Halo: ODST To Continue The Fight On Xbox 360

by Dave Taylor

Halo has always been the Xbox's flagship game, and so it's comes as no surprise that after we "finished the fight" in Halo 3, Bungie and Microsoft have found a way to take us back to the Halo universe. The new game, Halo: ODST (Orbital Drop Shop Trooper, if you're interested) does at least promise some new ideas.

The first surprise is that Master Chief is nowhere to be found - the helmeted icon is not your character in Halo: ODST. Instead you play a rookie soldier, and unsurprisingly the game starts in a drop ship, preparing for the next drop. After a brief intro, your drop on a Covenant ship goes wrong, with your pod seeming to break and you fall to what must be your demise. Only to awake alone hours later, alone.

The game then becomes a search for the missing hours, playing the rookie and the rest of the team through a series of flashbacks. It's a lot more varied than previous Halo games, and certainly creates an engaging story. One thing gamers will notice in Halo: ODST is that as you play as a human rather than a Spartan (the amped up Master Chief character is a Spartan), the character is slower and can't jump as far.

The campaign mode for Halo: ODST also shows off another big change since Halo 3, namely the graphics. It's a noticeable improvement, and one Bungie puts down to being able to use an existing engine and concentrate on the details rather than the technology. Whatever the reason, it's one of Halo 3's flaws rectified.

Halo: ODST wouldn't be a Halo game without multiplayer though, and while it uses the Halo 3 mode for competitive games, Halo: ODST does have a new collaborative mode. Named Firefight, it will be familiar to gamers who have played Gears of War 2's Horde mode, as it sees four of you taking on wave after wave of Covenant forces and just trying to stay alive for as long as possible.

Still, while Horde always felt like defensive play, Halo: ODST at least starts out with the feeling that you are on the attack, and you can rack up decent points by playing offensively.

If you like teaming up for some gaming, then Halo: ODST's Firefight mode is a great experience. Having played it, there's no doubt that the seven lives shared among you and your team mates can quickly run out.

As always with Xbox 360 games, there's the question of downloadable content. Originally Bungie claimed there were no plans for Halo: ODST DLC, but having seen the box for Halo: ODST, there is a listing for downloadable content, which indicates that there will be extras, probably the form of map packs.

Halo: ODST is set for release exclusively on the Xbox 360 in September 2009. It has been developed by the original developers of Halo, Bungie and will be published by Microsoft. The anticipation is that it will be a worldwide success for the Xbox 360, and once you've played it, there's no reason to believe otherwise.

About the Author:

Dave Taylor is a professional games writer and the Publishing Director for GamerZines.com. You can read hands-on coverage and the Halo: ODST preview from GamerZines, and more in their free digital Xbox 360 magazine, 360Zine.