Halo 3 Recon: What Do You Want To Know?

We're scheduled to hit up a Bungie media briefing in a few hours that I have to assume will address their just-announced campaign expansion. No, not that Myth II add-on you've been waiting all these years for, I'm talking about Halo 3 Recon. A number of questions about this thing came up on tonight's Bombcast, including:

• Two-ish years of development? How much content are we talking about here?
• Is it going to be a downloadable thing? A retail disc?
• How will it integrate with the original Halo 3?
• Since the new main character is kind of Spartan-esque, do you get to avoid modeling new hands for the gun models?

Can't wait for it, but i hope it will be downloadable.

I want to know why the hell this thing releases in fall 09 ! How much time do you need to make an expansion ? Are they building a freaking new engine for it or something ?

Will the game involve you commanding other guys? Team based? Co-op of some sorts?

Yeah, why Fall 09? What have they been doing for almost 2 years?

Will this game render natively in 720p?

how much will it cost??  how much extra content??  will it be worth the investment??

I really want to know about the "Is it going to be a downloadable thing? A retail disc?".

Will there be a new Mountain Dew drink released to commemorate the new content?  Or will they bring back the wierd Cherry/Orange/MD/Cough Syrup Gamer Fuel from their latest media barrage?

Picking apart discussions from the Bungie Podcast will allow you to infer that the expansion has been in development for a little over one year, not two.

It's going to have multiplayer and forge! Best announcement this gen imo! So siked!

BTW, I love the Myth II reference, Brad.  LOL.  I have a buddy that was addicted to that gameplay.

This kind of reminds me of GT5 Prologue. Why worry about making this game when they could have been focusing solely on HRAW or whatever we're calling it now? It's a nice bonus I guess, but given the release date it seems like there's in inordinate amount of work going into this for a simple expansion.

@ GeraldTheShoe

Are there going to be any new achievements?  How many?

MTV Multiplayer has the BoxArt for this game.

So I am guessing it will have a retail version too.

Will the MC be mentioned at all throughout the entire game? Will the characters maybe hear some radio messages talking about what he's doing or something like that?

Is this going to lead to a new series in itself? Should we expect a couple more of these games to tell an elaborate story, or is this a one shot deal?

This is great news, i enjoyed the campaign in Halo 3 but like many, i thought that it was a bit too short. It's a good thing that i really like the multilayer otherwise i would probably not still be playing the game. So for Bungie to come out and say " We got a new campaign experience", that shows that they feel that they have done all that they can with the Halo campaign and hopefully it's going to kick some serious butt!

Good work Bungie. And Giantbomb crew... i am so jelous of you guys, Japan looks fantastic!

We have to wait a year.... /wrists

I sold my Halo 3 recently as I felt I'd gotten everything I needed to out of it --- what incentive will there be for someone who's only a casual fan of the Halo games, but a nerd for the story? Will the gameplay be the exact same as it always has been?

Halo Multiplayer never did it for me. It's solid, but I prefer more tactical approach to shooters like in Rainbow Six. Will Recon's multiplayer basically boil down to new maps featuring ODSTs?

In reference to the similarity in character allowing for a reuse of the hand models- I believe the ODST in the trailer had his actual hands visible- at least the palm side- with the armor only on the back of the back of the palm and possibly the top of the fingertips.

The one big thing I noticed about the trailer was the difference in style from all of the other traditional Halo trailers. Very, very gritty. The only time that something like this has really appeared before was in the special TV commercial "Starry Night". The trailer itself starts with what appears to be an in-engine view of New Mombasa- followed by the interaction of what probably is pre-rendered smoke and explosions. I'd like to know how much of that trailer was in-engine- and whether the increase in grittiness is a direction or just a result. If the ODST and Brute portions are even close to not being pre-rendered (IE: Not entirely seperate models from the in-game models and not entirely hand-animated) it shows a great advancement in the capabilities of Bungie and the Halo 3 engine.

