Okay, so we're all well aware that Halo 3: ODST was not the biggest attraction at E3 this year. It maintains enough popularity and support for Microsoft to keep their appointment books tight, severely limiting the number of people who got to see the in-depth demo behind closed doors.

Design director Paul Bertone and Firefight lead designer Lars Bakken (awesome, awesome name) manned the demo and divulged all they could without absolutely spoiling the whole thing. No videos or photos were allowed in the room, but there was still plenty of new information. Bertone made some interesting points, explaining the reasoning behind the game's parallel storylines, noting the beautiful aesthetics, heavy mood, and other improvements over the original Halo 3. Bakken also talks about Firefight, the Horde Mode-esque multiplayer feature in ODST.

If you've been paying attention to this year's E3 show, you've definitely heard of Halo 3: ODST, the sequel to Halo 2 and prequel to Halo 3. For once, Bungie isn't stealing ALL the limelight with their latest Halo news, but ODST remains one of the most anticipated games of 2009, as evidenced by the hordes of journalists and other attendees at Microsoft's booth; the Seattle-based manufacturer hasn't been liberal with their appointments, either.

While other upcoming Xbox 360 titles like Forza 3 and Alan Wake have piqued interests, Halo's long-standing popularity and massive following have created a greater buzz around Halo 3: ODST, and Microsoft was quite adamant about limiting how many people got in for an deeper look.

Once inside, Microsoft personnel were quick to tell us that the footage we saw behind closed doors would be off-limits. Assets were limited to what they provided via the Xbox 360 press site and whatever we got from the Xbox 360 Media Briefing on June 1. This probably means I can't vividly describe the opening cinematic either.

RabidChinaGirl via neoseeker.com »