Halo 3: ODST Review by The Go

The Go: Halo is a series that doesn't need a $60 expansion pack. Just about everyone remotely tied to gaming knows what it is, and knows that it's a huge deal. Cut the hype, cut the high-end advertisements and stop talking about a movie if it's not going to happen. The core is in the game, and asking everyone to pay for it again while providing very little extra content is pathetic at best.

[FiftyFourPointTwo]

Perfect review. Props to the reviewer for being totally honest. :P

[chaosatom]

Halo ODST is about 54.2% for them. Get it?

They round down. :)

[MGOelite]

they gave section 8 a 8/10 so you cant really say that they are anti xbox

[tatotiburon]

nop they only have bad taste for games, section 8 8/10? wtf...KOFXII 8/10?? the worst of the series

[MerkinMax]

It's just a terrible value.

[justpassinggas]

I think 5/10 is too low. ODST is more like 7.5 to 8. If it was $40 from the onset or cheaper, it'd be closer to 8.5 to 9.0.

[Sarcasm]

5/10 is too low. 8 is probably a better rating.

I'd rather play ODST over something like Wet.

[Christopher]

Way too much of that score was about their opinion of how much it should have cost and less about the game itself.

I'm thinking ODST is a good 8/10 game for most people. Sure, it could have been delivered at a lesser cost rather than making many Halo 3 fans buy the same Map Packs they already own, but it's still Halo 3 which people love.

[TheIneffableBob]

Section 8 isn't Xbox 360-exclusive.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

They gave Section 8 an 8/10. Boy that tells you all you need to know about this no-name site. They know "jack" about what a good game is. Section 8 pales in comparison ....oh well. I refuse to go to their site and read the review as its painfully clear they just want hits.

[The Iron Sheik]

This guy obviously didn't get a M$ goodie bag.

[Ghostflight]

M$ decided to take their chances and only gave goodie bags to known sites, delivered with Express mail-Rush delivery. They thought the game was AAA regardless of their bags - but the other sites got angry because they waited longer to get their copies and said "no way..Microsoft must pay".

[Ninji]

So we're this far into the year and the 360 still doesn't have a good exclusive? It must suck to be a 360 owner.

[Gabe EatsWell]

AAA... not! :D

[-GoldenTimeLover-]

"b-b-b-b-b-but it sold 2 million in just 24 hours!!!!!"

:P :P :P

[NecrumSlavery]

Ha, it's funny to see honest reviews

[lowcarb]

So are you saying other reviews are not honest? I think it's funny most of you take any of these sites serious. It's all opinion and just because other games get perfect scores or terrible doesn't mean most people agree. Honestly I would never take a review site serious and only form my own opinion this generation.

[RockmanII7]

http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News...

[DelbertGrady]

Still waiting for an "honest" review of Uncharted 2...

[Rhythmattic]

Hey Soda,
I'm still waiting for you to be honest to yourself.

[NecrumSlavery]

Yeah honest reviews,
like Adam giving 3/5stars to RE5.
Everyone flipped, but he explained what a letdown it was. This game is a waste of money

[somerandomdude]

Truth hurts

[Elvfam511]

To the max

[Perjoss]

Im not a big Halo fan, i have played them all though because my cousin LOVES Halo and he likes to play coop with me and get my opinion on my solo play throughs. ODST is my favorite out of all the Halo games so far, heh its not a 5 out of 10 thats for sure, 7 minimum, im not finished with it yet but so far its an 8.5 for me.

[LukaX23]

Cool story bro.

[I am Legend]

5/10

WTF ??

LOL

[Tormento]

i know what you mean it deserved not even that more like a 3/10 especially since its a expansion at full price.

[xoxideu]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Blow Out Your Brains]

360's Haze confirmed

[dachiefsman]

i think odst surpassed haze by a couple of million nice try though!

[LinuxGuru]

Sales =/= game quality or value

[dachiefsman]

well it must be selling for a reason.

[frostypants]

@8.3: There's a sucker born every minute.

[dachiefsman]

I bought it and so did three of my friends....we got our money's worth and then some back. Haters just hate.

[cyberwaffles]

just got done playing halo 3 online today for the first time in years and man i couldn't believe how boring it was. i'm not trying to start anything even though it sounds like it, but the online to that game was more stale than i remembered. FPS online gaming definitely has improved, thats all i can say.

[DARK WITNESS]

ok....

so tell us what you think has improved and which games you think have made those improvements.

It's all very nice and simple to come in here and post some comment like, ya I think this game is blah blah blah... and not give any concrete reason why.

If halo really is so stale as you say, why are millions still playing it and not the other games ( whatever they may be ).

as of right now IMO, the only online shooters that come close to halo's level of fun is Cod4 / MW2 and killzone 2.

I stopped playing halo 3 as soon as Cod4 came out. I have played a few other fps games in between but never gone back to halo 3 until odst came out and I have to say it's made me fall in love with halo all over again.

[dreamcast]

lol dark, why are you bothering?

