Last night I attended a Microsoft preview event held in New York City.  On display amongst the numerous PCs, Zunes, Hardware and other goodies were some upcoming Xbox 360 titles.  The first title I immediately was drawn to was Halo 3: ODST, in which a Microsoft rep was knee deep in a replay of the four player co-op Firefight mode.

Halo 3:ODST puts players in the role of various Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.  These squads are the front lines, dropped into battle from space to soften up the landing zones for the rest of the marines.  The campaign opens after the main character is dropped into battle and knocked unconscious by some event.  As you progress through the story you'll find artifacts and clues that help piece the puzzle back together.  Each clue you pick up triggers a playable flashback in another ODST's shoes.

Read The Full Article: Halo 3: ODST Campaign Co-Op Confirmed, Firefight Video

Looks great. As said before, I can't wait. Just might pre-order to be Sargeant Johnson.

bungie says it has the same base features as halo 3. so 2 players split-screen co-op, and up to 4 players online co-op.

the one thing i wish it had was normal multiplayer as well. like the normal halo 3 variants but w/ ODST players/weapons. maybe that'll come yet

The 3rd person perspective looks very nice. If the include split screen online this will def make my list of games to look out for.

the game is 1st person. they're showing 3rd person view from a replay

and split screen online is confirmed. any base feature is the same as halo 3 except the modes (multiplayer, campaign, firefight) are different

how long is the campaign going to be in this?

@bigDinyomouth: it's a full priced game, so expect a gameplay length of about equal to Halo 3.

@bapenguin: you've got a pretty stupid article title. Bungie alredy confirmed 4 player co-op BEFORE E3, and during E3 also confirmed the nitty gritty such as split-screen online. The co-op options are identical to Halo 3.

@ong_elvin - got a source?

Probably gonna get this on release simply for more halo co-op!

As much as I'd like to slap ong_elvin for being a pretentious dick, here's a pretty good source for the four-player co-op campaign: http://www.co-optimus.com/article/1163/Halo_3__ODST_Preview_Reaffirms_Four_Player_Co-Op.html

So far, the splitscreen online feature has NOT been confirmed.

ong_elvin, try to be a little more courteous to the site owner, 'k? It's probably a good thing for you that the moderators here have a good sense of humor.

there's a topic on the ODST forums that consolidates pretty much all the facts about ODST. the topic originator is NOT a bungie employee, however, sources are cited for everything and bungie has been watching the topic to clear things up.

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=33409272

split-screen is not addressed directly in the topic but bungie continues to stress that halo ODST has "feature parity" with halo 3. meaning if there's a feature (split screen, online-co-op, etc) in halo 3, it will be in ODST as well. since firefight is basically an online mode, there's no reason to believe that split screen would not be allowed.

and yeah, that was pretty rude guy. i'm a huge halo/bungie fan and i KNOW co-optimus isn't completely up to speed on all the details, but you certainly don't see me insulting anyone for not knowing. try to be polite, it won't kill you

It was more or less to reaffirm things. When Firefight was announced, all the PR literally dropped mention of the co-op campaign. This just put those fears to rest.

Is the visor always active? It's a nice feature, but I don't think I'd want that on all the time.

no... x turns it on and off (ODST's can't use equipment. all other controls/schemes match halo3)

Yep, only Bungie and Epic can still get me to pre-order a game because they know what I like.

i thought the campaign was only supposed to be like 2-4 hours long?

that was the original estimate when ODST was considered an expansion to halo 3. they've since reclassified it as a full blown game so the campaign is comparable to halo 3's campaign (they refuse to put a number on it like most studios)