Of all the Halo titles, the one that always got me most curious was Halo 3: ODST. A very different approach to story and tone, the more open world like game design and even the uneven fan reception were things that got me interested and now that I’ve finally played it in the Master Chief Collection, I have to say that it was right for me to be intrigued. Maybe this will turn out to be not the best campaign in Halo games, but I’m sure it will remain one of the most unique ones.
Mechanically, Halo 3: ODST isn’t wildly different from what was done in Halo 3 when it comes to the FPS basics. You can’t dual-wield and you have a health meter that needs to be healed via medkits, similarly to how health worked in the first Halo game. But other than that, the shooting and enemy encounters are more or less the same. What is completely different, however, is the overall game structure. As part of the ODST team (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers), the player character Rookie gets dropped on the New Mombasa streets at about the same time as stuff is happening in Halo 2. Things go wrong, the Rookie gets knocked out and wakes up several hours later alone.
What this leads to is an open-level design, where playing as Rookie you get to run around the streets of the city while trying to find signs of the team. You start with lots of the city being blocked off, but as the game goes on, more of it opens up. As you find any point of interest a short cutscene transitions the players into the perspective of another member of the team and shows what was happening while the Rookie was out. These missions play out more like traditional linear Halo levels. But in between these missions, you’re free to explore the city and learn more about the backstory of the game. The path through the game is linear overall, as in – the flashback missions become available in the chronological order, but even with that the feel of the game is different.
The story is a completely different beast either. Instead of the epic space opera from the main games or even the sad heroic war story from Reach, ODST is more like a fake documentary about the ODST team, where every team member has some sort of over the top personality trait and the mood of it all is less about dangers of war and more about the feel of adventure. Several of the Firefly actors provide voices for the game and it seems that the series may have been a huge influence on the tone of the game. There are also occasional Blade Runner-esque vibes, with the neo-noir jazzy soundtrack during the rainy night exploration of the city. And all of that, combined with the fact that the Covenant are still more cartoony than imposing in this game, adds up to a very unique mood. It’s not fantastic, but it’s entertaining and fun.
Which is, probably, what I liked the most about Halo 3: ODST – it focuses on being fun, on being an adventure. And I’ve had far more fun with it than with any of the main numbered titles up until now. It lacks some of the genuinely good character moments or truly exciting elements that Halo 2 had, but it’s also very light on things that feel annoying or unnecessary. The game also lasts about as much as it should, being a bit too short, but at least never overstaying the welcome. And while I’m not sure I can specifically recommend it to people who are not interested in Halo universe at all, I can still safely recommend the game as being a really fun FPS.