[XBOX360] Halo 3 - ODST
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Halo 3 - ODST
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer: Bungie
Genre: First Person Shooter
Release Dates: September 22, 2009 (NA & EU)
Price: 14.62£ (Play.Com)
Two years after the release of Halo 3, the game that closed the Halo trilogy on a high note, taking full advantage of the capabilities of the Xbox360 and the opportunities that the current gen offered, comes Halo 3: ODST, a standalone expansion to the original Halo 3. The game is a prequel to Halo 3, presenting you some of the events that lead to the conclusions in Halo 3 as players assume the roles of elite human United Nations Space Command soldiers, known as "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers" or ODSTs, during the events of Halo 2.
The action takes place in the ruined city of New Mombasa and follows a squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, as they try to uncover the story behind their ship's crash and the sudden Covenant interest in the city. Your squad consists of Dutch, Romeo, Mickey, Buck and their newly introduced leader Dare, and instead of playing as one of them for the entire campaign like the previous installments in the Halo franchise that are automatically merged with the name of Master Chief, ODST's campaign will have you switching between those characters from a mission to another as you change locations and timelines. Even though the action still takes place in the Halo universe, prior to the events of Halo 3 and somehow interleaved with the events of Halo 2, the game doesn't feature trademark characters like Master Chief or Cortana to create a new story around them, instead it chooses to go on a smaller scale, following a simple squad crashed into a ruined city.
It's quite impressive to see how that event combined with the right characters in the right environment managed to create an experience so unique and different from what we've seen in Halo 3, presenting a new face of Halo by allowing you to meet new characters and find out the stories behind them for the first time, just like you did with Master Chief all those years ago. There is a lot to try out in ODST, and even though the multiplayer mode hasn't changed much from Halo 3, the new twist brought with the release of ODST makes it fun all over again, by adding new maps, weapons and allowing you to use all those features that made ODST's campaign such a pleasure to play. In addition to that, ODST contains a new mode called Firefight, which puts you and up to three other players on Xbox Live against increasingly difficult waves of enemies, creating a survival experience that will keep you and your friends busy for a while, as you will be awarded medals for making special kills, and individual and team scores are tracked throughout the games, so there's always the element of competition.
9.5
Surprising enough, ODST's gameplay isn't Halo 3 with a few tweaks, but a different experience that tries a new approach, going for a darker and stealthier playstyle, as you'll often need to hide inside the buildings and look for supplies instead of going all raged in into the enemy troops. The biggest difference in the gameplay itself is that you no longer play as Master Chief, but a normal ODST soldier who doesn't posses Master Chief's advanced armor and reflexes, they cannot jump as high, move as fast, survive large falls or wield two weapons at once. This is what creates the stealthier approach of the game, as you won't be able to jump in the middle of the enemy troops and expect to win the fight, as your armor is much lower as a normal soldier and once that is depleted your health will drain quickly.
Another change to the Halo formula is the fact that now shields will regenerate in time, but health won't, so if your shields fail and you start taking damage you'll eventually have to look out for a medical pack to restore your health. Finally, the greatest game changer is the fact that now the player's head-up display (HUD) includes a "VISR" mode that outlines enemies in red, allies in green, and items of interest in either blue or yellow, something that makes the gameplay more interesting and walking in the dark easier. VISR mode is a must use feature in the game, as you'll often have to walk into the unknown, and since the game doesn't provide you with a flashlight like the previous Halo titles, VISR mode is the closest thing you're gonna get to see in the dark.
The friendly AI has been slightly improved, now being actually helpful in tough situations, but unfortunately the missions don't put that the best spotlight, as for half of the missions you'll be alone and the other half are somehow limited to basic things that don't require as much teamwork as some of the missions in Halo 3 did. As I've mentioned before, ODST is different from what you would expect in a Halo game, as even the driving and flying sequences with all sorts of alien and human vehicles which made the Halo franchise famous in the first place are now somehow limited to only a few moments in the entire campaign, leaving you walking on foot for most of the time. Different doesn't necessarily mean bad, even if the concept of Halo at its core was almost perfect; ODST tries something different, and for all that matters it succeeds in almost every way, keeping the core gameplay mechanics that make Halo a fun game to play, while still creating new and exciting things to do and with that providing new experiences for the Halo fans.
8.5
ODST is built on the same engine as Halo 3, which isn't that bad considering that the original Halo 3 looked amazing and it showed off the true potential of an open world first person shooter on the Xbox360, however that was two years before the release of ODST. This game isn't ugly or outdated, but it isn't exactly on the top notch of the graphical capabilities, after all in two years a lot of improvements were made, but considering the fact that ODST is played mostly in the dark and not focusing so much on the open world missions that Halo games are known for, the somehow outdated graphics are not that visible.
