Finally! Details! On a Bungie Halo title! Courtesy of Microsoft's TGS address, the Halo 3 singleplayer expansion - first revealed in a trailer a few weeks back - now has a name (Halo 3: Recon), a setting and a rough release date. The expansion will serve as a prequel to the events of Halo 3, with the player taking the role of a UNSC recon soldier, who is our "new hero" for a "new campaign".

This trailer gives me a lot of hope. Halo's always been fairly sterile, as far as I can remember. Lots of pretty lighting, lush outdoor (and indoor) environments, and plenty of big guns. The dark, rainy environment in this non-in-game footage looks to add a grittier aesthetic to this installation of the series. Hopefully, the ideas that came about for the creation of that trailer are going to make it into this expansion. I promise I don't just want the game to turn into Halo: Gears of War Edition.

Update: Joystiq says that "Halo 3 Recon" is going to sell as a standalone and will not require an original Halo 3 disc to play. And it's in development by Bungie. Sweet.