Halo 3: ODST

This is the first of two consecutive spinoff games from the Halo franchise, this taking place during the events of the second game after master chief travelled to earth to liberate Africa from the covenant (or at least he tried.) It's a nice side story that expands on the lore regarding the Spartans that the chief serves under as we play as several different soldiers throughout the campaign with different personalities.

Our main hero simply goes by rookie who we control as throughout the main hub as well as the final two levels of the game, the hub is the main highlight here as it allows you to find the levels where you control you squad mates through a flashback (which triggers when recovering their gear) as well as recorded messages as kiosks which not only serve as a backstory to the events of the second game, but also unlock hidden caches which contain powerful weapons to fight the covenant as the rookie. The levels where you play as his comrades are also pretty good, however they do feel like mere bonus stages from the original trilogy as they don't offer anything that you couldn't get from those games. Actually, there is one thing that those stages offer over the mainline series, that's the banter between the different members of odst as even during gameplay, they're fully voice acted as opposed to being obvious self inserts for the player which is the case with the master chief in the main series. It's rookies’ part that brings this experience together as he's the one that solves the mystery in the story (I won't reveal how due to spoilers) as well as all of the new elements in the game coming from his gameplay rather than his squad mates.

It's more of a side game than main entry, hence why I can't give this full marks even if it's still worth your time regardless.

Um legítimo spin-off: brinca com a estrutura dos jogos numerados da série principal ao mesmo tempo em que expande o universo da franquia. Entrega um gameplay sólido, ligeiramente diferente à sensação super-heróica de jogar com o Master Chief. Pontos também para a trilha sonora e atmosfera à la film noir, muito interessante e diferente para um Halo.

Só é uma pena que ele deixe em segundo plano várias das suas ideias mais interessantes - como a exploração livre em Nova Mombasa, pouco incentivada por conta da progressão forçadamente linear, ou a história mais pessoal entre a Capitã e o Buck, porcamente explorada.

Fantastic campaign! It has the most variation of any Halo game when you factor in the slow ambient night levels. It takes Halo to the levels of stuff like Half Life 2.

The story is actually pretty good - and makes me upset Bungie didn't get a chance to continue the story from this point on.

I'm very upset I never played these games when they came out (I took a long break from video games a bit before Halo 3 dropped).

It's crazy the amount of progress Bungie made in terms of graphics and scope from Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo ODST, and Reach. In just 10 years time. Fast forward over 10 years and it seems like Halo hasn't done much innovation besides add in a grappling hook.

Aside from its criminally short length, ODST is up there for one of my favorites of the Halo series. Taking what fans were clambering for in Halo 2, ie; wheres the battle for Earth? ODST takes place in the war torn and bombed out African metropolis of New Mombasa just as the Prophet of Truth Slips out of the city, and the effects of this devastating event on a wayward team of shock troops sent in originally to secure the cities superintendent ai from the invasion force. The game plays like classic expansions of old, using the contemporary graphics of Halo 3, ODST mercifully doesn't feel as clunky to control.

One of my main gripes with the third Halo entry was just how buoyant and bloated the Spartans felt. Its a weird feeling to describe but the gameplay honestly felt like you were playing a slayer match as the Michelin Man. ODST mercifully rectifies this and is a much better game for it, but to be honest it also tragically feels off with regards to the titular special forces. Halo is meant to be an over the top power fantasy, as you mainly star as a 7 foot tall, 2k pound cyborg super soldier going against equally fierce and aggressive alien infantry. Here, the ODST play almost exactly as the standard spartan and that really ruins the feeling of how unique the Master Chief was. Few little details like nixing energy shields and duel wielding are meant to reduce the ODST in stature but arent convincing enough to sell how utterly helpless you should feel going against the Brutes, who even in the superb live action ads for this game, are meant to be these terrifying, indomitable beasts (see attached photo, https://i.redd.it/izgohg1ud0y51.jpg what would have been a much more terrifying experience).

