Game Informer: Halo 3 Recon '3 to 5' hours, earn Recon armor

by Christopher Grant { Nov 12th 2008 at 9:44PM }

Eager for more info on Bungie's Halo 3 expansion, Halo 3 Recon? The scoop addicts at Game Informer are sporting it as their December cover story which, far from being spartan, is chock full o' details on the unusual offering. As we saw in Tokyo, the boys at Bungie are downplaying the game's length, insisting it's not "a $60 game" and is more like "a three to five-hour expansion pack."

Perhaps most interesting – especially for the scrupulous amongst you – is the ability to earn Halo 3's ultra-rare "Recon Armor," previously reserved for Bungie staffers and their community-based BFFs. Now, instead of hacking someone's account to get the armor, you can instead complete the gauntlet of 0-point "Vidmaster Challenge" achievements included in the September title update; once you've purchased Halo 3 Recon, that armor will ostensibly be unlocked in Halo 3 multiplayer. Worth the not-$60 pricetag? For some of the Bungie hopeful, undoubtedly.

Gallery: Halo 3: ODST controller/pack shots

[Via The Escapist]

Tags: Bungie, Halo-3-ODST, Halo-3-Recon

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

HyeWarrior @ Nov 12th 2008 9:47PM

So.... When are they gonna make a new armor that will only be available to Bungie workers and hackers?

NukeAssault @ Nov 12th 2008 9:53PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTiyBPFc96g

HyeWarrior @ Nov 12th 2008 9:57PM

Lmao, I remember that episode... freakin great

a ham sandwich @ Nov 12th 2008 10:47PM

So i really CAN haz recon now? :)

sorry. had to :(

Stephen @ Nov 12th 2008 9:48PM

wow, I'm not gonna lie. I'm extremely dissapointed

Jake11- Born and raised in W. Philly @ Nov 12th 2008 9:52PM

so...how much is it going to cost? I'm not paying more than 20 bucks for that

Syn @ Nov 12th 2008 9:52PM

Milking.

$60 to 'unlock' armor.

#28 @ Nov 12th 2008 10:02PM

Stupid.

Not 60$ at all.

Ross Miller @ Nov 12th 2008 10:32PM

Not to mention it comes with matching armor for your horse.

(What? Old joke? Oh, darnit.)

H Choi @ Nov 12th 2008 9:53PM

3-5 hours? That's it? What's the point then?

knighty (GT: ZeraKnight) @ Nov 12th 2008 9:55PM

The half life 2 episodes have both been about 3-5 hours, what's the big deal?

Cody @ Nov 12th 2008 9:57PM

Once more, it's an expansion. It's not meant to be a brand new game. It's just meant to tie up a few loose ends.

Einhanderkiller @ Nov 12th 2008 10:03PM

The HL2 episodes are around $20.
This will only be worth it if it's at most $30.

DBuck_Eye @ Nov 12th 2008 10:34PM

Why are you complaining? It's as long as any other "epic" shooter (CoD4, GoW, Halo 2/3) that has come out in the past 2 or 3 years.

Lone Starr @ Nov 12th 2008 11:37PM

It also comes with the Mythic map pack.

m4xn00b @ Nov 13th 2008 12:29AM

@ H Choi

Crysis: Warhead was also a 5 hour game.

I don't think you're grasping the concept of an 'expansion'

H Choi @ Nov 13th 2008 2:16AM

Didn't mean to complain. Just disappointed is all. I got the impression that it was going to be a full campaign instead of an expansion since it wasn't being released as a DLC.

Pedobear @ Nov 13th 2008 4:46PM

You thought it wasn't going to be an expansion even though its clearly been said this is just an expansion?

H Choi @ Nov 13th 2008 7:28PM

@Pedobear

Well I obviously missed the part about it being an expansion.

