The A-Z of Halo 3

S is for Spartans

The Halo graphic novel introduced us to Maria-062, a Spartan in the same vein as John-117,when she tested the new MJOLNIR Mark VI armor prior to it being shipped to the Master Chief. What's interesting about this story is we learn that Maria has actually retired from the SPARTAN program and now resides on Earth. Her whereabouts are unknown, but it's unlikely that she would have been in Mombasa at the time of its destruction. With Spartans Linda 058, Fred 104 and Will 043 alive and well and thought to be back on Earth, we'd be massively surprised if they didn't turn up somewhere in-game to kick an ass or three - even if they're only multiplayer characters.

T is for Turf

One of the new multiplayer maps added to Halo 2 via an expansion pack. It is a small rundown city, complete with a fallen Scarab. The presence of the Scarab suggests that it's part of Old Mombasa featured in the Campaign level Metropolis - it also shows the bridge you must cross in Metropolis. Very little info has been released about Halo 3 's maps, but a level similar to Turf may be in the works. The question is, will this map also be part of Mombasa? Multiplayer levels have always been tightly linked to Campaign levels so if this human environment isn't the destroyed remains of Mombasa, it's likely we'll be elsewhere. This adds weight to the possibility of more Spartans being alive and well... on Earth.

U is for UNSC

Marines brought a lot to the whole Halo experience, thanks mostly to their fantastic dialog rather than poor grenade skills. But you can bet with an assault being made on Earth there'll be quite the armyon hand. We're hoping for battles simply gargantuan in scale featuring Marines, ODST's, more Spartans, and, of course, that Master Chief dude we're all so very keen on. Booyah!

V is for Vehicles

Among the many things Halo has brought to the FPS table is its use of vehicles, something that previously had no real place in a game of this sort. So far in the series we've seen some great offerings; the aggressive Warthog, the nimble Ghost, and the sky-dancing Banshee. Bungie has released new details on the Mongoose, an unarmed, unarmored, super quick ATV with room for two. We're looking forward to tooling around in this speed demon, but one thingremains absentfrom Master Chief's garage - a boat. Or, in fact, any sort of water vehicle. With the battle now taking place on Earth, a familiar planet covered in the wet stuff, we think it's highly likely we'll finally get our anchors aweigh.