Halo 3 ODST is somewhat of a rebirth of the Halo franchise. Although the basic gameplay mechanics remain familiar, you get a strong sense of Halo 1 nostalgia wrapped in a character-driven shooter, which is a first for the franchise.
You start out in orbit over New Mombasa with a rag-tag group of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. You have a mission, but much like any military affair, the grunts don’t really get to know the whole story. You’re basically just told to obey and protect an ONI operative.
During the drop, something goes wrong and you are separated from your group. You are then tasked with finding everyone and getting out of there. The story is told from the viewpoint of each of the OSDTs. You collect various items used by your squad mates, which brings you into a flashback. You then play through a scenario from the recent past.
ODST has fanboy screaming all over it, and in more ways than you might think. Three of the ODSTs (Buck, Dutch, and Mickey) are voiced by character’s from Joss Whedon’s Firefly television series (Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, and Alan Tudyk, respectively). The natural chemistry between these guys definitely shines through. The female lead is voiced by Tricia Helfer, who some of you may know as Number Six from the recent Battlestar Galactica series.
There are some obvious (and not-so-obvious) differences in gameplay between this game and Halo 3, the biggest being the hub-world. When you reach a certain point in the game you get to pick which levels you are going to play. I considered this both a pro and a con, because I spent the first part of the game trying to figure out WTF I was supposed to be doing. Once the initial shock is over, however, everything is good.
The other big difference is that you actually feel vulnerable. Each encounter with the enemy can spell death if you aren’t crafty. The grunts in this game can actually embarrass you if you aren’t careful. The big bad Master Chief has it too easy.
THE PISTOL IS BACK! My favorite gun from Halo 1 makes its triumphant return (complete with the pistol-zoom, no less). With the pistol you can 1-shot grunts, so I keep it on me at all times.
Firefight is also a welcome addition, although I can’t help but feel like it is a ‘response’ to the ever-popular horde-mode in Gears of War 2. It’s a fun non-competitive way to play with friends. Sometimes you want to work together! The skulls mix things up but the addition of invincibility shields to the enemies just makes things downright frustrating. I will probably just stick to the regular multiplayer modes once I unlock the achievements.
Other than the overworld being a little jarring, I don’t have any huge issues with the game. That’s not to say that if you hate Halo, this will make you love it. There are some changes, but the overall gameplay remains intact. The jumps are still floaty (this is a part of Halo, not a game design flaw, get over it) and if you couldn’t play the other 3 games, you will suck at this one too. Actually, you will suck even more. The game is long enough to justify the price (I beat Halo 3 in about the same time), not to mention the fact that you get a separate disc with all the Halo 3 Multiplayer maps included.
The story is the most solid Halo story to date, and with Reach around the corner, things can only get more interesting. Oh yeah, make sure you stick around after the credits finish rolling!
Recommended.
