One of the great things about Gears of War was the online co-op in the single player campaign.  The game was built from the start with the ability have anyone join you and play along with you.  It was way more fun to play through those firefights with someone you knew and trust.  For a while it was rumored that Halo 2 would have online co-op but that never materialized.  It would seem to be a given that Halo 3 would have this as a feature.  Well Bungie, developer of Halo 3, has announced that we will be getting 4 player co-op over Live/System link and 2 people over splitscreen. 

How is this going to happen?  Are there going to be four Master Chiefs?  Nope, you will play side-by-side with the Arbiter and two other new Elites.  The way you will create a multiplayer game is similar to how you've created parties in Halo 2.  There is a special lobby where everyone will join and then launch the campaign.  You will be able to play from your last checkpoint or any other checkpoint you have completed.

I think this is totally awesome and I can't wait for the chance to play online with my friends.  I'm curious how they will handle co-op players dieing and will it be similar to Gears of War.  Having to start from a lobby kind of sucks considering Gears of War and Crackdown allowed you to join a game in progress.  My guess is you will always play with the Arbiter but the other two will only show up in co-op.  This feature really gets me excited for Halo 3 because now it gives the campaign the fun that is playing with others.


http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=thesoundofsack