20 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
Really good shooter
I was playing this all yesterday from my shopto delivery and have to say the game is a great change. The plot takes the viewer to a time where the covenant are attacking Earth on a city called New Mobassa. You intially start as a rookie ODST trooper whos pod crash lands off course. From heere and through flashbacks you peice together what happened during the 6 hours you...
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Fun first time around but pales
I'm a huge Halo fan and I did enjoy playing this game first time around. However it has a number of flaws. The basic structure is pretty good with the city-based Rookie missions leading to the larger flashback main missions. The problem is that even for Bungie this has a very repetitive feel to it. The Mombassa streets Rookie missions are virtually identical and the...
I'm a huge Halo fan and I did enjoy playing this game first time around. However it has a number of flaws. The basic structure is pretty good with the city-based Rookie missions leading to the larger flashback main missions. The problem is that even for Bungie this has a very repetitive feel to it. The Mombassa streets Rookie missions are virtually identical and the novelty of night vision and new etc soon wears off as you wander endlessly in the dark looking for clues to the whereabouts of your team. The hidden weapons caches behind shuttered fronts are a big help in those missions.
The main missions are a bit more varied but each one has a similar theme with almost identical large arena gladatorial shoot-out endings where you battle huge numbers of enemies and wraiths. Its all a bit frantic and although I've played through twice (normal/heroic) I dont feel driven to play again and again like with Halo 3.
I think the graphics leave something to be desired, especially when the night vision is on as everything has a 2-D cartoon quality. There is also no recognizable "Halo storyline" to this and apart from the weapons and the enemies you wouldn't know it was a Halo game.
Firefight is a good addition but nowhere near as good as GOW2 horde and is limited in a couple of ways. Firstly teamplay is limited to friends and (I could be wrong about this), there is no restart option to resume at a wave level, I could only see you can start from the beginning each time. I haven't played online (no XB Live) but again you dont get the GOW2 option of playing multiplayer locally with team and enemy AI.
All in all a reasonable game but not up to the standard of other Halo games, nor of recent competition.
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I was playing this all yesterday from my shopto delivery and have to say the game is a great change. The plot takes the viewer to a time where the covenant are attacking Earth on a city called New Mobassa. You intially start as a rookie ODST trooper whos pod crash lands off course. From heere and through flashbacks you peice together what happened during the 6 hours you were out cold. This lets you play as the other ODST troopers untill you solve the whole mystery surrounding New Mobassa.
Graphically similar to Halo 3 but with a much different approach and with a few new parts. You have to find health as a pose to regenerating it (your just a human not Master Chief), your visor can act as a low light vision and enemy detector (appear with red outline). Your not near as quick as Master Chief and you have to take cover a lot and play each enviroment to your advantage.
The game is set into two discs (single player, multiplayer)and I haven't got round to playing the second disc, although I did play some Firefight, the new mutplayer mode. Here you have to take on waves of enemies which grow stronger each round, similar to horde on Gears of War 2, but this is more varied as different skulls are activated during each round to mix up the gameplay.
Overall Halo3:ODST is a great stop gap before Halo Reach (or any other shooter i.e. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2) and for £29.99 you get a great 360 exclusive that I recommend to any gamer.
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Having played and thoroughly enjoyed Halo 3, this eagerly anticipated addition to the family was just about worth the wait! It feels like Halo 3, but with different characters of course voiced over by some of the Firefly crew (an excellent if somewhat short series by the way).
The gameplay is smooth and the loading transition times negligible; how Bungie does this is probably a trade secret.
My only disappointment is Firefight. Put simply, I can't play it with anybody else! Gears of War 2 Horde mode is amazing, and I was hoping that Firefight would be too. Unfortunately, Bungie has not incorporated matchmaking into Firefight. This means that unless you invite recent players or friends to play you're on your own! And this is incredibly frustrating and as already stated a severe disappointment.
The second disc comes with all of the Halo 3 multiplayer maps and is obviously useful in that respect.
In summary, the levels are fun to play, the music is outstanding and sets the moods brilliantly, but the lack of matchmaking for this title severely compromises what could have been a stunning game.
