO, ROOKIE, AND BUCK 5/31/09
Source: split-screen.com
Looking at the latest pic to be revealed, showcasing the five Orbital Shock Drop Troopers of Halo 3 ODST, we can now confirm the identities of each member of the squad. While you’ll be playing as The Rookie (the all-black clad ODST seen on the box cover), you’ll be serving with a ragtag group of soldiers that evokes memories of Star Wars: Republic Commando. Comparions aside, let’s take a look at the main cast.
Dutch: Pictured in the back center, with a red chestplate, he’s the Heavy Weapons specialist of the squad. So yes, that Rocket Launcher is more than just a placement – it’s his best friend. Besides, of course, Romeo.
Romeo: The squad’s Marksman who previously served with The Rookie in the pivotal First Battle of Earth 2552 (second from left). His trademark weapon is the sniper rifle. Said to be the “wise-ass” of the squad.
Buck: Served in the same squad as The Rookie in the First Battle of Earth. Specialty unknown at this point.
Mickey: Also served in the same squad as The Rookie along with Buck and Romeo. Specialty unknown at this point.
Is there a villain in this new storyline?
Yes, but like the Chief, the Rookie never meets him. Put that in your speculation pipe and smoke it, Halo fans!
How does the Rookie’s silenced SMG work from a gameplay perspective? Is there a stealth mechanic in Halo 3: ODST?
The silenced SMG is just one of the tweaks to the Halo 3 sandbox that make ODST a stealthier experience — one that, at least in the open environment of nighttime New Mombasa, rewards a more measured approach to combat. As a non-Spartan, you’ll need to be careful about the fights you pick, especially when you’re on your own. Luckily the silenced SMG excels at dropping unwary, unshielded enemies.
Are you planning to include any other new weapons, or modifications to existing weapons?
Because ODST leverages the Halo 3 sandbox, there will be a lot of returning weapon favorites. But given the game’s position on the Halo timeline, we’re also bringing back…Well, on second thought, I’d ruin a lot of the game’s fun if I got too specific. So let me just say that we’re absolutely expanding the sandbox in critical areas.
Compared to their appearances in Halo 3, the Brutes in Halo 3: ODST look more vicious and evil. Have they received any new behaviors or combat tactics?
Paul Bertone, ODST’s design director, has conceived a new “cover first” tactic for the Brutes that makes them even more interesting to fight. And when I say “interesting” I mean downright nasty. Brutes in ODST are much more interested in self-preservation than they were in Halo 3 which makes for terrific, multi-layered encounters. They’ll lure you into traps, gang up on you – generally make you wish you’d hit them in the flanks instead of hard-charging, Spartan-style.
How does the Rookie’s high-tech visor work? And what are those pretty colors and highlights we saw in the teaser trailer?
We’re still tweaking the visuals, but it’s basically a low-light vision enhancement and target acquisition mode. It’s most basic function is to highlight enemies in red and allies in green, but it’s also extremely helpful for navigation. Objects of interest — the “clues” that advance the story — also get special vision-mode treatment.
The open-world element in Halo 3: ODST is an interesting addition. Will players be able to choose which of the four beacons they explore first? Can you explore them in any order you like?
Again, I don’t want to ruin any surprises, but I can clarify a misstatement in [a recent Game Informer] article. There are actually more than four beacons, and once you find the first one you’re pretty much free to roam the dark, Covenant-patrolled streets of New Mombasa however you like – free to find the remaining clue beacons in any order you choose.
When playing Halo 3: ODST, how does the feel of the game differ from playing as a supersoldier such as Master Chief?
A lot more tactical, which is to say you need to think before you engage — decide how you want to take apart an encounter before diving in or you’ll get into trouble pretty quick, especially on higher difficulty levels. Unlike a Spartan, an ODST doesn’t have shields. You’re a little slower too, so if you get hit you can’t just run sprint to safety. The golden rule of ODST combat is “look before you leap.”
Sources: Cyclone 75, GamePro.com
June 1, 2009 – E3 + Bungie.net
11:25 AM PDT
Joe Staten comes on stage to show the crowd a demo of Halo 3: ODST
He explains that you are The Rookie, an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper who is separated from his team. Demo opens up to a partially destroyed city on a very black night. You are alone with much ground. While looking around, be sure to looking for unexpected help (green lights, for example).
The HUD had changed in this game compared to the other three Halo games.
*grenades and ammo are at the bottom
*motion tracker is not available
*top shows compass direction, time limit, campaign scoring
*top left shows (supposedly in Firefight) what Wave number you’re on, and the progression of each Wave, as well as your number of lives it seems
*left of the HUD shows which skulls are activated in Firefight (more later)
*medals, checkpoints, “Hold RB..” directions, and weapon pickup is centered
You have two new sound-suppressed weapons (SMG, and pistol), and VISR, which is a low-light vision mode. Your head-ups display will flash with a turquoise type color to show that someone important is nearby.
