Halo 3 spin-off announced for Fall 2009

Another Halo game for the Xbox 360 was a given; it is Microsoft's killer-app, mega-selling franchise, after all. So it certainly came as no surprise when Bungie, makers of all things Halo, announced a spin-off called Halo 3: Recon that will star a main character who isn't Master Chief.

Halo 3: Recon is the second franchise offshoot in the works for the 360, the other being the real-time strategy game Halo: Wars. Recon, due in the fall of next year, had been teased on Bungie's website weeks prior, and finally debuted in a CGI-only trailer at the Tokyo Game Show. Players will take control of an as-yet unnamed Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) trekking through hostile territory. Stealth will play more of a role in the campaign, because the trooper will not be as indestructible as Master Chief.

In an interview with 1UP.com, Bungie community and PR director Brian Jarrard said Recon is more of an expansion pack than a fully realized game: "Certainly, our intention, and the spirit of this game, is that it's more of an expansion pack. The campaign in Recon, compared to the full campaign in Halo 3 - they're not really within the same scope and scale with one other. I would hope that would somehow turn into some value-oriented package...but it has not been determined yet."

Jarrard also says Recon is the only Bungie project the company is "anywhere near ready to talk about." Looks like Halo 4 might be destined for the next Microsoft console. Then again, given its 2007 split from Microsoft, don't be surprised if Bungie's next project is something completely new (as in non-Halo related).

Watch the trailer for Halo 3: Recon: