Gaming Below presents
Halo 3:ODST

The Halo series and I have some history together. From our James Cameron inspired beginnings with Halo: Combat Evolved, the all night from midnight to dawn split narrative of Halo 2, to the Return of the Jedi crescendo of Halo 3. This isn’t like the sadomasochistic history between me and japanese rpg’s, I’ve spent something of the last eight years playing Halo games and even while warding off the creature from the black lagoon known as nostalgia, I can honestly say I really enjoy these games, from the admittedly contrived but fun story, the console friendly FPS gameplay model and their general contribution to gaming as a whole.

I’m not sure when it became cool to hate on Halo, though if I had to guess I’d say it was around the time that it led the migration of FPS games on to consoles and away from the sole dominion of the PC gaming elite, and provided a way to use a controller, rather then a keyboard and mouse for this sort of gaming. Look, I have absolutely zero interest in arguing over which is better (Personally, while I think keyboard/mouse is always more precise I prefer consoles generally), I’d like to think we should all be able to just do our thing and have fun with it, but I will say that it’s getting a little tiring when admitting you like Halo is the same as saying you’re the gaming equivalent of a drunken frat guy idiot, so fuck you, I like Halo and I’m not ashamed of it. And to everyone who complains about regenerating health being unrealistic, I’d really thought we’d abandoned absolute realism in first person shooters around the time MIT graduates were killing aliens with a fucking crowbar.

So now we have Halo 3: ODST, the little expansion pack that could. What started as a side project at best and at worst a really asshole way to get people to pay again for multiplayer maps they already bought ( HAH! I had been holding out on buying any of them! ) has turned into an entirely new campaign and added multiplayer bonuses that should prove worth looking into if the end of the Halo trilogy still left you wanting more and you realized Halo Wars was complete and utter shite.

Game development is an interesting process, and at least from the outside observers perspective, I really have to feel for the designers in alot of cases. It seems like one of the major reasons for sequels to exist is to help designers realize all the things they wanted to do in the first game release but just couldn’t for any number of reasons. This was the case to some extent in both Halo 1 and 2, but never does it feel more acute than in the introduction of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (I’m equal parts proud and sad that I didn’t have to look up that acronym ). Mentioned only briefly, and really only seen in one cutscene in Halo 2, these are a group of special forces who, you guessed it, drop into action from orbit, because apparently the traditional HALO ( High Altitude Low Opening ) jump was for pussies. You play as The Rookie, a new comer to this particular five man squad of ODST’s. In a lineup that is sure to make any geek’s jaw drop, three of your remaining squad members are played by Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin and Alan Tudyk, all of Firefly fame, and your squad is accompanied by a cryptic ONI agent played by Tricia Helfner of Battlestar Gallactica fame. Who plays the additional squad member? I’m sorry to say but I really can’t remember, and after listing the cast of Firefly I just can’t bring myself to care. ( Disclaimer in the name of professionalism: His name is and he delivers a perfectly adequate performance as well )

Your team is dropped into action during the events of Halo 2, while the Covenant begin their attack on and eventual take over of the ‘megacity’ of New Mombassa. In the wake of the Departure of a Covenant capital ship and the explosion it leaves behind, you as The Rookie are separated from your squad, and knocked out. You wake up in your pod six hours later. The majority of the game then splits between two perspectives. As the Rookie, you spend your time wandering the darkened streets of occupied New Mombassa fighting Covenant, trying not to get killed, and figure out what happened to your squad. When the Rookie finds a clue that his teammates left behind, the perspective switches back to one of the other ODST’s, and you play out the events that led to that particular clue being left there, gradually piecing together what happened to them while you were out, and due to the performances by the cast of Firefly, Number 9, and some other dude, you really can’t help but care about your teammates and be invested in discovering what happened to them.

Make no mistake, this isn’t the galaxy spanning epic that the previous entires in the Halo series were. You spend the entirety of the game in New Mombassa, making it the first Halo game where you never actually go to a Halo. There is no Flood to deal with, no Guilty Spark ( Some people really seem to hate that gibbering thing ), just the humans and their struggle. As such it’s a far more grounded story, and the Noir influences the box art was going for really do come across. As the story unfolds, your attempt to find out the fate of your team is rewarded and further mysteries as to what your shady ONI boss wanted are revealed. And while it doesn’t have the scale of previous Halo entries, I found myself growing alot more attached to my silent hero, even if that did mean I was missing out on writing gems like, “The cable, I’m going to cut it.” SOLID. FUCKING. GOLD. Overall, it’s no closer to Shakespeare then the previous entries, but it’s a solid story that lets the characters do their thing and have some fun on the way.