[TheDeadMetalhead]

@9 - I agree. I'll never understand how it became popular.

@9.1 and 9.2

Resistance 2 gave us large-scale 60-player multiplayer.

Team Fortress 2 gave us gameplay that emphasized teamwork and strategy that went beyond just making sure you shoot first.

Now, what did Halo 3 ever give us, aside from the world's loudest, most annoying fanbase? Absolutely nothing

[RockmanII7]

Oh the irony. To answer your question dead...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[GamerPS360]

it's 5/5. It must be typo mistake :D

I was never a fan of Halo anyway.

Looking forward to burn some tires "Forza 3".

[Transporter47]

I mean i am not happy they fully priced an expansion with multiplayer on it from halo 3, but i would give it around an 8 for the campaign and the firefight mode i think that is fair because if you already own halo 3 which y the hell would you not when your buying HALO 3 ODST... hmmm

[mastiffchild]

Well, that's the problem with ODST isn't it? Most people who buy it WILL already have some if not all of the previously available maps won't they?

A lot of people I know pre ordered JUST because it was Halo and they want a complete collection(which is fair enough)but what is a bit off is that this isn't lost on MS and as a result I feel it IS a bit of a rip off.

Now, I'm no big fan of Horde in Gears so I wasn't to fussed about buying the game for a couple of maps and a short campaign so I rented and as a rental I'd agree with an 8/10 as this is a cut above most shooters(you can't compare tat like Section8 or vloody Wet with this kind of quality)and though they didn't investigate a lot of the elements in the SP at least Bungie did mess around with the usual Halo template which was refreshing to me.

However, you just can't get away from the fact that it's a pretty slim package for most seasoned Halo heads and though a 5/10 is very tight I'd still not consider rating the pack at over a 7/10(maybe a 6.5 is fairest)if you're buying it AND(like most who DID buy it)already own the bulk of the maps. Like you say an 8/10 would be fine-but only at a lower cost as the thing which sticks out to most people is the value and the fact it feels a bit like MS is milking Halo fans by justifying the price with the inclusion of old content.

You just cannot get away from the value on this one and it's a shame as , fairly priced, Bungie may have got more kudos for the experimenting they actually did get on and do. Put it this way-I'm guessing that MS are a lot more pleased with ODST than most of us right now.

[Transporter47]

and i do agree with most of the stuff you said, this could of sold at 29.99 and probably gotten a lot more sales but you know what as long as MS is money hungry and greedy they will always get away with what they want sadly..

[tehk1w1]

Worth noting these are the same guys that gave Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising a 4.5/10.

Meaning...yeah. They're idiots.

[DiffusionE]

Maybe their taste in games is different from ours. I mean, I don't exactly blame them for giving a 5 to ODST because even I wouldn't give it anything more than 6.5. But they did give 4.5 to Operation Flashpoint which is making me wonder if they're trying to draw attention by always contradicting the majority. The fact that they gave Section 8 a full 8/10 seems to confirm it.

I know it's all a matter of personal preference, but they loved Section 8 and hated Operation Flashpoint? What planet are they from? Anyway, I hope they don't give the Hannah Montana game anything more than 2 because otherwise, their credibility goes down the drain.

[dachiefsman]

and if they gave uncharted 2 a 7/10.....heads would explode on N4G.com

[HarukoHex]

you know If I recall a 5/10 means the game has broken controles, bad AI, poor story, and horrible graphics. when did games start getting rated on there price.

If so GH series really needs to be a low 2-3/10

but that would be silly. XD

*please how do you get the fact I'm jealous, when this is a 360 article and he brought up 2 ps3 games. if anything hes the jealous one.

as for the 2 games. I would like to try demon souls but UC2 just no thanks. I disliked the first one and I know I won't like the second.

[Scrupuless]

he was looking at an xbox review because this is a gaming news site, and unlike some of you xbot twits, im guessing he wants to know whats going in gaming period. I happen to own both systems and i can say hands down that the ps3 is by far the superior system, not just because of its hardware capabilities but because of the killer exclusives it has, not to mention free online play. You see if you truly think the xbox is the better system and that halo odst is a full fledged blockbuster release then you have been dupped by a very good marketing campaign. I am going to guess that your american as well.

[LinuxGuru]

Ok he's not rating it on price alone, dummy.

He's rating it on VALUE gained by paying full price for the game. Value and worth is different than assessing only the price.

[Scrupuless]

thats about the saddest attempt at trying not to care that I have seen in a while. You mean to say that as a gamer you dont care about two AAA quality games that are available on a system ( I assume) that you dont own. Jealous much????

[Halo3 MLG Pro]

lol at the unknown sites trying to get hits. If you check metacritic you'll see all the top respected sites and mags giving it a 9 and up while at the bottom you see some weird ass sites I never heard of giving it 7 and less. LOL.

[LinuxGuru]

Oh, so there's no chance anyone but IGN, gamepro, Game Informer or SUPER.AWESOME.GAMING.SITE.EVER YONE.LOVES has an opinion that counts?

