Games developer Bungie had suggested earlier this month that an online co-op mode for the forthcoming Halo 3 release would be difficult due to the complicated AI and extensive gameworld rendering, sparking rumours that it would definitively not be available.
Bungie developer Frank O’Conner explained to Electronic Gaming Monthly that the biggest problem with developing an online co-operative play would be that one player could be leading a troop of five over a mile away from the other player.
Getting around this, he said, might have meant changing the overall design and feel to Halo 3, which would change gameplay.
Bungie seems to have got over this, announcing yesterday at a Microsoft press conference in Amsterdam that Halo 3 online co-op via Xbox Live was a sure thing.
Split screen, however, will still be limited to two player, with the other two team members joining offline via System Link or online through Xbox Live.
Bungie revealed that player one will control the Master Chief and player two will control the Arbiter, while players three and four get to be two new Elite characters: N’tho ‘Sraom and Usze ‘Taham.
Halo 3 for the Xbox 360 will be released on 25 September in the US and in Europe on 26 September.
By Marie Boran
