HOW has it taken me this long to play Halo 3: ODST?! (my review)

[docbell1516]

ODST is the penultimate entry in the classic era, a standalone expansion for Halo 3, and an interquel set during the second and third acts of Halo 2 depicting an Orbital Drop Squad who end up playing a critical role in the UNSC and Sanghelli's discovery of the Portal to the Ark. And not only is it a solid test run for Reach's grit and protagonist mortality, but it's brilliant. Why? Two words:


"Halo NOIR".
That's right, ODST is basically a noir thriller in the Halo universe; The story after the drop begins In Medias Res, The Rookie basically serves as a detective investigating to their whereabouts in the frame narrative, said frame narrative is steeped in melancholic ominousness and night skies, You play as the rest of the squad in flashbacks as the mystery begins to reveal itself, you discover audio logs which further pushes you to solve the mystery and of course, the music in the frame narrative makes use of Jazz instruments.
And I love every second of it.
Oh, and there's more of what you love from the base game: solid characters, good writing, awesome setpieces etc. Short, but sweet. If you want something different from the traditional fare, play ODST.

[Deco]

It is a really amazing game.

[acSiegemaster]

...if you know Ensemble made Wars, why include it in "the middle of the experimental phase of Bungie's experimentation with the franchise" (lol redundant)? Bungle actively opposed Ensemble making wars, and had minimal if any involvement while being hostile to Ensemble.

Anyways, ODST had a good style and writing, but it didn't make me "feel like an odst" as many dubiously claim. Not a bad game, but the gameplay was too close to base h3 to have better immersion in the gameplay angle.

[docbell1516]

Originally posted by acSiegemaster:

...if you know Ensemble made Wars, why include it in "the middle of the experimental phase of Bungie's experimentation with the franchise" (lol redundant)? Bungle actively opposed Ensemble making wars, and had minimal if any involvement while being hostile to Ensemble.

I edited my comment with this in mind, thanks.
And side note, I think 3 and ODST are the only games in the series from Bungie's tenure after CE where playing with centred crosshairs is a necessity. The viewmodels are just so squished by default.

[jeffy]

honestly thought odst was worst and booring

[Jernas]

Originally posted by jeffy:

honestly thought odst was worst and booring

Yeah, it is my least favourite of the bunch. It isn't bad per se, but it's not up there with the rest of them.

[Fastspectre]

halo odst is awesome
might be because it's just a total homage (maybe more then a homage) to dantes inferno
also no BR no Button combos, the only bs still weapons that don't headshot