Yet another great game in the halo franchise
The good: New firefight mode is awesome with friends - Same great co-op - New tactics make the game almost feel like a new IP - Great new soundtrack mixed with the old
The bad: Not a whole lot of replay value - getting from place to place can be boring - multiplayer is only the multiplayer from halo 3.
The game takes place during the events of halo 2 shortly after the Huge explosion (caused by the huge ship going to warp) in new Mombasa. And as the "rookie" you have to try and find you squadmates who were lost after being shot down to earth in the pods, but you are also trying to get rid the covenant in the city.
Playing as the "Rookie" Is quite different from playing as Masterchief, Instead of just a shield you have something called stamina which is like Masterchief's shield but it just is'nt. Not only that you also have a health bar like in Halo: CE, you have to find health packs or health stations around the city and during missions.
If you bought the game for story you will probably be dissapointed but the great gameplay and openworld environment make the the story just not really matter.
Getting from Mission to Mission is basically like this. You travel around the in game world with a little help from your map of the city, and on the map there are locations marked where your sqaudmates were supposed to drop. And in that area you have to find something like either a damged sniper rifle, a damaged recon helmet and when you find these items you then flashback as the squadmate who had something to do with what you found and then you play as them in the mission. It is an interesting concept and it has been done before.
The game is open-world but before you can explore the entire at your own free will you must complete missions therefor unlocking more parts of the city for you to explore.
Exploring the city is rewarding since there are audiotapes you can find which are recordings of people talking during or shortly before the explosion which can confuse you, make you feel sorry for the people you are listening to and better help understand the story. Now I did say the story was kinda lame but once you find and listen to enough of the audiotapes you will probably change your opinion.
The gameplay is quite different from the other halo game's where you are encouraged to run and gun all the time with no stealth. But Since you are playing as an ODST you are weaker than your brute opponents who when they melee you will toss your into the air, they are also faster than you so evading them is rather hard. But at least you have the new Supressed SMG and new supressed Pistol at your disposal.. The pistol was described as being as good as the the Halo ce pistol which everyone loved. But it is not nearly as good. Yes it might have a scope but the power is nowhere near that of the original magnum pistol. But still it is a good weapon and can take out grunts and jackals with ease.
There are also your other basic halo weapons, the assauslt rifle, plasma rifle plasma pistol, the good old shotgun and more. The brute plasma rifle makes is back from halo 2 although it is not much different from the original plasma rifle.
There are vehicles as well but not during the time when you are traveling the city since getting from place to place can be really boring since you have to walk the entire time. The scorpion tank, the warthog, banshee and the Ghost are the four main vehicles you will use in the game, you will see others but you for some reason you never get to use them, like the wraith which you will see a lot but never use. The mission variety is this, day and night, inside outside. Despite the lack of variety the missions are really fun. Fighting as an ODST is really quite different from a Spartan but still as an ODST you feel just as badass as a spartan.
On the case it says "new" multiplayer but that is not entirely true.. Yes firefight is new, but the second disc which contains the multiplayer is only the multiplayer from halo 3.
Now firefight mode is good, given you have some friends to play it with, if you dont then it can be rather boring. Firefight mode is basically like Nazi zombies from Call of duty world at war, or Horde mode from Gears of war 2. But of course with a Halo twist. Each round spawns harder enemies, you will start out fighting against grunts but the next thing you know your running for your life from a hunter. It's pretty much like all the other "survive this" modes from other games but it is still fun.
The sound is awesome, the new soundtrack really gets your blood pumping.
Guns sound just as good as before, friendly AI and enemy AI will chatter based on what you are doing.
The graphics are good but they just dont seemed to have changed since halo 3 although the cutscenes do look better. halo 3's graphics are good but a little enhancement would have been nice.
The campaign may only be worth 4-6 hours worth of gameplay but the firefight mode and the inclusion of halo 3's multiplayer and all the maps for halo 3 multiplayer.. Make this game worth the $60.
The bad: Not a whole lot of replay value - getting from place to place can be boring - multiplayer is only the multiplayer from halo 3.
The game takes place during the events of halo 2 shortly after the Huge explosion (caused by the huge ship going to warp) in new Mombasa. And as the "rookie" you have to try and find you squadmates who were lost after being shot down to earth in the pods, but you are also trying to get rid the covenant in the city.
Playing as the "Rookie" Is quite different from playing as Masterchief, Instead of just a shield you have something called stamina which is like Masterchief's shield but it just is'nt. Not only that you also have a health bar like in Halo: CE, you have to find health packs or health stations around the city and during missions.
If you bought the game for story you will probably be dissapointed but the great gameplay and openworld environment make the the story just not really matter.
Getting from Mission to Mission is basically like this. You travel around the in game world with a little help from your map of the city, and on the map there are locations marked where your sqaudmates were supposed to drop. And in that area you have to find something like either a damged sniper rifle, a damaged recon helmet and when you find these items you then flashback as the squadmate who had something to do with what you found and then you play as them in the mission. It is an interesting concept and it has been done before.
The game is open-world but before you can explore the entire at your own free will you must complete missions therefor unlocking more parts of the city for you to explore.
Exploring the city is rewarding since there are audiotapes you can find which are recordings of people talking during or shortly before the explosion which can confuse you, make you feel sorry for the people you are listening to and better help understand the story. Now I did say the story was kinda lame but once you find and listen to enough of the audiotapes you will probably change your opinion.
The gameplay is quite different from the other halo game's where you are encouraged to run and gun all the time with no stealth. But Since you are playing as an ODST you are weaker than your brute opponents who when they melee you will toss your into the air, they are also faster than you so evading them is rather hard. But at least you have the new Supressed SMG and new supressed Pistol at your disposal.. The pistol was described as being as good as the the Halo ce pistol which everyone loved. But it is not nearly as good. Yes it might have a scope but the power is nowhere near that of the original magnum pistol. But still it is a good weapon and can take out grunts and jackals with ease.
There are also your other basic halo weapons, the assauslt rifle, plasma rifle plasma pistol, the good old shotgun and more. The brute plasma rifle makes is back from halo 2 although it is not much different from the original plasma rifle.
There are vehicles as well but not during the time when you are traveling the city since getting from place to place can be really boring since you have to walk the entire time. The scorpion tank, the warthog, banshee and the Ghost are the four main vehicles you will use in the game, you will see others but you for some reason you never get to use them, like the wraith which you will see a lot but never use. The mission variety is this, day and night, inside outside. Despite the lack of variety the missions are really fun. Fighting as an ODST is really quite different from a Spartan but still as an ODST you feel just as badass as a spartan.
On the case it says "new" multiplayer but that is not entirely true.. Yes firefight is new, but the second disc which contains the multiplayer is only the multiplayer from halo 3.
Now firefight mode is good, given you have some friends to play it with, if you dont then it can be rather boring. Firefight mode is basically like Nazi zombies from Call of duty world at war, or Horde mode from Gears of war 2. But of course with a Halo twist. Each round spawns harder enemies, you will start out fighting against grunts but the next thing you know your running for your life from a hunter. It's pretty much like all the other "survive this" modes from other games but it is still fun.
The sound is awesome, the new soundtrack really gets your blood pumping.
Guns sound just as good as before, friendly AI and enemy AI will chatter based on what you are doing.
The graphics are good but they just dont seemed to have changed since halo 3 although the cutscenes do look better. halo 3's graphics are good but a little enhancement would have been nice.
The campaign may only be worth 4-6 hours worth of gameplay but the firefight mode and the inclusion of halo 3's multiplayer and all the maps for halo 3 multiplayer.. Make this game worth the $60.
