Note: This is for the Xbox One version of the game released as an add-on to Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Halo 3: ODST Review
The remaster of ODST is out and it's pretty much as you remember it from the Xbox 360 minus Firefight. I'm not going to score each part of the game but rather just give my latest impressions on this campaign. So here we go...
The whole campaign is brighter now and doesn't suffer from being too dark the way the 360 version did. Less noticeable improvements are the absence of all the jagged edges you can see on the Xbox 360 version provided you have a full HD display. The bump in frame-rate really helps to make the character movement during the cut-scenes look more natural and adds even more fluidity to what was already a smooth experience.
Despite coming out after Halo 3, if I were to choose an order in which to play these games, I would suggest playing ODST directly after Halo 2. It feels like a story that Bungie always meant to have between the two games as a primer for the epic happenings of Halo 3. It feels that way to such an extent that if that was Bungies intention, they nailed it. ODSTs ending just made me want to go "finish the fight" all over again. That's a feeling I haven't had in roughly eight years. Overall, the game just makes that time during the Human-Covenant war feel all the richer. It only goes to compliment the original Halo Trilogy, and reinforce the epic story already there.
I still stand by the 9/10 I gave the Master Chief Collection last year. With ODST only $5, it's diffidently worth the asking price. I felt like I could finally enjoy this campaign for all it is without the eye strain, or list of distraction that came with the original. Distractions such as the "Road to Recon" achievements, new Halo 3 multiplayer maps, and everyone and their dog bothering me to play firefight. The level of atmosphere of the New Mombossa Street levels has yet to be matched in a Halo game, and the music is both unique among it's peers, and extremely atmospheric to a degree I have yet to see in a Halo game.
The last thing I'll say about ODST is this: Play this game alone! The first time I played it, I co-oped it with a friend and never got the full experience. It's a drastically different and arguably superior experience playing it alone, and at a slower pace. It's the one Halo game that's better when your by yourself, and that makes it special. Check it out.