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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.
Product Details
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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 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.
Product Description
Developed exclusively for Xbox 360 by acclaimed developer Bungie, 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. Halo 3: ODST also introduces Firefight, a new cooperative multiplayer* mode where up to four players can assume the role of an ODST squad and fight together to take on increasingly challenging waves of enemies. Also included are three new Halo 3 multiplayer maps on a 2nd standalone disc, which includes all original Halo 3 maps, as well as the Legendary, Heroic, and Mythic Map packs for a total of 24 maps. Halo 3: ODST is available for pre-order in both a standard package and a Halo 3: ODST Collector's Pack which includes the game and a new and exclusive Wireless Controller. Those that pre-order Halo 3: ODST at participating retailers worldwide will receive a token to unlock Sgt. Johnson as a playable character in Firefight.
What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?
ok so i picked up the game at last night's midnight release and ive had enough time to check out all the new features pretty extensively including completing the short (5-6 hour) but excellent campaign, and i can say that while in my opinion the campaign shouldve released as a $30 download (ie Shivering Isles for Oblivion) the game is the same hyper active fun youve come to expect from halo.
so the next big question, "how does it feel to not be in Chief's boots for the first time?" it feels pretty great, it puts a whole new twist in the Halo franchise because for the first time even a grunt can do some damage against you in the higher difficulties, Brute's tower over you like youre a child, the feeling of being completely outgunned and yet somehow able to beat all the odds is a great feeling, the firefights in the campaign often have an intensity never met in the original Halo 3.
Firefight is a total blast especially with the full team of four, the premise? in this gameplay mode you must annihilate wave after wave of enemies until you finally cant survive the onslaught. drop ships provide enemy reinforcements so there are no breaks between rounds. similar to Horde Mode from GoW2.
controls feel exactly like classic halo with the exception of night vision in the campaign due to 90% of it taking place at night. i liked how everything has a glowing outline in night vision, making everything vivid, easy to navigate, and targets easy to spot in the dark.
so for $60 what are you really getting? whats the full package?
- a fantastic, albiet short, semi-open-world 4 player co op campaign
- all multiplayer maps appear to have been revamped graphically
- every single multiplayer map, DLC inluded, on one disc
- 3 new maps not included on halo 3
- inluding the highly anticipated remake of Mothership
- Firefight (see above for info)
if you own a 360 and dont have Halo 3 already, or if youre just hungry for some fresh Halo action, this is the way to go; although, i can see how some would have issues with the price and general content of the package included. it basically is a glorified expansion pack, i honestly wouldve liked a few more new multiplayer maps for the money, but its as fun as halo ever was with a new type of campaign that feels so fresh, unique, and inviting you just have to see it. the fact that the graphics engine, and everything it has produced, seem to have received a nice overhaul doesnt hurt either. the new content looks fantastic and all the old maps look better than ever.
I was among those who are displeased about the price tag, but yesterday, the fan in me ended up buying the game. ODST IS WORTH IT!
I think that those who buy ODST will love it and feel it's worth it, those who don't, will keep complaining about it, and those who rent it will (try to) convince themselves that it ain't worth it no matter how much they play it.
Graphics: 4/5 - old engine that's starting to show its age, some sections of feel generic in terms of level design. It's a shame that the recon HUD is so essential (wish we had a flash light a la Master Chief as well, so we could enjoy more the dark film noir atmosphere of the night intermissions.)
Sound: 4.5/5 - the sfx lack punch, but it's because the master audio is preset so that there no obnoxious moments that require you to turn down your speakers, and you're always able to hear everything, including dialogue during action. And the bgm is arguably the best in Halo yet, it feels so fresh. That's saying a lot since the earlier games have superb soundtracks on their own.
Gameplay: 4.5/5 - it's Halo, you either hate it or love it. It's extremely polished and smooth, but it's doesn't offer anything new, but as it comes, it couldn't be more responsive.
Value: 5/5 - Great campaign, 4p co-op, Firefight--a mode that may give GoW2's Horde a run for its money, and all of Halo 3's MP content (21 maps) in addition of 3 new maps. (I've stopped playing H3 reguarly about 15 mos. after its release, and I didn't buy the extra content so there might be more value for me. And even, I don't get back into MP scenes, I'm still satisfied with Disc 1's content.
Final score 4.5/5
I don't know why everybody keeps stresses how short the campaign is. I'm playing on Heroic and finding all of the recordings, and the campaign is easily longer than 9 hours, which in all honesty is around the average length of most AAA current gen action games, and longer than some games (RE5, CoD, GoW, Killzone, etc...) I'm on my way to find the last member of the crew, and I'm already 9 hours into it, so, if you don't rush, and really respect the pace of the game, you'll forget that you expected to be playing an expansion, it's that good.
I think that the flow of the campaign is very fitting. People who complain are those who think that every game has to have the same length as Fallout 3, or haven't played it at all, so they don't realize that quality always trumps over quantity. If you've enjoyed past Halo game you will love ODST once you get past the negative feeback (price, old engine--hello! L4D? I don't see people bitching, no master chief--I love him, but the story in ODST can stand on its own, and it's very refreshing to experience the human side of the conflict from the civilians perspective.) Who is the Rookie? It's you.
If you enjoyed past Halo games, BUY ODST.
If you hate Halo, this will not do much to change you mind.
If you love Horde, Zombies (L4D, CoD WaW), give it a try.
