Story

Halo 3: ODST is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft. It was released on the Xbox 360 video game console exclusively on September 22, 2009, being nearly two years after the initial release of Halo 3. Players assume the roles of elite human United Nations Space Command soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) during the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3. After the alliance of alien races known as the Covenant attack Earth, the player explores the ruined city of New Mombasa to discover what happened to their missing teammates, separated from each other as they entered the city.

Review

Since the original Halo, the franchise’s installments have more or less been remakes with new maps, graphics, and campaigns. Little has been explored in terms of core gameplay enhancements. Since the original was outstanding, this hasn’t stopped gamers from gobbling up millions of copies worth of sequels. That’s partly changed with the release of Halo 3: ODST, a sequel (or expansion) to Halo 3. Forget about a graphics manifesto; with the exception of these few sentences, I won’t harp on visuals. They’re fine; this game is all about content and variety.

Furthermore, I won’t go into the nuts and bolts of ODST’s core gameplay; it hasn’t changed either since Combat Evolved, which again, is not a bad thing. Ultimately, ODST is a tough game to review. There is a huge amount of content to play around with. Nevertheless, if you already own Halo 3, ODST’s value is questionable. Because of a unique campaign, twenty-four multiplayer maps, and the new Firefight mode, I am personally having a blast with ODST.

Contrary to the opinion of many gaming journalists, Firefight is the most controversial aspect of ODST, so that’s what I’ll start with. It’s a variant of Gears of War 2’s horde mode. Players choose among ten maps on which to fight against wave after wave of increasingly tough enemies. Since combat has always been Halo’s strength, this mode is a ton of fun and could have been a stand alone expansion. It’s a tense, exciting experience. Also, each time you play, enemies take on different attributes. Sometimes they have extra dodging abilities; other times they may be grenade happy. The power-ups add to re-playability and will keep you on your toes. Firefight cuts the fat out of the campaign and just leaves the kinetic fun of scrambling for ammo and blasting Covenant scum.

However, the setup is not perfect, for there is no matchmaking to speak of. One can only team up with Friends and Recent Players (whatever that means). I don’t fully understand this arguably crippling choice. Was Bungie concerned that playing Firefight with strangers would be conducive to a poor cooperative experience? Granted, Halo’s online community by far consists of the most volatile, rude, and uncooperative players of any online franchise. Seriously, how many of you still leave the headset plugged in when playing Halo? However, Left 4 Dead proved that with the right mechanics, a deep, meaningful multiplayer experience with strangers can be accomplished. Without matchmaking, I fear that Firefight more often than not will boil down to a single-player experience, which is a crying shame.

Keep in mind, this opinion comes from an adult, a late twenties professional with a wife, baby, and mortgage. High school and college gamers may have more than enough people in their friends list to sit down and have a blast with Firefight. The same may not be said for adults. Am I the only one out there that just doesn’t have any more serious gaming friends? Or is the lack of people in my friends list indicative of deeper, social problems? I shouldn’t have to invite hundreds of random strangers to be friends with in hopes of building a big enough repertoire to fully enjoy Firefight. I wish Bungie just could have included a matchmaking option so I didn’t feel like I needed to see a psychologist.

Though Firefight is brand new, the more standard multiplayer mode is also offered. Much criticism and hoopla has been made over the classic multiplayer of ODST. Just like the box claims, it is the “Complete Halo 3 Multiplayer Experience.” All twenty-one maps (and three new ones) are available on a second disk. I’m not sure about the exact source or reason for the complaints. This isn’t Halo 4, so one can’t expect a complete overhaul of the multiplayer component; plus, such a move would have split a still-young (in terms of Halo) online community. To make the package more appealing to Halo 3 vets, more new maps may have been desirable; it’s a tough call given the huge amount of people still happily playing Halo 3 (and its DLC). To the credit of the franchise’s often asinine fans, at least there hasn’t been a call for a boycott in the manner of Left for Dead 2.

ODST’s campaign has its own share of strengths and weaknesses. It’s a very different take on the Halo universe. You’re no longer walking in the shoes of Master Chief. You play as a rookie sent on a likely suicide mission to defend a major Earth city. You encounter heavy fire during the drop and get separated from the rest of your squad. The hub of the campaign is the darkened African city of New Mombassa. Basically, you wander the locale and fight the occasional pocket of Covenant forces while searching for clues of your missing squad. Once you find a clue, the game shifts to the story of what happened to a particular squad member. Via flashbacks, you’ll end up playing in the boots of several different troopers.

The characters and their stories are all pretty interesting. The tension of their perspectives adds a layer of thoughtfulness previously missing from the Halo franchise. However, only when playing outside of the rookie’s perspective does the gameplay boost its traditional Halo shine. I found the rookie’s dark path through New Mombassa to be pretty dull. It’s open-ended, but there’s always a marker pointing to exactly where you need to go. Exploring only has the reward of discovering audio files that reveal yet another side story. I hate audio files. Sure, finding them complements ODST’s story, but they just don’t interest me. This narrative mechanic didn’t work in Doom 3, and it sure as hell doesn’t work in the frenetic pacing of Halo.

All around, ODST’s campaign is fun and interesting, but I missed the consistently bright color palette of previous games. While the graphics are of typical Bungie excellence, the environments can sometimes feel repetitive. It’s also a little short at around 6 or 7 hours. And if you view the rookie’s dark, urban trek as down time, the amount of fun to be had with the campaign is cut dramatically.

As I mentioned, rating this game is difficult, so the final numerical score may or may not do it proper justice. The campaign is short but satisfying. Twenty-four multiplayer maps is staggering (but only if you don’t own Halo 3). If a matchmaking option had been available for Firefight, the complaint about only having three new multiplayer maps would have been moot. Nevertheless, Firefight is a perfect complement and upgrade to the franchise. At its core, ODST is a glorified but probably overpriced expansion. For those who skipped out on the original Halo 3, ODST is a no-brainer. It’s worth every penny. However, if you already own the previous installment, the game may not be worth the hefty sixty dollar price tag.