I would also like confirmation of squad combat- both local and over Live. And if there is going to be squads- how will weapon loadout work? Will everyone just be the same and just happen to pickup and specialize- or will specific loadouts be given? Are they taking the Republic Commando root and specializing the actual build and capabilities of each member of the team? Have they discovered a differen't format for squad commands then the D-Pad? Will the Halo RECON AI be based on a much more advanced version of the Halo 3 system- or a new system?

Will the Superintendent AI play a role in the story? What about non-Master Chief Spartans? How far into the timeline will this game go? Will it continue into the Flood infection? Is there a main character- and how much will he be developed as a character? Any new types of enemies?

Are we going to be seeing traditional Halo style levels- going from close quarters to long distance combat on a regular basis? Or is this going to be something a bit more tight? We've seen what at least appears to be a new gun type- will most of the ODST weapons be at least modifications of existing weapons? How much will the switch from the SPARTAN class of soldier to the ODST class effect gameplay? Fall damage? Some level of regenerative shielding? Lower jump height? Run speed?

Multiplayer maps and content- will they be just Halo 3 content- or will some of the content be Halo RECON specific? What are the biggest engine improvements/changes from Halo 3? Is the concept of a Halo (Insert Main Game Number Here) expansion pack going to be a norm in the future? Your working on multiple projects- is at least one of them a non-Halo universe related IP? Will any of the Halo 3 campaign playback (No Video Export) and play-through (Skulls)  features be changed in Halo RECON?

I'm pretty sure Alex won't be thrilled that your asking Giant Bomb for Burning Questions. That's his Shtick!

Can we get kind of a "what you will be doing" and what the story will be exactly about and how it will fit into Halo 3.

good question, what the fuck has Bungie been doing?  It took them three years to make Halo 3, new engine, story and gameplay but they only need a new story and new missions.  An expansion should not take so long to make.  2 years???  I still cant get my head around it.  They would do better by just calling it Halo 4.
Will they run it in 720p?  640p is unacceptable consiering the game didn't look that much more of a leap from Halo 2.
Will there be more of a war feel to it than just a solo mission feel? 

Will there be silenced weapons in this new recon thing? From the trailer it looked like that the dude had a silenced SMG or somethin.

Is the single-player this time even gonna be worth playing, and whether it is or isn't, is there still going to be four-player co-op?  If so, I might be swayed into allowing myself to give into the Halo temptation one more time.

Where the hell did these people get their information from for the wiki page?

Anyways, my question is will be a retail game sold in stores or will it be downloadable only? Or more importantly, will it have its own achievements?

1) Will there be a cover system?
2) Will we be able to run/sprint?
3) Compare H3 Recon's gameplay to plain old H3.
4) Will there be a multiplayer component (beyond co-op, which I would assume is in)?

I think this is going to be less like a expansion and more like a stand-alone product. For example C&C 3 Kane's Wrath or Crysis Warhead or about a hundred other stand-alone games. Only Reason I think it's keeping the 3 in the name is because of there using the same engine and because it's Halo 3. I don't think there going change that much about the game play.

Why is this called Halo *3* Recon? Does this mean that there aren't any future games planned on this character/storyline? Or will all future halo games simply be tagged with Halo 3?

Well has anyone thought that the reason its going to take 2 years is because its the mythical HRAW. I mean  Abbreviate Halo Recon, HRaw.
The awesome thing for me is the fact that ODST troopers will be the main Model in Multiplayer. New weapons will definitively in there. Its probably more like RBSV than GRAW in terms of controls. I also expect vehicals to be the same controls, or maybe I will get a FP view when driving  thats  my dream.

MY biggest question: Why is it called Halo 3: Recon?

Will there be a PC version?

Any sort of PC release? Yah know the platform that Bungies been shafting for the past several years?

Is there a PC version and if so, will you be able to play it on XP?

If this is a new disc-based release entirely independent from Halo 3, will the multiplayer be able to use Halo 3's Heroic, Legendary and Mythic map packs? What about a Rock Band 2 style import of the maps off of the Halo 3 disc itself?

