Interesting. There are in fact 16 drop pods that survive the largest blast. So the 16 player online coop might be possible. ODSTs aren't as overpowered as spartans so it might even work.

I doubt it's a full game simply because Bungie went out of their way to put the Halo 3 logo at the end. It suggests that it is a continuation of Halo 3. If it were a new game, I would have expected Bungie to have just not included a game logo.

Found some reference to the Chief at 00:00:14 bottom right hand corner.

There's alot of talk on B.Net about there being 6 Campaign missions and 6 multiplayer maps...but that is total fanboy speculation. Also I am curious to see how "Sandbox" falls into all this. Things are getting interesting. Can't wait.

Its my personal opinion that this expansion will definitively chronicle the events between the Chief's departure from Earth in Halo 2, and the start of Halo 3; i.e., what everyone was expecting Halo 2 to be, except with ODSTs instead of a faceless Spartan super-soldier.

This could really get interesting, as we're all used to having a regenerative energy shield and now we're very likely going right back to basics. Certainly, playing as an ODST would require the player to be a great deal more tactical, instead of rushing in guns-a-blazin'.

I think that this is gonna be the story of the battle of when MC returns to earth at the end of H2 up until the point where Halo 3 begins. All the SuperIntendant things that were sent out this time were about a huge battle being faught, and as we can see, it's around earth. The only battles I can think of are the battle at the beginning of Halo 2, at the end of Halo 2, and the battle at the beginning of Halo 3. The end of the trailer showed "Halo 3" so naturally I can assume it's the latter of the three battles. Or maybe this is the story in the last book that was published, the one that spans the gap between Halo 2 and 3. Who knows...

This game looks promising, but then again, it really can't be that innovative. It is another FPS halo game, just with more people in campaign and a different person you're controlling.

-D

Xbox360fanboy.com analysis

odds that 1/06/09 as a possible release date theory is correct?

This is defionately something with ODSTs. Prepare To Drop gives it away so much.

Hmm...... drop pods landing in the wrong place while the rest of the force get completely annihilated when dropping into the right LZ..... Yep, this is the plot from Quake 2 guys.

FLY INTO THE DANGER ZOOOOOOOOOOOOONE

Maybe the Superintendent posts at Bungie.net are references to the levels?

For example, the last one was talking about a navy. Maybe there will be a level taking place on a ship. Or maybe a map on a ship.

You do realize that the way the dates work in the SI's area would make it so that it would be released on June 1st, right? Either way, it's DEFINATELY a 1 + 6 = LIEK ZOMG TEH SEVINZURZ!!!!1!11!one kind of thing. I'm looking forward to it. :3

I actually read on Halopedia that a rumor going about was that Bungie's next project would be "A combination of gameplay from Gears of War and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter." to which I thought, oh that would epic but of course didn't take it too seriously. Now after watching this, that may actually turn out to be true.

EDIT: I just had a thought, maybe this whole new thing with the ODST's comes in with the Battle of Mombassa that we saw in the Halo 3 "Believe" trailer. Granted its probably not that because the Chief couldnt' be there storywise, but maybe its a different version of that battle before the Brute fleet came in and started invading Earth properly.

It's the battle that happens after Regret jumps out to Delta Halo and wipes out half the city. The giant blast is Regret's ship jumping.

It surprises me how many people in there blogs are writing, "Possibly New Mombasa?" I mean, isn't it kinda obvious even on a first viewing of the video? Even if you don't spot all the places where it says the name on a sign or if you don't know what caused the big blue explosion there's still a large space elevator dwarfing everything.

I recall someone saying the explosion was in the wrong spot in relation to the Space Elevator to be Regret's carrier jumping. However, I think that's just a little goof on Bungie's part.

I wonder who Maddie is?