There are a lot of things I really liked about Halo 3: ODST, and there are a few things that bugged me about Halo 3: ODST.  On top of being wildly incoherent, that sentence should nicely sum up my review.

This game is a Halo game.  What does this mean?  By now, do you even need to ask?  There will be a mission where you have to destroy a large alien driven vehicle while on foot.  There will be a tank driving mission involving long corridors and battles with more alien driven vehicles.  There will be points where you have to hold out against waves of enemies in a seemingly hopeless situation.  There will be lots and lots of grunts saying lots and lots of silly things.  The final mission will include a long sequence where you drive a warthog in an extremely stressful situation.  If you one of the millions of people that has partaken in a particular Halo game, this will all be very familiar to you.  Is this a  bad thing? No.  One aspect I have always liked about the Halo series as an FPS is how different the combat feels from a typical FPS.  Battles are much more tactical than your typical shooter fare.  The enemy AI, as always, is good.  The variety in weapons in the game is awesome, and that familiar “Which 2 weapons do I want?” question will be in your head for the entire time. (I only have 2 rounds left in the rocket launcher… but I just can’t drop it!)  The large trademark Halo action set-pieces are fantastic as usual, though after defeating my 3^rd scarab tank, I was looking forward to some new big baddies.  Some people might complain that this is just more of the same, and while those people are correct, I think that they are making a very bad argument.  A drastic change in game play would have been a bad decision, because this is a Halo game.   I like my nigh-yearly Halo gaming experience.  I like that I can get my floaty, takes 20 shots to kill a guy, sniper rifles are overpowered, Halo gaming experience almost every year.  Think of it as a gaming “comfort food” of sorts.

Before the game was released, the developers spent plenty of time trying to sell the ODSTs as a completely “different kind of soldier” than master chief.  They were rougher, tougher, and more human than master chief.  I don’t buy it.  They still have a floaty jump, wear full body armor replete with facial masks, use all sorts of alien weaponry, and are masters of all vehicles (be they terrestrial or extra).  They are basically the Brute to the Master Chief’s Elite.  Aside from being 2 people you would not want to be on the opposite side of a bar-room brawl with, when it comes down to it they both order Martinis at last call (Though Mr. ODST might get his with extra olives).

What ODST does do to liven up the heavily crafted Halo formula, is in the atmosphere of New Mombasa.  A lot of reviews have mentioned this, and I am going to say this as well. This game should be played through first alone.  Playing through this game co-operatively does a disservice to desperation, and loneliness that comes in your journey through the city.   The sultry sax music, darkened lighting, and interesting night vision effects make for a very unique atmosphere.  Once you start the game, you are basically left on your own to wander through the streets of New Mombasa.  I found myself spending a lot of time just traversing the world, looking for the secret audio logs found in the pay phone systems.  You really do feel stranded most of the time while searching for clues about your squad.  There were many times where I would spot some enemies in a group ahead, and plan a route around them on my map to take them by surprise.   When played alone, the campaign really feels desperate and has some hints of Noir; you are a lost recruit, behind enemy lines, frantically looking for clues to track down your squad.

ODST’s greatest strength is in how the narrative of the story plays out.  During your travels on the open world map, you are directed to certain points of interest.  Once you reach these points, it is your job to find a clue.  These clues are often a piece of armor or a weapon from a battle on the previous day that might have something to do with your lost squad-mates.  When you find a piece, you link in to the city’s surveillance system and see what happened.  These end up being the different “missions” that you play in the game.  They are all varied in scope and follow most of the Halo archetypes I discussed earlier.  I won’t go into the story here, but I thought it serviced the action well and was adequate in the overall Halo fiction.  One neat thing was how each of the story missions end.  When you near the end of the mission, things fall into place around the particular clue you found.  One good example is during one of the later missions in the game, you find a sniper rifle hanging from a power line.  In the end of the story mission you find out exactly how that rifle ended up there.  I really thought that those moments were neat, and kind of elicited an “Ah… so THAT’S what happened!” from me.

I wish that I could have been able to play the much touted “Firefight” multiplayer mode, but I was unable to try it out.  It is said to be quite fun, and reminiscent of the “Horde Mode” multiplayer in Gears of War 2.  I won’t review that here, and I would implore you to read more about it.  I will take it as a credit to the game, as most reviews I read said it was very fun.

I would probably rank this game as my favorite in the Halo series, as the combat and storytelling felt the most refined to me.  However, there were a couple things that bugged me.  Even though I enjoy the Halo formula, some more variety in enemies and weapons would have been appreciated.  These are minor nitpicks in a good game.  I Loved it, and I recommend it to any shooter fan out there.