Halo 3: ODST

Author: Efrain Silva

A Different Game from Halo 3, for Those of You New to Halo…..

Plot

How do things kick off? Well, it all goes down around the year 2552. And the background city is Mombasa. ODST (ORBITAL DROP SHIP TROOPERS) Marines are fighting off what seems to be an invasion to their home planet of Earth, from the cruel Covenant. But there’s more….

The story then centers around 5 particular elite ODST teams and their ONI officer just following the events of many recent attacks, which have thrown them off a bit. They try to regain their course and composure altogether, later finding that a beacon may be found, which is the next step forward. Rookie, the main character here, does everything in his power to find it and advance, facing all sorts of onslaughts along the way ; hard times are ahead, as are many great plot twists, reader, so don’t say we didn’t warn you. This game picks up right after the final ending events of Halo 2, in which Metropolis shows you a final cutscene of the Prophet of Regret making his slipspace jump.

Gameplay

The gameplay itself is terrific, top - notch. The game’s visual and aesthetic creators still seemed to remain a step ahead of all others. And this game goes above and beyond in terms of past Halo games, truly showing that upward progression is everything in the world of Halo. Getting to play with other players only further accelerates the adrenaline rush of addiction and trigger blasting we all love, as well.

Many have correctly stated that this game carries with it a very open - world feel to it, all in all, which is no less a good thing. You get to roam and explore freely, squeezing a few triggers along the way, of course. Not a bad thing at all. And what’s more ---- you can, for the most part, choose what order you get to certain stations or other parts of the game in, thereby adding to the freedom of exploration and play. Must be nice to go where you want to go, when you want to go, and how you want to get there….

The original, first three Halo games (Halo 1, 2, and 3) did receive some early criticism, as has been noted online in many places, for their sort of linear style of gameplay...which this game has wonderfully avoided with its freedom. It makes for a great new integration of playstyle into the Halo universe, ultimately, one that will remembered and that, hopefully, fans will get more and more of in future Halo games. When you play as an ODST instead, like in this game, you’ll also find that the shielding and motion tracker features no longer apply here ; instead, a medkit - health bar type of system is what you find yourself resorting to here --- time for something else that’s new and different, right? And this game once again provides it, so we can’t complain. Now, you’ve probably wanted to know just a bit about the weapons in the game…..

Weapons

The squad has two new weapons that fans have talked about the most, the M7S Submachine Firearm and the M6C/SOCOM. Dual - weapons (M7, Type 25 Energy Rifle, etc) and equipment are unusable, not as before, and this applies to the Rookie and his squadmates.

Also, check out the full weapons list for the game:

United Nations Space Command - Weapons Used

Covenant - Weapons Used

Levels

There are 10 unique Campaign Missions in this game. Each remains more exhilarating than the last. They are named as follows : Prepare to Drop, Mombasa Streets, Tayari Plaza, Uplift Reserve, Kizingo Boulevard, ONI Alpha Site, NMPD HQ, Kikowani Station, Data Hive, and Coastal Highway, respectively.

Uniqueness Overall

There are a few great things that have made this game so uniquely awesome. For one, did you know that it stood on its own two feet, so to speak, as the # 1 XBOX 360 Game of the Year, globally? Plus, as mentioned, it takes a unique approach and we get to see the work of the ODST elite troopers a bit more closely here, particularly as the game hones in on another character, the amazing Rookie. In addition, the game was made within a very rare time frame --- only 14 months to complete, this time. And with the elite strike force story all of its own, not like seen before in quite the same way in past Halos, this unique game packs a punch of its own.

What’s also unique about the whole thing is that this game actually choses to make a recently destroyed city (New Mombasa) the center of its focus. Interesting, right, that the very city - area that was annihilated in the last game would be the one where the story actually picks up? This only further shows that the makers of the game had a true spark for innovation and change, and were courageous enough to pick up the stroke of the pen and go with it --- recreating upon the story. I mean, it’s not as easy as it sounds...when there’s been that much destruction, naturally, how do you recreate? Therein lies the challenge, and it took plenty of vision and hunger to pull it off.

Give this game a shot. See what you think!