[Munkey Boy]

The latest in the Halo franchise takes a new twist. No Master Chief, but a fresh perspective from the fight against the Covenant.

What do you rate Halo ODST? Please leave a comment and vote in the poll once you've played enough of the game to judge it.

[The Bass]

I voted Excellent.

Had the box only included the ODST disc I might have been tempted to vote Very Good but I feel that the addition of the Halo 3 Multiplayer disc easily pushes it into the next boundary, even from the perspective of someone who has bought all of the DLC maps already. Complaints that the game is not worth £40 need to be reassessed with the price at £30 as that is what it is easily available for from most retailers.

Highlights:

• No poor missions
• Some great campaign battles
• Firefight
• Brilliant multiplayer
• You can haz Recon

Lowlights:

• Campaign is a bit shorter than Halo 3's
• No matchmaking for Firefight
• Easier than Halo 3

A must buy game for Halo fans and one that haters should at least try.

[Democritus Mav]

Played the game through 3 times now on the hardest difficulties so I think I’m ready to comment.

In the interests of full disclosure I’m a self confessed Halo fanboy. I love what Bungie do with their games. I like the fact they support their community. Now they’ve broken away from Microsoft I cant wait to see what they come up with.

With that out of the way, I’m relived to report that Halo ODST is pretty damm good. It’s not genre defining, it’s not revolutionary, and it certainly wont be Game of the Year BUT it’s still pretty damm good. And in my book with the sheer amount of terrible to mediocre games that get made that in itself is refreshing.

There is plenty to appreciate with ODST. All the usual Halo style and action, three new multiplayer maps and a great new co-op mode in Firefight. If you’re a fan of the original or the source material in anyway you can’t fail but to have a great time with this game. If you like what Bungie do, as I do, this is top notch space opera entertainment. However, if you tried Halo before and never got to grips with it there probably wont be much to change your mind. And that in essence is my biggest criticism of this game. Whilst it’s unreasonable to expect a full departure from Halo 3 in terms of look or feel there just isn’t enough “new” stuff to grip you if you’re not already invested in this franchise.

Plenty of people will criticise the graphics and say that Firefight is limited without matchmaking or that Bungie and Microsoft are charging full price for an expansion pack but I think that misses the point. This game doesn’t stand or fall on its play time or its price point it needs to be judged on its quality and it has that in spades. Bungie make great quality games with rich stories and fantastic gameplay and ODST is absolutely no exception.

So who’s up for a game of Firefight then?

[EEC3]

+1 for what Mav said. Echos my thoughts entirely.

With it being an expansion you can't really expect a huge departure from Halo 3 and it's not. Would have been nice to have seen a few new enemies added however.

Firefight is awesome but the games do take an absolute age. I think they'll add matchmaking in an update because people are asking for it and Bungie are good like that. Also, if they had matchmaking on launch day, there would have been too many people trying it and it would have been an epic FAIL!

[sordid_sentinel]

It's Halo in a moody new setting with added Firefight, Halo 3 maps and access to the Reach beta when it drops. As a package it's awesome value at £30 imo.

[Stream62]

Voted 'Good'... Campaign game itself is a little short and feels like I am replaying halo 3. Storyline was quite good & I liked the character variation.

Multiplayer disc is Halo 3 multiplayer which is good but has been out for ages now and most people will have this from Halo 3 itself.

The spawn/swarm fighting Firefight is a very good addition but I am personally more likely to spend my time elsewhere when online.

[1LeeDenton]

It's a '9' from me, and my thoughts echo pretty much what everyone else has said really.

There's nothing here that's going to convert a 'Halo Hater', but for fans of the series its an absolute must buy; new campaign (if a tad short), Firefight, 3 new MP maps, AND the Reach beta invitation......all for <£30......its another bundle of Bungie goodness as far as I'm concerned.

But then, you knew I was going to say that, didn't you

[EEC3]

I gave it a 10 because it's really the only game that merits my money this year and the only game that stops me from moving to a PS3

I see JPG has voted

[Andy58]

Voted for 9/10 and echo the other positive comments.

Positives - I love the atmosphere and gameplay and the way the story unfolds. The wide range of missions mean there's something for everyone.

Firefight is a sublime addition and I hope we see a survival arena type in Reach.

Negatives - don't reckon on Endure happpening in this lifetime.

Thanks Bungie - another worthy addition to the franchise

[daniel_owen_uk]

As someone that really enjoyed H3 multiplayer but never stumped up for the maps, an extra campaign, firefight and all the Halo 3 Maps, made the £30 I paid very good VFM.

