Arguably the biggest franchise on the Xbox 360, Microsoft and Bungee are back with another Halo game, this time however, without the familiar hero Master Chief. ODST was originally intended as a standalone expansion pack, but after adding a few new features, like Firefight, and changing its name, it’s been bumped up to a full-priced game. Does it justify a $60 retail price? Yes and no. Yes, if you’re a die hard Halo fan, no if you’re a die hard FPS fan — because your $60 are probably better spent on Modern Warfare 2, especially if you already own Halo 3, but that’s another discussion.

In ODST, you play as “Rookie”, a rookie soldier who’s dropping in for the first time with the Operation Drop Squad Troopers (ODST). However, things don’t go as planned and you find yourself alone, surrounded by enemies and must now fight your way through a city to reach your comrades.

The campaign takes place just before Halo 3 (in case you care about the Halo time line), and follows you through the usual Halo settings — from tight indoor combat to large outdoor battles, it’s all in ODST. If you’ve played Halo 3, you’ll feel right at home, as everything is pretty much how you know it. The story in ODST, while nothing special, is told in bits and pieces as you play along, revealing details about your squad mates and what happened to them and you actually get to play the sequences your squad mates were in. While it’s not completely original in terms of storytelling, it’s refreshing to have in a franchise like Halo. And true to every other “exploring” plot, there are audio tapes which you can find around that give you more of the story.

The multiplayer has always been an important part of Halo, and Halo 3 had some of the best multiplayer on the Xbox 360. Luckily, the entire Halo 3 multiplayer portion has been brought over to ODST, which includes all the maps and modes. However, there hasn’t been any improvements or changes, it’s the same thing you’ll find in Halo 3, which is kinda disappointing, even though you do get three new maps. But it doesn’t seem nearly enough for a full-priced game. It won’t hurt, however, if you haven’t played Halo 3. In addition, there’s 4 player co-op and Firefight, the new co-op mode. In Firefight, you play with friends and have the job of defending an area that’s stormed by enemies, and each wave is getting tougher and tougher. It’s an exciting mode and definitely one of the best features in ODST.

Technically, the game looks decent, definitely on par with Halo 3. However, it obvious that the Halo 3 engine is getting old and is in need for an update. There textures are low resolution compared to newer games, the lighting is awkward at times, and the levels tend to look the same at times — there’s a very solid feeling of “cut and paste” level design that you only see in cheap titles. It definitely shouldn’t be in Halo. In conclusion, Halo 3 ODST will probably satisfy the hard core Halo fans, as the campaign, while repetitive at times, is satisfying and the Firefight mode is a great addition. However, it still seems a tad too expensive, as it has a feeling of an expansion pack that has only has copy/pasted the multiplayer mode from Halo 3.

The Good:
Solid campaign
Firefight is awesome

The Bad:
Multiplayer doesn’t include anything new
Visuals somewhat dated
Overpriced

Overall score: 7/10