The Forty/Sixty Rule
5*Star The General

The Halo franchise never changes. Frankly, it’s not like Bungie has to change their winning formula. They, in my opinion, perfected console first person shooters, advancing the genre in terms of gameplay mechanics, visuals and stellar AI.  But I must admit, from the first announcement of Halo 3: Recon, my thoughts were “Here we go again-another Halo…” How many more times can Microsoft cash in on this name. After following the details of the game for months, even after an intelligent decision to change the name to ODST, my skepticism started to change. Promising new innovations and a new story arc, this could be the best in the series since the original Halo.

Truth be told, I had a hard time putting this review together. Halo 3: ODST is a good game. It’s just not worth $60.  I’ve played this game three times before this iteration. Hell, I’ll probably put it up after about two weeks of playing it. This is why I can’t understand why Microsoft would not do the fans of the franchise a favor and release this fan service for $40. The game is short and the story is spotty at best.  More questions will be raised about the Halo Universe than answered. I left the game trying to still figure out who “The Rookie” really is. The mission structure is questionable. I still, for the life of me, cannot understand why no one gives games a linear structure anymore. In ODST’s case, it’s not go anywhere-do anything. It’s just that some missions can be played out of order, leaving you to piece different parts of the story together. Then, the controls are just not as spot on like other Halo titles either. It’s hard to explain. They just feel “floaty”. Also, where is the option to map my buttons?  And the graphics…oh God, the graphics are LOW-RES (640p?!). This is a huge problem in my eyes. I mean, here we have a storied franchise which is still not completely high-def yet. WTF?!

But with all of my complaints, there is still one constant that cannot be taken away. This is still Halo, and the tried-and-true gameplay formula still works somehow.  The weapons, as always, are cool. The vehicular combat shines as usual. The enemies are varied, and the AI is stellar at best.  Also, the new “visor” effect is always entertaining. It just gives you a new way to look at Halo’s world, or New Mombasa for that matter in a different light. To Bungie's credit, even with my complaints about the game's resolution, the framerate is stable and the textures look like they are the best in the series thus far. Lastly, the multiplayer mode is built for everyone this time around, even the casual. The firefight 4-player co-op mode is still a knockoff of Gears’ Horde Mode, but it plays a little differently in ODST.  Defeating waves of enemies introduces new gameplay complications tagged as "skulls" that cause all enemies to react differently. For instance, they may intelligently evade danger or toss more grenades at you. It makes the multiplayer experience more dynamic, giving it a layer of depth not seen in many titles.

In closing, Halo 3: ODST is a Halo game made for Halo fans (the million plus of them!) The game won’t win any awards for game of the year or anything like that. The lead character isn’t memorable and the story is sub-par. The saving grace is the multiplayer, which is always fun with your peeps. But that is still not enough to warrant spending $60 on this title. That is bullshit. I wish Microsoft would have actually thought about the millons we've already spent on this francise, and released this game at the price it is worth, which Is 40 bucks. X360

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