Halo 3: ODST

Yeah, yeah, another Halo, right? That was kinda how I felt about it for a while. The reason I relented and bought a copy new was simply because everyone else here at school is playing it, and I enjoy being able to multi-player game with people I know. However, after popping the game in and playing it, I wished I had preordered it, just so I could have had it two days sooner (and gotten that shiny limited edition controller too). First element of awesome: Your squad leader is NATHAN FUCKING FILLION. Not just in voice, but his face too. And on top of all that, the character (Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck) is remarkably similar to Captain Malcolm Reynolds. To stack the awesome, Corporal "Dutch" Miles, the squad close combat and heavy weapons specialist, is voiced by Adam Baldwin, and remarkably like Jayne Cobb, and the squad Demolitions Expert (and pilot) is voiced by Alan Tudyk. I had a total Firefly-gasm when I found out about the cast.

Halo 3: ODST was originally conceived as a small game (possibly intended as a downloadable content for Halo 3) to pacify raving Halo fanatics while they waited for Halo: Reach. During production, it grew to a full scale game. In the game, you take control of a squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (one at a time, of course) dropped into the city of New Mombasa, Kenya, shortly after the Covenant invasion of that city.

During the drop, the pods are scattered by an electromagnetic pulse created when a Covenant Warship enters slipspace. The Rookie is scattered the farthest from the course, and knocked unconscious on impact. You take control of him when he awakens six hours later, and scour the city for clues to the location of your squadmates. Every clue you find triggers a flashback sequence in which you take control of one of the other squad members.

But on to the aspect that makes or breaks any game (with the exception of any RPG with a really good story). Gameplay.

ODST is similar enough to Halo that veterans of the series will recognize it as the game they know and love, but different enough that those who disliked Halo for whatever reason might still enjoy ODST, should they give it a chance.

In lieu of shields, the ODSTs have stamina, which may remind some gamers of Call of Duty games. After taking a certain amount of damage, the screen will take on a red tint and you will hear your Marine gasping and grunting, indicating that your stamina is down. Low stamina does not affect your combat performance, but if you take damage when your stamina is depleted, it will cause damage to your health. Stamina will refill if you avoid taking damage for a short period of time, though it does not recharge as fast as a SPARTAN's shields, nor can it take as much damage. Health, on the other hand, does not recharge normally. To refill lost health, you must find a medkit, or biogel, or whatever they call it (it's all the same). Incidentally, if you grab one when your stamina is depleted, it will instantly refill your stamina, even if you are under fire.

As logic would demonstrate, the ODSTs cannot jump as high or punch as hard as the superhuman SPARTANs, and when you couple that with their reduced ability to take fire, the player must take a bit more care to avoid running into the middle of large groups of enemies.

However, there were some elements from Halo 3 that I did not expect to be carried over. Like Master Chief, any of the ODSTs can destroy enemy tanks by jumping on them and punching the hatch until it breaks and killing the pilot. I do not fully understand how unaugmented humans have the ability to break tanks with their fists. You can also still rip turrets off their posts and take them with you. This alone is somewhat strange, but when you couple the fact that carrying a turret does not detract from your ability to run and jump, you might seriously question the folks down at Bungie.

Despite this, the *cough* tactical run-and-gun gameplay is solid enough to forgive these mistakes.

ODST also includes a multiplayer game mode called Warzone. For those of you familiar with Gears of War's Horde, it's exactly like that (only Halo). Players cooperate to fight off wave after wave of increasingly dangerous Covenant. This is the only actual multiplayer aspect of ODST (other than co-op campaign), but the game also includes a disc containing Halo 3: Mythic, which is just the multiplayer aspect of Halo 3 (presumably including the Mythic Map Pack).

The Bottom Line: I am very satisfied with ODST, and personally consider it to be the best installment of the Halo series thus far. If you are a newbie to Halo, this could be a good place to start, and if you're a veteran of the series, no reason to stop now.