Lovers of the Halo franchise who enjoy a more hardcore FPS will need not look further than ODST.
OK, I don't own an XBOX. Not even ODST- But i spent the last 4 hours playing the game and it is the most fun I have had in ages on a console. Most people will see it as "just another Halo game"- well, those unfamiliar with the makeup of ODST. For starters- your tactics need a completely new makeup. It's not like Halo 3 where you hav a small shield that reboots after 5 or 10 seconds, in this game you have a larger amount of health which doesn't reload at all. This means you cannot use the common charge-retreat method of attack. You are guaranteed to need a scoped weapon at ALL times. This brings in a huge new layer of gameplay to the game. Also, you are given a visor which will allow you to see in the extremely dark parts of levels. It outlines enemies in red, vehicles and weapons in blue and allies in green. This can distort the fantastic environments but is overally worthwhile.
After playing co-op legendary for the first 2 levels it opened me to the differences between ODST and H3. The levels are much more open, with huge rooms, seperated by corridors. There is a variety of gameplay and it is NOT easy (or that could be a side effect of legendary gameplay...)
Firefight. Everyone knows about it. It is the thing that MAKES the ODST game REALLY worthwhile. It's not new, it has appeared in left 4 dead and cod 5 nazi zombie modes and others. It is just on a huge field. Firefight is held in fields around the size of Last Resort (Zanzibar) and is full of constant waves of ALL enemy types. Great fun, but in Legendary survival is most definately not guaranteed.
Then there is disk 2. Changing disks may seem a hassle, but it is neccesary, considering the entire halo 3 multiplayer is on disk 2 including all map packs and 3 new ones. Nothing changes here.
Goods and Gripes:
Goods
-Recycled multiplayer w/ data porting is worthwhile and keeps its charm
-Firefight is fun and addictive
-ODSTs bring several new layers of gameplay strategy
-You are no longer faceless
Gripes
-Lighting is sometimes stressful and dodgy (too dark to see - too bright for the visor)
-There is no matchmaking where you play each other as ODSTs
-Switching between matchmaking and firefight puts you in different mindsets cqausing you to make crucial mistakes.
This is a must buy for FPS fans and halo fans alike - even if you know nothing of halo this game is for you