Newsflash:

Halo 3: ODST Pre-Order Bonus

Published June 18, 2009

Listen up, rookies! Halo® 3: ODST drops on September 22, but will you and your team have what it takes to survive the Covenant onslaught in the new cooperative multiplayer mode, Firefight? Firefight puts you to the test as you and your friends assume the role of an ODST squad and fight together to take on increasingly challenging waves of enemies. It's where new Halo heroes will be born, and an opportunity to step into the boots of a legend. If you pre-order Halo 3: ODST at participating retailers, you will receive a token to unlock grizzled UNSC hero Sgt. Johnson as a playable character in Firefight.

The inimitable Sgt. Johnson in action.

Fan favorite and Halo series stalwart Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson is a tough-as-nails career Marine who has been in more life or death battles than you've had hot meals. He's survived more infectious Flood outbreaks, greased more Covenant bad guys, and earned more medals than any other twenty soldiers. And now you get to walk a mile in his shoes.

New campaign
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.

New cooperative multiplayer experience
In addition to a brand new campaign, Halo 3: ODST introduces a new cooperative multiplayer mode called Firefight, allowing Halo fans to experience cooperative gaming in a whole new way: fighting as members of an ODST squad against waves of increasingly challenging enemies across a variety of battlefields. The experience is made even more intense with the integration of skulls, which progressively activate as time goes on to alter the gameplay and up the challenge. Battle through wave after wave in search of high scores, Achievements and bragging rights. 

The Firefight game mode.

Complete multiplayer collection
Halo 3: ODST also includes a second standalone disc with three new Halo 3 multiplayer maps, all original Halo 3 maps, as well as the Legendary, Heroic, and Mythic Map packs for a total of 24 maps.

Halo: Reach beta
Purchasing Halo 3: ODST will ensure Halo fans get access to the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta when the beta goes live in the future. Announced at E3 2009, Halo: Reach is the prequel to the blockbuster Halo trilogy and is scheduled for release in fall of 2010.

Pre-order
Halo 3: ODST is available for pre-order in both a standard package and a Halo 3: ODST Collector's Pack which includes the game and an exclusive, laser etched Wireless Controller. The Halo 3: ODST Collector's Pack is available for pre-order in the US exclusively at GameStop, and is available worldwide at other participating retailers. Halo 3: ODST will have a suggested retail price of $59.99 USD and the Collector's Pack will have a suggested retail price of $99.99 USD. Halo 3: ODST is rated "M" for Mature by the ESRB and PEGI 16+.