Games Cheats and Reviews

Game: Halo 3: ODST
Publisher/Developer: Microsoft / Bungie
Genre: First Person Shooter
Verdict: Outstanding package that is a value proposition to gamers.
Pros: Interesting approach to storytelling that Bungie has never tried before.
Cons: 5-6 hours is a short campaign for a sixty dollar product.

Orbital Drop Shock Troopers: while they might not be the most intimidating or imposingly named branch of the United Nations Space Command, their name reeks of subtlety and skill. If Master Chief was the designated military ass-kicker, these were the men sneaking around in the background facilitating his madness. They are intensely trained, calm under pressure, and some of the best that the military has to offer, short of calling in the direct support of series mainstay, Sergeant Johnson.

While the past installments in the Halo series revolve around such joyful activities as destroying orbital space stations to furthering the semi-confusing man-on-microcomputer love fest between Cortana and Master Chief, ODST focuses on the softer side of the equation. This new game from Bungie focuses on something that has never been a factor in any prior Halo title: atmospheric subtlety. To some hardcore fans this may sound slightly blasphemous, given the series’ history of in-your-face action, but not only does this core mechanic work, it thrives.

You play the part of the Rookie, a noticeably mute member of the elite force of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. After dropping onto the planet of New Mombasa, you find yourself completely alone and shrouded within the darkness of night. During the course of infiltrating the planet, the drop pods have all been pushed off course, leaving them scattered across the planet. Your goal is to make your way around the expansive hub world of New Mombasa, collecting clues as to the whereabouts of the rest of your squad.

Think of the game as a hybrid of the Halo action that we all adore fused with the immersive storytelling of a good detective mystery. Players can choose how to make their way around the hub, either by embracing the darkness, using it to sneak past inattentive Covenant troops, or running in, guns ablaze, taking out everything in sight. Though many may feel inclined to choose the latter,  the game itself emphatically reminds players that they are NOT the Master Chief. This is a clue.

Running speed, jumping height and even melee combat are all severely decreased from what players are familiar with. Most noticeable is the shield system, one that invokes the system from the first Halo game. Each player has a stamina bar, which also acts as a heath meter. As you are hit and take enemy fire, your shields will initially absorb the blow, but once the shields have faded, the damage is inflicted directly on your stamina. Shields will recharge if given enough time out of the line of fire, but stamina can only be increased by finding health packs scattered throughout the city.

To some, this new heath system may feel like a step backwards, but it goes a long way towards enforcing that the player is human, not a mechanically enhanced phenom, while also injecting a new level of tension into the combat. Cover will become very critical to your success in the game, so make sure you know where it is at all times. For this reason, the stealthy approach to traversing the city is far more preferable under most scenarios. This core gameplay mechanic  again reminds you that you are not the Last Action Hero. This is also a clue.

Aiding in the process of creeping across the landscape is a technology that is exclusive to the ODST’s: the Visual Intelligence System Reconnaissance, or VISR for short. VISR is a replacement for the traditional Halo heads-up display. The VISR has many new and different features, including an interactive three dimensional layout of the city, a compass for locating waypoints that can be set from the city map, and an alternate viewing mode that can be used to locate different enemies, collectibles and clues strewn about the environment. Using the alternate viewing mode is a dual-edged sword: though it may be very helpful in locating enemies, it has a tendency to invert the colors of the environment, making it unusable in the light. Plus, when it is activated, the VISR will shine brightly. This will tip off enemies to your location, a clue that it should be used sparingly.

As you make your way through the checkpoints and discover the clues to the storyline that are scattered across the city, there are many different enemies that will attempt to impede your progress. It IS an FPS, after all. If you manage to use the VISR effectively, most of these firefights can be evaded before they even start. Using information that is provided by the Superintendent, an artificial intelligence that controls everything that goes on in the city, you will attempt to rebuild the story of what happened in the six hours that you spent unconscious in your pod, while the rest of the squad attempted to reunite and rain down hell on those Covenant bastards.

