First of all... Halo 3 rocked; one of the best console FPS franchises ever made. Halo 3 released in 2007 and since then MS released additional DLC (mp map packs).

The problem with ODST is that all the DLC you paid for comes now in a second disk. New Halo players may thinks this is great, but for those who already paid for these (Halo3 packs) it feels more like a robe. The way I see it, is like paying twice for something and thats not fair.

Now about ODST, it offers a 4-6 hours long campaing which is poor compared to its prequels, there are no graphical improvements in the game. The ONLY cool and new stuff is Firefight, wich is like GOW's Horde mode.

In other words, it feels like you are paying full price ($60) for a HALF-BAKED game. This is not a sequel to Halo 3, this is Halo 3.1, the most expensive DLC evermade. Hopefully Halo Reach will be a true sequel.

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Plays okay but it seems just a little off from halo 3. The character moves too fast for one thing But it is kinda fun

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Though there seems to be a bit of negativity surrounding this game just days after its release, I believe this game deserves credit for being one of the better 360 titles to come out since Halo 3 two years ago. I consider myself to be an extremely picky gamer, and ODST kept me both intrigued and entertained until the very end. A number of reviewers have suggested that the campaign is far too short for a complete game. I completely disagree with that notion. I played the game on Heroic and neglected to explore New Mombasa to it's extent. I would estimate that it still took me in the area of 12 hours to complete. I'm not suggesting that 12 hours is long by any means, but I don't think it was any shorter than CoD4 or Uncharted (two games that have received worldwide recognition over the last couple years.) The length of the campaign was, at the very least, satisfactory in my opinion. The plot was totally awesome. Though it tends to be a bit confusing towards the very beginning, everything slowly begins to come together until the very end at which point you realize that every mission had a purpose in creating the story. I also really liked the in-game background music. It had a bit of a dramatic effect to it and I really think it helped show how dire the situation really was in New Mombasa as you set out to explore completely alone. Its also really cool to experience the war from some viewpoint other than Master Chief's. No enemies will fear you like they would in Halo 1-3, it is nearly impossible to perform the sort of acrobatics that Master Chief was capable of, and just a couple of grunts are capable of taking you down if you aren't careful. Basically it just helps prove how much of a badass Master Chief really is. There really aren't any new guns in this game, though I don't necessarily see that as a negative. There are only so many guns in the Halo universe; I just don't really see a need to add any more weapons. They do, however, bring back the pistol from the original Halo. Though its silenced this time around, it packs plenty of power and can take down groups of grunts and jackals at a time. If theres one thing I could fix, it would definitely be the graphics. If this was 2007 I would probably view the graphics as about average. This is 2009 though, and I've come to expect much more from a game in terms of graphics and cinematics over the last couple years. I do not believe that the graphics improved at all between Halo 3 and ODST. I think that the brutes could have used a lot more work to make them more realistic and lifelike, while just random objects such as automobiles and dumpsters could be greatly improved as well. Cutscenes in which the ODST's had their helmets on looked awesome - the armor looks incredibly lifelike and the helmets just look sweet. Scenes in which characters didn't have helmets on is a different story though. Faces hardly look lifelike, and I would even go as far as to suggest that some PS2 games are capable of the sort of human animations that ODST has. I just finished playing MGS4 on the PS3 before starting ODST, and there really is no comparison. MGS4, which was released well over a year ago, just blows away ODST in terms of graphics, animations, and cutscenes. Overall though, I would say that this is a really good game. And while I wish that it would do a better job of bridging the gap in the series (a la Star Wars Episode 3,) I would certainly suggest it to any fan of the Halo series. In conclusion:

Pros-

*Intriguing plot that develops each member of the squad

*New perspective on Human-Covenant war

*Ability to use stealth or open combat to proceed

*Semi-open map that gives you the ability to explore and/or decide how to approach the next destination

Cons-

*Average graphics

*No ability to dual wield or use items

*Use of nightvision goggles seems to get a bit cheesy after a while; nighttime missions in New Mombasa are a bit dry and tend to be a bit repetitive.

*No mention of Master Chief whatsoever - it just seems like he should have at least been mentioned in the game seeing as he pretty much won the war single-handedly.

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I'm so tired of hoochie mama games that promote sexuality to young kids. Bad language ingrained into peoples minds. It's not okay. However, Halo is a great story line, fun, and well just awesome. My boys are 11 to 13 and I am okay with them playing Halo. I even got hooked not to long ago an am having a blast plalying.

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this game is great especially firefight mode with sgt.johnson of course but it has a lack of weaponry and what happened to the battle rifle? but as said before it is a wonderful game and was very fun.

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Great Halo fun.

One of the best games on Xbox360.

Great fun until the next version comes out.

Nothing to add that the other reviews haven't said already.

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This is game is just as cool as Halo 3 and all the other ones. It got a lot of flack for being considered an expansion, but you know what? it is a wonderful story and it is freaking scary. If you really want to have fun, play at night on your own, without the night vision on.

Really cool!

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Firefight sells this game. The campaign is great but short. Had a good time playing and killing those pink explodedy things is fun.

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I'm not much into gaming but wanted more quality time with my son.

