The Halo franchise has evolved exponentially since the game's long-in-the-making conclusion two years ago. Comics, board games, action figures, a terrible soft drink; we've fully entered brand exploitation mode. But while massively popular and now quite extensive, the series has yet to receive something I'd have expected a long time ago: an expansion pack that alters Bungie's expertly crafted trilogy, adding to the story, and the canon.
Add in the removal of the series' mean and green star, and some cues taken from other games, saying that Halo 3: ODST is a first for the franchise is a bit of an understatement. Did Bungie succeed in their first attempt to break out of the Master Chief mold, or are the Helljumpers not capable of carrying a mission on their own?
Hit the jump for our review...
(This review is as spoiler-free as possible)
Developed in just 18 short months, Halo 3: ODST was originally intended to be a fan-service project; more or less something to make the wait between 2007's Halo 3, and fall 2010's Halo: Reach more tolerable. Initially supposed to be a simple, one-off campaign extension that clocked in at a handful of hours, things changed quite a bit during development. Ideas expanded, levels were built, modes were added; the product took a radically different road than was intended, and we're glad it did. ODST takes place in the year 2552, during the events of Halo 2. Instead of taking up arms as Spartan 117, aka: Master Chief (who is off fighting Covenant baddies on the other side of the galaxy), players are thrust into the armor of the UNSC's Orbital Drop Shock Troopers - who have fought alongside the Chief numerous times. However, you are not restricted to a singular role this time around.
The player is behind the visor of The Rookie, a faceless, voiceless member of the ODST squad dropping into New Mombasa to clear the the invading Covenant forces. Along for the ride are fellow soldiers Dare, Buck, Dutch, Romeo, and Mickey. As they plummet from the heavens in their drop pods and near the surface of Earth, a certain event from Halo 2 that has only been seen in cutscene form until now occurs, throwing The Rookie and his team off-course, and conveniently separating them. Upon waking and escaping from your drop pod 6 hours later, you find that it's now nighttime; you're stranded in the now-destroyed, barren New Mombasa streets alone and helpless, not knowing the fate of your squad. What happened, where did they go? The course has been set for your 6-8 hour adventure.
Throughout the campaign (which can be played with up to 4 people over LIVE, or system link; 2 via split-screen), you will have a combination of both the classic Halo action sequences, and brand new elements for the series: stealth and exploration. As The Rookie, you have free reign to wander the streets of Covenant-occupied New Mombasa, searching for various beacons (ex; a used sniper rifle; a scanner; a discarded helmet) that, when discovered, will trigger a flashback sequence taking place earlier in the day, each transporting you into the shoes of one of your squadmates and explaining what happened to them. You may be trying to destroy a bridge to stop the Covenant advance in one scenario, taking to the rooftops, sniping enemies and eliminating drop ships, manning a turret in a Warthog, or stalking the streets in a Scorpion tank... each encounter is a tiny revelation to the overall mystery, but each are also very much linear. The story progression itself is non-linear in its approach, though, so you can choose which flashback sequence you wish to jump into and when; there's no set path to follow, but there are also no diversions such as side-missions. No matter which order you proceed in, you'll still have the same number of events to tackle at the end of the day.
That's the classic Halo action we all know, minus the badassness of the Master Chief. Rookie/New Mombasa portions will have you sneaking around the blackened, rain-soaked cityscape trying to avoid confrontations with the Brutes, Grunts and Jackels (or starting them up; there are scripted occurrences), finding ammo and health caches and searching for audio logs which weave an interesting graphic novel-style tale called Sadie's Story, telling of the Covenant invasion from the perspective of a city resident. But The Rookie isn't completely alone in his recon mission, he is assisted by the Superintendent, New Mombasa's artificial intelligence system. By linking up with it early on, you'll have access to the city's map (which allows for the placing of waypoints, pinpointing groups of enemies, and more), and he'll be able to highlight objects of importance - such as the aforementioned flashback clues - with your VISR. We'll get to that in a minute. It's a small helping hand that fills the absence of any NPCs in majority of the single-player quest.