[The Bass]

Originally Posted by TG V1P3R

There's nothing here that's going to convert a 'Halo Hater'

I would have thought this as well but a lot of people on other forums and article comments have said that while they thought Halo 3 was rubbish they really enjoyed ODST. If that's true then there may be hope for haters yet!

So do we get a review from you Thanks_4_That or just a vote for Worthless?
NB how the ODST review thread has been up for 1 day and already has a vote for the bottom score while most games will get ~2 over their lifetime .

[jamienufc]

I voted excellent

I cant understand how someone can vote 'bad' or 'worthless'?

Halo isn't to everyones taste, but what you get with ODST is a great gaming package.

The campaign is great fun and offers replay value due to the collectable audio logs, legendary difficulty and co-op. Its not the longest campaign in the world, but what I think it does is highlight some of the best bits of halo 3 such as gunning with a warthog and fighting scarabs.

Firefight is a great idea and is excellent fun with 3 other people. The lack of match making though seems like an oversight by bungie and I think once people have the 200k achievements this mode will die. Which is a real shame.

The halo 3 multiplayer plus all DLC on the second disk is a stroke of genius! It gives everyone a chance to sample multiplayer and adds real longevity and value to the package. Get online and have a go!

Rounding things off nicely is the Halo Reach Beta invite.

For £30 this is one of the best gaming packages around for FPS fans and gamers alike.

[jpb82]

I voted Excellent

As a massive fan of all things Halo, i just couldn't bring myself to vote outstanding as there are a few things
that slightly annoyed me about ODST.

1. Even though most of the ODST missions are fantastic, especially mickey and dutch defending
the ONI building, i found that the rookies missions got very repetitive half way through.

2. The minimal grain feature bungie added to the visuals on ODST annoyed the hell out of me, as i just dont like
picture grain, but maybe thats just me.

3. ODST is suppose to take place between Halo 2 and 3 while master chief and Co are on delta Halo so where
are the elites in ODST, as thet did not rebel against the covenant until towards the end of Halo 2?

Apart from these minor issues and thats what they are minor, ODST is every bit as enjoyable as any of the previous Halo
games and is actually my game of the year so far.

[GarythePotato]

I voted above average.

The good:

(+) VISR mode is a great combat addition
(+) The open world environment is pretty cool
(+) Firefight mode is welcome

The bad:

(-) ...but fails unless you're playing in co-op
(-) ...and also doesn't have matchmaking
(-) The game has literally no replay value after getting the full 1000G
(-) Old weapons are a bore and feel recycled
(-) Some of the character models look as if they're made of LEGO
(-) Anti-climactic

Overall - 6/10

An okay-ish game at best. It's good for one playthrough and getting the full whack on Firefight, but that's about it. Firefight has practically burned out now, so that's lowered the fun factor and there isn't really anything to go back to for more in the campaign. Some of the campaign missions are made up of the crappy fight>proceed>fight>proceed>fight>proceed>defend until rescued plan, which are unnecessary and made the game boring. It's worth picking the game up, but it's nothing that great.

[Jim Di Griz]

Can someone please confirm what co-op mode (same TV) is like on this one?

Me and my bro love playing co-op (Left for Dead is our favourite) but the original Halo 3 was a bit disappointing as co-op mode "shrunk" the screen a bit for some stupid reason.

Does ODST "shrink" the screen too? I actually preferred the original Halo for co-op play over Halo 2 and Halo 3 (yeah I know that sounds weird but there we go!)

[mudstuff]

I think you meant to post HERE

[dgibbs]

Very good for me....

I did enjoy it and some of the battles were great, BUT... that best parts were when you played as other charecters. The bits as "your charecter" were generally travelling and boring, except near the end. Would have preferred a simple squad battle scenario moving through the game level by level.... would have been better for it in my opinion.

Overall though very enjoyable and worth a bash.

[SmoothHound]

I voted very poor.
Bland and boring........started to nod off towards the end. Had to force myself to finish it. Thankfully i only rented it. Mind you I couldn't stand Halo 3. The story was very good in the whole halo series, but the way it played in my opinion was rubbish.

This seemed to be just tacked onto the halo name. But then again it would be boring if we all like the same game wouldn't it eh??

[joneil]

its a good game overall its just i havent been abl to get into the whole halo scene am i missing something by chance???

[Kayla99]

Another poor.
Personaly this could be bungies worst halo game ever. It delievers a uninteresting and crappy story, the only multiplayer are going to be the halo three maps fans purchased many years ago if they such as the halo operation and most for the weapons suck. Not assisting are going to be the actuality the fact that neighborhood of New Mombasa is Veeeerrrry boring. Newsflash bungie, nobody would like to stroll near to an unfilled neighborhood with almost no incentive.