Halo 3: ODST

So, I'm one of those guys who pre-ordered the game for Sgt. Johnson.

So now I've played the game and my first impressions are good. It's different from Halo 3 for sure. If you're a badass you can still rush in and blow away everybody, but ideally you should try more strategy. Sneaking, gorilla warfare, and the helmet that detects enemies ads a new kind of strategy to the game. You got a little bit of sneaking action in the earlier Halo games, especially the first, with situations commonly showing up where you'll find Covenant who are on patrol or sleeping, but this game makes patrol situations more frequent, and the covenant come in big squads. The graphics are even better than Halo 3 if you can believe that. It was only a matter of time before the Silencer paid a visit to the Halo universe and it's done so in the standard issue Shock Trooper SMG. Your pistol is also pretty quiet. But the silence is understandable because sneaking is sometimes needed.

There's also the addition of health machines. These things are like the Health Packs from Halo 1, but in the form of a mounted machine instead. Oh, and they talk.

Possible drawbacks:
-You can't dual-wield in this one. It's somewhat disappointing, but also understandable. US Army soldiers never pick up an AK-47 off a dead soldier and shoot it with their left hand while still shooting an M16 in their right. The lack of dual-wielding is not as fun, but it IS more professional. It's more realistic, which is neat. You couldn't Dual-wield in Halo 1 and that's still my favorite of the series, so it's not really a major issue.
-Campaign issues. A friend of mine who's further in the game than I am had a glitch where whenever he beats a certain mission it goes back to the first level. He beat those same missions 3 times and the story didn't progress past that point. He didn't get to the end, the game just had an issue. I don't know if this will happen to other people or not, but it's a  problem that'll probably be fixed in an update. Unless it's an issue with his Xbox. I haven't gotten far enough yet to confirm his story.
-Gun changes. Fans might notice small differences in the guns, such as changed plasma colors.

I'll add more as I play through the game. These are all just early observations.

the only animefan post that doesn't suck dicks. I agree the game was short and it felt like Halo:CE not worth a buy but definitely worth a rental.

I didn't read the long winded post, but I am definitely enjoying it. Thanks Bungie for getting something right!

Also, I didn't preorder it but I got Johnson :B

gorilla warfare

hahaha sword you are awesome.

I played a round of firefight last night at my friend's house.
I'm really impressed actually, I just wish there were more guns ._.

I got to test the game out myself today. I was doubtful, but surprisingly this game is actually pretty solid.

There were a couple things that impressed me:
- The campaign is actually interesting. The stories of each ODST takes place at different times of the day, and you get to see the city in multiple perspectives. They did a real good job with atmosphere in the rookie's sections where he runs around exploring the city.
- A map. Jesus christ this was the best thing ever to be done in Halo. Why didn't master chief have one? You can set way points and everything.
- Visor thing that lets you see highlighted environment. This is similar to Perfect Dark's threat detector. Again, why the hell doesn't any of the spartans get this? The only drawback is that it sucks during daylight.
- Bioshock style story telling. With the items you pick up that act as recordings.
- Every human gun has a zoom function. I was playing this co-op with my friend and he literally sniped the entire game with a pistol.
- The music is pretty good. I like how there's an atmospheric blue jazz whenever you're the rookie, and then not overly epic rock when you're the other guys.
- You can carry 3 of each grenade type. And grenades are more common than before.

Some things that might piss people off:
- Ammo is more scarce. You have to be efficient and find supply rooms if you want to survive.
- Hunters/Brutes one hit kill you in melee range. No matter what. After playing halo 3, I keep forgetting that I was no longer the master chief. Running in guns blazing doesn't work so well in ODST. Keep your distance.
- Enemy AI is much more advanced. Snipers move, grunts aim better, they throw grenades more often.
- Crappy lighting in buildings, even with your visor on.
- Map is birds eye view only, meaning any overhead buildings might block some paths. (it's 3d)
- You take fall damage, as well as crash damage when crashing a vehicle.
- You always have to bring up the menu map. The compass is useless as hell as it can lead you to dead ends simply because it doesn't track routes, only direction.

I played one round of firefight. It was the first thing we did, and we lost at about 4th wave. The map we chose had terrible lighting, and ammo was very scarce. I didn't really like it, but maybe if I try it again later it might be better.

MrMoo, try Firefight on the "Lost Platoon" map. Me and a buddy played there last night, and we lasted like at least 12 rounds (a round is 5 waves). You'll have no problem taking cover or finding ammo or a warthog in that area.

EDIT: The SMG and the Pistol and the Sniper Rifle and the Rocket Launcher all have zoom. The assault rifle and the shotgun still don't. This time I actually support giving zoom to the SMG. That in combination with the silencer makes it more professional. Although really it's a replacement for the battle rifle, which isn't in this game.

I'm very happy they gave the pistol back its zoom. They haven't had pistol zoom since Halo 1. (My favorite of the series). Now if they could just bring back the pistol's strength and noise. The pistol in Halo 1 was seriously badass. But I'm glad they at least brought back the zoom.

A fun little activity is to headshot grunts with the pistol. If you focus, you can get loads of headshots in a row that way, and you'll get an achievement if you get enough headshots with the pistol.

EDIT: If you check out your firefight games in replay, try to pause JUST as you headshot a grunt with your pistol. You can see the bullet ejecting, the blood spurting from the head, the bang coming out the end of the pistol, everything right before the grunt drops. It's an amazing sight, and in replay mode you get some great images to look at, because you can view replay mode from any angle. It's like fully-interactive game film, and it feels like you're taking a trip back in time and watching yourself from the heavens.

Well, I beat the game today, and it was totally fun. A bit shorter than I was expecting for a game that's been getting hype for this long, but the awesomeness of the campaign makes up for it. It's fun to traverse the city and look for supply caches and fight your way to the next object you pick up that starts another mission.