Halo 3: ODST Game Review (Xbox 360)

Halo is arguably one of the most recognizable gaming franchises in the industry today.  Halo Combat Evolved was singlehandedly responsible for not only selling an insane amount of Xbox machines and securing Microsoft’s place in the console gaming world but also for bringing developer Bungie out of relative obscurity and catapulting them up to compete with the big boys.  However, the Halo sequels have often been criticized for being too derivative and for failing to push the envelope.  So when Bungie announced the release of Halo 3:  ODST fans were excited but game industry gurus were leery.  Could Bungie pull off another huge hit with an expansion pack that’s not really an expansion pack?  Would it hold back the hordes of ravenous Master Chief fanboys until the next iteration of the Mjöllnir armor-clad hero?

There’s no doubting that ODST is a solid game.  It features excellent voice acting, bug-free environments, exciting gameplay, and the most engaging storyline in a Halo game to date.  However, the playable single player campaign only lasts for 5 hours.  This clearly ear marks this release as an expansion pack rather than a true sequel, which is exactly what Bungie always intended the game to be.  ODST started out as Halo:  Recon but quickly grew into something more as Microsoft pushed Bungie to sell the $20-$30 package for full retail price.  They ended up throwing in a bunch of downloadable content (most of which Halo fans already owned) a couple other interesting extras, and crossing their fingers hoping gamers would bite.  Microsoft Studios should really have kept their fingers out of the pot—ODST would have done much better as what it was meant to be, something to tide Halo fans over until the Master Chief returned in Halo:  Reach.

Gameplay

Gameplay wise, ODST is like nothing else you’ve experienced in the Halo universe.  Sure it looks and feels familiar with the return of the solid shooter controls, familiar character designs, and decent arsenal of weapons but this time players are thrust into the Halo universe as a comparatively fragile human rather than the genetically superior war machine that is the Master Chief.  This means if you try running into a horde of enemies with guns blazing you’ll probably get cut down and have to listen to Covenant soldiers berate you for being inferior.  By dialing down the amount of damage you can take (yes you have to find medpacks—really) and giving you downgraded armor Bungie has actually made a game that’s challenging rather than just fun.  You have to shift your mind from run-and-gun mode to a more strategic approach and use the environment and hit-and-run tactics to succeed. 
Unfortunately, other than that there’s really not a whole lot new to the franchise.  The weapons are pretty much the same, though you’ll notice a few upgraded versions of old friends, the graphics really haven’t evolved at all, and parts of New Mombasa look exactly like they did in Halo 3.

Fortunately, Bungie tossed in a meaty storyline to keep you from getting bored.  The action takes place during Halo 2 and toward the beginning of Halo 3 as you are inserted into a well oiled team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers as the “Rookie” and after a little orientation get stuffed in a pod and shot from a belly of a transport ship into the full on free fire zone that is New Mombasa.  On the way down, things get a little FUBAR and you end up unconscious for hours.  When you wake and crawl out of your pod, your mission is to find the rest of your squad.  In doing so, you unlock playable flashbacks during which you step into the boots of your squad mates and learn what went down while you were napping. 

This element really freshens up the standard Halo experience.  Not only does the multiple character view point give you an opportunity to play using different weapons and tactics, it actually adds character to the characters.  That’s right, ODST actually takes to time to develop characters so you’ll feel some connection to them rather than running through the game and viewing them all as potential human shields. 

And New Mombasa is actually a great place to discover who these Shock Troopers really are.  It’s a well designed urban area that actually feels like a city from the future.  There are plenty of great choke points, tons of rubble to use as cover, and lots of places to spring ambushes.  However, not all areas of the city are accessible at the beginning of the game and you never truly get an open world feel though that’s exactly the illusion developers were trying to create. 

One addition that makes the gameplay very different from any other Halo game is the VISR hardware wired into your shock troopers’ helmets.  This sophisticated system identifies friendlies, enemies, objectives, and useful objects while also functioning as a low-light amplification system.  Similar to the HUD in Ghost Recon, the display makes the game easier and more visually appealing however it may leave you feeling as if you were cheated out of the fun of exploring for yourself.

Graphics

Graphically ODST isn’t much different from other Halo games.  The color pallets are all the same, the characters models are about the same, and the weapon animations are either identical or so similar that you won’t know the difference.  The one thing Bungie did upgrade was the facial animation.  It seems like a small thing but with more dialog and a more cerebral storyline, it’s great to interact with characters that actually look as if they are humanoid rather than marionettes.

Sound

While ODST looks a lot like previous Halo games, it sounds completely different.  The soundtrack has been totally revamped to fit the more methodical gameplay and the sweeping epic Sci-Fi action muzak has been relegated to big battle scenes.  The voice acting has also been kicked up a notch with the addition of the entire cast of Firefly.  Not really but  Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, and Alan Tyduk join Battlestar’s Tricia Helfer in lending their recognizable voices to the audio cast.  There’s still tons of gunfire, explosions, and chaos but the subtle alteration of the sound profile of the game really makes it feel a lot different.

Value

The sad part about this release is that Microsoft basically forced Bungie into slapping a $50 price tag on an expansion pack.  It’s true you do get all of the downloadable content (plus two multiplayer maps) and a new multiplayer mode called fire fight (think Call of Duty’s Zombie Nazi mode) but in my opinion that’s not really enough to justify such a high price.  As far as unlockables and discoverables, ODST does give players the opportunity to track down interesting audio logs but that’s about it.  The campaign mode is only five hours long and though multiplayer fanatics will get more out of this game than single players, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the price drop real soon.

Last Verdict

While ODST does breathe new life into the Halo franchise (and makes me wonder what surpises will be in store for Halo:  Reach) the heavy price tag and its expansion pack mentality make the game a rent in my book.

Pros:  Excellent soundtrack and voice acting, fresh new approach to combat, interesting storyline.

Cons:  5 hour campaign, recycled textures and locations, mediocre replay value.

Overall Score: 8.5/10
 

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