Serious question:

Will they save a little girl ala Newt?

Second Serious question:

Will there be a dog alien??

I thought Halo 3 looked good. I didn't notice that it didn't run at 720p and I've got a huge screen so it's not because of that.

While the new guy might look a bit like a SPARTAN I can assure you he is not. In the first Halo book a 14 year old SPARTAN (without the armor on) crushed the skull of an ODST with his bare hands because they were bullying him. If Master Chief is a Jedi then the ODST guys are the clone commandos in Rebublic Commando. You're not going to engage a bunch of elites or brutes alone in this game and survive.

I'm curious about story continuity.  The fiction is one of my favorite parts of Halo, so I'm anxious to see how this fits in with everything else (games, novels, etc.).

• Will you still have a squad when you aren't playing the campaign with other people?  If so, will you be able to command the AI squad members in a way similar to that in Ghost Recon?
• Will the campaign stay within Mombosa, Africa, or even on Earth?
• How is health going to work?  The ODSTs in the books and game do not have rechargeable shields, so will there be health packs spread out through the levels and/or will enemies drop health packs when killed.
• Will the ODSTs be able to use equipment?
• Are there new equipment / weapons / grenades / vehicles?

Are we gonna get a very Halo style game or is this a reinvention of the universe? perhaps a bit more of a Gears style

All I really want to know is..  ARE YOU GONNA GO MY WAY?

But no, seriously:  Coop?  How many?  Please????

this is ridiculous. i got rid of my 360 assuming they would have milked all they can out of that francise.

Will it even be an FPS?

Will the jumping be less floaty since you aren't a Spartan?

Why bother having the 3 in the title? If its a Stand alone game Halo Recon sounds better.

Is the engine going to be improved for this release or is it running on the same engine as 3?

How many hours of single player campaign?

who says that it was only in development for 2 years ish?  It is a standalone game and features new gameplay (according to xbox.com) and I remember Bungie saying that they've been working on this project since Halo 3 started development.
Just because it's called Halo 3: Recon means nothing.  It's a prelogue, in reality it is more so Halo 2: Recon (as the trailer is during the middle of halo 2). 

Im sure its going to be basically a new game from bungie.  It will still be and feel like a halo game, but it will be different and play differently. 
It has a new gameplay set, a new point of view, is seperate, supposely has been worked on for a large amount of time, etc.- it sounds like a new game set in the halo universe.

My take on it

Will there be jumping? If so, how high?
Have the visuals been improved considerably over Halo 3? Specifically, do the graphics look smoother (less aliasing)?
How will the story be told? Will we witness events mostly through cutscenes as has been the norm in Halo games thus far, or will narration be more entwined with game play, as seen in Bioshock and the Half-Life games?
How much is this going to cost?
Any hints at new weapons?
What role/s will the Superintendent play?
Will Master Chief, Cortana or other Halo mainstays make appearances?
How is the game played? Some have speculated that it will be a bit like Rainbow Six Vegas, as in, a strategical third person shooter. Is this in the right ballpark?

I would like to know why this was announced at TGS.  I didn't think Halo was a big hit in Japan.  The majority of the fan base for the series has always been in the US . . .

Haha, I wrote pretty much that whole Recon page last night. Score.

Anyways, looks interesting, sad it's almost a year away though. Anyways, what I'm interested in is two pressing questions: Is it Squad-based? and, is it a Third-Person Shooter or a first-person shooter?

My Questions

1. The ODST that we play as, is he a 'special' ODST? Does he have a shield like the technology built in the Mark VI armour (which the Chief has)?
2. Will we be fighting against Elites at any point?
3. How long do you estimate Recon to be? Will it be a full-priced title?
4. How totally awesome is Marty's new music? (hint: I love it)

1. Is Halo Wars completely canon? (We just saw the Flood and I, along with others are quite worried about the canonical nature of the title)

Good, that mean no flood. And I still wonder how they take a piss in those suits.