Speaking of games, today's is Halo 3:ODST for the Xbox 360. I've spent the last 2 or 3 days playing both the campaign and the Fire Fight mode and am ready to render my verdict.
Halo 3 ODST
Overall:
This is Bungie's latest game in the Halo Universe (do they have any others nowadays?) and set between the events of the second and third games. It's a FPS like the main Halo games but you play as an "ODST" (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) instead of the Master Chief or the Arbiter. Basically the guys in black armor from the 2nd and 3rd games, they're better then regular marines but not as good as Spartans. You play various members of an ODST squad that got separated when they dropped into the city. You play as the voiceless "Rookie" in a hub world consisting of the city at night and find evidence of the battles your comrades had during the day (you were knocked out upon landing and missed the day time action) which triggers flashback type events where you play a level as different ODSTs. It also uses a more Halo 1ish system of health with a recharging shield but non regenerating health (instead of both being regenerating like in Halo 2 and 3).Pros:
If you like the combat of the Halo games you'll like this as there hasn't been any huge changes from how things function. One change that I know a lot of people are going to like is that there are no Flood levels, not a single one or even a hint. Bungie finally got the hint that people hate playing them. Most of the Halo weapons we all know and love are here and they let the ODSTs use the big weapons that before only the Spartans, Elites, and Brutes could use. They don't really explain this, but if suddenly you couldn't use the hammer and the brute shot that would be sorta lame. Bungie tried experimenting with how they do the story telling, mixing it up and letting you tackle the flashbacks (for the most part) in the order you want even if this gets a little confusing chronologically. Another plus was that they finally threw in the Engineer species of the Covenant from the books and other assorted associated Halo media. I think they were mentioned in the 3rd game's manual but you get a new bad guy to play with. Firefight is a welcome addition to the game and what I think you'll see people coming back to in the long run. Obviously taken from Gears of War 2's Horde mode, Firefight pits you (and up to 3 friends) up against wave after wave of enemy troops. Every once in a while they turn on a new skull to make it harder and you play until you run out of lives (you start with 7 for the whole team but every 5 waves you get more). It's fun and a nice multiplayer activity that probably won't get turned into competitive bullshit and something you can just play while chilling with your friends. The game also comes with a disc containing all the Halo 3 multiplayer maps and updates so anyone who has fallen behind on that can quickly catch up (though you have to play it from the extra ODST disc and not your Halo 3 disc which might actually be a plus for those running low on 360 hard drive space).Cons:
The chief complaint you hear about the game is that it's short. This is a true and valid complaint as you can beat the game in one (relatively long) sitting. Another problem I had with the game was that the Elites do not show up whatsoever. The Elites at this time in the canon are still fighting the humans and they're more fun to fight then the brutes so I really have no idea why Bungie didn't put them into the game. The lack of Elites naturally leads to a lack of Energy Swords so fans of that weapon will have to go without. Speaking of weapon disappearances the BR (Battle Rifle) is missing entirely. This isn't really addressed in-game as every other human weapon is present and one would think in a city full of soldiers that at least one or two would have their standard weapon of choice. I heard that the director for this game didn't like the gun personally but that's just something I heard and may not be true (though if it is it's a pretty crappy reason for it to not be in there). The only complaint I had with firefight was that I wish they just threw harder or more numerous waves of enemies against you instead of activating skulls (like having to melee enemies to get your stamina (aka shield) back). That's a fairly minor complaint though as it doesn't take away much from the game. I did find the characters to be not very memorable and there were a few plot holes in the game (why was there a huge enormous Drone Hive under the most heavily guarded human area in New Mombasa 6 or 7 hours after the attack?).Overall Rating:8.75/10
Closing Remarks:
How much you like this game is gonna depend largely on how much you like the FPS Halo games so you'll probably already have a good idea whether you're gonna buy this or not. I like Halo's combat system so this review might not be applicable to those that are not as big of fans. Regardless I think Bungie has done a good job trying some new story telling mechanics and while the characters aren't terribly memorable the story was more about the fear, hopelessness, and terror of having no safe haven now that Earth had found and invaded. A lot of people liked the new jazzy music and it was nice, but I also sorta missed the Halo theme and the rock music so I'll call that a draw music wise. Sixty bucks for a short single player game, a horde mode, and multiplayer maps might be a bit much (and if you don't have Live definitely wait for the price to go down) but the game itself is very fun and enjoyable.
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