I should've known something was different when I didn't feel the urge to keep up on all the latest news regarding Halo 3: ODST. I never waited around and counted the days until the game was released. I never felt compelled to fork tons of cash over just to own a replica helmet that serves no purpose in my room. Despite a solid campaign and all the multiplayer goodness you could ask for, it still feels like there's a spark missing when it comes to Bungie's latest offering.

ODST

The story of Halo 3: ODST takes place between Halo 2 and Halo 3, chiefly concerning itself with New Mombasa. Instead of playing as the standby hero Master Chief, you play as The Rookie, a wet behind the ear recruit of the ODST – an elite group of soldiers who fight to the death and take as many Covenant as they can along the way. When a mission goes horribly wrong, it's up to The Rookie to scout around and try to learn what happened to his fellow squad. Is The Rookie going to save his teammates? Is it The Rookie who needs saving by his team?

For the most part, ODST feels like every other Halo game; the only big difference is you don't feel as god like, as the ODST soldiers you control are definitely more human and don't have the snazzy armor of Master Chief. As an ODST soldier you'll have to plan your strategies more, learn when to attack, and when to take cover in order to recover. You'll also have to use health packs for once in the franchise's history, so be sure to watch for stations positioned throughout the game.

The campaign of ODST is fairly brief, clocking in anywhere from 6-10 on normal depending on if you take your time, blow by enemies, and look for unlockable audio files. While it's harder to connect to the story since Master Chief is nowhere to be seen, the developers did a great job at making your squad likable individuals, and I love the way the story unfolds for the most part. It's a little boring walking through the HUB city, but I thought it was clever how you search for items your teammates left behind, then watch through a playable cutscene level as you watch how that came to be. You see a sniper rifle hanging from a wire – how did it get there? Seeing how that rifle ended up where it did is ultimately what makes the story worthwhile.

New Visor

Though you're not the toughest soldier, you do have a few new weapons and gadgets helping you out. First up are two new weapons, including a new submachine gun and pistol. The biggest new technological breakthrough, however, is your visor, which you can turn on and off with the press of a button. The visor serves several purposes – one of which is allowing you to see where destination markers are on the map. The visor is also useful in combat situations, as it can help you see in the dark, and a special filter places highlights around objects to tell you what they are, such as enemies appearing with red outlines. Another helper is New Mombasa's Superintendent, the city's AI that you download in the opening moments of the game. The Superintendent acts as a helper, subtly leading you through the city, by lighting up detour signs and using lighted passages to direct you towards the way you need to be heading.

ODST also comes with a brand-new mode called Firefight, which is basically Bungie's take on the Horde mode from Gears of War 2. Up to four players can play at once, but you have to be Xbox Live friends, as you can't randomly match-up with one-time players. It's a bit disappointing you can't play with random strangers, but then again it probably wouldn't be that fun with all the non-friendly arguing and yelling happening. Once a player or group loads the mode up, players find themselves in an arena like area, which is soon invaded by a number of Covenant soldiers. Enemies come in waves, which gradually change and get harder the longer you survive. What starts as nothing but an area full of Grunts soon transitions into a handful of Brutes, then flying bugs, and warhammer wielding Brutes and so on and so on. Players are rewarded points for the amount of enemies they kill and the way they do it: multiple killings in a row, several deaths at once, etc. The player/team only has a handful of lives with which to use, however, so once all those lives are gone the mode ends, points are tabulated, and you then get ranked on the leaderboards. Firefight is an insanely fun mode for those looking to quickly jump into ODST and get slaughtering aliens left and right, plus it really is a challenging mode.

All of that is just the first disc of the game, as the second disc is the full Halo 3 multiplayer experience, including every map pack released by Bungie, plus a few new ones to top it all off. As someone who never bought any of the map packs, being able to get them all here in one easy to access place is great, but I can see how diehard Halo fans would be disappointed, since they've previously already forked out money for all the maps prior to now. You at least won't have to start over, as all of your experience and records from playing Halo 3 naturally transition over to ODST. You can change the armor of your personal character, save movies, take screenshots, build levels, etc. The second disc contains everything you either loved or hated about Halo 3's multiplayer: all the maps, game types, and matchmaking options are all here and should feel familiar for those veteran players.

When talking about multiplayer, it's also important to point out that beyond the Halo 3 multiplayer and ODST Firefight mode, the single-player campaign of the game can also be experienced by up to four players as well.

Hunters

ODST is a nice looking game…certainly the best looking installment of the Halo franchise yet. With that being said, however, the graphics do feel somewhat dated and too familiar now, when compared to how the series has advanced and what other games of this generation are doing with the power of the Xbox 360. It's not a bad looking game at all, but it's starting to feel too mundane. The new visor filter is a nice graphical touch, but you're almost forced to use it too much, because the blacks of the game are almost too black, so it's sometimes hard to see stairs and rooms in the dark (especially when doing split-screen co-op). The audio aspects of the game, however, are stellar and really impress. First up, the game has a wonderful professional voice acting cast, which includes a mini Firefly/Serenity reunion by way of Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, and Adam Baldwin playing members of the ODST squad. The no-name voice actors behind the Covenant and random soldiers also do a great job at providing hilarious one-liners. ODST also features a soundtrack that's as fantastic as past games in the series. One of my favorite songs in the whole franchise is actually a brand-new piece and often takes place after coming out of a flashback back to the HUB world; it's a haunting and sad piece that's really touching when overplayed with the happenings in the game's story.

The biggest problem with recommending Halo 3: ODST is that there's too many factors playing into whether it's a good purchase for you or not. The single-player is fun and tells a good story, but it's short and it does lack somewhat of that spark that has made the Halo franchise so stellar. The Firefight mode is another great addition, so that's one to put in the plus column too. The biggest negative is that second disc – the multiplayer only disc. If you love Halo 3's multiplayer but never picked any of the maps up, the game is almost a definite buy to get the complete package. If you own all the maps that have been released up until now, however, is paying $60 for a short campaign, a brand-new mode, and a couple of maps really worth it? It's a call you'll have to ultimately make, but I will tell you that it's a nice package, though not "as special" as past games in the series.

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