With less than a month to go before Halo 3: ODST launches, we wanted to give the fans a bit of an early impression. We sat down and checked out the first mission of the game.
The mission starts with you getting out of a dropship in a dead-quiet and seemingly destroyed city. The ODST team is lost and it is up to you to find them and find out exactly what’s going on. Instead of having the boring HUD from the past games, you will be introduced to an all new VISR or visor for us common present day folk.
The VISR in is an upgraded version of the HUD. With your new HUD, you are able to see in dark places as well as identify enemies quickly from afar. Another added feature in ODST is the ability to acquire a map and look at it in a bird’s eye view. Mission objectives and waypoints can also be tracked. In certain parts of the game, you’ll be able to use your VISR to scan your surroundings for clues and hints on what to do next. If you’ve played Arkham Asylum then think back to detective mode, it’s very similar to that.
The health bar has also been revamped. Instead of the health bar appearing on the lower left corner of the screen, it is now in the upper center of the HUD. You still get your shield and your life bar, but there’s no auto-recovery this time around, so those of you who are used to hiding and recovering will have to think of a new strategy. A handful of Medical Kiosks will be scattered throughout the level, you use those to heal yourself.
The gameplay in ODST seems a lot better than in Halo 3. The controls are intact and mostly the same. So far the single player seems solid, but unfortunately we didn’t get to check out the multiplayer in this build.
It took about an hour to complete the first mission. So far, Halo 3: ODST is looking to be a Game of the Year contender. With no bias intended, Halo 3: ODST is a fresh take on what was beginning to be a very tired series. It may feel the same, but the gameplay is somehow different which is always a plus.
Stay tuned for our review of this game in three weeks!
JQQQ
September 3, 2009 at 8:45 AMI dont care anymore about the halo series i loved the first one only for multilayer. To me the halo story in general is lame. Part 2 and 3 just never interested me at all even after i tried to play the multiplayer and get into it I could not. And damn whoever keeps saying that the HALO franchise will become as big and good as the star wars franchise. How could it be as good as star wars if the story sucks donkey balls.
HALOcrap
September 3, 2009 at 10:29 AMGreat already hyping a new Halo game for ‘GOTY’ by media websites. Why I am not surprised in the least? I bet its gonna be 5/5 right? Overated POS!
mr.dick
September 3, 2009 at 11:31 AMhalo: odst is definintely the game of the year and not just a Contender. it’s so much better in every way (from story, control scheme, precision and accuracy of said controls, lvl design, gfx, sound design, soundtrack, and everything else) than any shooter ever created on any consoles. the only game that comes close is the gears of war series. everything else is pure p.o.s. lmao i’ll bet that every1 of the losers in this world who has a console will play cod6 or some wannabe shooter like those that showed up on sony’s p.o.s console.
passerotto
September 3, 2009 at 3:18 PMi think this is tooo old tecnically for goty.
judono
September 3, 2009 at 6:37 PMwhy are you fuckers who are commentin’ hatin?…get a fuckin life.
name
September 4, 2009 at 12:12 AMtheres no freakin way halo 3.5 will get GOTY.
theres so many better games coming this year like COD MW2 assassins creed 2 borderlands alpha protocol Batman Arkham Asylum Opperation flashpoint 2 dragons rising darksiders section 8 left for dead 2 forza 3 GT5 (hopefully) god of war collection uncharted 2 ratchet and clank a crack in time eyepet ninja gaiden sigma 2.
brutal legend has a better chance of getting game of the year than halo 3.5