HALO3: ODST

[Spunky]

General Features
The ODST campaign is an intriguing side story that takes place during the terrifying events leading up to the Master Chief's return to New Mombasa in Halo 3. Experience the fate of Earth from the brand-new perspective of a special forces ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper), adding a unique outlook and new gameplay elements to the events that unfold in the trilogy's finale. While the feel of this new chapter will greatly resemble that of previous Halo experiences, Halo 3: ODST will require players to employ more elements of stealth and cunning than ever before.

A new hero: Prepare to drop. Known for their courage, valor and, at times, insanity, ODSTs are among the fiercest UNSC soldiers, priding themselves on being the first unit deployed into hostile situations. While not as large or supernaturally gifted as their Spartan comrades, these "Hell Jumpers" more than compensate with their ferocious attitudes and unwavering nerve.
Expanded multiplayer collection. No Halo experience would be complete without groundbreaking multiplayer content, And Halo 3: ODST gives fans more of what they love. With exclusive new maps and full Forge options, players will find more multiplayer content than ever before with Halo 3: ODST.

Ever-growing community options. Players will continue to enjoy all the great Halo 3 technological innovations, including Saved Films, screenshots, Campaign Scoring and four-player co-op. All of the new multiplayer maps fully support the Forge editor, offering endless gameplay customization possibilities for fans.

So what do you all think of this game, I wasn't really into Halo3. ODST has exceeded my expectations though. The game is alot better now you haven't got the Master Chief's superpowers.

 

[Paradox]

I just got it yesterday, and played through it. I was a bit skeptical of the game as you weren't playing as Master Chief, but. It is one of the better games in the series. As to me Halo 2 and 3 were lacking in some areas this game, whether it be changing sides mid game. Or the fact that Master Chief was just to over powerful, or the story lacked depth. I felt that this game delivered in each of these areas.

I thought the game play was really good. The way they set the game up was cool, as you have dropped in to New Mombassa right have the covenant left. You are The Rookie and have to find out what happened to your team. Which leads you through out the city to find clues. Once you find them you have flash backs to your other members fighting, which you do. I thought it was unique compared to past Halo games. It was sorta like what Halo 2 did, but this time it made sense for you to play as the other men. Not just jumping back and forth between two different stories. Now the thing I really liked about the game was it add this sense of mystery. Whenever you play as the Rookie, you really don't have any idea as to where you are going or what you are going to encounter. It really felt like Halo combat evolved. Where you are just figuring everything out. I thought that aspect was very fresh.

Now compared to the other games it was a very different style of play. Where we are use to the run and gun of Master Chief. This game requires you to be cautious. As you are a ODST. So you aren't really able to go blasting away at brutes. As you have no shield, it really requires you to use cover if you want to survive.

A cool feature that they had is the visor. Which is like a night vision, but outlines your surroundings. This allows you to be able to see where your enemies are, even if they happen to be behind cover. It is really helpful on legendary. Another thing that I liked are the two new weapons that you are given. The new SMG is extremely cool with the silencer on it, and it can zoom in like the Battle Rifle. Though it paled in comparison to the the pistol. Yep, they brought back the old Halo 1 pistol with a silencer as well. Not only is it the same badass pistol that can kill your enemies in one shot. You can fire it as fast as you can pull the trigger which is pretty awesome against brutes.

Graphically, it's well done. It is extremely nice to look at. They didn't have some of the brute glitches in the last game. Where they would go through a wall or anything like that. The way that they pulled the lighting and the levels together really helped the game. As it's very creepy walking around the city at night. It still has the same old crappy looking faces that we are all use to, but this game more than makes up for it.

FireFight, This is freakin' awesome. It's honestly the coolest feature on the game. It takes Halo multiplayer which we all know and love, and merges it with campaign scoring, and killing Covenant. Their is no end goal, other than surviving as long as you can. Oh did I mention that the computer will randomly turning on Halo 3 skulls? Yeah, it's pretty hard at times. You can play from 1 player up to 4. Great new feature which I would love to see them continue using.

Now, I thing that I didn't like was the fact that there were no Elites. As you are in the middle of Halo 2 time wise. I thought that they should at least for a bit have you fighting the Elites. However they do show you a hall where all these Elites have been killed in a fight with Brutes.

Overall I loved the game, I thought it was extremely good considering they've only been working on it for a year. It's one of the better games I've played in a long time. While the campaign was somewhat shorter I guess. The story really made up for that. You can be come lost in the story, trying to figure out what's going on. That was one of the best parts of the game least in my mind. I honestly can see them making another ODST. I actually kind of hope that they do, I think that it would be just as good as this game.

I give it a 9.5 out of 10...