Prepare to Drop: Trailer
On Thursday morning at 7:07 a.m. PST, Bungie released a trailer for their Expansion for the Campaign of Halo 3.
Early Thursday morning, a trailer revealing appeared on the Xbox Live Marketplace . It’s difficult to determine whether the trailer is an expansion of Halo 3, or a new game entirely. In the trailer, the Halo 3 logo is shown, as well as the words, “Prepare to Drop“.
On the Xbox Live Marketplace, the description reads:
“High action and deep mystery await players in the new Halo 3 campaign experience. Prepare to drop!”
Bungie had originally intended to make this announcement during E3 2008, but had their plans changed by their publisher Microsoft. Before changing, a mysterious counter had appeared on Bungie.net which was stopped, and then returned on Wednesday, Sep. 24th 2008.
Many speculated that this announcement could have been for the now confirmed “Mythic Map Pack“. According to Bungie.net, “We do have new maps still coming to Halo 3 but the release specifics are still being worked out with our partners.“
Prepare to Drop
The “Prepare To Drop” trailer is filled with hidden clues about the upcoming Expansion Pack for Halo 3. We’ve put together an analysis of important frames so you don’t have too.
Right from the start, we see a covenant cruiser flying somewhere in New Mombosa. It’s assumed that this is just moments before Regret makes his jump in New Mombasa in Halo 2. Several seconds later, we see a huge explosion which may be caused by the slipspace rift.
Confirmation that this is in fact New Mombasa, and it has been evacuated.
We see a series of drop pods closing in on New Mombasa, coming in two different directions. The Super Intendent AI targets the ones dropping to the right, and displays a message “AUTH.NEGATIVE”.
In the same few frames as above, the message, ‘ACTIVATING SUBROUTINE “VERGIL”‘ and “WARNING! DATA LEAK ON LEVEL 9!” are displayed. These messages show up several times in short intervals throughout the teaser.
After the huge slipspace rift, everything goes dark, and a sequence of messages display very rapidly on the screen. “Maddie, Where are you?” is one of the messages.
“Danger.Flood Zone” is another one of the messages.
Following these messages, we find a possible release date for Halo: Prepare to Drop. Hidden in some meaningless text is a date that reads 01/06/09.
A lone drop pod emerges at 53 seconds. There is no indication why emphasis has been put on it, but it could perhaps contain our protagonist(s). Could it be the chief? We doubt it since it wouldn’t seem to make sense with the timeline.
Rather, we like to believe that the first series of drop pods were all wiped out by the slipspace rift. In response, a team is deployed, but only one (perhaps the only one that remains?)
This fits in nicely with the recent posts by the Super Super Intendent on Bungie.net:
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “Listen. We have a report of core data corruption.” Corrupted by the blast?
[COMM.DUTY.OFFICER]: “We’re sending a team, alright?” Officer is sending team to the corrupted SI?
[SMN.ACTUAL]: “Empty archer pods six through twelve!”…
[SMN.ACTUAL]: “It may have passed us, Lieutenant, but it’s still in range.”…
[EXPLOSION (2.3482s)]
[STATIC (3.8761s)] Pods are deployed — the ship is still in range (on Earth) — then a long explosion and static. Coincidentally, the Explosion and static is nearly precisely the same amount of time the explosion and static for the slipspace rift lasts in the trailer.[SMN.ACTUAL]: “Alright, Captain. You’ve got your squad.” After the explosion, an additional squad is confirmed.
Prepare to Drop seems to be the name of the expansion.
Details on New Halo 3 Map Pack
Bungie finally gives us the full scoop on the brand new Halo 3 Map Pack (deemed the “Heroic Map Pack” going on sale December 11th for 800 Microsoft Points). This time, they’ve got some pictures of the maps to share. Read more
Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack Coming Dec. 11
Halo 3 is getting three brand new maps come December 11th according to Xbox.com (Spring 08 for those not wanting to buy the maps). Not sure how they were able to spill the details about the new downloadable maps before Bungie, but we’re excited that they are coming so soon! Read more
Halo 3 Original Soundtrack Preview Site Live
One of the defining characteristics of the Halo Trilogy has been the incredible soundtrack that accompanied the beautiful gameplay. Both Halo 1 & 2 had done a fine job with the music, but Halo 3 truly brought with it one of the best soundtracks the video game industry has quite possibly ever seen. Read more
Bungie’s Blue Filters to hit the B.net store soon!
From Bungie.net:
One of the many bonus features shipping in Halo 3’s Limited and Legendary Editions is the Audio/Video Calibration tool. While it’s not remotely necessary for an enjoyable Halo 3 experience, those who want to fine tune their visual calibration will want to pick up the Blue Filter. We’re planning on making these filters available in the Bungie Store as soon as possible and at minimal cost to consumers. When they are available and/or we have more details about their availability, we’ll update you here at Bungie.net.
This blue filter (or a similar one) can alternatively bought by some photo retailers according to some Halo fans. The blue filter is no an essential item, but along with the AV Calibration tool that comes with the Limited and Legendary Edition, it supposedly will make for an even BETTER playing experience.
We’ll update you when the Bungie Blue Filters get to the online store.
Covenant Weapon Descriptions on Bungie.net
In a new post on Bungie.net we get a glimpse of the Covenant arsenal of Weaponry in Halo 3.
Plasma Rifle
Plasma Pistol
Carbine
Needler
Beam Rifle
Fuel Rod Cannon
There is also a short Q and A session the post worth checking out.
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