Aside from how wonky the characters are presented, the game is a gorgeous and atmospheric set piece in a lost and obscure corner between games, and that is where I think the game excels. And with an ample helping of vehicle missions, the game keeps you engaged. But man these levels feel unfairly truncated and further replays make it evident how small some of these missions really are. Easily the best soundtrack of the series, I just wish that there were more stealth based missions and that your silenced arsenal actually worked. and finally, who could forget the addition of firefight. While its following on the heels of COD's zombie mode, Firefight finds you fighting against endless hoards of Covenant. Simple and fun arcade mode that is elevated by how memorable the set piece maps seen in the campaign. From Alpha Site, Crater, and Rally Point to Lost Platoon, some absolutely fun times playing with a friend holding the line against the purple bastards.

Definitely feels cobbled together with the remains of everything Halo 3 left us, but easily holds up as a great game within of itself. Every reason you love Halo 3, you're going to love this game also as much.

I think the music and atmosphere carries this game pretty hard, and the gunplay is good, it's not too far removed from Halo 3's. The Automag pistol was a nice change of pace from the at the time standard Battle Rifle precision weapon (which I believe is completely absent in this game). Firefight was also a great addition to the franchise and it is very fun. While I do enjoy Reach's customization features, ODST's atmosphere really lends to the desolation that comes in this gamemode.

I also think the open-world loop in a destroyed city was rather experimental and it was a nice change of pace as well as a breather for the more linear levels. It's a good size considering you'll usually be on foot. I definitely like the unique aesthetic, aged as it is. Despite being over a decade old I find the nighttime hub levels very engrossing and immersive to be in. Stuff like the Engineer graffiti and seeing the aftermath of small setpieces both within the flashback levels and in the hubworld also added to the sense of a ruined city after having gone through an apocalyptic battle. Lastly, the soundtrack is one of the best you can find in gaming, incredibly unique among the Halo games.

However, I think my biggest issue is what we got narratively and mechanically wasn't really hitting the tone I feel like they should've aimed for here. The "WE ARE ODST" trailers set up this incredibly gritty story; you're an ODST, not a Spartan, with a lack of physical augmentations and simple metallic body armor, you need your wits about you to survive against enemies that are far outmatching you in physicality and weaponry. Your comrades will die, but you will have to soldier on without them, as the fate of humanity hangs in the balance.

Ultimately though, what we actually get feels far more Whedon-y in tone. Alpha-Nine are jokesters through and through, and you never really get the sense that they actually truly came together as a team, especially since most of the game keeps them fractured (I also found the scene where Romeo gets injured very weird when it comes to this team cohesion message, as they wait until the next mission chronologically to do anything about it). Bungie weren't known for being great writers but at times the dialogue in this game could get really grating, and I find it odd that they saved the grittier tone for the next game in *Reach*. Overall this game is let down by me just not really enjoying the writing or general story, I think it could have been done better and this is part of the problem with the tone not reflecting what I think fits the marketing, the atmosphere, or what I think was generally expected, and thus being dissonant.

The gameplay itself also doesn't help when it comes to setting the tone of the game and being a novel twist on the Halo formula; playing through each of the Halo games on Legendary, this one was by far the easiest, and I really wish they had done more to change the gameplay to fit being an ODST. Shields are replaced with "stamina" which recharges slower, as well as non-regenerating health requiring you to pick up Optican health packs to heal up. In essence, it's a slower version of CE's health system, but frankly, it still feels like you're playing as a Spartan. You can still do absurd feats of strength like hijacking vehicles, take large amounts of damage before dying even on Legendary (at least considering you're playing as an ODST), and your stamina even drains much like shields do in Halo 3 when hit with a Power Drain, which felt really lazy, this should have been changed. Also, this is a nitpick, but it's a huge shame that Elites didn't return as an enemy given the fact that (at least according to Halo 2's story), the inciting incidents that started the Changing of the Guard/Great Schism hadn't happened yet, so to explain their absence (bar their corpses) they had to rewrite it so that the betrayal of the Elites was executed earlier. I think they would've been a great addition to 3's gameplay loop and likely added more challenge.

It's a okay game, but it combines a narrative and gameplay loop that sort of undermines what it felt like the game should be aiming for tonally (in other words, the former is too stilted and jarring, and the latter is not novel or difficult enough). Lastly, it feeling like DLC for 3 despite the full price tag and combining that with the samey gameplay and at times annoying writing makes this the weakest title in Bungie's Halo games. However, there's cool ideas here and it's certainly one of the most unique in the series (also Huragoks are awesome, I love their design). Worth checking out if you have MCC.