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I recently played through Halo ODST and really, come on now, we were all more than a bit ripped off here, weren't we?
Microsoft said the game would be an add on campaign that took around 4 hours or so to finish and (Most crucially), WOULD NOT be a full priced retail release. Then they changed their minds and said it WOULD be a full priced retail release, but the game had gotten a lot bigger since it's announcement. Fair enough, lets wait and see.
Game comes out, I fire it up and play through it on normal, and it takes me just under 5 hours to do so, and a LOT of that time is spent in the utterly pointless "open world" hub that you use to access the main missions (Even though there is nothing 'open world' about it, as it's just big areas that inevitably funnel you toward the same exits with no actual control over mission order or anything else that would constitute any other 'open world' game structure you'll be used to by now). The hub city is annoyingly dark, and your 'night vision' visor makes little difference beyond putting coloured outlines around enemies when you get close enough, and to be honest, the visuals in this game look really dated throughout. Halo 3 was never the best looking game, but still using it's engine today is really quite lazy.
The missions themselves are a mixed bag, with some being quite fun and engaging, and some being typical shooting gallery point A to B affairs, and overall there's little time to really get into the story of the game (Such as it is). There is some excellent voice acting, and the soundtrack is quite superb though, but there's no getting away from the fact the story simply isn't that good, and the climactic gameplay sequences are really really bad. I was genuinely shocked that the game was over when I saw the credits roll. It really does just cut you off with no warning.
Single player aside, multiplayer is pretty disgraceful. There's a single new multiplayer mode on the first disc, but then you have a second disc which literally just repackages all of the Halo 3 multiplayer content with a couple of new maps and nothing else. if you already have Halo 3 and want ODST you are literally FORCED to rebuy a large chunk of a game you already have, which effectively means ODST has practically NO multiplayer element of it's own, and you aren;t even given the option of only purchasing the newer game content if you already own Halo 3. That's nothing short of despicable.
Halo ODST is probably the worst Halo game to date. It isn't that it's a downright BAD game per se, but it's certainly very pedestrian, and for such a short game it utilises a lot of 'filler' elements to make it seem bigger than it actually is (Lots of walking between missions to draw things out for example), and then of course, the multiplayer that you will in all likelihood have already paid for once already when you bought Halo 3.
Basically, this is a heavily padded piece of downloadable content trying to justify itself as a full game, and in doing so it fails quite miserably, as there is simply no justification for making people pay for the same thing twice for such a small amount of actual new content for the retail price being asked.
But, this being a Halo release, most of you probably won't need to know anything beyond the name of the game before you empty your wallets. Good luck to you if you're satisfied by that, but I am not. Not by a long shot. I want the rest of the game content I paid for.
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After finally finishing the fight in halo 3 we get the chance to enter the halo universe again but from a different angle. this time the player takes control of "the rookie" the newest Orbital drop shock trooper.
having just received it yesterday and already completed the main campaign, i feel a little cheated, i was very much looking forward to the game. from what bungie promised it looked set to be a great new and fresh play through of a familiar and well liked franchise. unfortunately the fresh elements are lacking- there are just 2 few.
playing as a human instead of the master chief you have some downgrades in abilities. no longer do you have shields and so you can't go kamikaze style into 500 enemy's, no longer are you the center piece to the human army's war against the covenant but on the plus side you do get a visor upgrade which identifies points of interest and enemies and weapons in the somewhat too dark streets of new Mombasa , the games setting.
the game really tries to sell the idea that your alone in an enemy infested city and the changes in strength and ammo and such is good for this effect but bungie fails to commit to the concept, if you've ever played halo 3 on legendary difficulty then playing ODST wont seem strange at all as you just have to employ the same strategies, sneak around deduce where the enemies are and slowly take them out and find cover if you are taking fire. the game mechanic is halo 3 on a higher difficulty which is slightly more forgiving if you make a mistake. it doesnt feel that fresh.
it seems hat the developers wanted to do something else with a well thought out franchise and provide fans with another story to tell having already finished the fight, but they havent given them enough to play with. what is there is good. its still halo and still has the halo quality approval but some elements that are on the box as selling points in reality dont deliver.