We purchased this game and played in split screen mode together and had a great time exploring for clues and fighting aliens. I believe we had the best time in fire fight mode. It's really fun and intense helping each other survive an onslaught of invaders!

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My friends and I are huge Halo fans! I went into the video game business because Halo inspired me and Halo games are the only video games my friends play! I am a big fan of shooters so I had to buy this.

This is not even a game. It should of never come out. The story is horrible.

There are hardly any enemies! The game is 10 levels long but 7or 8 of them take place on the same map so it's really more like 3 levels. Each level is about 20 minutes or less. A Co-Op or Single player game takes 3 hours to beat tops. Then you don't want to play the game anymore because it was a very boring 3 hours. The missions are so horrible and there are a lot of glitches.

I think the worst part of the game actually is that it is pitch dark and the only way to see anything is to put on the special light you get and that you are suggested to use throughout the whole game. But it's like a heat vision visor or something so it just outlines everything on your screen so it's not even halo anymore and just some strange low graphic game. Also the screen resolution has the same problem as halo 3 where your screen is so much smaller then it should be.

A friend of mine was mad that there was no dual wielding in the game and they took out a bunch of the weapons from halo 3. We hardly even noticed since everything else was so bad.

Anyone that likes halo 1,2,3 will buy this game no matter what I write thinking I'm crazy for ever putting down a Halo game but this is not a halo game. You just can not believe how bad this game is until you play it.

People please bring down the star count on here! This game only disserves 1-2 stars tops! Right now it says it is at 3 ½ and that's insane!

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Is not the best game of the series but it is really good to play multiplayer.

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First i,ve played all the halo series, odst is a fine stand alone unit that is a great campain

mode where is shines is in the firefight mode, players have keep finding off enemy forces as long as your can, so ODST isnt the same old crap. the online play is the same as halo 3 so if your wanting some great new maps this aint it. All around a great game, so what if its $50 plus

you wont fine any shooter any better.

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I bought this game for my son...he absolutely loves it. He plays with friends via Xbox Live which definitely adds to the "fun" factor for him.

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First of all, I would like to point out that I bought this game on release day, and haven't really come around to writing a review until now.

And another thing, this game deserves a 4 star, however, not a three and a half (the the average of all the reviews) so I put a 5-star in a feeble attempt to improve the average of the now 413 reviews to a 4 star.

Now to the game.

If you have played any of the Halo's before, there isn't anything much groundbreakingly (if that's a word) different. The same graphics, the same basic gameplay, and pretty much the same weapons. Same old Halo. However, there's nothing wrong with that because Halo is pretty amazingly awesome.

The only big difference between Halo 3 and ODST is the Firefight mode, which would probably be compared to Horde mode in Gears 2 or Nazi Zombies in World at War. This mode is a wonderful addition to the Halo universe, but they forgot to include some basic things, such as, let's see...oh...MATCHMAKING! You can't play with anyone who's not sitting next to you or is not one of your Xbuddies (that's right, Xbuddies). To me, that should be a pretty mandatory characteristic of a gamemode like this.

Another difference would be the campaign, which is not as linear as the first 3 games, and just happens to be lightyears better than the previous Halo campaigns. I loved the feeling of being a feeble little human (in contrast to Master Chief) in the dark world of New Mombasa, with scary covenant forces around every corner.

A huge complaint about the campaign seems to be the length, as it only lasts about 5 hours. However, I disagree with this oh-too-common complaint. After all, it is not the size that matters, it is how it is conducted, which in this case is amazingly brilliant.

Now to the last part of this game which is the multiplayer (which, in fact, needs it's own disc 'cause Microsoft is too cheap to include some sort of Blu-ray disc reader in their Xbox). This, to my surprise, was the "complete Halo 3 multiplayer experience." So, if you are buying this for the multiplayer, you might as well just stick with Halo 3 if you already have it, cause there is nothing new (besides a couple maps).

As with most other just-released video games, this massive expansion pack was 60 bucks. Personally, I don't think anygame, no matter how good it is, is werth this much, but compared to other 60 dollar games, this is werth the money. Plus, since you are reading this review, you probably are looking to buy this game, which is now like 40 bucks, so it's probably werth it.

SO BUY THIS GAME! YAY!

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Halo 3: ODST is more of the same. Nothing innovative here. Bungie basically released an expansion pack but tried to dress it up like a major game. I suppose the big bonus with ODST is you get all the multiplayer maps, so if you're big into MP this might seem like a good deal. Personally, I prefer good stories, graphics, and gameplay. ODST really isn't that different from Halo 3 in terms of look and feel. For $60? I just don't know. To be clear, I love Halo. I have all the Halo games and strategy guides. I even have a Master Chief action figure. But if I want to battle wave upon wave of Covenant troops I can do that with Halo 1, 2, and 3.

To be fair, ODST runs well. The graphics are good (not stellar) and the framerate is steady and smooth. The gun play is the same as in the previous Halo FPS's (except you can't dual wield). Not sure what I was expecting, but (dare I say) this game feels a bit stale. If you are a die hard Halo nut, pick up ODST. If you are looking for an innovative shooter, look elsewhere.

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