Once you have discovered a clue that has been left behind by your squad, it will activate a memory sequence of sorts that places the player in the boots of one of the other ODSTs. From these four alternate perspectives, the story will be rebuilt from the ground up, shedding light on what has occurred over the last quarter of a day.

Upon entering one of these flashback sequences, all semblance of subtlety goes out the window, in favor of a good old-fashioned Halo firefight. Bungie’s famous mantra of “thirty seconds of fun” is repeated to perfection, showing once again why they are some of the best in the business. Completing each breakaway mission will result in more of the back story being revealed. Not to spoil anything, but let’s just say that there is enough variety to keep players coming back for a long time. If you worry that this new, subtler Halo will put you to sleep, these sequences are here to tell ya: HELLZ NAH! Again, with the clues.

If there is one thing that makes ODST stand out from the other installments in the series, it is certainly the mood and tone in which the story is told. While you are in the shoes of the Rookie, there is a feeling like you are in the middle of a 1960’s detective flick. This is further embraced through the stellar musical compositions of the legendary Marty O’Donnell. A smooth and almost smoky jazz sax makes you feel like you could turn any corner and see someone leaning against a street lamp wearing a full length trench coat and smoking a cigarette, while he waits to meet his (preferably sexy and red-dress-wearing) informant. Contrast that with the very explosive action of the back story segments and you have a combination that on paper seems like a stretch, but is executed here to perfection.

For all of the great things that the game achieves, it is far from perfect. First of all,  there are some pretty significant plot holes that lack any explanation whatsoever, easily noticed if you are paying  close enough attention. Even the trailer gives this inconsistency away — the first clue that you come across is a half destroyed helmet with the name Buck written on it, which is then discarded as garbage after the flashback mission. However, later chronologically in the story line, Buck is shown wearing the same helmet, only in perfect condition. How is that even feasible, considering that a ruined helmet implies that Alas, Poor Buck  may be dead to begin with?

The frustrations continue when trying to explore the hub city. For a game that prides itself on being open to the user to try new things, there are painfully obvious attempts to funnel the player in single direction. Even as the story tries to justify locked doors with the Superintendent trying to lead you towards your next objective, it seems contrived. Bungie took what could have been a really new concept in the Halo universe and gimped it in order to make things operate properly within the constraints of their game engine, which is a disappointment to say the least. This is something that should certainly be explored more, just probably without the constraints of a controlled storyline.

Another snagging point is the length of the overall campaign. On normal difficulty it can take anywhere between five and six hours to complete. Though this is extremely brief for a full release of a game, this is a clue that you need to do more than just blaze through the game; there are plenty of collectibles to make replaying the game and further exploration of New Mombasa well worth your while. Lastly, any graphical glitches or AI peculiarities that were present in Halo 3 also make themselves very apparent in the prequel as well, but this is to be expected when a game is based off of the same core engine.

Fortunately for us, there is a lot more to ODST than just a simple player campaign. Firefight is the newest addition to the Halo multiplayer suite of awesomeness. Think of this as Gears of War 2’s Horde mode in the Halo universe. Wave after wave of Covenant opposition is thrown your way, which up to four players attempt to survive as long as possible. As the difficulty increases, the skulls featured in Halo 3 make a return appearance, to ratchet up the difficulty even more. Just remember one thing, no matter how chaotic things get, treat your ammo and health packs like gold; they never re-spawn as fast as you would like.

The last piece of the puzzle is the second disc that is the complete Halo 3 multiplayer experience. Every single multiplayer map that Bungie has ever released for Halo 3 is contained on this disc. Feel free to give that tired and overused Halo 3 disc a break and take this one for a few spins – odds are you’ll like what you see.

While any one component of this package may not be worth the full sixty dollar price tag, together they make a very handsome value proposition for gamers. There is no doubt that this is not only the pinnacle of Bungie’s storytelling abilities, but it delivers on bringing the best of the single and multiplayer worlds together in a unified space. Expansive environments, tremendous detail, and a true feeling of community make this a game that no Xbox 360 owner should be without.