Believe it or not Bungie has revealed they have held back Halo 3: ODST until the traditional end of year release of blockbuster games. Halo 3: ODST has been ready since May so says Brian Jarrard, Community Director at Bungie. That’s before this year’s E3 and the reason why its been ready to go for so long is that Bungie are using the old Halo 3 game engine so the developers had a big portion of the coding already done.

But Halo fans don’t go all nuclear on it, the good news announced at E3 is that once Bungie had done and dusted ODST they got to work on the next Halo game Halo:  Reach, which is using a new game engine by the way and Bungie will be able to launch Halo 3: ODST with a multiplayer beta component of Halo: Reach.

Product Info:

Developed exclusively for Xbox 360 by acclaimed developer Bungie, “Halo 3: ODST” is a new game in the “Halo” saga that lets people experience events leading up to the epic story told in “Halo 3” through the eyes of an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper), as they search for clues leading to the whereabouts of their scattered squad and the motivations behind the Covenant’s invasion of New Mombasa. The release adds a new dimension to an all-encompassing universe that gamers around the world have known and loved for close to eight years.

“Halo 3: ODST” also introduces Firefight, a new cooperative multiplayer* mode where up to four players can assume the role of an ODST squad and fight together to take on increasingly challenging waves of enemies. Also included are three new “Halo 3” multiplayer maps on a 2nd standalone disc, which includes all original “Halo 3” maps, as well as the “Legendary,” “Heroic,” and “Mythic” Map packs for a total of 24 maps.