DangerMouse @ Nov 12th 2008 9:57PM

So two years after halo 3, the best they can do is 3-5 hour game? Yet somehow, Epic pulled off GoW2 in the same time span? It can't be that hard given all the tools from Halo 3 should be there.

atomicstrawberry @ Nov 12th 2008 10:21PM

It's probably just a small Halo 3 content team working on this while the rest of Bungie work on some big new super-secret project.

skadave @ Nov 12th 2008 11:38PM

Halo 3 came out last year.

rTwelve @ Nov 12th 2008 10:42PM

Not probably; it IS.

antsmarching @ Nov 12th 2008 10:45PM

i remember reading somewhere that the only people working on this were a few long-term bungie employees and that the rest of the company is working on not one but multiple new projects

DangerMouse @ Nov 13th 2008 9:23AM

"Halo 3 came out last year."

You read that it's slated for a september '09 release, right?

juju187 @ Nov 12th 2008 9:58PM

Dumb...

Danny @ Nov 12th 2008 10:09PM

I had a feeling the Vidmaster achievements would lead to Recon.

Clinton RRoD sept.3 @ Nov 12th 2008 10:34PM

i did too

Gehodra @ Nov 12th 2008 10:14PM

So, 3-5 hours... Is that the same as 2-4 hours for anyone who has actually played an FPS before?

Generally when the makers toss out a number, I like to chop off a good 25% or so to get a good estimate of the actual length, but when the given numbers are so low, I'm not so sure.

But 3-5, Halo 3 was 3-5, maybe a little more if you didn't play the first 2.

Shmil @ Nov 12th 2008 10:20PM

I guess, if you don't play on legendary or with any skulls

serotoninzero @ Nov 13th 2008 12:59AM

I played through Halo 3 on legendary with two other people and it definitely took me a lot longer than 4 hours.

Hyams @ Nov 12th 2008 10:16PM

So it's even longer than Halo 3?

(Haha, I kid, I kid.)

Darth Pedo @ Nov 12th 2008 10:44PM

Speaking of Valve... when's Episode 3 and the next TF2 update happing?

Einhanderkiller @ Nov 12th 2008 10:55PM

Ep. 3 - Probably mid- to late-2009.

TF2 updates - Early 2009

tmacairjordan87 @ Nov 12th 2008 10:53PM

Gonna be hard to justify anything more than $20 for this when Oblivion's expansion offered around 20 hours of new content (with awesome rewards to take back to the main game) for I believe $30.

Vcize @ Nov 13th 2008 9:43AM

Oblivion also offered 100 hours out of the box, but still cost the same $60 as every other game out there.

RPG, meet FPS.
Apple, meet Orange.

tmacairjordan87 @ Nov 13th 2008 10:06AM

That's a bad comparison because just about every game is released at $60 whether they deserve to or not. However, when it comes to expansions the price is always up in the air and up for debate.

I don't think paying $30 for an expansion that lasts at most 5 hours is a good deal when you get one that offers 20 or more hours for the same price.

Eon89 @ Nov 12th 2008 10:54PM

3-5 hours....

I wonder how long it will take to get all the achievements, hopefully those will keep me playing longer.

Cellien @ Nov 12th 2008 11:05PM

They mentioned it would be a budget release. 3-5 hours is fine with me if it's priced accordingly. $20-$30. MAYBE $40 (still $20 cheaper than normal games).

p_brent @ Nov 12th 2008 11:35PM

Now I dont want RECON.

seakae @ Nov 13th 2008 1:52AM

I could see $30. Otherwise, what's the point?

J.Goodwin @ Nov 13th 2008 8:26AM

Three hours, sixty bucks, headlining Xmas 2009?

This is not looking good.

Vcize @ Nov 13th 2008 9:44AM

It specifically and explicitly says NOT $60.

J.Goodwin @ Nov 13th 2008 9:51AM

You expect me to actually read the article when there are all these exciting stories about the launch of Yet Another Warcraft Expansion!!!!?

Blizzard isn't being perverted by Activision, they're the perfect fit for one another.

Mitsuo @ Nov 13th 2008 11:35AM

"the boys at Bungie are downplaying the game's length, insisting it's not "a $60 game" and is more like "a three to five-hour expansion pack.""

This does not imply that they are saying it's not a $60 game but are saying it is one but not to think of it like that and just a 3-5 hour expansion pack. In other words don't think of it as a full fledged game. Of course they have yet to even release the price considering there's still a entire year to go till it's release.