Halo 3: ODST Review
Posted on Saturday, September 19th, 2009 by Brad Ward
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We drop and shock with tbe true Halo Chronicles – Halo 3 ODST. Its that time a year again, fall is here and Microsoft Game Studios has another Shooter for Xbox Gamers and shooter fans alike. It seems very much like a yearly thing whether its Gears of War or Halo, we get a new shooter every year. This years game is called Halo 3 ODST. In long it means Halo Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, essentially badasses from the sky. It seems like it was only yesterday, that I was sitting in front of my TV playing the massive shooter known as Halo Combat Evolved. Halo Combat Evolved was the genre defining game that proved that shooters work well, if not better on a gaming console then with a keyboard or mouse, that is always up for debate however.
As mentioned previously it takes place during the attacks on New Mombasa in Africa on Earth. The timeline is the 26th century, with most of Earth under the control of the UNSC. with the UNSC embroiled in a battle with the Covenant. The UNSC is able to get rid of most of the covenant but a slip space jump creates a shockwave on earth and leaves New Mombasa in ruins. You the rookie enters the game in a Human Entry Vehicle, who gets drop shocked down to Earth. You find yourself split up from your other ODST squad mates, so you get on your feet and you start trying to look for clues, to where your squad mates are and what happened to them exactly. So as you find clues for the lost ODST mates, you get to play what is seen in video surveillance footage and range from night and day levels to levels that take place all over New Mombasa.
So the weapons in the game for the most part is a mixture of Halo CE and a bit of halo 2. Dual wielding, is no longer an option for your character in the ODST portion of the game. They have given you back the pistol with the scope, which is just as effective if not more effective as the pistol from Halo CE. You also see the return of the assault rifle, pistol nozzles, covenant and brute weapons from Halo 2. One thing that should be noted is the the pistol nozzles and the pistol with scope, is that they feature a silencer, something that the spartans were not capable of using in Halo 2 and 3. Originally it was said that the ODSTs were not able to use portable turrets, but in ODST it is allowed. Not only can you use portable turrets as ODSTs, but there is one that fires a missile and one that fires a covenant laser. So while there isn’t a huge addition to the weapons, there is a few.
As far as the core gameplay wise, if you enjoy how Bungie makes first person shooters and i know a lot of people do enjoy what they represent and offer and there is a certain group of people that do not like them at the same time. If your in the camp who wanted more of Halo 2 and Halo 3, then you will definitely dig this game. However if you were expected to do more in the game then press a few buttons and blow stuff up, then you will be turned off by this game, and find it boring. In the ODST campaign, there is little to find new in terms of a single player experience, but what you will find is more Halo fun, for your halo buck. A lot of people play Halo games for the single player component, but there is currently over 1 million people a week playing Halo 3 online. Bungie took that to heart, and decided that on a second disc, they would include the complete Halo 3 multiplayer component with forge. You get 24 maps in total, with 3 of them new and exclusive to Halo 3 ODST. “Taken from the press release.” The three new “Halo 3: ODST” maps are Heretic, Citadel and Longshore: · Heretic returns players to familiar ground as the “Halo 2” arena Midship makes its long-rumored debut in “Halo 3.” The stark interior of the Pious Inquisitor might appear austere on first glance, but Heretic’s symmetrical spaces require players to execute complex strategies in order to outplay their opponents. · Citadel may be a long abandoned Forerunner stronghold, but its small, symmetrical confines are far from secure. Two opposing bases offer little safety for players looking for solace. Instead, Citadel forces small squads to stay in constant communication, keep their heads on a swivel, and be prepared to adjust combat tactics in close quarters. · Longshore lacks the commercial ships that once made it a lucrative port for Old Mombasa, but it still bustles with activity. Designed for large scale combat and well suited for smaller affairs, Longshore’s multitude of industrial buildings, elevated walks, and open inlets conspire to create a complex battleground tailored for multiple combat scenarios. A late addition to the Halo 3 ODST package, is a mode called firefight. What this mode essentially is, horde from Gears of War 2. It is up to 4 players on Xbox Live or system link and 2 players on one Xbox 360 for couch co-op. It gives you randomly generated waves of enemies to fight, so if your going to fight a horde of Brutes or a mix of grunts and jackals, is completely random and keeps things very interesting. Just like in Halo 3 MP you are awarded with medals for multiple and creative kills. You unlock more firefight stages when beat levels on normal, heroic or legendary in the ODST campaign. Just like in Halo 3 mp you get to pick a skin for your model in the game, but not only does your model change, the battle chatter changes as well. If you pre order the game or buy it during the first week, you get an exclusive character Sgt. Johnson.
