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Amazon Minimum Age: 204 months
Binding: Video Game
Brand: Microsoft
EAN: 0492072203746
Edition: Collector's
ESRB Age Rating: Mature
Item Dimensions: 5975547540
Label: Microsoft
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Model: 5EA-00001
MPN: 5EA-00001
Number Of Items: 1
Platform: Xbox 360
Publication Date: 2009-09
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: September 22, 2009
Studio: Microsoft
Features:- Halo 3: ODST contains 1,750 new Xbox LIVE achievement points, as well as new weapons, technology and an invite to join the Halo: Reach beta in 2010.
- Stand-alone expansion to Halo 3 that doesn't require ownership of the previous game to play.
- New campaign, hero and tactics from the Halo universe as players take on the role of a rookie in the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers sent into New Mombasa.
- 4-player co-op "Firefight" mode offers a whole new way to play Halo with friends both via system link and over Xbox LIVE.
- Along with all the existing Halo 3 maps, ODST contains three new multiplayer Halo 3 maps: Heretic, Longshore, and Citadel.
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Halo 3: ODST for Xbox 360...Halo 3: ODST is a new game in the Halo saga that lets people experience events leading up to the epic story told in Halo 3 through the eyes of an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) as they search for clues leading to the whereabouts of their scattered squad and the motivations behind the Covenant's invasion of New Mombasa. The release adds a new dimension to an all-encompassing universe that gamers around the world have known and loved for close to eight years.
Amazon.com Product Description:
Developed exclusively for Xbox 360 by acclaimed developer Bungie, Halo 3: ODST is a new, stand-alone expansion to the Halo saga that lets players experience the events leading up to the epic story told in Halo 3 through the eyes of an entirely new character the ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper), as they search for clues leading to the whereabouts of their scattered squad and the motivations behind the Covenant's invasion of New Mombasa. The game adds a new dimension to an all-encompassing universe that gamers around the world have known and loved since the release of the first Halo game in late 2001. 
New hero, old enemy.
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Join the ODST.
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Stunning cinematics.
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New co-op multiplayer mode.
View larger. | New Campaign, New Hero, New Tactics
Much more than an expansion, Halo 3: ODST allows players to explore dangerous new ground, search the dark, abandoned streets of New Mombasa for clues, and fight back against the Covenant invasion from multiple perspectives. Dropping in as "the rookie," a new member of an elite squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST) sent into New Mombasa on a classified recon mission, you'll be armed with specialized weaponry and upgraded technology, including silenced weapons and a VISR enhanced vision mode. Separated from your squad, you'll have to scour the city for clues in order to learn what happened to Buck, Dare, Dutch, Mickey, and Romeo. As you collect new clues, you’ll experience the story from their perspectives, fighting through the occupied city hours earlier. A New Way to Play: 4-Player Co-op Firefight
Drop feet first into a new way to play Halo with the cooperative campaign mode, Firefight. Form a squad of your friends over System Link or Xbox LIVE and put your skills to the ultimate test against the invading Covenant war machine for glory, high scores, and achievements. Do battle in multiple environments, on foot or in vehicles, and against increasingly difficult waves of Covenant attackers while Halo 3's skull modifiers progressively activate to up the ante. After the Firefight, relive and review every last kill you earned and see how your high scores and stats stack up against your friends' and the community overall using Bungie.net's persistent online stats and Firefight leaderboards. 3 New Halo 3 Maps
Three all-new maps make their debut for Halo 3's traditional, chart-topping multiplayer. Heretic, Longshore, and Citadel drop in alongside the original Halo 3 multiplayer maps, all packed in and playable from one standalone disc. Twenty-four maps in all, including the Heroic, Legendary, Cold Storage, and Mythic Map Packs, provide a peerless multiplayer experience, near limitless content creation and customization via the Forge and Sandbox, and a slew of new multiplayer achievements for Halo 3. New Challenges and Achievements
For the first time, Recon Armor for use in Halo 3 multiplayer will be made available to players who complete the "Road to Recon" challenge. Earn all seven of the Vidmasters, a series of Xbox LIVE achievements that span Halo 3's Campaign and Multiplayer and Halo 3: ODST, and then visit your Bungie.net Service Record with a linked gamertag to enable your sweet new set of digital duds. If you already own Halo 3, you can get started now by collecting the "Annual" campaign achievement and the "7 on the 7th" and "Lightswitch" multiplayer achievements in matchmaking. And, if you've already downloaded the Mythic Map Pack, you can collect the hidden skulls on Assembly, Orbital, and Sandbox today. Community Features
4-Player co-op experience over Xbox LIVE or System Link, screenshots, saved films, custom Halo 3 multiplayer map and game variants via the Forge…all of the award-winning features included in Halo 3 are packed into Halo 3: ODST with an extra 1,750 available achievement points piled on for good measure. And Halo 3: ODST introduces an all-new single player experience with new characters, new weapons and technology, and the frenetic cooperative experience, Firefight, an entirely unique way to play Halo. Bungie.net Integration
What good is winning if you can't brag about it to your friends? Extend your gaming experience beyond the console with Bungie.net's expansive integration. All of your lifetime stats are aggregated into your online Service Record - every last kill, every single medal, and your entire collection of career post game carnage reports, plus robust charts, graphs, and leaderboards allow you to instantly see how you stack up against the rest of your squad and the Halo 3: ODST community at large. Invitation to the Halo: Reach Beta
As an added benefit of buying Halo 3: ODST players receive an invitation to participate in the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta due to hit Xbox LIVE in 2010. Halo: Reach is Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie's upcoming prequel to the events of the original Halo: Combat Evolved game. Based on Eric Nylund's novel "The Fall of Reach," it is packed with details surrounding the origins of the Sparten II soldiers, of which Master Chief was only one of many and the beginnings of the conflict with the Covenant and the Flood. If you want in, hold onto your copy of Halo 3: ODST and stay tuned to Bungie.net and Xbox.com for more details. |
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
THE POSITIVES
The STORY. Bungie has a new and immersive mode of storytelling throughout this game. Playing as the rookie in realtime, wandering the empty city streets while fending off patrols, is the main mode. The intense action based gameplay and story is told through the flashbacks presented through items that appear on the map HUD. Overall, the story comes together well and is enjoyable. Yet the goal to create an empathetic connection to the group as a whole is interrupted frequently by the jarring nature of jumping through timeline events.
