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Since the first Halo was released in 2001, the series has set the standard for first person shooters—even while the games aren’t perfect. Each game in the series has addicting gameplay whether it’s solo and co-op, or team play—online or offline.

Halo 3 ODST began as an add-on to the third title, so for a while gamer bulliten boards have wondered whether the full price would be justified. The short answer is: entirely.

ODST stands for “orbital drop shock trooper,” which are the military forces that took to the front lines when the alien Covenant troops invaded Earth. Unlike previous titles, you take control of various members of the ODST fleet—not the relatively invincible Master Chief. Halo lore has always suggested that Master Chief was a great warrior, but it is not until you control a human ODST that you realize just how much stronger he was. The frame of reference is brought down to human scale. Your enemies are now much larger than you and your ability to resist damage has diminished.

For all the changes made to ODST, it still plays like a traditional Halo title, but with less aggression. Master Chief could often jump right into a fight and come out unscathed whereas a human trooper requires planning and stealth to complete objectives. There are encounters that can be avoided completely and even some that require you to merely escape a situation. This new way to play freshens up the campaign strategy Halo fans have grown accustomed to. Luckily the freedom and open environments of ODST still allow a great deal of flexibility and many players won’t even notice the change.

Halo ODST features a variety of characters and a plot that is possibly the best for the series to date. You begin as the rookie whose team’s landing pods are attacked and crash in split locations. As you explore the streets of the fictional New Mombasa, the whereabouts of your team members surface and trigger flashback missions of that team members’ experiences upon waking from their crash landing. Switching around with the different plots is a fresh and enjoyable way to unravel the storyline of a traditionally linear Halo title.

Those who have played Halo 3 will recognize all of the guns, but tweaks appear to have been made to the strengths of these weapons as well as the inability for an ODST to dual wield any weapon. Ammo appears to be scarcer and you will usually be scrounging for preferred weapons left by the enemy.

The second part of the first disc, and yes there are two discs in ODST, is a co-op mode called “firefight.” Like horde mode from Gears of War 2, firefight mode puts up to four players in a map against waves of oncoming enemies, each wave stronger than the last. One round consists of five waves and then moves on to the next while adding a new skull that gives the opponent specific advantages. Firefight is addicting. The only oddity about firefight mode is that you can only play with people on your friends list, but so many people are playing that it is currently not an issue. Hopefully Bungie will update this in the future to include random players and parties as well.

While the first disc is labeled “campaign,” the second disc is labeled “multiplayer” on the premise that it contains all the other online multiplayer formats for ODST. Instead of creating an entire new mode, maps and game (to split the online community, as we’ve seen with the Call of Duty series), Bungie has instead included the multiplayer from Halo 3 complete with all released map packs included. This is great for players who have sunk countless hours into the online of Halo 3 as well as allows new players to have a larger pool of opponents and teammates. While this seemed like cutting corners at first, it works wonderfully and sticks to core of what makes the Halo series so popular: consistency.

Halo 3 ODST has a little bit for everyone but upon picking it up brings back all the memories of why gamers love this series time and time again. The shorter campaign and reused environments were a little disappointing but the core of the series is fully intact. Firefight mode and the entire Halo 3 multiplayer has assured that this title is never left on the shelf for too long. Anyone who feared this game would not give them enough to do can rest assured that ODST is a complete package. Having said that, if you already own and frequently play Halo 3 multiplayer and wish to pick this up only for the campaign, it may be a tough sell with such a short and sweet plotline. Regardless of your situation, Halo 3 ODST is still a must play for all FPS and Halo fans.

Graphics: 9.0

Sound: 9.0

First Play: 9.0

Multiplayer: 10.0

Replay Value: 9.0

Gameplay: 9.5



Overall: 9.3