Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Amazing"

Since Halo: Combat Evolved on the original XBOX, the Halo first person shooters have all had a similar feel, although many changes were made to the Halo formula every iteration felt like a Halo game. This is in no way a bad thing though because that Halo feel is the driving force behind one of the best first person shooter series at the moment. The protagonist Master Chief from the previous Halo instalments was at the heart of what made Halo gameplay so fun. Players of the previous games will be familiar with the way he runs, jumps, shoots, the health system and how his shield recharges, all of that is what makes up Halo. But in Bungie's stand alone Halo 3 expansion pack, Halo 3: ODST the master chief is gone and with him are his dependable, yet ridiculous, jumps and his trusty over shield. In ODST you play an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, a more basic infantry unit rather than one of the superhuman Spartans that Halo fans are used to. Those of you who enjoyed Halo 2's addition of duel wielding will be disappointed by any of the characters you play as in ODST being to do so. ODST feels a lot more like the original halo than its predecessors, health packs are back as opposed to a regenerating shield for example. In concept the latest Halo game doesn't really seem to be a halo game at all, at least not like the halo you know or have gotten used to over the years, and in many ways this is a totally new experience.
The main difference between ODST and its critically acclaimed predecessors is of course the change of protagonist. In this game you play mainly as a new character called the Rookie, the Rookie is almost the strong silent type, the only problem being that he isn't really the strong type. The Rookie is no Master Chief as far as strength goes and the game does a good job of making you feel less of a one man army whilst still making combat a lot of fun. When playing as the Rookie fights can be quite few and far between if you navigate the map well and sometimes stealth is the best option. In Halo 3 you laughed at Grunts and Brutes, and while Grunts are still laughable a Brute can be a formidable enemy especially when they are in large groups. This is not to say that the fights are particularly hard but sometimes the best decision is to sneak on past or find an alternative route.
This premise may not sound like it makes for good gameplay, Halo is all about running in and gunning not about sneaking after all, but the way the game is set out means that there is a lot of good old Halo fun to be had. In many ways ODST is not at all like previous instalments in the series, but when you get into the proper missions you will soon realise this is just more Halo just with a different health system, the good news is this is a really good thing. The game starts out with a science fictions fan dream cast preparing for battle on their ship above the African metropolis of New Mombasa. The voice actors include Tricia Helfer of Battlestar Galactica fame alongside some familiar voices from firefly. The Rookie however has no voice at all and it is him who you first play as. Orbital drop shock troopers are dropped into battle in little pods and this is how the game starts. However all is not well, you wake up in your pod six hours to the darkened and seemingly deserted streets of New Mombasa. The Rookie's portions of the game are the parts that feel the least like a halo game; the action consists of walking around a hub world in search of clues to what happened to your missing squad mates and what has happened to New Mombasa. When you find a clue, which you find by following your teammates beacons to a particular place where they passed through earlier, you get to play as the squad member you are tracking down and experience what happened to them in the six hours you spent dozing in your pod. The hub world is the decaying streets of New Mombasa, the Rookie's parts take place in the night time and, unsurprisingly, it is very dark. Luckily the ODSTs have a gadget Master Chief never had, a night vision visor. This visor is your best friend for most of the game, a tap of the X button means you can see clearly thanks to objects having glowing lines and you can fight properly and effectively in this darkened landscape due to all enemies having a glowing read aura around them.
The streets of New Mombasa are one of the finer points of ODST; however they do seem a bit boring at first. Luckily at some point it clicks and you realise that exploring this alien infested landscape is pure joy. However there are no humans around, the city is deserted and you are on a mission to find out why it is now only aliens that patrol the city streets. This creates an interesting sensation of loneliness; the great lighting effects and superb moody music make the game reminiscent of sci-fi classics like Blade Runner and provide a lonely and fantastic atmosphere. Whilst you explore the city, combing it for clues like a space marine Scooby doo, you can also look for audio logs which provides the game with a story underneath the Rookie looking for his lost comrades. The audio logs give an insight into the descent of New Mombasa and give some answers into what is going on. These are worth collecting because they do provide a satisfying story which complements the games main narrative well, especially when the game comes to its conclusion. The story of ODST is actually rather good but very slow, this will put people off at the start but the slow pace of ODST really is part of its charm.
Exploring New Mombasa can be a lot of fun but ODST is at its finest when it is more like the previous games and lets you play as your squad mates in some really well done levels which are usually on a grand scale. The action is epic and the gameplay is solid throughout, the set piece battles are really impressive and series staples such as driving missions are just as good as they have ever been, if not better. The campaign is varied and provides a good juxtaposition to the slow paced action of the Rookie. The squad members you play as are not particularly interesting as far as character goes but they are fun to play as. You get to be play as the squad's sniper, heavy weapons guy and just general guys who like to gun down aliens. The campaign in ODST is possibly Halo better than it has ever been before and the exclusion of the flood and arguably more interesting levels make this a better campaign than is found in Halo 3.
However the game has one major flaw, and this is one you probably expect due to the game being merely an expansion, it is not very long. However its length depends on how you play it. If you play the game how it was meant to played and explore every nook and cranny of the Mombasa streets then you can spend a lot of time just wandering around as the rookie. But if you just run from mission to mission then the game can be over pretty quickly, this is a likely to happen also because the missions are so fun you will want to play the next one straight away. The only other real problem with the game is that the characters and the dialogue, which both can be dull in places and the dated visuals. This game looks like Halo 3 with a little bit more polish. This means it looks pretty dated, although saying this the lighting affects really do look great and because of that this can be a very good looking game.
As well as a stellar campaign Halo 3: ODST has some fantastic multiplayer. This multiplayer includes every map available for Halo 3 multiplayer on one disc. This is great for newcomers but this game will mostly sell to the hardcore Halo fans that already have all of this so this bonus disc of pure already done multiplayer content may not be that appealing. However if you don't have all the maps it is definitely worth it because Halo 3 multiplayer is still one of the finest multiplayer components out there and still has a large player base. The matchmaking is perfect, it is quick and easy and the action lets you jump back into a Spartan's shoes and old school Halo fans can get there fix by jumping really high for a while before they return back to some of the actual ODST multiplayer. This is only one mode but it is really addictive. It is called Firefight and it is a cooperative mode like Gears of War's horde mode but with a twist. The twist being skulls, at the beginning of each round random skulls are announced that will affect the round. Enemies can become more grenade happy or impervious to human weaponry. This keeps the action flowing nicely and helps to make this mode a really addictive and enjoyable multiplayer experience for you and your friends.
Overall Halo 3: ODST is just more Halo, it gives the impression of not being so in places but the core action is just Halo and it really is a good thing, the campaign is intense and the atmosphere is superb. As well as this awesome campaign you get sublime competitive multiplayer and some great co-op action, you can play the campaign with up to 3 friends also which makes it even better, if you have the right friends. ODST is Halo at its best and although it takes a while to get going, anybody who liked the previous Halo games should have a great time with this one. The game is different enough to be provide a new and engaging experience thanks to the Rookie and is familiar enough to make sure the fun from previous Halo games is retained. It is a must buy for shooter fans in general and even more so for fans of the previous games.