the Hub to the game namely the streets of new Mombasa which you roam as the rookie trying to find the signs of the rest of your team is dull to traverse. points of interest are few and far between literally. walking around for ages is not fun ( especially without a way of running, 10+ points to the guys at call of duty there) and you dont get any sortof vehicle for what seems for forever in a very short game (8 or so hours at a stetch collecting all the audio files) so your walking around for ages in a bland world, while there are enemies, half the time you feel unequiped and you feel like you cant use your guns as the grunts of the world map are a waste of ammo and will just chip away at your health. so you end up walking around not doing alot of shooting in Fps which isnt great is it ?
talking of guns this highlights my biggest grrrr at the game namely the complete absence of new guns. sure theres the sub machine gun with a zoom and a silencer which is cool and there is a great remodel of the pistol, ( a kindof mix between the god of pistols found in halo 1 and the nice solid feel of the magnums in halo 2 ) but other than that there arent any new guns, and as special forces of the human army 2 guns with limited ammo just doesnt cut it,
i was hoping the game would provide a game parrallel to the metroid prime series by nintendo of being alone in a strange place doing investigation and accuring new equipment. but instead the game feels like it could of just been a downloadable add on to halo 3, "the ODST mission."
the game does have a huge plus in that the entirity of halo 3's excellent online matchmaking multiplayer including all maps and all game types is provided as a seperate disc alongside Odst. if you enjoyed halo 3 then you will definately enjoy ODST just dont be expecting a brand new game, more of the same is what to expect, so perhaps wait for a price drop.
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There have been many great parings throughout history; Rogers and Astaire; Shearer and Sheringham; Fred and Wilma; Schwarzenegger and DeVito. Adding to this list, then, is the video gaming world's Microsoft and Bungie. Arguable neither are the best in the field, but combined they produce something beautiful.
And that's the way it has been since we first set foot into the world of Halo: Combat Evolved, way back in 2001. In 2004 we saw the release of the much anticipated sequel, Halo 2. And again in 2007 we had the third and final part of the trilogy, Halo 3. So given the fact that the trilogy already had its three parts, and given the austere presence of its forebears, is there any room in the franchise for a game that steps off the well-trodden Master Chief tracks?
Given that Bungie were keen to announce that ODST is more than an expansion, it would seem that they think so. Buying ODST you are given the "two-sided coin" that every FPS/TPS gamer has become accustomed to over the years; campaign and multiplayer. For this episode (if one can call it that) we do not see Master Chief, and we do not see a sequel (it is Halo 3: ODST after all). Instead we see a side story following the events of a Rookie as he fights his way around New Mombasa. And for multiplayer one gets access to all the same stuff as Halo 3, but with one small and hardly noticeable difference, and that is something called Firefight. Actually it's neither of the aforementioned adjectives at all, and I will cover that a bit later.
As I have already mentioned, in this game you do not get to play Master Chief Petty Officer John 117, the enhanced "SPARTAN" super-soldier we have all grown to love over the years. In this incarnation you play primarily as a lone UNSC soldier, known as the Rookie. Whilst Master Chief is off fighting the Covenant on the ring-world of Halo (in Halo 2), ODST follows the events on Earth, in New Mombasa, where the Covenant still have a stronghold. Whilst on your way to the drop zone, where you and a bunch of other marines are going to fight 'the baddies', your pod crashes and you are knocked out for six hours. You wake up alone, and the main point of the story kicks in here. You have to find your way through New Mombasa and locate your squad mates, but without the benefits one would expect playing as Master Chief. You do not have any of his cybernetic enhancements; you are not as powerful; you do not have a shield; you are not as fast; you cannot jump as high. You cannot simply blast your way through this sandbox city, because if you do then you die (at least, you are more likely to die quicker). Without a regenerating shield you have to rely of medipacks and first aid stations, and so you will find you need to adapt to the environment more. Attacks on enemies should be planned and more cautious, picking which one to target first and how to escape if necessary. Long gone are the jumping in and shooting everything that comes at you. No, this is a very different experience.
