Sydney Australia, 6th August

The recent Halo 3:ODST event at cockatoo island gave eager fans a chance to check out a few things many long time Halo aficionados have been dreaming about. First there was the chance to check out the new Halo prequel and even get some hands on time with it. Next was the chance to listen to speeches from Weta Workshop and Bungie staff. The last thing, and something that will make many Halo fans squeal with girlish excitement, was the chance to see a real life Warthog.

The Warthog was designed by the aforementioned Weta Workshop, when a Halo movie was still in the works. Weighing in at three tonnes, the beast was a joy to look at for people familiar with the game. It is also very much operational, as one lucky raffle winner from the night will soon get to find out. A spokesperson from Weta Workshop talked about the team’s creations for a few minutes, eloquently summing up his job with “We make cool shit”. The Warthog was built from scratch and then blowtorched and beaten to give it that used feel. It also drives just like the game apparently, as the crowd was informed “If you can’t drive the Warthog in the game, you are going to have some trouble in real life”.  He also showed off some of the Halo merchandise that they make, which is all individually sculpted, incredibly cool, and very expensive.

Next up was a speech from Bungie designer Curtis Creamer. Creamer described the main storyline of the game before showing the audience a snippet of the games campaign mode. The campaign mode is said to play out like a mystery, as the player crashes down on a planet without his team mates, and must find them. The game play also switches between characters to flesh out the story of how the situation became like this. Creamer showed off some new mechanics to the game, such as the ODST soldiers reduced capabilities and the new visor display, which enables players to accurately spot targets, interactive environments and see in the dark.

After Creamer finished fans were finally allowed to get their hands on the firefight mode, which showcases the co-operative game play. The game plays very similarly to Halo, but the mechanics have been finetuned, and shooting up the Covenant remains incredibly fun. The public wasn’t allowed to have a go at the campaign yet, but if the fire fight was any indication, Xbox 360 owners should have another must have exclusive very soon.