Joystiq

�Bungie has received Xbox 2 development kits� also sent prototype Xbox 2 controllers� The controllers appear to be more rounded wireless versions of the Controller S that look and operate eerily similar to the Logitech Cordless Controller.�

�Bungie is really pushing to have Xbox 2 feature backward compatibility and a HDD. Bungie wants fans to be able to play all three games of the trilogy on the same console. More importantly, a HDD is needed if Bungie is to make Halo 3�s levels massive, completely destructable (down to every building, tree, and ambient life form), and incorporate all the other features that they are planning.�

�Bungie is considering including several new types of grenades including EMP grenades with a much larger blast radius that are ideally suited for temporarily disabling all nearby vehicles including airborne vehicles like the banshee, proximity grenades that only explode if someone approaches them within ten seconds and fast moving grenades that bounce all over the map for 10 seconds until they hit a player or vehicle� standard grenades can be made into either sticky grenades, EMP grenades, proximity grenades, or bouncing grenades based on which button the player holds down as they press the trigger to launch the grenade into the air.�

�...battles over bodies of water will be included in the third game of the series and this will be accommodated by making it so that all the covenant hover vehicles including the wraith and the ghost will be able to hover on both water and land.�

�The outdoor levels also allow players to free roam and choose which battles they wish to engage.�

�AI will be ramped up some more, the multiplayer games will support up to 32 players at once, as well as a few more playable characters with unique strengths and weaknesses�  The playable characters being considered include Hunters (bigger targets, slower except when charging someone without a weapon, but they have more life, are much faster and have more varied melee attacks) and the flying Drones found in the first level of Halo 2 (weaker but faster and possessing the ability to fly limited distances)�

�Bungie is seriously considering taking the Halo universe back to it�s original roots in some of massive outdoor maps in the single player campaign. And by it�s original roots, I�m referring to how Halo originally started as an RTS. Fear not Halo fans, a top priority of Bungie is that this be integrated into the gameplay seamlessly so that players can easily switch back and forth from the aerial RTS perspective whenever they desire.�

 
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