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Filed under: News, Halo 3: Recon

Coming as somewhat of a surprise, team Bungie just made the announcement that Halo 3: Recon will be no more. Well, not the game itself, just the game’s name which is now being called Halo 3: ODST.

Reason for the name change wasn’t given (other than the fact that 3 and ODST have a nice flow), but we’re sure the whole ODST name change makes the game’s campaign a little more clear for those who like things more straightforward. Bungie also made it clear that the game’s release, content and Recon armor giving will not be affected by the name change. Welcome Halo 3: ODST, say goodbye to Recon and long live Bungie.

[Thanks, to everyone that sent this in]

Don’t call it Recon, call it Halo 3: ODST originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: News, Halo 3

You may recall that a recent Eurogamer article profiled the performance of several popular Xbox 360 when installing them to the hard drive (one of the new features of the NXE). While some games received improved performance and shorter load times and others saw little to no improvement, it turned out that Halo 3 actually fared worse when installed to the hard drive. Apparently Eurogamer wasn’t the only outlet to notice the difference, as Bungie has officially commented on the issue and explained why the load times are actually longer when Halo 3 is installed.

The answer lies in how Halo 3 loads map data. Each map is cached onto a certain part of the HDD that is reserved for game use. Once the game is installed on the HDD, it has to read the data on one part of the drive and write it to the reserved section. While data can be read from the DVD at the same time the HDD is writing data, the HDD can’t read and write at the same time. As such, loading from the HDD takes significantly longer. Bungie advises gamers not to install the game, especially if you play online, as all other players will have to wait the extra time it takes to load and cache each map.

[Via Evil Avatar]

Bungie addresses Halo 3 NXE install performance originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: News, Halo 3: Recon

As you may have heard, the latest issue of Game Informer is just chock-full of new info about Halo 3: Recon. CVG has been kind enough to spill some of the beans — gotta save some beans for the mag, after all — the biggest of which is the fact that Recon will be an open world game. The story has players taking control of a rookie Orbital Drop Shock Trooper who’s looking for his four other squad members in the city of New Mombasa, which you may remember from Halo 2. Using a new PDA, players can set waypoints to find the last known locations of each squad member. Upon arriving, players will discover clues that will trigger a playable flashback in which they take on the role of the missing squad member and find out what happened to him. The flashback levels will play more like a “traditional, linear” Halo level and “unravel the mystery of what went on in New Mombasa.”

Of course, ODST are not Spartans, so players will have to make do without superhuman speed, jumping, and coordination (i.e no dual wielding). ODSTs also lose the benefit of a motion tracker. Oh, and no handy regenerating shields either, though health will still regenerate. As you might expect, this will make encounters with enemies like Brutes a little more intimidating, especially considering they will now all be much taller and faster than you.

Finally, one of the squad members will be played by Nathan Fillion. That is sweet.

[Via Joystiq]

Explore New Mombasa in H3: Recon, it’s open world originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: News, Halo Wars

Joystiq recently got the chance to play through the first three levels of Halo Wars. The game is still good, which isn’t too surprising given our impressions of the game from E3. It’s worth noting though, that the player in question managed to figure out the majority of the “advanced” controls before actually starting the “advanced” tutorial, which is good news for anyone doubting that an RTS can work on a console. Head over to Joystiq for full impressions and a heap of new screens to boot. Now where’s that demo, hmmm?

Joystiq plays first three missions of Halo Wars originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: News, Halo 3

Recently, the contents of the Halo 3: Recon issue of Game Informer made their way online, detailing some never before heard Recon deets and also confirming what the Vidmaster achievements unlocked. But also inside is information (and the first screens) of the the Halo 3 multiplayer map Orbital, which is one of the three maps that’ll be included in the Mythic Map Pack. From what we can read of the text, Orbital is a map based on an orbital tether that’s hovering above Earth and is comprised of two asymmetrical tunnel hallways that overlap. It looks good, sounds good and gets our inner Halo fanboy giddy with anticipation. Joy!

[Thanks, John M.]

Halo 3’s Orbital peeks from behind the curtain originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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