Since you are now playing not as a cybernetically-enhanced Spartan, but a lowly human solider, things are a tad different from the Halo of old. No longer do you have the luxury of a recharging energy shield (you life bar also depletes, requiring health packs or recharge stations to refill it); you cannot jump as high or dual-wield weapons (many weapons, such as the Battle Rifle and the Energy sword are missing as well), you take damage far easier; the handy motion-tracker is gone, and the use of Halo 3's clever deployable items (bubble shield, etc.) is prohibited. Though enemies will use them against you.
It's not all bad news for The Rookie, though, as he has access to a new silenced submachine gun and pistol, can carry a higher number of grenades, and is outfitted with a "VISR" mode, which is activated by pressing the would-be deployable button. Once turned on, VISR enhances the world around you, highlighting enemies, objects, and amplifies vision allowing for easier maneuvering in the dark. Be warned, though, while you can sneak past Covenant troops, the VISR does give off a light source that they can see, and they will react to it. Once you complete the chain of the campaign's scenarios, New Mombasa's open-world hub is able to be fully explored at will, allowing for ample time to scour for those few remaining audio logs and other items that you missed the first time through. The city is quite large, and as with the campaign there's a lot of walking, so good luck scouting out every nook and cranny in a reasonable timeframe.
Also new to ODST is Bungie's take on Horde mode, called Firefight. The mode supports the same number of and option for players as the campaign, but features no matchmaking support whatsoever. It's all custom matches here. Arguably one of the main features that will give the title longevity, Firefight pits four ODSTs against increasingly difficult sets, waves and rounds of enemies on 10 maps - a handful being unlocked upon completing the corresponding campaign mission.
All players share a max pool of seven lives that dwindle as they are killed off, with additional lives being awarded in between rounds. All the standby weapons and vehicles you'd expect from the single-player make an appearance in the mode, so make use of them. But lives aren't the only thing you gain per round; you'll also be at the mercy of the random activation of Halo 3's skulls, which alter the gameplay and difficulty significantly, forcing you and your team to be aware of the strategy at work and adapt it accordingly. Teamwork is a must.
The only other bit of "new" content to found here is the inclusion of the long-awaited final 3 multiplayer maps for Halo 3: Heretic, Citadel and Longshore, which are included on the second disc, Halo 3: Mythic. Mythic is Halo 3 -- the game most of you have right now -- just lacking the single-player component. Every multiplayer map and piece of DLC released to-date is included on the disc, complete with Forge mode, saved films, file sharing, and new Achievements that will finally net you Recon armor.
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Pros:
Variety: Unlike the previous Halo titles which were all about straight up action, ODST manages to successfully prove that the series can pull off new gameplay mechanics (ie: stealth), while still sticking to its roots of blockbuster set-pieces and kick-ass action. And that's not even mentioning the the fact that, from a narrative standpoint, this is first and foremost a mystery, not a save-the-world, one-man-army "space opera". There's searching for audio logs that help flesh out a very intriguing story-within-the-story, an interesting (for what it is) open-world city, various vehicle sessions to break up the on-foot segments, and add in a Halo-ified Horde mode in the form of Firefight, and you've got a relatively sweet package here.
Bip. Bap. Bang for your buck: As the game's cover art so boldly states: there's an entirely fleshed out, mythos-enhancing campaign. There's a new hero who has undoubtedly given way to a new side series. And there's new multiplayer mode that -- while not perfect (matchmaking!) -- is unique and sure to be a Halo mainstay from here on out. Toss in the entire Halo 3 multiplayer experience that adds new maps and works with the regular copy of Halo 3... for the newcomer (or person who has lost their copy of Halo 3), it's a solid purchase.
Visuals: From the VISR mode in the rain-filled street of New Mombasa, to the vivid flashback scenes with your comrades, to the various animated signs and lights around the city, ODST's visuals are indeed pretty when they need to be. Although it is running on a 2 1/2 year old engine, you can clearly see where improvements have been made if you look hard enough. As with Halo 3 itself, the lighting and sense of scale still manage to evoke some "wow" moments here and there.
