You would've thought an announcement of a new Halo game would be huge news but the reaction's been a bit muted because well, we don't know a damn thing about it. However, now Microsoft has at least confirmed what genre it's in.

"Of course it's an FPS," Microsoft's John Schappert told Joystiq. You might think it's obvious that Reach was a shooter but bear in mind that the franchise has been exploring different directions as of late. Earlier this year, Ensemble Studios released the real-time strategy game Halo Wars and before that company was closed, they were working on a Halo MMO.

Reach will be released in 2010. Vouchers for the multiplayer beta will be packaged with copies of the standalone Halo 3 expansion ODST, which will arrive in stores on September 22nd.