TOUGH LUCK: The ODSTs will often face near impossible odds taking on hordes of enemies by themselves.

In Bungie’s latest Halo game you’ll battle the Covenant once again but this time as a member of the elite Orbital Drop Shock Trooper.

By CHONG JINN XIUNG

IT IS that time of the year when the big games are rolled out. Dropping in for the party is Halo 3:ODST, Bungie’s much-awaited fourth Halo game.

To say that the game faces stiff competition this season is an understatement, as this year’s biggest shooter, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, is on the horizon.

However, keep in mind that ODST really isn’t a full-blown sequel but more of an add-on pack to complete the Halo experience.

The game includes a new single-player campaign, a new multiplayer mode called Firefight and the second disc contains Halo 3 multiplayer game with extra maps.

Preparing for the drop

ODST’s setting will immediately be familiar to anyone who has played the previous Halo games. However, for the first time you won’t be playing the Master Chief.

Instead you slip into the boots of the titular ODSTs (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers), a crack squad of elite soldiers that descend into the middle of battlefields in drop pods from space.

The game, which takes place between the second and third Halo games, starts with a bang as you and your squad prepare to launch onto a Covenant carrier located above the city of New Mombasa.

However, as Murphy’s Law would have it, the carrier escapes by making a slipstream jump and the resulting shockwave scatters the ODST drop pods in all directions.

Landfall

The game proper starts six hours later, as you take control of the Rookie, a rather silent ODST.

As an ODST, you’re not as well equipped as the Spartan or the Master Chief as you can’t jump as high, wield dual weapons or regenerate health.

You no longer have shields but have stamina which works pretty much just like having a shield. However, your health does not regenerate so you will have to pick up medkits to heal.

At your disposal are two new weapons: The silenced submachine gun and magnum pistol. Fans would instantly recognise the iconic scope pistol, renown for its long range and ease of pulling off headshots.

Both were fairly enjoyable to use and were deadly against small, light enemies such as the Grunts and Jackals. However, the guns aren’t great against bigger enemies like the Brutes or Hunters.

NIGHT VISION: As the Rookie, you’re aided by helpful tools like your VISR HUD that allows you to see in the dark.

The troopers also have a new HUD that allows them to see at night, outlining objects as well as enemies when engaging them in the dark.

The new effect is definitely cool and essential for navigating in pitch black environment.

Guided tour

ODST attempts to introduce an open world concept with the city of New Mombasa where you’re tasked with finding the whereabouts of your squad.

Helping you along the way is the New Mombasa’s city-wide AI, a superintendent that guides you along by activating sign boards to point out the way to your destination and even alerting to you the presence of nearby enemies.

Admittedly it is a neat trick to see the game subtly giving you hints like having abandoned car alarms go off or street lights blinking to denote something of importance is nearby.

Hidden around the city are audio clips that serve as collectibles, expanding the gameplay time by a few hours if you intend to find all 30 of them.

Stringing them together tells the story of the war from the perspective of a civilian named Sadie.

The story itself is pretty compelling and several times I found myself hunting for the next audio clip to continue the story.

The extra incentive to locate the audio logs — they will help unlock supply depots for weapons, ammunition and even score a set of wheels in the form of a Mongoose (Halo’s version of the ATV).

CHALLENGING: ODSTs night time environments create a much different atmosphere from that in the previous games.

The clips are not all that hard to find because you get help from the Superintendent. By the end of the game I found most of the audio clips.

Navigating the dark empty streets of the city alone at night really gives you a sense of isolation and loneliness. The city is not without its perils as you’ll occasionally run across Covenant patrols.

More often than not combat is unavoidable once you attack as every Covenant soldier close by will be alerted to your presence immediately so stealth doesn’t necessarily pay off.

Engaging in urban combat forces you to think on your feet as you have to use the surroundings and cover instead of rushing at your enemies. Also, the ODST isn’t as tough as a Spartan soldier.

It’s a refreshing change in pace that rewards more methodical approach though if you’re impatient you probably can scrape through with a few bumps and bruises.

Non-stop action

As you explore New Mombasa you will come across items such as a damaged helmet or a broken sniper rifle. Each time you find a clue you’ll be treated to a flashback where you’ll have to play as one of the other squad members.

UTTER CHAOS: The flashback missions offer lots of action with the occasional vehicular combat thrown in for good measure.

It is in these flashback sequences where the game closely resembles Halo 3 as you’ll be blasting your way through linear levels.

The game mixes on foot action with the occasional vehicular combat. You’ll get to use a Warthog, drive a Scorpion tank and blow up the occasional Wraith.

The action is without a doubt hectic as it is fun, finding yourself in a familiar territory fighting familiar enemies and utilising the same weapons as you did in Halo 3.

From the get go there are only a few missions to take part in and most are pretty short in length, taking no less than 30 to 45 minutes to get through each one. Undeniably, there were a few good sections that delivered good on the action and there were moments where I was left wondering how

I survived the whole encounter. We took roughly six to seven hours to finish the campaign, pretty standard for first-person shooters but we couldn’t help but feel short changed.

Multiplayer mayhem

ODST’s main multiplayer attraction is its new survival mode called Firefight. With up to three friends you will have to face wave after wave of enemies within an enclosed area.

As you clear each wave, the game ramps up the difficulty by turning on “skulls” which are conditions that modify enemy behaviour. For instance, skulls mode could equip enemies with grenades or handicapping players by forcing them to use melee attacks to recharge stamina.

HELP FROM FRIENDS: Firefight mode is a hectic battle for survival and more often than not you'll need to rely on your friends to help out in sticky situations.

It’s a fast paced cooperative game that encourages players to work together as they share a common pool of ammo, health packs and lives.

Needless to say, there’s hours of fun to be had in Firefight as the game forces everyone to stick together and fight as a team to survive.

All the factors make Firefight an enjoyable multiplayer experience that should extend the game’s shelf live long after players get bored of the campaign.

However, one major drawback to the new mode is the lack of any matchmaking element. Basically you can’t pair up with just any group of people or join an open game.

Instead, you’ll need to manually arrange for a group to play together.

That’s all fun and fair if you already have friends to play with but nevertheless the lack of matchmaking proves to be frustrating and crippling when you can’t find any of your regular mates online.

To sweeten the ODST multiplayer experience, Bungie has included Halo 3’s multiplayer game with all the maps (and three exclusive ones) on the second disc. Admittedly Halo 3 is one of the best multiplayer games to be found on the Xbox 360 apart Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, so anyone late to the party should find this to be a great addition.

However, a majority of ODST players would’ve already purchased Halo 3, so the extra content isn’t all that great.

Conclusion

Halo 3: ODST doesn’t attempt to reinvent Halo’s core gameplay but still hits the right tones which makes it an enjoyable fare for any first-person shooter fan.

It’s definitely all here — the action, story and atmosphere are well tied together to form a fun game. However, it just didn’t last long enough as the campaign was rather short.

The main draw of ODST lies in its multiplayer mode, which carries over largely the same assets and engine as Halo 3.

Firefight is a lot of good fun and it would inevitably take up most of your time and will keep you coming back for more. The second disc with all the Halo 3 multiplayer content will be appreciated by fans who missed out on the last game.

If you’re looking for something fresh, you’re not going to find it in ODST, in which case you’d best wait for Halo: Reach. But for the rest of us, it should quench our thirst for Halo games, at least for now.

Pros: Action packed campaign; night time environments, Firefight mode is a lot of fun; Halo 3 multiplayer mode with more maps.

Cons: Campaign is too short; no new innovative features.

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