Reviews - Xbox 360

Halo 3: ODST - Review

Written by Scott Saturday, 19 September 2009 12:34

User Rating: / 4
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I needn’t give the typically pre-requisite introduction paragraph to the game, or the developer...or the title font as everyone and their Hamster knows Halo. You may not like the game-play style but one must admire the sheer success of a game that was destined to come out on the Mac initially – of all things. So here we are with the 4^th instalment of the strictly Halo canon and to the surprise of many, we actually have some alteration of the chuck grenade, shoot, whack-on-bonce gameplay style that has been core to the Halo experience for the eternity that it’s been with us.

Since the canon can get pretty convoluted I’ll clear things up: This game occurs during Halo 2…but don’t let out a sigh of discontent because that’s where the similarity ends on many fronts. We see the first battle of earth from a different side, ignoring the walking tank that is Master Chief, and paying attention to the psychotic ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers) soldiers instead. These guys are the hardest-of-hard non-augmented soldiers the UNSC, United Nations Space Command, have to fling into battle. They don’t have the power armour or the incredible strength or speed of a Spartan but they make up for it with a death wish taped to the inside of their helmet. As you can imagine, the gameplay must change a bit then – no more taking 20,000 bullets to the face and still have the sober mind to kick a Grunt in the ugly mush. No, we have to be a bit stealthier. This is the change I was talking about. It’s not a drastic change to the gameplay, but enough of a balance shift that it’ll take a hardened Halo fan (admittedly like myself) a bit to get used to having to stay hidden from fire longer than you’d normally care to do. There’s only a tiny regenerating shield and below that, non-regenerating health (oh yes, medi-kits are back from Halo: CE). Another refugee from Halo: Combat Evolved is the Magnum. You know, the gun that most of the Halo community has been whining about for the past 5 years since Halo 2 launched? Okay, so it’s not as powerful as the original M6D but it does have a 2x scope and will take out a Grunt or Jackal (if you’re lucky) in a single shot to the head. The clip is larger too – oh, and it’s silenced. Quite the useful tool and if I’m honest, I found myself dropping the Covenant Sniper (Beam Rifle) en lieu for that little beauty on a number of occasions. A less immediately noticeable change is the alteration in the Field of View. Halo has always had a fairly tight FOV and after playing other First Person Shooters it was difficult to go back to Halo and immediately feel comfortable. For ODST they’ve increased this as you can see in the following screenshot. I’m not sure how much they’ve increased it by but it’s visible if you play Halo 3 and ODST back-to-back. For me this is a positive change.

At the beginning of the Campaign you take control of ‘Rookie’, a faceless, voiceless character that could be you or your mum if you wish it to be. I guess they chose this route to remove the distraction of player-character biographies and characterisation and use the time more expediently on the other, more psychotic, ODSTs. You are dropped (seems appropriate considering the D of the acronym…) into the thick of the battle for New Mombasa – the African mega-city as the game calls it. Naturally things go awry and you are hurtled into the ground and knocked out - a bit cliché boys. Anyway, you regain consciousness after 6 hours and it has gone dark; all the more convenient to use your new night-vision thingy. You are given the order to regroup with your troops who have been flung across this part of the city. Over the course of the next few missions you take control of a number of different characters, at different points in time (from drop until 6 hours later) and in different scenarios. You have the usual sections of driving, sneaky-bollocks stealth and normal run-and-gun. It might be nothing new for the series, it is the small changes to the gameplay and the oppressive environment (you really don’t feel as man-tank as previous games) that make each battle an “Oh-no” rather than “Yay, more guns for me” situation. I won’t touch on the story any more lest I spoil it. Heroic difficulty really is the way Halo is meant to be played.

As I mentioned earlier, there are numerous enemies that you will recognise from the other Halo games, it’s just this time they are more of a threat. The AI has been given a significant ramp-up, with the Grunts flanking you well and the Brutes making great use of the equipment (such as Bubble shields). It is the Brutes that are big problem now. On Halo 2 and 3, they were the equal of the Master Chief in strength, speed and weaponry. However, with your lower status you really can’t go toe-to-toe with a Brute Captain or Chieftain and expect to come out with your lunch money. It takes crafty use of the scenery and grenades – lots of grenades – to take them out. Don’t just run in expecting to be able to biff them a few times and be done with it. As a reflection of this new-found threat level, Bungie have added an achievement for anyone thinking they can beat an entire level without firing a bullet or throwing a grenade…on Legendary. I’m really not sure about that one, and haven’t even attempted it yet but it’s good to see their normal quirky use of achievements and ridiculous challenges.

The Halo 3 engine is showing its age, graphically. The game, frankly, is kind of ugly. A fair bit of aliasing, lower-res textures than Halo 3 (that I’ve seen anyway) give the feeling of a game left behind in the GPU arms race. It’s not a big deal as it looks like a Halo game should but I will hedge a bet that I’m not the only one waiting for the new Halo: Reach engine to show its face. The sounds however are very well done as usual with Marty O’Donnell’s orchestral work really helping the atmosphere along. The weapon sounds appear to be better too (particularly the Assault Rifle feeling more metallic than the drone it had in Halo 3) and the dialog is as good as ever.

It may appear to be a bit of an add-on but Firefight is a great addition to an already very tight franchise. Gears of War 2 players will recognise it as a little like Horde but that’s where the similarity ends. The AI in Halo 3: ODST is far better than Gears 2 and with no cover option; Firefight will spit you out on higher difficulties. With several maps to choose from that come from the ODST campaign you and some Xbox Live buddies (or split-screen) can really have a lot of fun and then have some more by turning on the skulls. You really do have to love Grunt Birthday Party. What I’m very pleased about is the fact the medals from the competitive multiplayer have made their way over. They’ve been modified a bit to take into account the new challenges (for instance the spree medals take longer to get) but it’s as satisfying as ever to hear “Triple Kill” or in my best case “Killpocalypse”.  The multi-fun doesn’t end there with the 2^nd DVD including Halo 3’s MP system (yes, the entire system) and bringing all of the DLC maps as well as the Mythic map pack too. Halo 2 addicts (again, me) will love the remake of Midship now called Heretic. The only complaint about said map is the lack of bucking the upper structure does compared to the old version – it’s just not wobbly enough!

Closing this down, I will say that Halo 3: ODST matches Bungie’s renowned attention to detail and the polish they apply to all their games. It’s a very tight package and one has to commend Bungie for taking their prized possession and altering it in this way. I hope they continue to do so. If you’re a Halo fan, there’s no point in telling you to buy it as you are probably already camped out in front of your nearest electronics retailer but if you aren’t a Halo fan give it a go anyway. There’s just so much fun to be had that I cannot see how anyone won’t fall in love with it.

9.5/10