Halo 3 ODST - Playing The Game

Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST) was initially planned to be a small project that did not feature known characters of the previous games and focused only on the ODST. This was penned using film settings, characters and designs to make a detective story, but during the development stages, this game grew into a full-sized game. Hence, on release of this game, ODST became the topmost Xbox 360 selling game worldwide and also flourished with positive reviews from critics praising the story approach, music and atmosphere.

Halo 3 ODST is a shooter game that is played in the perspective of a first person and although this game bears strong resemblance to earlier titles of Halo, the player fails to assume the enhanced super soldier role. Instead, in this game ODST, a player controls an UNSC (UN space command) soldier called as Rookie as the player does not possess advance reflexes and armor and moreover he cannot move fast or jump high. This game is played using stamina mechanic where after certain damage a red screen is flashed and the player recovers stamina after resting for a while. In case the player receive damage over the threshold of stamina, it is a permanent health hit and such players are restored by permanent health using med packs that lie scattered in the game environment.

Halo 3 ODST is the recent addition to the Halo series that starts in Halo 2 where the ODST troops get ready for a battle and end up in collision of the squad ship. The player happens to awaken after many hours and finds he is all alone to combat in an uninviting habitat so that he can locate the battle sites and signs to take him to his squad back. This game is broken into mission points and they are then further broken into day and night missions. The night missions mainly focus the factor of loneliness, while the day mission encompasses action, major battles and speed. Halo ODST introduces new modes of fire fights that allows up to 4 players to face the increasing enemies, and the fire fights are so incredible that even an experienced Halo player will get involved to the extent of sipping coffee in mid-day hours to keep him awake.

The HUD soldier is different having red outlines for enemies and is a new feature known as the Visual Intelligence System, reconnaissance (VISR) that outlines significant items in yellow, but without any radar. An ODST player is given access to use exclusive weapons including pistol and submachine gun that ignites the spirit of the players. The campaign mode of this game also allows playing alone or with a maximum of three players and the goal is to unearth the missing teammates. This is done with the help of a piece of evidence that the player takes it to be the missing soldier and the players have to begin with the campaigning levels as they desire. The multiplayer option in ODST is in a separate disc and the exclusive maps are referred to as Mythic maps and the players are rewarded with medals for showing special skills.

The dynamics, basic game play and graphics are simply great and the weapons as well as its controls have been altered slightly giving a different and enhanced satisfying experience. Playing Halo 3 ODST definitely takes time, but undoubtedly it is one of the best and is highly recommended for players who are indecisive to purchase ODST or not.