You pick up detonator, and a cutscene starts, where Staten explains that the detonator is a clue to the fate of another ODST, Dutch.
You are then transported back in time to Dutch’s point of view (and other ODSTs throughout the game) until you solves the mysteries of New Mombasa.
Cutscene begins, with an ODST arming the detonator to blow up a bridge. As Dutch, you carry a SPARTAN Laser, and you must arm the others charges as you make your way across the bridge. After getting across the bridge, you must make your way up a ladder to a keypad to activate the charges. When you activate it, the bridge blows up.
Staten states that Halo 3: ODST will drop SEPTEMBER 22, 2009 and will feature a multiplayer invite to Bungie’s newest title, Halo: Reach
12:28 PM PDT
Halo 3: ODST Forum is launched, as well as its Project Page
Bungie.net is greeted with a NEW background.
12:36 PM PDT
A news announcement is made by Bungie Studios.
It features a screenshot of which appears to be the Rookie. It also features another awesome screenshot of the ODST characters.
“Playing as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper is more than just an aesthetic change to the Halo series you’ve come to know. It brings with it new twists and turns that will affect the way you experience the Halo story and the gameplay sandbox. Some of these changes will be subtle – refinements to the familiar Halo formula. Others will be pretty significant: new weapons, new technology, and new gameplay modes that will force you to switch up your tactics and tackle encounters with a new approach.”
_________________________________________
Includes:
– Gameplay Trailer
– Announcement Trailer
– Xbox 360 theme
–Multiple Screenshots, Renders, Concept Art, Wallpapers, and Trailer Stills
– A field guide which shows information on weapons, technology, your squad, and your enemies.
With Information on:
– The game’s story
– 4-Play Co-Op “Firefight” over Xbox Live
– Three new mulitplayer maps (Heretic, Citadel, and Longshore)
– The complete Halo 3 Multiplayer experience
– The invitation for the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta
– Obtaining RECON ARMOR
– A pre-order bonus (Play as Sergeant Johnson in Firefight)
_______________________________
_______________________________
June 2, 2009 – E3 + Bungie Podcast + Bnet
1:30 PM PDT
ODST Demo Walkthrough with Joe Staten and two hosts
Starts by showing the Halo 3: ODST menu. Joe Staten starts by going into the Campaign menu.
– It appears to only support two-player co-op for campaign.
– You can turn multiple skulls. Primary and Secondary ones.
– Mission is called: Mombasa Streets
Demo starts like yesterday. The Rookie starts in the drop pod. Staten explains that when the Rookie is taking damage, the Heads-Up Display (HUD) will flash red showing that you are losing stamina. You can see this at the top of the HUD. There are places throughout the city that have health packs.
– Equipment is confirmed to be in the game, but the ODSTs cannot use them.
– Jumping isn’t as high, running isn’t as fast, and dual-wielding is gone.
The phone rings on a nearby wall – it’s the Superintendent. He gives you a Map.
– left on the map is locations the SI has highlighted that it finds interesting.
– Blue circles on the map are beacons where an ODST teammate is.
– you can place waypoints.
– New Mombasa is a non-linear playground, where you can go where you want.
– If you pick a location on the map, the SI will help get you there by highlighting green lights and other helpful hints.
Same engine as Halo 3, put loads more into it. Skybox is dark and fiery. Buildings are on fire.
You play again as Dutch at the ONI Alpha Site. An ONI building is not on fire, which Staten makes hint at.
Onto Firefight.
– ODST has two discs – first disc has campaign and firefight. Second disc has Halo 3 Multiplayer.
– Firefight starts on Security Zone
– It’s right after the bridge scene. It’s kind of like Horde Mode from Gears of War 2.
– There are apparently 7 skulls, which use different combination’s in each round.
– In the demo, the first round you fight against Grunts, Jackals, and Wraiths.
– The announcer uses a new phrase: “Reinforcements”
– Heretic is confirmed to be Midship
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A Bnet Member named redm0nkey creates a thread about going to E3.
Info:
– Two maps confirmed so far for Firefight: Security Zone and Crater (Night)
– the X button activates the VISR low-light vision mode
– ODSTs can’t use equipment
– You can customize your chest plate and color
– An ODST can carry 3 grenades, and throws similar to Halo 2
– An ODST has fall damage
– In Firefight you spawn in an armory with SMGs, pistols, grenades, health packs, and Rockets and Sniper respawn shortly after
– Picture of the Postgame Lobby
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The latest Bunge Podcast states:
– the VISR is a database and will have more features besides the map
– Bungie employee Tom Boan modeled a silencer for the Halo 2 magnum, took that and made the ODST pistol
– new medals will be featured in Firefight
– possibly 99 levels in Firefight
**MEET THE SQUAD**
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* Ff Demo w/Dropships
* Ff Demo w/Grunt Barrage
* Ff Demo w/Group Attack