You are the Rookie, you awake 6 hours after you dropped into the city New Mombasa; you crashed. You must explore the city finding clues that allude to the happenings of your squad members. The ending is full of surprising twists and Halo fans will not be disappointed.

Story

You already got the overview, so here is the story’s game play. The game introduces two new weapons, the Silenced SMG and the Automag (silenced pistol). The Silenced SMG has a 2x zoom and is very efficient against enemies with shields and those pesky drones. The Automag is a throwback to the Halo: CE and Halo 2 pistols in a way. If has the power of Halo: CE’s pistol, with the rapid fire capabilities of Halo 2′s pistol. When used together they are a deadly force. The story itself is a free roam environment, unlocking more space the more clues you unlock. To give you a reference about how big the city is; I was on one end and had to get to the other, using a way-point the calculated distance was 1.45 km, linear. It is several square kilometers total. Another thing that Bungie introduced was the VISR mode, a low light imaging system much like infrared or night vision. It is definitely a necessity when roaming the empty streets. In all, Halo 3:ODST stays true to it’s roots, but adds a variable of skill in the new health system; which I can only describe as Call of Duty 4′s stamina with Halo: CE’s health packs. The campaign time is my only complaint, though this game was meant to be only an expansion, you can easily beat it in a day, two if it is on Legendary (the Halo series hardest difficulty).

Campaign

Musical Score

Marty O’ Donnel, need I say more? “Rain” sample, from the Halo 3:ODST OST.

Marty O'Donnel in the recording studio.

Multiplayer

Halo 3: ODST introduces a new mode called “Firefight”. It is a wave based survival mode where you fight waves and waves of covenant forces; and it never ends! Firefight maps are modeled off maps that are in the campaign, making the experience more enjoyable. Each level has different scenarios to work around, some are close quarters, some have vehicles. My only complaint is that there is no “server search” or “matchmaking”. Bungie’s excuse is long and booring, but valid. That’s all your going to get from me! It takes away from some of the experience, but really, if you can’t get game going, you have no friends.

Firefight

The Verdict

Story: 9

Musical Score: 10

Multiplayer: 8

Replay Value: 8

Final Score: 8.75