Played the game through 3 times now on the hardest difficulties so I think Im ready to comment.
In the interests of full disclosure Im a self confessed Halo fanboy. I love what Bungie do with their games. I like the fact they support their community. Now theyve broken away from Microsoft I cant wait to see what they come up with.
With that out of the way, Im relived to report that Halo ODST is pretty damm good. Its not genre defining, its not revolutionary, and it certainly wont be Game of the Year BUT its 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 youre a fan of the original or the source material in anyway you cant 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 its unreasonable to expect a full departure from Halo 3 in terms of look or feel there just isnt enough new stuff to grip you if youre 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 doesnt 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 whos up for a game of Firefight then?