Game Informer’s December issue reveals a few crucial details about Bungie’s upcoming Halo 3: Recon:  It will be an “open world” game, it will cost less than $60, and it will take between three to five hours to finish.

In other words, it’s an expansion pack.

The expansion will feature the highly prized Recon armor (previously reserved for Bungie VIPs and hackers), available to players after completing the “Vidmaster Challenge” gauntlet.  By all accounts, Master Chief won’t be making any appearances.

It’s still not entirely clear what “open world” means in the context of a three-to-five hour long experience, or if the open world will fit into Recon’s multiplayer.  Maybe it’s a sneaky attempt to make the eight hour long Fable 2 main quest look like Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series.