Typical bashing of a site that dares to speak their full opinion regarding the value of an over-priced expansion to Halo 3.

[artsaber]

Are on the top of the goody bag list too. I seriously doubt that ANY of their employees who want the game actually have to buy it. They dismiss or do not care about value, because it never hits their wallets. The dude @ Thego, MAY have had to buy his copy, and file for reimbursement later, etc. Who knows? But many users who had to front the cash for ODST, many agree that the value vs. price point is not even close to being justified... a lot of these folk are 360 bretheren.

[shysun]

Why all the bad reviews after the game released?......!?!

[Kurt Russell]

Never heard of this site until this review - Wonder why?

Chumps

[ThePlaystation3guy]

I'm a PS3 fanboy and all..but I've never even HEARD of the "The GO". Unless they appear on Metacritic.com or Gamerankings.com, does their score really matter?

[dustgavin]

"I'm a PS3 fanboy and all.."

Why did you start your post with that comment?

[shopsmartash]

to confuse all of the fanboys, the ps3ers and xboxers don't know which side he is on so they dont know whether to attack him or not hehe

[dustgavin]

I understand what they were talking about. Just wondering why that person would want us to know they are a "fanboy".

[QuickdrawMcgraw]

I've never played halo,but I know I will one day when I get a 360.Then I'll make up my own mind.

[artsaber]

It is impossible to ignore. Value goes a long way with someone's opinion of a game, whether we admit it or not. If Heavenly Sword (which I enjoyed) was released at $29.99 or $39.99 it would've should've received 9/10 scores all across the board. The price balancing vs. what content you actually get is important. Keep in mind that many people (like myself) REFUSED to buy this game due to its price point. Trust me, those lost sales may account for 500,000 to 1 million more first week sales for this game. I would've probably been one of them.

The pricing was a stab to the wallet and gut of gamers who deserve better value for the money. I will agree that a 5/10 is not accurate, I woulda gave it a 7.5 or so... but is a 5/10 any more ridiculous than those 10/10 reviews? I think not. We know it ain't a 5/10, but we SURE as hell know it ain't anywhere close to a 10/10 either... not even close.

[Blades08]

Aren't reviewers suppose to review games based on predetermined categories? Since when does game advertising and price come into play on a game review unless there is a value category now. Reviewers are suppose to review a game, it is up to the consumer whether or not it's a value or not. This goes for any game not just ODST.

[LinuxGuru]

Games have always been reviewed with overall value in mind. Where have you been?

[Figboy]

reviews are pointless.

the reviewer rated the game a 5/10 based off it's VALUE, not it's quality.

personally, i agree that $60 for what comes in the box is a 5/10 value.

BUT, i wouldn't score the actual GAMEPLAY of the game a 5/10.

it's Halo, so it will have that Halo feel, at the least, an 8/10 or 8.5/10, as the Halo type feel is showing it's age in more than just the game engine.

reviewers this generation have got their priorities so backward that they can't apply proper scores to games, which is why i believe that, for a time, they need to nix scores altogether, and let the body of the review speak for itself.

i mean, what's the point in writing walls of text if people are just going to skip to the end score anyway?

they could just get way with listing score after score after score if that's the case, and save the reviewer his time in writing a review that the majority of the readers won't read anyway.

i'd rather read an informative, well thought out review and take what i will from it, than an arbitrary, hard to quantify with a number score at the bottom.

the review scoring system is corrupted and exploited this generation. it needs to go. make people read the body of the review to help educate them on the game and it's merits. then, when the media grows up a bit, bring back scores. right now, it's too mired in backdoor shenanigans and personal bias to be useful to gamers.

some great games were murdered by this broken system (see, Heavenly Sword and Folklore for just TWO examples).

some reviewers have gotten better, but there are still many "news" outlets out there with a bone to grind for one system or another, and they take it out in their reviews or game coverage.

that's not a good habit to have no matter WHAT your console preferences are.

[devilhunterx]

This world be boring without fanboys. Wonder if Wii got any fanboys

[EVILDEAD360]

Anybody can see through the difference between a true unbiased review and a fan rant from another Halo hater pushing their silly agenda.

Fact is the game is a smashing success among Halo fans and the people who actually played it.

Two weeks later I'm online for 4 hours straight having an absolute blast on Firefight and all everyone could talk about was how this game is priceless. All who had finished the campaign were planning or actively diving back in to get the Audiophiles or some other achievement.

The funniest part about it is it would take over 50 hours to get everything most avid Halo fans are trying to get out of the ODST.
This is without even inserting the second disc with the newest maps that a lot of people I play with still jave not touced. While the rest have fallen back in love with the most popular FPS multiplayer of this generation.

So let the haters spit into the wind every single day. It won't change those amazing numbers the game generated that will come out of NPD this Thursday. It won't change the numbers in the future from Bungie when they inevitable will give ODST stats on how many folks and hours that people play the game.

So it'll be funny to see that silly sites like this one won't even be here by the time Halo Reach touches down and blows everything out of the water.