 Title: Halo 3: ODSTRelease: September 22, 2009
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: Bungie Software
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studio
Platform: Xbox 360
Rating: M (Mature)
Ladies and gentlemen, Halo 3 mania has officially been milked to death. Halo 3: ODST will be the last Bungie-developed Halo game released until Halo: Reach drops sometime in 2010 so Microsoft has issued what was originally a small downloadable expansion pack as a premier sixty dollar title. This has outraged more than a few gamers and many will have to ask themselves—is the ODST package worth the full game price tag?
For starters, Master Chief is no where to be found. ODST concentrates exclusively on the events involving the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers whose stories parallel that of the events in the original Halo 3. The story is presented in an unorthodox approach that is different although not terribly interesting. You play as several different troopers whose individual story arcs begin to mesh together as the game progresses. “The Rookie” character is the silent type that acts as the framer of everyone else’s stories. His campaign involves traveling through an over-world which is present day New Mombasa, a post-invasion site riddled with destruction. As he travels from beacon to beacon, he stumbles upon items used by the other troopers which initiate the other characters’ game sequences. This works fine except for the fact that every other trooper is bland without any emotional connection to the player. Most people will forget the other troopers’ names by the end of the six hour campaign.
The graphics are identical to the original Halo 3 which is an uneven presentation of rendering prowess. The architectural structures are blocky and repetitive while human faces are unpleasant and unnatural. The Halo games seem to all share an overly eccentric, cartoon-like set of animations during cut scenes which have not aged well. Every character benefits from having a helmet on because revealing the faces will often remind you of how dated these graphics have become. Virtually everything else looks stunning especially the large scale explosions and enemy renderings. The new night vision sensor offers a sharp looking new effect that outlines enemies in red, items in blue and story items in yellow. This effect is not only eye catching but also invaluable in fighting large groups of Covenant forces at night.
The sound design is an overwhelming triumph of immersion and talent. The iconic Halo score is replaced by a somber jazz orchestral that complements the stealthy atmosphere and transitions players into a distinct world slightly removed from the original Halo series. Unfortunately, the music is the only feature that successfully conveys ODST as a full fledged game with its own unique feel.
Bungie has made it clear that the protagonists in ODST are human soldiers who are not super-powered cyborgs like Master Chief. The changes to the gameplay are subtle. You are no longer able to duel wield firearms while the shields are noticeably weaker than previous games. Since you are supposedly trained for stealth missions, you are granted a silenced pistol and a silenced machine gun, both function adequately until the beefier enemies arrive. ODST also introduces a new multiplayer mode called “firefight.” The new mode is similar to the “Horde” mode from Gears of War 2 which pits a group of players against waves of computer controlled enemies. In ODST, each wave becomes progressively more hostile and difficult to eradicate while certain battle conditions are altered to make victory even more elusive such as double health for enemies. The new mode is quickly becoming a staple of shooter multiplayer modes across the gaming industry. Although not a new idea, “Firefight” is an enjoyable experience with friends and is easily the most welcomed new feature in all of ODST. Just keep in mind that there is no online match-making service for “Firefight.” You can only invite people from your friends list.
Other than these little changes, the new night vision sensor and the “Firefight” mode, gameplay is almost identical to the Halo trilogy which is not a horrible fate by any means, it’s just a tad disappointing. Early screens and presentations of ODST at E3 2009 and other shows suggested an emphasis on stealthy maneuvers and squad tactics in order to take down the covenant. Instead, we are given what is essentially a glorified expansion pack that effectively expands the duration of Halo 3. The idea of stealth, although hinted at here and there, is never fully realized. People expecting a novel and fresh gameplay experience will be left feeling cheated by the single player campaign. ODST does come packaged with the complete Halo 3 multiplayer which includes every map pack released so far. This is a welcome sight for late adopters of the Halo franchise, but how many of these adopters can there be? The core audience for ODST will have most likely coughed up the money for these map packs already when they were released over the last few years. The multiplayer is certainly appreciated, but acts more like padding for a package that should not have been released for sixty dollars. For that amount, the game should have also included the complete soundtrack and maybe an art book.
If you are a fan of the Halo universe and know a few friends who will help you complete the firefight mode, then you probably already own Halo 3: ODST. But if you were one of the very few gamers that didn’t care for the Halo games or first-person shooters in general, ODST will not change your mind about the venerable franchise.
M. Michael Chwedyk-MuzikReviews.com Sr. Video Game Reviewer
October 10, 2009
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