We've seen just about everything we need to know about Halo 3's multiplayer, but the single-player remains shrouded in mystery up to now, with less than a week before its midnight release. Sure, we've seen a montage of the campaign's gameplay footage as well as so-called "leaks," over the internet, but nothing nearly as comprehensive as what has been revealed for the multiplayer. You'll be able to find a few videos of single player footage here and there by a Google search, but Bungie, the producers of the Halo series, has yet to release an "official" video of Halo 3's campaign showing actual gameplay. It makes me wonder if this minimalist approach is part of Bungie's marketing strategy or if it's really meant to hide something else. Halo 3 went gold almost 3 weeks ago, which to me indicates that everything went according to plan. But why isn't there any new gameplay footage or more details about the single player features? I'm extremely excited to get my hands on Halo 3 and will buy the game no matter what. I'm sure that that's exactly the type of fans responsible for the million pre-orders of Halo 3. Nothing in this universe can convince these fans not to buy Halo 3. Sub par graphics won't do it. Lack of innovation won't matter either. Anything Master Chief, these people would swallow. Bungie knows that. But what about the millions of potential Halo 3 fans out there who haven't quite decided whether or not this game is worth their money? What is Bungie doing to reel those people in? These are the consumers who have maintained a rational and objective mind when it comes to Halo 3 and will actually weigh the pros and cons before deciding to go for a purchase. Is Bungie confident that Halo 3 will withstand all criticism and continue to sell for several weeks even after everything about Halo 3 has finally come out in the open? Or is Bungie relying on the first day sales to carry Halo 3 through for the rest of its lifespan? My concern is that maybe the real reason little has been shown about the campaign is that what it reveals will be more likely to turn off consumers than draw them to buy Halo 3. Like I said, there is the faithful million of which I'm a part who will buy Halo 3 no matter what. But for the rest, Bungie has chosen to lure them in through mystique and mystery. Before Gears of War was released, Epic gave us a generous serving of in-game footage as well as detailed explanations of its gameplay mechanics such as the cover system, blind fire and roadie run. After seeing everything that Epic had to show, consumers wanted even more to get their hands on a copy of Gears of War, hoping that the game would be as good as what they've seen in the previews. Gears of course, turned out to be a monumental success, even being perceived by many gamers to be the new standard by which all games will be judged, including Halo 3. More recently, 2K exhausted us with footage after footage and preview after preview of Bioshock until it finally made it to the store shelves. As we all know, Bioshock became the highest-scoring Xbox 360 game to date. 2K knew what kind of product they had in their hands and they confidently revealed everything there was to know about Bioshock prior to its release. But what previews have we seen on Halo 3? Nothing that directly addresses the public. I've seen a video of some guy demonstrating to a select audience how the saved film features work, but it was presented in a way that makes it difficult to really assess the smoothness and polish of Halo 3, as the guy kept pausing the game every few seconds. Even so, the animations looked awkward and stiff. I've also seen the video that included a small cut scene and was supposed to be a minor spoiler. All that we've been shown so far is intended to suggest that there's something much, much more. But is there? Is Bungie bluffing its way to launch day, relying on the hype to cause an explosion so big, that whatever happens afterwards won't matter, even if Halo 3 turns out to be a big let down after all? As a fan, I'm counting on Bungie to deliver everything we had hoped and more. They have Microsoft's complete backing and there's no reason for Bungie to fail. It's Halo. It HAS to be great. But the skeptic in me can't help but suspect that whatever Bungie is hiding can't be good. For the past few months, whenever confronted with the unavoidable comparisons to Gears of War, Bungie chose to sidestep the issue or downplay the success of Gears of War and not give Epic its due credit. Not only is that unprofessional, it also shows that Bungie is in denial and does not have the confidence to deliver the goods. The fan in me hopes I'm wrong. Why would I root against a game I've already decided to buy regardless of how good or bad it turns out to be? My prediction is that Halo 3 will not be a disappointment but it will not blow anyone away either. It will give us everything that made it great, maybe a little more. The graphics will be solid and be at least comparable to the best looking Xbox 360 games we've seen, but probably won't be the prettiest. The gameplay, aside from new weapons and perhaps more onscreen enemies, will remain largely the same. It will all boil down to how the campaign has been fine tuned and put together. Call of Duty 3, despite its nearly identical gameplay to Call of Duty 2, its enhanced multiplayer features and improved graphics, was considered by most to be a backwards step and a stain on the franchise. Of course, as we know now, Call of Duty 3 was little more than a side project as Activision was already focusing its resources on the upcoming Call of Duty 4 even before Call of Duty 3 was released. Halo 3 has every reason to deliver and no excuse to fail. We'll see in just a few short days.