Gameplay…well what the hell is there to say about Halo’s gameplay? While there is some refinements to the formula given the new protagonist, for the most part, you already know whether or not you like the Halo gameplay. Dual wielding ( another concept that seems to really twist some people’s tits off ) has been removed, and your character’s default weapons are both a silent magnum which is disturbingly effective and satisfying at headshots, and a silenced SMG. Other then that, and the omission of the Battle Rifle, the weapons are the same as seen in Halo 3, for better or worse. The Spartan Laser is just as annoying to charge up, and just as satisfying when you finally do fuck someone up with it, be it an incoming Ghost or a group of Brutes marching in line like giant wooden ducks. The levels as your ODST teammates is tried and true Halo formula up and down.

Wandering the streets as the Rookie makes for an extremely different experience then playing as the 8 foot tall cyborg Master Chief. You’re completely alone, enemy forces like the Brutes tower over you and are able to throw you a block away, and take a ton of abuse. More then once my roommate’s heard me exclaim “OH SHIT” when I came across a pair of Hunters, lighting up the alley I had been trying to sneak through with their fusion cannons. It also makes for a much more somber, vulnerable, and consequently immersive experience. The standout moment that made it clear I was no longer the Master Chief was while playing on Legendary, I’d stumbled upon a Mongoose ( Halo’s equivalent of an ATV ) and was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Seeing a Brute approaching, I reared back and hit the gas to run him over, only for him to charge me in return, and send both me and the mongoose flying across the street, my spine wrapped around an inconveniently placed lamppost. Yeah, definitely not an 8 foot tall cyborg anymore.

The other major addition to gameplay besides the Rookie comes from the Firefight multiplayer mode, in which you and three teammates attempt to fend off waves of attacking Covenant for as long as possible. A few of the missions in the campaign mode foreshadow it a bit, and if you played Horde mode in Gears of War, this will feel pretty similar, but in a good way. You’ll want some practice on the various maps, but after a bit of working together with your preferred teammates, it’s a fun experience. The catch there is it isn’t something I recommend pugging, you’ll want people you’ve gamed with before for this one. This isn’t one of those multiplayer games where you can just run around like an ass screaming and do well in, it definitely favors the coordinated team. Not to say people on Live don’t STILL do that because yes, it’s Live, but it’s not the best way to approach it.

So what else is there to say? The production values are as high as ever, though the Halo 3 engine still looks a bit off when it comes to conveying realistic facial features, ( Yeah, Number Six doesn’t come across QUITE as hot here, sorry guys ). Martin O Donnell’s work on the score is solid as ever and the aforementioned voice cast do alot to add to the game’s immersion factor. As originally advertised, also included with (New) copies of the game is a disc including the standalone Halo 3 Multiplayer mode, along with new Mythic maps as well as all maps released previously. Ok so it’s kind of a rub for those who have been buying the maps all along, but you still get some new maps, and the ODST game really does feel like it can stand on its own.

And now, let’s go to the judges for the final score. Joining Loque and British is Romulus, our guest judge and lover of all things sci fi.

Loque – …Not enough sniping. Fun in the usual vein of Halo and still better then the Halo clones out there, at least this actually IS Halo rather then just playing dress up, but still all stuff I’ve seen before. Good to kill time with while I’m waiting for Modern Warfare 2 if nothing else.

British – Well given my disregard for my fellow man, the multiplayer is lost upon me, but I really did have alot of fun with the Rookie set pieces and the video log collectibles left behind. Maybe it’s because he never opens his mouth, but I’m very fond of the Rookie. I’ll admit, I’m glad to add it to the Halo collection, even if I doubt I’ll pick it up again anytime soon.

Romulus – So I’m pretty sure the only characters Nathan Fillian ever plays are himself, and you know what, I’m ok with that. Though the bits with Tricia Helfner feel a little forced, whether that’s her or the writings fault I can’t say, the rest of the team really are a blast. Sci fi nerdgasm from start to finish.

There you have it. Taken on its own merits, ODST is a solid and enjoyable FPS, even if it’s all things we’ve seen before. If you enjoyed Halo, you will find this an enjoyable addition way to spend an all nighter. And if you didn’t, you already know who you are and this isn’t going to sell you, so you should probably just go play Modern Warfare 2.