As you travel through this respectably large sandbox environment you pick up clues left by your squad members. There are also flashbacks, where you take control of other squad members, in which you will have to complete side missions and collect more information. And so the mystery of your missing six hours, and indeed the truth behind your mission to New Mombasa, is gradually revealed. After about 6 hours of gaming you will have completed ODST, and that is one of the complaints I have about this game. For a franchise this rich in story and characters I feel it could have been longer and more engaging. Don't get me wrong, it is an enjoyable 6 hours of playing, but ODST does not really add anything to Halo or the genre. It is using the same graphics engine as Halo 3, the characters are shallow, and to be honest I didn't really care for the story much either. If that was it, I would not recommend you buy this game.
But let's have a few home truths here. Most shooters these days do not rely on a great story. You do not always need awesome and mind blowing graphics. You do not need realistic physics and inch perfect collision detection. These need to be of a standard where by they do not impact gameplay. The point is that you need to get something right with the game itself. And the one thing that Bungie and Microsoft have combined to create is arguably the best FPS multiplayer experience money can buy. And this is ODST's raison d'être.
Halo 3: ODST has a second disc. This disc contains all of the maps you can buy for Halo 3. It also contains a few new maps to boot. And it also has something called Firefight, and whilst the concept may sound familiar this certainly should not detract from the amount of fun to be had playing it.
Firefight is a four player co-op mode that sees you and your three counterparts defending yourselves against waves of random enemies. As you defeat wave then another one comes, and so on, in increasing difficulty each time until your team runs out of lives. Technicalities aside (it is four players instead of five), the premise is pretty much the same as Gears of War 2's Horde Mode. Except in theory there are an infinite number of levels, and that the only thing stopping you are the limited number of lives your team has got. Get someone who is a bit careless and/or rubbish on your team and Horse is a bit more forgiving. In Firefight after so many deaths your team is out and you have to start again. Harsh, I know, but that's the reality. And believe me it adds to the tension. You will literally be wetting your pants with excitement and nerves.
Plus you get all the old stuff from Halo 3. It is a bargain, right?
Well here is the problem. Fans of the Halo series will have seen much of this stuff before. The campaign is a slight deviation, but really offers very little that is new and exciting. A couple of new guns and characters (none of which are Master Chief, who in the FPS world is cooler than Coolio on a block of ice in the middle of the North pole) doesn't quite add up to being more than an expansion. Fans will have bought the DLC and will have played on a majority of the multiplayer stuff ODST is offering. What they will be getting is three new maps and a new mode (as awesome as that might just be). This is hardly value for money, and in my opinion does not justify the full RRP.
If you have not played Halo before, on the other hand, this seems a lot more appealing. You are getting a bit of an introduction into the Halo universe, whilst getting your hands on a load of extra maps for one of the best online experiences around. But then again, you are not getting Master Chief, and you are not getting the Halo story, and in that respect doesn't give you access into the franchise proper.
I am really in two minds about this game. It is more than just an expansion, but does not quite justify being released as a full title. If you have bought this game already I daresay it was because of the trail that has already been blazed by Halo: CE, Halo 2 and Halo 3. Fans of Halo will have bought it for exactly that reason. Newbies to Halo will have bought it because it is a well known franchise and is good value for money if you don't own any of the DLC already. And for those of you who are stuck in the middle? I would say wait for a price drop in a month or two's time. The campaign is fun, but what you really want is the multiplayer content... especially Firefight co-op mode. You will have a lot of fun with this I can guarantee, and this is the reason you should buy this game.
I am going give this game two scores, as I think it really depends on the experience of Halo. For people who are familiar with Halo I would score this game 75%. It is still a strong FPS, but I think it will disappoint fans a little. It is different, but does not offer enough that is new. If you have been living in a box and are new to Halo I would award a score of 90%. You will be buying into a well grounded franchise, and this will give you a good introduction into Halo (but not Master Chief). The second disc will also give you just about everything you need at the moment for the best online experince available.