Campaign: For me, Halo 3's supposed epic conclusion was a bit of a letdown. ODST brings some excitement back to the series by giving you a cast of lively characters that you start to care about, entertaining missions, a solid, lengthy story that fills in some gaps in the Halo timeline, and a little bit of Halo: Combat Evolved homage when it comes to the ODST's play style. The hours of brand new music are truly grand, high-action set pieces feel satisfying, and there's a never ending sense of dread that envelopes you as The Rookie - something you've never felt playing the Master Chief. No longer do you feel you can take a Brute Chieftan head-on, or strafe into a pack of Grunts endlessly avoiding gunfire and grenade shrapnel. It may be an "expansion", but it can definitely stand on its own.
Beta!: Even if your interest in the series had you sold on ODST from the get-go, the inclusion of an invite to Halo: Reach's multiplayer beta in the spring will undoubtedly draw in customers.
Cons:
Visuals: As we stated above, Halo 3: ODST has its moments of graphical splendor, just as Halo 3 did before it, but the engine is way past its time now. For a AAA, 2009 release -- and a game that is nearly 4 years into the console's lifecycle -- ODST's underlying tech just isn't up to snuff when compared to competing titles. Character models lack sufficient detail, texture work and resolution are mixed, animations are stiff and awkward sometimes, and the sheer lack of any anti-aliasing whatsoever absolutely kills me still, but the latter is sacrificed for a reason. Thankfully, Halo really isn't about the visuals so much as it is the gameplay. And we can look forward to brand new, from-the-ground-up eye candy for Halo: Reach next year.
Emptiness: For its size and scope, New Mombasa is fairly empty. And I guess it should be, but still. At night when you're in the boots of The Rookie, you're on your own; when you're in flashback sequences as the rest of your squadmates, there are numerous NPCs, allies and the like. But given that the majority of ODST takes place in the dead of night, not long after the Covenant forces have invaded the city and taken over, you'd think that there would be a decent amount of injured (or even left-behind) civilians (or even soldiers) that you'd encounter/ have to assist which would add to the immersion of a war-torn society. There is the occasional civilian vehicle here and there, but it's more or less a ghost town, apart from the pockets of Covenant you'll run into. Little touches like graffiti on walls obviously hastily scribbled by fleeing residents add some mood, but it would have been nice if the city, even in is ravaged state, had additional signs of life.
Matchmaking/co-op: The lack of matchmaking in Firefight. I mean, really? And just like Halo 3, the campaign can be played with up to 4 people. Except, unlike Halo 3, the bulk of ODST's campaign is an isolation, mystery game; when 4 players are all of a sudden joining you in the lonely streets of New Mombasa, it's breaks the experience and feels out of place.
What if? What if Microsoft and Bungie had went ahead and decided to package Halo 3: ODST two ways: the vanilla edition that consisted of the new campaign and Firefight, and then the Collector's Edition that houses both that, as well as the Halo 3: Mythic multiplayer disc? I won't say that what you're getting here isn't a great value for $60 (it is), but it's inarguable that, when you really look at it, you are partly being re-sold a two year-old experience with the inclusion of the second multiplayer-only disc. While yes, this is awesome for people who may be late to the Halo 3 party, it does seem like this gifted "bonus" content could have been an option for those that have stuck by the game all this time, rather than a forced re-hash - especially for those that already own Halo 3 proper. Add to that the (for now, anyways) exclusive nature of the final 3 maps, and the fact that you're kind of getting ripped if you've paid for the multiplayer DLC all this time, I'm sure some would have loved were there two options to choose from.
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All in all, Halo 3: ODST does what it set out to do: service the fans as they wait for the next real Halo. Sure, Bungie and Microsoft could have handled things a bit differently in terms of the way they delivered the game to us, but that's a small blemish that can be disregarded. The core experience is one that a fans of the series will be glad they took part in. If you've not been hooked by the Halo fish-line yet, ODST just may be what is needed to get your interest piqued and headed in its direction. The game franchise has a proven new direction, and in my opinion, a new standard to live up to in future installments.
Halo 3: ODST
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Bungie Studios, LLC
Release: September 22, 2009
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