Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    Halo 3: ODST

    Game » consists of 10 releases. Released Sep 22, 2009

    Taking place during the events of Halo 2, Halo 3: ODST puts players in the shoes of a silent Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (known as the Rookie) as he traverses through the Covenant-occupied metropolis of New Mombasa to find the whereabouts of his missing squadmates.

    lies's Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360) review

    Avatar image for lies
    • Score:
    • lies wrote this review on .
    • 50 out of 51 Giant Bomb users found it helpful.
    • lies has written a total of 12 reviews. The last one was for Halo 3: ODST
    • This review received 12 comments

    From Bungie With Love

     Right off the bat, let's get one thing straight here. Halo 3: ODST is a Halo game-- more specifically, Halo 3 with some slight tweaks. The core gameplay is all still here, just as strong as it's always been. If you've never been a fan of Halo's style of gameplay however, ODST is not going to change your mind. Some periphery elements have been changed, but at the core there is little different in ODST that will attract new players. That fact might seem elementary, but it's important to remember; while there's a huge segment of the gaming population that loves Halo, there's an equally large portion that can't stand it. ODST will not convince those people who hate Halo, but it will seem like a love letter to people who are already fans, especially those who have dug into the expanded universe outside of the main Halo trilogy.  
     

     These are some hardcore dudes
     These are some hardcore dudes
    This time around you'll be dropping into the boots of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (or ODST if you like) for your time in campaign. These are the crazy elite human soldiers who drop into battle from ships in orbit- second only to Spartans in the UNSC. Halo 3: ODST focuses on a specific squad of ODSTs (voiced in large part by the cast of cult-hit TV show Firefly) who are part of a larger force dropping over the city of New Mombasa right before the Prophet of Regret leaves Earth-- an event we previously saw from the Master Chief's point of view during Halo 2. You'll be playing mainly as " The Rookie" a trooper who gets knocked out for six hours following the drop. Waking up at night, it's your mission to explore the open-world city and try and find evidence of your team's fate. To do this The Rookie must find objects left behind in the city by other ODSTs-- locating one of these will trigger a flashback mission where the player can take control of the earlier events and actually play out what happened to that particular trooper. It's a mechanic that works fairly well, with a melancholy, dark hub world for the Rookie to explore, and linear, traditional Halo missions for the flashbacks. The dichotomy between the two approaches can be occasionally jarring, but it allows for some interesting nonlinear storytelling and allows player to catch a breather between missions.
     
    Outside of the main campaign, there's the Firefight survival mode which plays more or less like the recent Horde mode in Gears of War 2-- four players hole up and try to last as long as possible against unending waves of Covenant troops. ODST's unique twist on the mode is in the skulls; as the game progresses, different skulls turn on, modifying the difficulty by
     One of the new maps on ODST's multiplayer disc is Heretic, a remake of Halo 2 classic Midship
     One of the new maps on ODST's multiplayer disc is Heretic, a remake of Halo 2 classic Midship
    doing things such as doubling Covenant health or increasing the frequency with which they throw grenades. It's an interesting way to keep the onslaught from getting stale, but it's unfortunate that there's no way to play without skulls for those that just want a vanilla survival mode with no complications. The other multiplayer component is the competitive multiplayer, which as been ripped right out of Halo 3- it even earns you achievements for Halo 3. This resides on a separate disc, and includes all of the Halo 3 maps made available as DLC so far in addition to three brand new maps. It's not a bad bonus, but people picking up ODST are likely to already have some or all of these maps, reducing some of the value of the second disc.

     ODST is supposedly an expansion to Halo 3, but in practice it feels more like a throwback to the days of Halo: Combat Evolved, a game many hardcore fans still hold up as the best of the bunch. Playing as an ODST presents a few significant differences from how the Master Chief controlled in Halo 3. ODSTs have a few new toys: a night vision mode called VISR, a new scoped SMG, and a scoped silenced pistol that feels awfully familiar to the beloved Halo: CE iteration. Of course, it's not all fun and games as ODSTs can't do anywhere near everything a Spartan could- they can't dual-wield, can't use equipment, can't jump as high, and have a layer of health which requires health packs to heal if you take enough damage. Franchise veterans will notice the similarities to Halo: Combat Evolved right after reading that list- the gameplay has been reverted to mostly what was in Halo: Combat Evolved, with the conceit that an ODST can't perform the insane feats Master Chief was able to do by the end of the trilogy. This is a fantastic change and definitely helps differentiate this expansion from the base game, although it's still recognizably Halo.
     
     Warthogs. Brutes. Grunts. HALO.
     Warthogs. Brutes. Grunts. HALO.