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I got it for playing online and although it has all the halo 3 multiplayer maps, I wanted to play firefight, but it is not possible to play online unless you find yourself four friends to play it as the game lacks of matchmaking
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Back when Halo:CE came out on the Xbox it was almost original, it was an excellent game, both campaign wise and in the multiplayer area too. In fact recently at college we would netwrok play instead of doing our IT work.
Then came Halo 2, it had been upgraded to give it a shiny new face, but it as fundamentally the same game, and a bridge between the first and last installment. In fact you could tell this from the ridiculously short campaign time, about 4 hors i think it toom me and my friend to complete. Halo 3 was saved by its multiplayer aspect, without it, there would have been huge dissapointment.
Now to this game, and it feels like Halo 2 all over again, the campaign is criminally short, and I know why Amazon put the price so low, becuase that is all this game is worth. How can any game in this day and age recommend itself when the campaign, with all "Audiophiles" found, taking little over 6 hours?? Now there are games, such as Dead Space, Oblivion and Bioshock, which all offer longer playing times, and i appreciate many people would not find this kind of gaming attractive but to be honest i would much rather have waited another ten years to find that Bungie had made a complete game. A game CANNOT defend itself based SOLELY on Multiplayer atributes, when it has described it self as a new "campaign".
I am not one of these people who rips into popular games, infact i will defend most mainstream games to the death, but this game just feels like an attempt to extort money from fan gamers.
I have rated it 4 for fun becaus the campaign IS fun, there is no doubt, but they needed to do something, anything, to make it longer and still maintain the Halo style.
I just hope Reach is better.
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Play legendary to force yourself out of spartan habits
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If you're a seasoned FPS pro, jump straight in with legendary. It's not that hard but hopefully it's tough enough that you have to find some cover. If you can run through all the confrontations like a spartan you're on the wrong difficulty and you've ruined the game - don't even bother buying it. It's very much a shame that Bungie didn't hike the difficulty more - Legendary needs to be much harder, the kind of difficulty where you *need* a friend to play with you. Easy / Normal / Heroic are a complete waste of time.
New and different is good
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Now you have something passable as a challenge, sit back in the shadows, play ODST how Bungie intended. This Rookie wasn't designed to be an invincible man-tank, ODST is about working with what you've got - an advantage in the dark, the ability to be sneaky, cunning, and a pistol that rewards head shots (and can't take out Banshees :oP). The change in game play style is refreshing. Respect to Bungie for trying something new.
Story Telling is improved
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The story is *not* just the same old linear "you must kill everything" from Halo 3 - there's some good chopped up chronology, with flash back sequences - more interesting still if you to play the flash backs in the wrong order and piece it back together (you are granted this freedom, although Bungie guides you through from oldest to newest). Additionally a second storyline is weaved in through audio clips picked up through the game. Sadly this is very much down to you to track down, and although it makes a lovely "hidden package" style achievement, the game would be much better with this complexity forced upon you - my first play through missed far too much of this.
Characters and Context
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You play as a range of different characters - there's a lovely element of character development that has previously been somewhat lacking, and each flash back mission has a nice switch of game play focus from the stealth Rookie to missions in tanks, sniping, flying, the good old SpLaser. Variety is good!
The game also pads out parts of the Halo universe that were previously only available in the books - and not so subtly eludes to Reach from time to time.
The music is atmospheric and a pleasant change - it fits the gameplay well.
So what's wrong with it?
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The Rookie missions (which does account for a reasonable part of the game) are less well structured, and quickly repetitive. You only need 2 guns - 1 of each pistol type - to take out ANYTHING.
"No multiplayer" as such in that there isn't an ODST multiplayer mode (practically SWAT / MLG game type and the grenade mayhem would have been awesome!!), although if you're a hardcore Halo 3 fan you need the extra 3 maps, only available on the multiplayer disc.
Fire Fight is repetitive - although I don't understand people who claim Gears Horde is better - that's just a bad - at least Fire Fight plays with the skulls to tweak the difficulty is different ways (before also becoming repetitive). Maybe it would be more interesting if Bungie let us tweak some options e.g. set what weapons were available, game rules, enemies (Custom Fire Fight).
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