The first thing you notice about ODST is that there is no Master Chief, the main character from the first three Halo games.
Halo3: ODST
Xbox 360
Bungie
Simon Kemp
Four Stars (out of 5)
Instead, you play as a team of ODSTs (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers), beginning six hours after a botched attack on New Mombasa.
The team is sprinkled throughout the Covenant-occupied city and your first task is to take control of a trooper known only as The Rookie, and discover what happened to his team.
The Rookie has to navigate his way through dark streets and buildings looking for clues to the whereabouts of his fellow troopers, a task aided by a new addition to the franchise, the VISR, a heads up display which acts not only as map and inventory but also as a guide to where your enemies are: bad guys are outlined in red, good guys in green.
This gives the player the option to try a stealthy approach and avoid enemies, but more often than not just gives you an idea of how many you are up against.
Once you have located a clue, you are treated to a cut scene (the most detailed of the franchise so far) which fills in a bit of story and then takes over as the trooper you have located and re-enacts his time since the ill-fated attack began.
This character-driven plot is a welcome change from the standard Halo storylines as, this time, there actually is a story.
The previous games campaign modes have been dodgy to say the least, but this time Bungie have come up trumps.
As the story unfolded I was genuinely interested to find out what was going to happen, not just desperate to get to the end of the level.
The only drawback is that the whole thing is a bit short.
ODST was initially meant to be an add-on to Halo 3 and one drawback of this is the size - all told the campaign mode will only last you five or six hours.
The other is that, VISR apart, there's nothing else that's noticeably new - we've seen all the enemies and most of the weapons before.
Despite that, I still reckon it's the best Halo storyline so far.
The contrast between The Rookie's dark, lonely (and sometimes tiresome) search for clues and the bright, action-filled flashback sequences makes for a good balance of play instead of the usual full on laser-fest.
In terms of multiplayer, ODST is a bit of an online players dream.
Not only do you get a second disc with all of the Halo DLC map packs plus three new maps but you also get a brand new mode, Firefight.
In Firefight, four players join forces to defeat wave after wave of randomly generated Covenant forces.
You share a single pool of lives and the difficulty increases over time as the game progresses by activating Skulls that either help your enemies or hinder your team.
The large number and variety of maps and the unpredictability of the enemies makes Firefight one of the most fun, challenging Halo multiplayer modes to date and will keep fans happy until Halo 4 arrives.
Graphically, the game is better looking than Bungie's previous offerings, especially in the cut scenes which are lit and detailed brilliantly.
The sound is excellent as well.
The score and sound effects are a great improvement on Halo 3.
The only negative is that the whole thing does feel like an expansion pack, as opposed to a full game.
If you've already got all the DLC you are only really getting three new maps, a brief campaign and Firefight, which makes it a bit expensive as it's priced as a full game.
Overall, if you love multiplayer and haven't got all the maps, buy it - if not maybe borrow a mate's copy first.