Halo has a strange place in videogame industry now since it's become a record breaker as much as its become the target of much malign with cries of "generic FPS" and "overrated" often heard more frequently than car horns in the city. Now I'm one of those kind of weird guys that will admit sometimes even the best things can have a few imperfections so I'll say that the Halo series does as much things right whereas in other areas it is disappointing to see Bungie not learn from past mistakes. With ODST, the game presents a departure from the main series and it's hard to say whether it's an expansion or a full blown game but it's certainly different enough to set it apart, only slightly since that is the problem with ODST and in a way with the Halo series, they do things exceptionally well; they just rely on that way too often.
Story: The story takes place in between the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3 when a Covenant ship does a slipspace jump right in the middle of the Earth city of New Mombasa. You play as the Rookie, an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) who's separated from the rest of his squad members and wanders the streets of New Mombasa searching for his fellow ODST's but also the reason why the Covenant are so interested in New Mombasa and what lies under it. The game goes back and forth between Rookie's nighttime search and his teammates encounters with the Covenant during the day.
Graphics: Halo 3 was one of those kind of games where from an art design standpoint it does look cool and even has a lot of unique qualities to it but it wasn't one of those games that really showed off what the Xbox 360 was capable of. ODST is simliar in that everything looks nice and things are animated well but there's also things that aren't that stellar. For example, the ship that slipspace jumped caused damage to the city but aside from some cars and UNSC/Covenant vehicles, it doesn't actually look all that devastated. One slight change is the new visor which makes it more easier to see in the dark as well as having allies and foes color-coordinated to easily tell them apart. Not a completely gorgeous game that I'm sure Uncharted 2 and Modern Warfare 2 will bring but works well enough.
Sound/Music: Here's the big surprise, the soundtrack in this game is fan-****ing-tastic. The typical energetic themes that happen when things start to get more shoot-y are still there but there's also a tinge of solemn themes and melancholy with some...light jazz? Yeah, there's some piano here and it's kind of haunting and although to some it might not fit the tone of the nighttime scenes, that sense of loneliness is captured quite well. As far as voice acting, only ones that really do their jobs well is the main voice actors, especially Nathan Fillon (Mal from "Firefly") but your squad members are still the same boneheaded kinds, you know the "hey, save some for me!" kind. One thing I also loved was the sound design on the weaponry, playing on headphones they had such a nice kick to them.
Gameplay: What sets ODST apart from the main series is the progression where it's slightly more open ended where the encounters with the Covenant are not as frequent during the nighttime but then the daytime shifts to the more epic encounters including vehicle sections. It's kind of a strange pace because the nighttime scenes are slow and light on action than poof, shootout galore but also it might feel slightly dull since there's not much to the Rookie segments other than the occasional shootout. Oh and the Rookie isn't the Master Chief not only in character but in skills. He can't jump as high, survive a high fall, his melee is somewhat pathetic on Heroic (my first difficulty setting, nicely balanced for once) and his health is similar to the first Halo where you have shields while you have a health meter you need to replenish with health packs. There's a bit more strategy into this now since you can't go in guns blazing now and even Hunters, which were a bit more "sigh, these guys..." to "ohhhhh ****". And like Halo 3, you can play the campaign co-op for all those who want extra help to tackle Legendary or at least just for kicks so the more irritating encounters are a bit more manageable.
Added to ODST is "Firefight" which to put it in simpler, and I'm sure familiar terms, is the ODST version of Horde mode from Gears of War 2. Basic rundown is this: you and up to 3 others take on wave after wave of Covenant in hopes of surviving to the next round. After a certain time, the skulls get turned on which change around the tactics of the battlefield. One round you might have a skull where they love to throw grenades with reckless abandon while another has you having to melee in order to get your shields back up. The nice thing about this mode is that it's a bit more frantic since the maps are a bit bigger, the vehicles are added and all the goodies from the campaign are included such as turrets you can rip off and riding around on ghosts and even wraiths. There's 2 complaints I have, the first being the bigger one: there's no matchmaking. What this means is that say you feel in the mood for some Firefight and you want buddies well unlike Gears, you have to invite people in and set matches up which can feel frustrating when everyone's in their own game or not answering. The other complaint is that if one player leaves the game, it screws everybody up and matches entirely ended simply because one player got disconnected or left and while on occasion, gameplay resumed after a few slight hiccups, a lot of times we get good games going than poof, the game decides to end the match even though nobody actually quit or left.
The other thing included with ODST is actually disc 2, which Bungie dubbed the "Complete Multiplayer Experience". What this means is that the entire multiplayer from Halo 3 is on disc 2 with every single map pack added along with 3 new maps: Orbital, Longshore and Citadel. Of course this is quite the benefit for players to now have 24 maps to play on but then...if you're a Halo fan you most likely already have Halo 3 in addition to all the map packs, paid for or free and having to spend additional money for a multiplayer you already have just for 3 maps is where all the ire is coming from in reviews and fans. Bungie probably could've released disc 1 separately and either have disc 2 a pre-order/limited edition bonus or release the map pack on Xbox Live. As far as the multiplayer is concerned it's the same as ever: fun with lots of maps and gameplay options and plenty of achievements yet just as much racists, homophobes and young, annoying kids as before. Guess that's the price you pay for a fun MP: have to put up with a whole legion of players who love to throw around swear words and racial slurs.
Is ODST worth 60? (Price at the store was 64.99 but whatever). Probably not but is it at least worth a buy. I'd say so since Firefight once you actually start a match is quite addicting and for those who never played Halo 3's multiplayer will have a blast but for super hardcore fans, having a short campaign, a co-op multiplayer with no matchmaking and an MP you most likely already own might grind your gears a little bit.
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