Halo 3: ODST Review
Previously known as Halo Recon, Halo 3: ODST places you not in the shoes of Master Chief but in the shoes of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper. You are the rookie of a squad of ODSTs which deploys from the sky into the city of New Mombasa. A covenant ship jumps into hyper space as you and your squad approach the city in drop pods. A giant EMP blast from the ship knocks everyone off course while destroying most of the city. You wake up six hours later, and it's up to you to find and meet up with the rest of your team.
You wake up at night with only a few grenades, a silenced sub-machine gun and an old favourite, the pistol. You wander about in the open environment with your night vision on searching for any clues about the rest of the ODSTs. Shortly you are introduced to SUPERINTENDINT, the city's super computer. The SUPERINTENDINT is actually quite a cool feature in the game, as it will direct you to areas with collectible audio clips. These clips are a nice extra as they contain a separate story which seems to have happened hours or moments before your teams drop and connects the story.
The story is quite impressive, almost like a murder mystery. You play as the rookie, but whenever you find a clue from your team you have flash backs. In the flash backs you play as another member of the team, and get to experience what they went through after the initial drop. Most of the time when you are playing as the rookie it will be at night. It is more about stealth action rather than the classic Halo shoot everything and ask questions later. When you are playing as another member of the squad, it is mostly during the day and is more focused on the traditional Halo action gameplay everyone is used to.
The difference between the two types of gameplay are extremely well balanced and give you enough time with each before switching over. The story comes together slowly at first but comes together very well by the end of the game. I found the cut scenes to be more character driven than previous Halo games. I found Bungie had more characters to deal with, and the characters were all directly involved with one another over a shorter period of time. From start to finish the entire game happens within, I'd say, about a seven to eight hour period, which is how long it will take to play the single player. The story progresses at a pace that keeps you interested, while giving you just enough information when you find a clue to keep you playing and see what happens.
The gameplay is definitely different than what you would expect from a Halo game, and at first I wasn't too impressed. Before I played the game I was expecting to be a weaker and slower Master Chief wannabe. I thought, what's the point of Halo without the big Chief, he IS Halo. Well, I was wrong. ODSTs are pretty tough, however not as tough as a Spartan, but who is? The goal is to play smarter, knowing you are not a sponge for damage. You have to pick your fights while thinking about tactics. That really only applies to the night time levels where you play the rookie, as you are not given the really fun stuff such as Scorpions, Ghosts, and Warthogs. Sneaking up on a group of Brutes and Grunts from behind, sticking a plasma grenade to a Brute and picking off the rest with one hit kills to the head from my pistol is way too much fun. Earlier I mentioned the SUPERINTENDENT and how it helps you find the bonus audio clips. It will also show you where supply caches are. The supply caches are fantastic, because here you can stock up on ammo; usually pistols and silenced sub-machine guns along with grenades. Sometimes you can find the sniper and the Mongoose for a quick ride around. The supply caches are such a great idea, seeing as the silenced smg is my favorite weapon, and everyone will love the new pistol with the headshots.
Night time levels are a blast to play through, but the day time ones had more of what I like; blowing shit up. You'll play as each of the other squad members until the story brings all the characters together. Each character plays out differently than the others. For example, you will play one character who is about explosives so guess what, you get to blow lots of stuff up. Each level brings a unique gameplay experience to keep things fresh while not letting the gameplay become stale. There are many different types of gameplay elements which allow you to drive a Scorpion tank, pilot a Banshee, drive a Warthog, be a sniper etc.. The best part about it is you don't feel forced or rushed into each type of gameplay, it's just plain exciting and awesome. The level design is much tighter this time around and not only does it seem to be just as large but I felt as though I had more freedom throughout the entire game.
So now you know how awesome the gameplay is, but how about the audio? Everyone knows how amazing the soundtracks for Halo are, and chances are you know the theme music. The sound is impeccable, gun shots are more refined, the chatter of enemies and team mates is top notch and it really adds to the atmosphere. Plus the music is just crazy intense. On occasion I'd have the music kick in and be very epic but I'd only be walking around. I mean, I do like to have my own personal theme song, but it confused me to think a huge battle was about to go down. The music is done perfectly for both the night and day time levels, as it really helps you feel alone at night while adding to the scale of the larger fights during the day.
ODST plays well, sounds terrific and looks good too, although it shows its age. The art style is simply phenomenal, I do not know how else to describe it. Bungie went beyond it's simple colour palette and took on some grittier colours. The artwork really shines at night when you look into the sky at the stars or into the distance to see sections of the city on fire. Halo 3 ODST uses the same graphics engine as its predecessor and overall looks better, but not by much.
After spending six or so hours playing through the single player you might find it is time to try out the multiplayer. The core multiplayer experience is exactly the same as Halo 3's, in fact it is Halo 3's multiplayer but you get every single map released with an additional three new maps, so do not be expecting anything revolutionary there. The new feature Bungie added is called Firefight, which is pretty well the same as Horde from Gears of War 2. The one problem I have with Firefight is that it is only Xbox Live with your friends, there is no match making for it. Some people might think this is great because they do not want to play with a bunch of noobs, but if you do not have any friends you will probably cry. In Firefight you and up to three of your friends must defeat wave after wave of enemies, and try to hold out until the end. You and your buddies share lives so don't be pulling suicide missions or your friends might not like you as much. There are around seven maps with a few having both day and night time versions to change up the experience. I found Firefight to be a blast, and more enjoyable than Horde on Gears; but maybe that's because I enjoy Halo more.
If you are a Halo fan, you probably already bought or pre-ordered the game and are not reading this. The people who are reading this are the people who are on the fence whether or not to get this game. My advice is to go get it. It is a step in the right direction for Bungie to take the Halo franchise away from Master Chief, and they did it extremely well. The single player may be short but it can be played over and over again, even co-op with a few friends. Plus you have every single multiplayer map to have ever come out, a very sweet deal if you do not already have them. So what are you waiting for trooper, it is drop time!
Graphics: Looks great but showing its age. The team definitely pushed the engine to bring some amazing set pieces.
8/10
Sound: Near perfect. Only problem was the epic music happening at random times. Everything sounds amazing, another great sound track.
9/10
Gameplay: A step in the right direction in the Halo universe. Amazing what Bungie can do without Master Chief around to save the day. Gameplay is tighter, more tactical at night and still brings the classic Halo action during the day time levels.
10/10
Lasting Appeal: Halo is known for its amazing multiplayer and this title is no exception. It brings the exact same multiplayer that everyone knows, and adds Firefight which people will be playing very very late into the night.
9/10
