The trailer of Halo 3, dubbed "Keep it Clean" has sparked my interest, and I am sure I am not the only one. Foregoing searching this place, I have opted instead to analyse what is going on in the trailer.

First off, what has Wikipedia to say about KIC?
"The ambiguous trailer depicts numerous Human Entry Vehicles impacting into New Mombasa, and the destruction in the wake of the Prophet of Regret's ship's jump to slipspace (as shown in Halo 2), shown from the point of view of several camera angles. Near the end of the trailer, the Halo 3 stylized logo is also shown."

Right. That's what we see. It's known that the Lumbasa name is the name of a PM in Congo, Mbaraki is a port in Kenya. I haven't seen it myself, but voices say that it is New Mombasa. So far, so good. But I disagree with most of the statement above, the Wikipedia one.

1) Are they human ships at all? While the last words before the bungie logo are "Prepare to drop", maybe hinting at ODST involvement, I don't know why human ships would fuck up what is apparently New Mombasa, if they were friendlies. Which leads me to point 2:

2) At first, the city shown is entirely pristine. Everything is in working order, lights are on, life is grand. If this were post Halo 2 New Mombasa, it would have been in shambles thanks to Regret kickstarting his slipspace engine.

3) This one ties in with #2. If New Mombasa or parts of it somehow wasn't/weren't wasted, would anybody still be there to even read it? I can't imagine anybody wanting to stay in a ruined city occupied by hostile aliens. Then again, they might not be as smart as you and me..

4) Couple KIC with Landfall. Three short clips about the grunts. No master chief is seen, other than mentioned once. I don't know when this was out, as I had no access to XBL for a while, but the thing is the grunts.

All these points combined have made me think. Might we be finally playing as someone else than John 117? Could be finally be thrown into the Battle for New Mombasa?
As a firm Believer (one that thought the Believe ads were better than the game being advertised), I hope to god we will.

I'm not plugged into the FPS market, the only ones I've really played are Perfect Dark, FarCry and Half-Life, but didn't Halo 3 come out last year? Why's there trailers for it?
Excuse my horrific ignorance.

Phoenix Arrow:
I'm not plugged into the FPS market, the only ones I've really played are Perfect Dark, FarCry and Half-Life, but didn't Halo 3 come out last year? Why's there trailers for it?
Excuse my horrific ignorance.

Halo 3 is still running hot. There are always videos of the new DLC for Halo 3.

Phoenix Arrow:
I'm not plugged into the FPS market, the only ones I've really played are Perfect Dark, FarCry and Half-Life, but didn't Halo 3 come out last year? Why's there trailers for it?
Excuse my horrific ignorance.

They're making a Halo 3 'expansion' which is pegged to be released early January next year (going by a date that a fan spotted somewhere in the trailer).

The city is not pristine; you hear gunfire and see smoke at the start of the video. The city hasn't been destroyed, but it is clearly under attack... and there are textual cues in the video that this is indeed the city of New Mombasa (in signage, in the reboot screen, the Traxus Building sign) not to mention the space elevator.

The giant white flash is identical to the flash made by Regret's carrier, and if you look carefully you can see the carrier in the background of a couple of shots; the running hypothesis is that Keep It Clean will take place soon after that event, in the ruins of the city. The drop pods, then, would either have been en route to take the carrier but arriving too late or be reinforcements to mop up the troops Regret left behind when he skedaddled.

-- Steve

I love the depth of the Halo universe, and the attention to detail bungie equips it with.

[quote=[zonking great] post=9.73381.793790]
1) Are they human ships at all? While the last words before the bungie logo are "Prepare to drop", maybe hinting at ODST involvement, I don't know why human ships would fuck up what is apparently New Mombasa, if they were friendlies. Which leads me to point 2:
[/quote]

It is the ODST dropship and war is dirty plain and simple.

Into the Ashen Wake

There lies the answers you seek.

i dont like halo still but this will be an intresting one to play, i 'might' get it

One of my friends has a theory that you play an ODST either during New Mombasa or in an as of yet unspecified city during the full-on invasion from 3, which I think is a solid theory. I'm thinking though that it very well might be Harvest.

I'm guessing it'll be an ODST thing. There has been a lot of speculation, even back before this year's E3, that Bungie would release a game with an ODST protagonist.

The Overmatt:
One of my friends has a theory that you play an ODST either during New Mombasa or in an as of yet unspecified city during the full-on invasion from 3, which I think is a solid theory. I'm thinking though that it very well might be Harvest.

If we do get to play as an ODST hell jumper then I will jump for glee for the following reasons.
1.We might get to see the master chief instead of being him
2.Squad Combat would be awesome.
3.Remember legendary on Crows Nest?Hopefully this will be like this when it comes to difficulty.
That would be so awesome.

Mercanary, your comment reminds me of Half Life: Opposing Force.
Playing as Shepard, you see Freeman jump into a portal. Would be coolish. But, yes, I hope that, for the love of god and all Prophets, that we get to play as any non-117 human during the Battle of New Mombasa. But I am really just bumping this. ;)

Eldritch Warlord:
Into the Ashen Wake

There lies the answers you seek.

^^^The truth.

Anyone who doesn't read this, and still has something to say, well, you know.

I'm just hoping we at some point get to play as one of the SPARTAN-IIs from the fourth book. SPI armor would be awesome. But yeah, I'm thinking ODST for the expansion. Probably a sergeant or something, with squad-based gameplay.

2.Squad Combat would be awesome.

I hope the devs take a leaf out of the Republic Commando game and give you a set of teammates you actually connect, laugh and kill with.

I've discovered the truth behind the "keep it clean" Gimmick... Bungie is after me right now, here it is

Spoiler: click to view

...

On a serous note though, I honestly can't wait to get behind the shoes of the ODSTs

SargentToughie:
I've discovered the truth behind the "keep it clean" Gimmick... Bungie is after me right now, here it is

Spoiler: click to view

...

On a serous note though, I honestly can't wait to get behind the shoes of the ODSTs

I clicked on the spoiler :( I feel silly now.

deathkittin:
AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA

you and the other fratboys lol

Just because it isn't shoved down your throat with 45-minute cutscenes doesn't mean it's not there. Just because you can't find it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I'm not a fratboy and I see the breadth and depth of the Halo universe. So do my friends, and to my knowledge none of them are fratboys; lawyers, maybe, or literature professors or engineers or union stewards or scriptwriters or (for my sins) game designers, perhaps, but no fratboys.

-- Steve