In discussing why it's taken so long to "sack up," Bungie explained that it wanted to nail every possible angle for the system. It confirmed that co-op play will encourage playing the game "as hard as you can stomach it," but also promised to "reveal some more ways to make the game more interesting and challenging for multiple players in the very near future." We demand more than competitive stat-tracking, and frankly, expect to be pleased.
In the game, you'll be able to hop into a co-op game from top to bottom in campaign mode, or from any of your saved checkpoints. Split-screen is two-player, but you can join two other friends on Live from it. In the campaign, you'll play as either Master Chief, the Arbiter, or two new characters who we honestly don't care a whit about, the elites N'tho 'Sraom and Usze 'Taham.
Hm, wait, reading this, it turns out Usze 'Taham's dad was one of the top sword fighters in this age. Oh, and N'tho's "romanticized nationalism is emblematic of all Sangheii." Seems like even the second-tier character choices are interesting, although only appearance and weapon load-outs will vary from character to character. Come on September 25th, get here!
