Review: Halo: ODST

So, my game finally came and after a decent 8 hour or so effort, I’ve had the chance to take it all in and write my review.

The game drops you in very tentatively, giving those new to the Halo universe an idea of the games physics/ mechanics.

With the exclusion of Master Chief in this Halo title, this adventure is based around a group of 6 Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.

Without giving too much away, you begin the game being separated from your comrades and as the new ODST in town named “Rookie” ( your objective is too seek out your comrade’s within New Mombassa.

The new setting of New Mombassa does make the game a lot more interesting than its predecessor. You feel a lot more involved with the story telling as you are able to pick and choose which order you decide to do the 6 missions. Not that it makes any difference to the story telling, but being able to explore New Mombassa in this way does keep the game some what open whilst giving it a fresh feel. Although there are a total of 8 missions, the final 2 are done in a sequential order.

I personally think that the game has a fantastic way of telling its story, through the 6 missions and as well through the VISR COMM data (audio collectables picked up throughout New Mombassa). A much needed addition to the game. I feel that without the VISR COMM data, the actual story itself can actually be quite confusing. Latter parts of the game begin to make a lot more sense once you have heard a number of the VISR COMM data (30 of which there are in total) The characters do provide moments of cheesy comedy, but it amusing none-the-less.

To make the most of the story I would most certainly recommend playing through in solo on normal difficulty whilst finding all the VISR COMM data.

The game has a very dark feel to it as you make your way around the city. Putting your new visor to immediate use. When used throughout the night scenes, the visor allows you to pin point enemies, allies and also items. It would appear that this was purposeful on Bungie’s behalf as even setting your screen brightness to the highest level didn’t do much help for your vision without the visor active.

Being an ODST, you immediately feel a lot more vulnerable than Masterchief. This is obvious through your jump and through the fact that you have a depleting health bar. Your shield does also take longer to recover. You will often find yourself in circumstances where you are running for health packs.

It is also quite odd that given Halo 3 introduced dual wielding and item usage, this has been excluded from ODST, but perhaps this is to further show the vulnerability of these ODSTs.

On a few other points:

• The game music is epic.
• There is no networking for fire-fight or campaign. Rather odd decision, but I’m assuming it’s to allow smooth game play. A positive to take away from that I guess is we longer have to play with annoying young kids, overly aggressive Americans, and players without microphones.
• Being one for a close eye to detail, its often funny seeing myself carrying a needler or other covenant weapon before going into a cut scene to once again see the Rookie carrying the Silenced SMG.
• The map/ level locations aren’t as memorable compared to Halo 3, but given the short campaign, you can’t expect them to be.
• The number of different accents used does make the game amusing at points. Just to name a few: Nigerian, South African, Australian, American, English, French
• The addition of medals in the metagame gives ODST an enjoyable/ competitive arcade feel.

All in all, the game is a great addition to the Halo library. I can certainly see why the game needed its own release rather than through downloadable content.

Overall 8/10

(Separate Fire-Fight review to come shortly)

Quote of the game: "Do you ever quit bitchin' Romeo!?", "Will you ever quit bustin' my balls!?" "Point Taken"