So looking at the package overall, Bungie gives you a lot of bang for your buck. Whether you get the regular version with 11 hrs of single player, a ton of skulls to find, FireFight mode, and the complete Halo 3 multiplayer experience with 3 extra maps or you pickup the collectors pack which comes with a special ODST controller that is reminiscent of the Halo 3 special edition controller, and everything that the regular package comes with Halo 3 ODST as rounded of package as Halo 3 is, while there is no iconic character like Master Chief in Halo 3:ODST, there are certain memorable characters found in the game that still make it feel like a Halo game. Halo ODST when it comes down to it is true to the formula that is found in other Halo games, so if you enjoy the whole modern Bungie formula of shooters, you will dig this game but if you want something that gives you a much deeper experience, with more to do in the single player campaign, then you might want to give this a try but not a purchase. However when it comes down to it, Halo has always been a multiplayer game, its the game that keeps on giving and could easily be sold on its own for a sticker price of $39.99 but with 4 player campaign co-op, firefight and the complete Halo 3 MP experience. If you like fun games and you own an Xbox 360, this game comes highly recommended to be purchased and fits nicely into the Halo saga of video games. Be sure to follow us on twitter at http://www.gamingring.com/twitter or check out our facebook group - Gamingring Live and the official Halo 3 : ODST thread at GR - http://gamingring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94053 Pros
Cons
Graphics 4 Sound 5 Gameplay 4.5 Value 5 Tilt 5
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Tags: Bungie Studios, Halo, halo 3, Halo 3 ODST
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We have seen 3 Halo games, so far from Bungie. So how does another game fit into the timeline or the story line of the Halo universe. We have multiple books that tie the games together, in the case with Halo ODST, it ends up between / concurrent with the events of Halo 2 after the covenant hit Earth. This game takes place on New Mombasa, mostly in the dark but sometimes it takes place in daylight settings. So we have a new Halo game, but what is a Halo game without Masterchief? Well that is what i thought originally, but i was quite impressed with how much of a Halo game they kept it like, even though there is no Masterchief. This game you play an ODST trooper as the main character, the rookie. He is unnamed, so in an essence, it puts you the gamer in the role of the rookie. The story overall was a huge improvement over the almost anoying narrative in Halo 3.
So as far as gameplay wise goes in ODST, its well Halo. If you have been playing Halo 2 or 3 for the past few years, you will be right at home with the controls. So the basics is Left Stick to Move, Right Stick to Look, RT for shooting and LT for Grenades and RB for actions and LB to switch grenades. Something they added, is something called the heads up visor. If your in in the dark or a level with low lighting, this brightens things up and make things easier to make your way through the level. Also it shows friendlies in a green glow and enemies with a red glow. The waypoint system is done with a bar on the top of your screen where you move left or right and you follow the the waypoint. Also if you are still stuck, you can hit up on the dpad and it pops up an icon and it guides you where to go to the point. Other then that gameplay is very Halo 3.
The settings, that you get to explore in this game range from dark outside settings in the over world, to sandy beach style missions, to areas of the world that have been taken over the covenant, so they have the very purple, pink and bright blue look to them. You fight a few missions in the daytime, and a few missions in the twilight of the night. There is a few new character types in the game, the main addition is flying squids, these are much like the flying jackal type characters but they kind of hover around and shoot plasma bursts. The formula of the battles with the enemies is standard Halo you start with grunts, then you fight jackals which builds up to larger covenant then brutes and then brutes with gravity hammers. 
Halo 3 graphically while not the fidelity of Gears of War 2, is a very good looking game. Lots of bright colors , amazing lighting effects and everything looks as it should as an Xbox 360 game. The game does a very good job of creating the ominous atmosphere that is found in Halo ODST and makes for a very moody and eerie Halo experience at times in the campaign. The graphics complements the audio very well. Halo audio mastermind Martin O’Donnell, created a more jazz inspired and at times depressing and creepy audio theme with ODST. The audible chatter is just as good, as good as it was in all of the Halo games and with the chatter found in ODST firefight, they took it to the next level, memorable characters in the Halo universe.