Most of the effects have been recycled from Halo 3, but that isn't a bad thing, since they still look amazing and putting them into this new dark environment works out for the best. Even though the engine hasn't changed, some improvements have been made to keep up with the market, especially in character design and facial animations, as now your squadmates' faces will look realistic and the animations provide an excellent quality for 2009 standards.
8.5
Leaving behind all that new stuff about different characters and redefined gameplay, probably the most memorable thing about ODST is its soundtrack, composed once again by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. The soundtrack is simply a masterpiece and probably the best one in the entire Halo franchise, as it creates a fear of the unknown that combined with the darker and stealthier style of the game creates an experience that will remain with you for months to come.
Even though characters like Cortana or Master Chief are not present in this game, those new characters that are introduced in the game are voiced by professionals like Nathan Fillion, who also voiced Sergeant Reynolds in Halo 3 as Gunnery Sergeant Buck in this title. The list goes on with actors who previously worked on the Halo franchise for different minor voices, including Adam Baldwin now voicing Dutch, Alan Tudyk as Mickey and Tricia Helfer as Captain Veronica Dare. The sound quality is mostly on the same level as Halo 3, but it doesn't feel outdated in any way, it somehow feels even better giving this new environment in which it is used.
10
The campaign alone won't last that long, but same as Halo 3 there is much more to do in this game aside from the campaign, as ODST contains a cooperative game mode called Firefight, where players take on increasingly difficult waves of enemies in a timed survival game. In addition to that the multiplayer mode that redefined first person shooters with Halo 3 makes a return, and even if it isn't much different from the original multiplayer in Halo 3, it contains 21 new multiplayer maps in addition to new weapons and a lot more. There isn't anything life changing in ODST's multiplayer modes, but it's more of what was already great, so having all those new maps allows you to relieve Halo 3's excellent multiplayer mode all over again.
8.5
If ODST does something perfectly, that is creating an atmospheric experience that will remain with you for some time and eventually make you replay the campaign again, simply because it's a one of a kind experience. Even though it is a standalone expansion for Halo 3, ODST feels like an entirely new experience, as it changes enough things to create something different from Halo 3 and in some parts improve on the few mistakes that Halo 3 made. This game proves that Halo doesn't need Master Chief to make a great game, simply because a squad of marines crashed into a ruined city managed to provide a story so emerging and an atmosphere so superb that made ODST the amazing experience that it is.
9
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer: Bungie
Genre: First Person Shooter
Release Dates: September 22, 2009 (NA & EU)
Price: 14.62£ (Play.Com)
Two years after the release of Halo 3, the game that closed the Halo trilogy on a high note, taking full advantage of the capabilities of the Xbox360 and the opportunities that the current gen offered, comes Halo 3: ODST, a standalone expansion to the original Halo 3. The game is a prequel to Halo 3, presenting you some of the events that lead to the conclusions in Halo 3 as players assume the roles of elite human United Nations Space Command soldiers, known as "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers" or ODSTs, during the events of Halo 2.
The action takes place in the ruined city of New Mombasa and follows a squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, as they try to uncover the story behind their ship's crash and the sudden Covenant interest in the city. Your squad consists of Dutch, Romeo, Mickey, Buck and their newly introduced leader Dare, and instead of playing as one of them for the entire campaign like the previous installments in the Halo franchise that are automatically merged with the name of Master Chief, ODST's campaign will have you switching between those characters from a mission to another as you change locations and timelines. Even though the action still takes place in the Halo universe, prior to the events of Halo 3 and somehow interleaved with the events of Halo 2, the game doesn't feature trademark characters like Master Chief or Cortana to create a new story around them, instead it chooses to go on a smaller scale, following a simple squad crashed into a ruined city.
It's quite impressive to see how that event combined with the right characters in the right environment managed to create an experience so unique and different from what we've seen in Halo 3, presenting a new face of Halo by allowing you to meet new characters and find out the stories behind them for the first time, just like you did with Master Chief all those years ago. There is a lot to try out in ODST, and even though the multiplayer mode hasn't changed much from Halo 3, the new twist brought with the release of ODST makes it fun all over again, by adding new maps, weapons and allowing you to use all those features that made ODST's campaign such a pleasure to play. In addition to that, ODST contains a new mode called Firefight, which puts you and up to three other players on Xbox Live against increasingly difficult waves of enemies, creating a survival experience that will keep you and your friends busy for a while, as you will be awarded medals for making special kills, and individual and team scores are tracked throughout the games, so there's always the element of competition.
