Halo 3: ODST Review
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to place yourself in the Halo universe? Well now you can. You are no longer invincible, you can no longer run as fast or jump as high, you can no longer regenerate your shield over time. Why? Simple. You are just a well trained human.
That’s right, in Halo 3: ODST, you take on the role of Rookie, a human. As a matter of fact, the entire ODST squad are humans, because lets face it, Master Chief was overpowered. Though, regardless of whether you’re a genetically enhanced super soldier or not, you are guaranteed to have months of fun with this game… Quite literally months. ODST brings a new campaign, new characters, new maps, a new multiplayer mode, and new achievable medals in game, to the board. What more could a gamer want?
The campaign (which I have now finished through multiple 6-12 hour shifts at my friends houses) offers 20-30 hours of gameplay (depending on the number of players, difficulty and whether or not you take the time to enjoy the game), and the multiplayer mode; Firefight (practically endless), promises never to have the same experience twice, simply meaning when you play it, it’s always going to be a little bit different from before. The array of new characters is surprising, especially Buck (the shotgun enthusiast) who’s modelled after and voiced by one Nathan Fillion (yes, that’s right, that extremely cool guy from Serenity and Firefly) who also voiced our favourite Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds back in Halo 3.
The only thing that is debatable in regards to ODST, is whether sprinting up behind a wraith and throwing a grenade inside is ultimately more mindblowingly, eyepoppingly, jawdroppingly satisfying than blasting hoards and hoards of grunts to pieces with your incredibly well missed, Fuel rod gun. In terms of multiplayer, the only other game out/coming out is probably Call Of Duty 5. Despite it being rated 8.6/10 on the international gaming network, ODST has come a long way in terms of new (and old) content, with the introduction of fully explorable maps; New Mombasa, the reintroduction of the famed and dangerous scoped pistol (yay!) and health packs which give the sense of vulnerability enhancing the gameplay even more (especially when you take out that wave of Hunters that’s pestering you) and finally visor mode acting as a useful night vision tool. However, as with most things in life, change is expected. The Flood for example, are no where to be seen (finally!) and all new equipment that debuted in Halo 3, including the battle rifle and dual-wielding (which didn’t go down so well with the fans).
Overall, the game is worth the money that you’d pay for it (£29 from TheHut.com), especially if you were never one to buy Halo 3. This ensures you can play both ODST, Firefight, and Multiplayer Halo 3 with all maps available. I’d have to agree with IGN’s rating, but still think it’s worth investing in.
Sorry Ceo, got some beef with this one.
1. Master chief IS a human. His name is John and he spent his early years growing us with his family on a human colony. He becomes the master chief we know today after genetic augmentation and intense training. Maybe you meant human in a metaphorical term though.
2. “What more could a gamer want?” Some more gameplay would be nice. Because it’s basically like playing as the master chief, except you’re playing as him when he’s injured slightly so you’re not as good. Also it just doesn’t make any sense for them to be able to use ANY covenant weapons AND how to pilot a phantom (which they learnt in VR) but they somehow didn’t learn how to use a bubble shield or a flare.
3. “40+ hours…” hmmm pushing it a bit. Well I say a bit, quite a lot. I played the campaign on normal and finished it in about 5 hours. Understandably, normal isn’t that hard. But even if you were playing it on legendary I STILL don’t think it’s going to take you over 40 hours to finish the game. In fact I’m playing it on legendary right now and I’ve played it for about 10 hours and I’m roughly half way through.
4. Why did you say Call of Duty 5 and then say Modern Warfare 2? It’s not consistent to give one an official title and the other it’s nickname.
5. You say fully explorable maps (plural) but really the only level that is fully explorable is New Mombassa when you’re playing as The Rookie. When you play as the other team members the maps are fairly linear.
6. You say the flood arn’t to be seen, but you wouldn’t expect to see them because the game takes place between halo 2 and 3 and during this time the flood where in the city of high charity and as such not even ON earth.
I’d contest to your 9/10 rating of the game, but it’s your opinion really. But if we think of 10 as a perfect game then it doesn’t exactly deserve the rating of a 9. ODST is basically just an expansion to Halo 3, hence whilst it still bears the title of Halo 3 and it’s mainly just a filler for the halo fans whilst they wait for the next big game, namely Halo Reach.
Elliott
October 6, 2009 at 8:39 PM
Have to say. Good points.
1. I did state in the second paragraph that master chief was a ‘genetically enhanced super soldier’ to be fair. But yeah I did mean human in a metaphorical term.
2. Well, would you have said those things if I mentioned them? Such as the battle rifle and dual-wielding? I’m guessing they only limited what the ODST’s could do so they didn’t throw all their proverbial eggs in the basket. ‘You don’t know what you have until it’s gone’, another way of looking at it ‘You can’t miss what you’ve never had.’ You and I both know Bungie are just teasing by removing the ability to use the aforementioned items.
3. Granted it may seem over the top, but you do have to take in to account the number of players playing, what mode it’s on (like you said). Whether you’re sprinting for achievements, or taking the time to enjoy the campaign and such. However it is a valid point, and I can admit when I’m wrong. 40+ hours is a bit of a stretch. So I’ll edit.
4. I actually have no idea, thanks for pointing it out.
5. True, but it was really only meant as general information to those who aren’t gaming buffs.
6. Actually, the flood appear in all Halo games apart from this one. The (finally) was merely an expression of happiness at the fact the flood aren’t in a halo game for once.
But taking that into account. I think IGN were right to give it the rating they did.
matthewceo
October 6, 2009 at 9:14 PM
I still disagree on the rating, but I think it mainly depends on how much of a halo fan you are.
Also just to mention here, you didn’t actually touch upon what the story is about. You said about the length and the characters etc, but not actually about the story itself which is, I think, one of the best things about the game. The fact that you play as protagonists other than the chief gives it the freedom to tell a completely different story and as such, a much better and less confusing one.
Also the music in the game is absolutely brilliant. It sets the mood perfectly. And two other actors from Firefly also done voice roles for the game.
Sorry for this, I’m just very passionate about my games.
ell223
October 6, 2009 at 9:35 PM