Posted by Tim Fischer on October 13, 2009

Halo 3: ODST

Categories: Favorite Xbox Games, Featured Articles, New Games, Reviews, Video | no responses

Let me just start with a fact: I love Halo. I have been a huge fan since Bungie developed Halo: Combat Evolved. I’ve spent countless hours running through campaigns and tearing through the multiplayer. That being said I was very skeptical that ODST would be of the caliber of the others. Now that I’ve completed the game I believe Halo 3 ODST may be one of the best of the series.

The campaign starts with your ODST squad preparing to jump into New Mombasa before the slipstream rupture that occurs in the first half of Halo 2. While falling to the city, your team is diverted from the main objective and scattered. The Rookie is the first person you control in the darkened city. Throughout the 10 levels you will jump back and forth between him and the other members of you squad as the story relays what happened to them after the slipstream event. Each squad members’ tale takes place at a different time of day in the game with the Rookie having to find the clues to what happened to them all. halo_3_odst_screen

Keep in mind that whoever you are playing at the time is human; you are not a Spartan. Your melee is not as powerful and you can not duel wield like the Master Chief. Run and gun is not for ODST. Stealth is a huge factor in this game. Sometimes it is best to let the patrols stroll on by.

While the other squad members’ levels take place during the daytime, the Rookie is mostly at night. This is when the Visr becomes handy. Instead of an onscreen map like the other Halo games, this time you have a night vision type visor that relays information in colored outlines. Red for Covenant forces, green for allies and yellow for stations you can interact with.

Your weapons do not vary much from the other Halo titles except for the suppressed SMG and the hand gun. Halo 2 and 3 weakened the hand gun so much it was usually tossed by most players as soon as possible. Now the gun is your go to weapon. It’s accurate and powerful. Keep it handy and you will destroy the Grunts and Jackals.

halo-3-odst-screenshot-big As you progress through the game you have to discover why the Covenant is still in New Mombasa. There are stations that will glow bright yellow when you have your Visr on. These stations will give to one of 30 audio downloads that tell the story of a young girl named Sadie who is trying to find her father during the attack. Without giving away too much of the plot Sadie discovers the other reason the Covenant attacked Earth. Do your best to find the audio downloads. It really does make the story that much better.

The multiplayer mode Firefight is kind of like Gears of War 2 Horde mode. Four waves per round of Covenant attack up to four players. What makes ODST different is that the skulls from Halo 3 become active as each wave is defeated. Even on easy Firefight can become very difficult in the later rounds.

One playthrough on normal net me 535 gamerscore and took almost 8 hours to complete. It’s not a long campaign, but testing yourself in legendary and in the Firefight mode will guarantee you play this Halo 3: ODST for a long time.

Tim Fischer

Managing Editor

Gamertag: porkroll1711