9.5Surprising enough, ODST's gameplay isn't Halo 3 with a few tweaks, but a different experience that tries a new approach, going for a darker and stealthier playstyle, as you'll often need to hide inside the buildings and look for supplies instead of going all raged in into the enemy troops. The biggest difference in the gameplay itself is that you no longer play as Master Chief, but a normal ODST soldier who doesn't posses Master Chief's advanced armor and reflexes, they cannot jump as high, move as fast, survive large falls or wield two weapons at once. This is what creates the stealthier approach of the game, as you won't be able to jump in the middle of the enemy troops and expect to win the fight, as your armor is much lower as a normal soldier and once that is depleted your health will drain quickly.
Another change to the Halo formula is the fact that now shields will regenerate in time, but health won't, so if your shields fail and you start taking damage you'll eventually have to look out for a medical pack to restore your health. Finally, the greatest game changer is the fact that now the player's head-up display (HUD) includes a "VISR" mode that outlines enemies in red, allies in green, and items of interest in either blue or yellow, something that makes the gameplay more interesting and walking in the dark easier. VISR mode is a must use feature in the game, as you'll often have to walk into the unknown, and since the game doesn't provide you with a flashlight like the previous Halo titles, VISR mode is the closest thing you're gonna get to see in the dark.
The friendly AI has been slightly improved, now being actually helpful in tough situations, but unfortunately the missions don't put that the best spotlight, as for half of the missions you'll be alone and the other half are somehow limited to basic things that don't require as much teamwork as some of the missions in Halo 3 did. As I've mentioned before, ODST is different from what you would expect in a Halo game, as even the driving and flying sequences with all sorts of alien and human vehicles which made the Halo franchise famous in the first place are now somehow limited to only a few moments in the entire campaign, leaving you walking on foot for most of the time. Different doesn't necessarily mean bad, even if the concept of Halo at its core was almost perfect; ODST tries something different, and for all that matters it succeeds in almost every way, keeping the core gameplay mechanics that make Halo a fun game to play, while still creating new and exciting things to do and with that providing new experiences for the Halo fans.
8.5ODST is built on the same engine as Halo 3, which isn't that bad considering that the original Halo 3 looked amazing and it showed off the true potential of an open world first person shooter on the Xbox360, however that was two years before the release of ODST. This game isn't ugly or outdated, but it isn't exactly on the top notch of the graphical capabilities, after all in two years a lot of improvements were made, but considering the fact that ODST is played mostly in the dark and not focusing so much on the open world missions that Halo games are known for, the somehow outdated graphics are not that visible.
Most of the effects have been recycled from Halo 3, but that isn't a bad thing, since they still look amazing and putting them into this new dark environment works out for the best. Even though the engine hasn't changed, some improvements have been made to keep up with the market, especially in character design and facial animations, as now your squadmates' faces will look realistic and the animations provide an excellent quality for 2009 standards.
8.5Leaving behind all that new stuff about different characters and redefined gameplay, probably the most memorable thing about ODST is its soundtrack, composed once again by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. The soundtrack is simply a masterpiece and probably the best one in the entire Halo franchise, as it creates a fear of the unknown that combined with the darker and stealthier style of the game creates an experience that will remain with you for months to come.
Even though characters like Cortana or Master Chief are not present in this game, those new characters that are introduced in the game are voiced by professionals like Nathan Fillion, who also voiced Sergeant Reynolds in Halo 3 as Gunnery Sergeant Buck in this title. The list goes on with actors who previously worked on the Halo franchise for different minor voices, including Adam Baldwin now voicing Dutch, Alan Tudyk as Mickey and Tricia Helfer as Captain Veronica Dare. The sound quality is mostly on the same level as Halo 3, but it doesn't feel outdated in any way, it somehow feels even better giving this new environment in which it is used.
10The campaign alone won't last that long, but same as Halo 3 there is much more to do in this game aside from the campaign, as ODST contains a cooperative game mode called Firefight, where players take on increasingly difficult waves of enemies in a timed survival game. In addition to that the multiplayer mode that redefined first person shooters with Halo 3 makes a return, and even if it isn't much different from the original multiplayer in Halo 3, it contains 21 new multiplayer maps in addition to new weapons and a lot more. There isn't anything life changing in ODST's multiplayer modes, but it's more of what was already great, so having all those new maps allows you to relieve Halo 3's excellent multiplayer mode all over again.
8.5If ODST does something perfectly, that is creating an atmospheric experience that will remain with you for some time and eventually make you replay the campaign again, simply because it's a one of a kind experience. Even though it is a standalone expansion for Halo 3, ODST feels like an entirely new experience, as it changes enough things to create something different from Halo 3 and in some parts improve on the few mistakes that Halo 3 made. This game proves that Halo doesn't need Master Chief to make a great game, simply because a squad of marines crashed into a ruined city managed to provide a story so emerging and an atmosphere so superb that made ODST the amazing experience that it is.
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