The MUSIC. I fell in love with music of game before even playing the game. Martion O' Donnel does it again. He introduces the typical Halo landscape while exploring the subconscious need to examine the emotional undertones of the ODST story. He uses many new forms and instruments, somehow that saxophone just makes the noir feel of the game heightened to the tenth degree. Immersive and heightens the action and story of ODST.
The 30 seconds of ACTION over and over. Halo's formula is again applied to ODST. As mentioned before, the Rookie deals with solely a bunch of patrols within the city until towards the end of the game, which is complementary to the story, and helps give the player a breather after the real action. The real action is in the vignettes of the other members of the ODST crew. Fun and exciting.
The CHARACTERS. Each member is his own and have three demensionality. The team leader, the strong silent type, the explosives guy, the hard ass, the cool sniper, and the romantic female. As the story progresses, the understanding of this group dynamic shines through. The subtle interactions of playful commentary adds to the layers of character development and comedic relief. An interesting weave of characters and group character.
The polished PRESENTATION. Bungie's use of the Halo 3 engine definitely helped them develop the nice presentation of the ODST world, and more specifically the city of new Mombasa. The players Hud is different, to help differentiate from master chief to ODST and it works on multiple levels. By hitting the X button during the noir Rookie episodes, the world glows and is given depth as a scan of the area lightens the screen and pronounces the position of enemies and highlights important areas in yellow for side story info, new ODST crew flashbacks, vehicles, and Superintendent info. Its screen layout takes maybe about 15 minutes to adjust after playing Halo for years, but ultimately the player is able to adjust. The character's all seem more polished from past installments and the world is clearly a Halo world. Overall, presentation is a nice new spin for a Halo game.
THE NEGATIVES
Um, the PRICE. Once i saw the price my jaw dropped. Granted they really flushed out everything in the game, but for a 6-7 hour game, I don't understand it. Yeah you get the multiplayer maps, but i already had those from past purchases. I think Microsoft and Bungie got a little greedy and allowed for those on the fence to just buy it (i know that's what i did) just to get another Halo game.
MISSION DESIGN. For the most part the duck and cover is the main mode of how to play this game. I like that, it adds another layer of realism to the game. Yet, I found myself asking, "where do i go?" and, "well, how do i get there?" a couple of times. Of course you eventually find a way to get where you need to but can be frustrating at times. Also, WHY do games still have convoy missions? They suck if you play single player. The AI gunner seems to miss everybody and found myself getting out of the warthog every new stretch of road to take guys out on foot. Frustration! Of course this mission makes sense for the game story, but i personally found this convoy mission annoying more than anything. Overall, i love all the missions, just the convoy mission had me livid.
Annoying audio tape SIDESTORY. Honestly, the vignette audio tape thing, is being over done in the industry. Yes, Bioshock implemented and used it really wonderfully to tell its story well. Halo ODST borrows this idea (like every other FPS) and it just doesn't work for me. I felt no connection with the girl in story and found myself just blocking out what she was saying in the audio tapes. Overdone, poor side story, and annoying to listen to.
The inability to AUTOSAVE?. I played 4 hours straight. Got to just before the end of the game. Quit thinking, "well it autosaved cause every game for the past 5 years has autosaved" only to find when i rebooted it up that i had lot pretty much everything. I sat pissed for a half hour, and din't play the game for 3 weeks because of this. I just didn't want to put in all the work i just did for 4 hours straight. Major flaw, Im sorry.
RECAP
Overall the game is awesome and gives insight to the less mythical, yet best of the best, vulnerabilty ... Read More
Rating:  -
This game just feels unfinished. Its unpolished. Nothing feels right, and I rarely feel like picking it up to finish it.
Rating: -
While I was not at all impressed with ODST the multiplayer Halo3 maps are great. I wish we could get them separate.
Rating: -
So the single player campaign is kinda lame, doesn't ever feel as epic as any of the previous Halos. The levels are mostly things we've seen before, i.e. one where you are underground, one where you drive a tank on a highway etc... also the main city is very repetative. I could live with all that, but the biggest flaw is the lack of match-making in firefight. I mean, they hype up firefight as this awesome addition, which really would have been a great element in the game, BUT I HAVE YET TO PLAY IT ONLINE. Of course when I log on a few friends are playing but they're always in the middle of a game and don't want to restart. F that I am not waiting an hour until they finally die and probably wont want to play again. F you Bungie for shipping an incomplete game and charging people $60 for it. They should offer a free trade of my worthless ODST for Reach when it comes out.
Rating: -
I enjoyed all the Halo games thoroughly, and this one hangs with them all. I am a terrible multiplayer, so I usually buy and play these for the single player campaign content. This is a lot shorter than previous Halo's in that regard, but very worthy and enjoyable.
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