Halo 3: ODST is the latest episode in the critically acclaimed and popular Halo franchise. Released just a few weeks ago, it has already become one of the fastest selling games of all time.
ODST is a first-person shooter like Halo 3, with controls and gameplay that will be immediately familiar to anyone who has played one of the previous installments. Despite bearing the same name and many of the same features as the previous Halo games, however, developer Bungie has departed somewhat from the status quo in an effort to shake things up in ODST.
Abandoning the protagonist of the previous Halo games, Master Chief, ODST places the player in the boots of an unnamed but capable rookie who is a member of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. These soldiers are the equivalent of special ops forces in the Halo universe. Despite not having the same raw strength and powerful shields as Master Chief, ODST soldiers are well trained and work as a unit to take on challenges that would be too much for a lone gunman.
The storyline of the main game has the player fighting against the antagonistic alien Covenant through the streets of New Mombasa, the same 26th-century African city that served as a main set-piece in Halo 2. From the outset of the game, "the Rookie" gets separated from his squad mates, and wanders across the war-torn city to collect clues to figure out what happened to them and where they are now. This wandering is not the entirety of the game, though. Most of the action in ODST plays out in a series of flashbacks that occur upon finding a clue connected to a teammate. When this happens, the player is thrust backwards in time to take control of his teammate and see what his experiences in New Mombasa were like.
One of the most readily apparent differences between ODST and the previous Halo games is the open-world nature of the latest installment. Players move across the city and are able to take on the flashback missions in any order they wish. This dynamic system makes the game feel less scripted and forced, but without an obvious linear path to follow through levels the player may become lost or disoriented. Combat in ODST emphasizes stealth instead of running and gunning, but not so much so that the gameplay will be unfamiliar to Halo veterans. Start to finish, the single player storyline clocks in at about six to 10 hours.
Visually, the Halo 3 graphics engine is starting to show its age, and ODST, while technically sound, does little to improve on the visuals found in its now 2-year-old ancestor. The audio is fantastic, however, with an excellent score and voice talent, which is provided by Nathan Fillion and several other stars from the beloved sci-fi TV series Firefly.
While all the pieces of ODST are well made and well put together, the largest knock against this game is that it just feels like an expansion pack as opposed to a full-fledged new game. At a price point of $60, all you are really getting is a nice but very short single player campaign, a new mode called Firefight - in which the player must hold off wave after wave of enemies - and access to multiplayer maps, most of which are available for free to owners of Halo 3.
The takeaway: Halo 3: ODST is a very solid game and provides a lot of fun to Halo and FPS fans alike, but the amount of content is really not substantial enough to merit a $60 purchase. Unless you either missed out on Halo 3 or you have a fanatical love of the franchise and cash to burn, Halo 3: ODST will probably better serve you as a rental than as a purchase.
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