    And that's really the key-- ODST tries some new things and does them well, but it's still recognizably Halo. No matter what people may have wanted or expected from this product, it's a Halo game, for Halo fans. But for being that, it sure manages to be the best experience possible for Halo enthusiasts. Players will see Covenant Engineers, slated to be in the original Halo but cut due to time constraints. Players will finally get to have that open, explorable urban warfare in the city of New Mombasa first teased in the Halo 2 E3 demonstration. The Office of Naval Intelligence is explored further in depth. Players actually get to experience an orbital drop from first person. Hell, Bungie even brought back the guys who produced the ilovebees ARG to make another radio drama- unlockable through finding audio logs hidden throughout the city.
     
    Halo 3: ODST is just more Halo. For many who want a new direction for the series, that's a bad thing. It is what it is, and what it is is packed full of love, attention and care from the developer, who tailor-made the experience for exactly what longtime fans of the series- the players who would be interested in this game- would want. It's a love letter to fans of the series, but unfortunately, it's not going to make anyone new fall in love.

    12 Comments

    Avatar image for karmum
    Karmum

    11514

    Forum Posts

    479

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 4

    User Lists: 1

    Edited By Karmum

    I find this review to be legit.

    Avatar image for claude
    Claude

    16672

    Forum Posts

    1047

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 2

    User Lists: 18

    Edited By Claude

    Great review, have no intention of buying. I failed at Halo and Halo 2, repeat, I failed at the game.

    Avatar image for oni
    Oni

    2345

    Forum Posts

    5885

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 26

    User Lists: 12

    Edited By Oni

    Great review, am thoroughly enjoying ODST.

    Avatar image for dudacles
    dudacles

    1704

    Forum Posts

    8527

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 71

    User Lists: 2

    Edited By dudacles

    This review delivers, and is more than worthy of being featured on the front page. Congrats.

    Avatar image for sdauz
    sdauz

    432

    Forum Posts

    331

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    Edited By sdauz

    great opinion, if u love halo you will like this game and if u don't you probably don't care about this game, simple as that

    Avatar image for metroid545
    Metroid545

    1839

    Forum Posts

    8588

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 3

    User Lists: 3

    Edited By Metroid545

    don't agree at all witht the score but very good review nonetheless

    Avatar image for deactivated-5f9398c1300c7
    deactivated-5f9398c1300c7

    3570

    Forum Posts

    105

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 2

    User Lists: 0

    Great review. I thought the same way when playing ODST. There's no way in the world anyone would transition their views from love to hate when playing it. It plays like Halo3. It is Halo3... kind of.
     
    Who knows. Maybe Halo Reach will change their views, knowing that it will have a different engine and original gameplay mechanics.

    Avatar image for imperiousrix
    ImperiousRix

    3095

    Forum Posts

    1964

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 45

    User Lists: 4

    Edited By ImperiousRix

    Just picked this up today, and I'm really super engrossed with the story and flow of the campaign.  The orbital drop, although it only took a minute or so, was intense and overall, the game conveys mood and emotion a lot better than its predecessors. 
    Great review.
    Avatar image for sirkibble23
    sirkibble23

    163

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 4

    User Lists: 0

    Edited By sirkibble23

    I like this review.

    Avatar image for stevemason99
    SteveMason99

    86

    Forum Posts

    583

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 2

    User Lists: 3

    Edited By SteveMason99

    Mentioned many thoughts I had when I played this :)
    Avatar image for gamer_152
    gamer_152

    15029

    Forum Posts

    74573

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 71

    User Lists: 6

    Edited By gamer_152  Moderator

    I've seen so many people focus on the negative aspects of Halo 3: ODST and blaming the game for being something it's not trying to be, it's nice to see someone who really understands why this game is so appealing to fans of the Halo universe. Awesome review.

    Avatar image for majorbrusselsxi
    MajorBrusselsXI

    59

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 24

    User Lists: 1

    Edited By MajorBrusselsXI

    rubbish

    Other reviews for Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360)

      Sometimes low expectations are a really good thing.. 0

      I´ve played through all of the Halo games at least once and I enjoy them as shooters. But I´m not a huge fan of the universe and I don´t think I´ve played the multiplayer even once. I´ve always managed to get caught up in the hype machine for each game but this time I was kind of unaffected by it. I still decided to pick ODST up and boy did I benefit from my low expectations. I went in expecting an ok expansion for Halo 3 but before the campaign was over I ended up feeling like this is my favori...

      21 out of 23 found this review helpful.

      blah blah 0

      test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  testasdf asdfasdfasdfasdfasd  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  test  te...

      7 out of 7 found this review helpful.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.