A new Halo game has been announced today, and it's certainly something different.

Halo Online has launched into a closed beta in Russia. It seems to be a free-to-play online multiplayer game built exclusively for the PC. The game is currently under development by Saber Interactive and Innova Systems. In a press release, Microsoft describe the game as a "learning opportunity" and state that currently they have no plans of releasing the game outside of Russia or on other platforms.

This Russian website has already had access to the game, and the only really interesting bit I was able to parse with my poor Russian is that players will be able to buy better armor and guns with real money. Otherwise the game seems to follow the normal Halo multiplayer formula of 4-16 player matches with vehicles thrown in.