To say this game is a disappointment is an understatement. Few games could get away with offering such little content at a premium price. Few games have such a rabid fanbase willing to overlook the fact that upon its announcement, Halo ODST was labelled as an expansion pack by Bungie, not to be fully priced. Well, a lot has changed since then, Microsoft has had their say and now here your have it, Halo ODST, the 60.00$ version.
So lets see just what your 60.00$ is going to here...
Campaign - Nothing cracks me up more than reading all these reviews by big time gaming sites that claim the ODST campaign is one of the greatest ever to grace the Halo series. First of all, thats not saying much - Halo's campaign mode has been often critisized as the weakest link of the games. Second of all, it really isn't anything special; its a rather dull affair. Maybe all these reviewers have been praising Halo for so long they forgot what a good campaign actually looks like.
The game incorporates a 'hub' based structure, in which you must wander endlessly around the city to unlock missions that recount the invasion of New Mombasa. Frankly, this style of gameplay, which was also seen in Woflenstien, is just a cheap way to add padding and hide the fact the game is low on content. Wolfenstien got dinged for this, Halo gets praised. It adds very little to the gameplay, and if anything, is more tedious than fun to wander around a deserted city.
The missions themselves are rather striaght foward and don't really deviate from the same old run and gun Halo formula. There are a few minor differences though, such as your health meter. Its basically the same as master chief, except it can slowly drain. You can still regenerate your health to a point, but it will have less longevity. Its really just a weaker form of a shield. You can also injure yourself by falling from great heights, but they have to be pretty damn high - still not realistic in that aspect.
There are two new guns (well, really just one, the pistol is the same from Combat Evolved), and ammo is to be found everywhere. The difficutly of this game is amped up from previous Halo's, but competent Halo players will still find it a breeze. Sometimes its hard to find ammo, but if you are conservative w/ it, its actually very easy. One complaint I had was that it seems like you use powerful weapons and long range weapons more than anything. There is a lot of draw distance in the game and it doesn't make sense to run around w/ the smaller guns, plus it seems like all the enemies drop the energy guns that take off your shield.
The graphics are, well, Halo 3 graphics. Personally, I find all the 3rd person view shots they gave us in the trailers to be misleading. Kinda like the teaser trailer for Halo 3 that was in third person. The game is kinda boring on the eyes, so to blur that fact, they like to show the third person view in trailers, and frankly, that's just misleading.
Story: Another highly overrated aspect of Halo ODST. I dont want to spoil the plot points, but it really does little to develop the Halo storyline, and the characters it introduces just aren't very interesting. Plus, they say all these stupid one liners like, 'Just gave him another nose hole!' It sounds really cheesy - I don't think a 10 year old would even laugh at this. But in all honesty, I got the same underwhelming feeling upon completing this game as I did w/ part 2 and 3, yet for some reason the reviewers can't stop praising it.
Online: Well, if you've ever played Halo you know whether or not you like the online. The content here wont change your mind either. You get 3 maps which are all pretty decent, however the only way to get these maps is by buying the game. So if you want to play w/ your friends but don't have ODST, sorry, you need to pay 60$ now.
As far as the firefight mode goes, all I can say is: its just what you would expect, no more no less. I was kinda disappointed because I thought Bungie would try and put a spin on it or do something interesting, but it really is just a shameless clone of horde mode. Not very original. Whats worse is the exclusion of matchmaking. If you don't have friends in your party, you're gonna have a fun time trying to play this mode(luckily, I had plenty of people to play with). Firefight is a fun diversion, but its not really something youre gonna find yourself getting stuck on, if not only for bragging rights.
Conclusion: This is Microsofts GTPrologue, instead, its really Halo 3 epilogue. Unlike GTP, ODST is not getting nearly the amount of backlash, which is why I, the unbiased gamer that I am decided to give you my review(I at least have less bias than most gaming site running ODST adds). For those of you that are Halo fanatics, I'm sure you'll easily justify shelling out the 60 bucks, if not for the Halo Reach beta alone. For someone just looking to play a solid title, wait for COD6. I'd say about mid-feb this games price will drop to a reasonable level.
I really think MS should have broken this game up into parts, kinda like the what valve did w/ the orange box, and let gamers choose what they wanted to purchase. If this game were only 40$, I would give it a score higher, but when you compare ODST to other fully priced games, it just doesn't stack up, especially if you already have part 3 and have been enjoying the MP for 3 years now!
Alvios Games discusses the titles that inspired Vellum, including Halo 3: ODST, Mass Effect 3, Hades, and Slay the Spire.
With its smooth jazz and iconic New Mombasa streets, we need Xbox's next Halo game to return to the remarkable world of Halo 3: ODST.
NoobFeed Editor Joshua Burt writes - There are many games in the famous Halo Franchise that are stellar titles and need to be revered. And some that do not. These games stand out from the crowd and deluge of colossal Halo titles. Games that made Halo great. We do need to iron out what qualifies the game for this list. They have to be in the Halo franchise… Obviously.
Replies(2)
Halo 3 at the top is correct the only thing id change is swap infinite and halo ce around.
Halo 4 has the hottest Cortana too which explains why the MC is the hardest in that campaign and why H4's multiplayer is the illest. Chief ain't afraid to take on teleporting enemies that can one hit melee kill.
Keeping it real feels good right?
hell yeah it does.
People will hunt you and your bubbles down to extinction for being truthfully about Halo. Watch your azz. Great review.
Have a bubble for such honest review.
You gave it 8.5 for online and then said it's nothing new. For me if I felt that way I'd give it less...so you weren't really honest.
Repeat after me: a review is an opinionated analysis. It's baised. The only unbiased opinion is NONE, since it wouldn't be an opinion anymore. Analysis based on fact and resulting in nothing but fact is something that fanboys are incapable of producing.
lol @ this PS3 fanatics review of a Halo game. Sony fanboys can drop no lower.