Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360)

The bloom is off the rose.
9/22/2009 8:33 AM | 3 Comments | Page 1 of 2

Sometime between now and Sept. 25, 2007, the Halo nation moved on. It mothballed its Spartan Lasers and took up Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare's M16A4. Halo 3: ODST is an effort to lure a legion of online gamers back to the fold.

The ploy won't work. Because where Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 are hyper-competitive -- perfect videogame venues for displaying twitch prowess -- this follow-up is all about teamwork.

Sure, the game comes with a single-player campaign and an extra disc that gives players access to all of Halo 3's multiplayer content (including all of those map packs). But, truly, Halo 3: ODST is a delivery method for "Firefight," a four-player co-op mode that echoes the innovative "Horde" battles in Gears of War 2.

That makes Halo 3: ODST much more interesting to me than the vanilla Halo 3 multiplayer -- which, despite killer matchmaking based on player performance, can feel fairly punishing. Problem is that Halo 3: ODST is extremely late to the party with Firefight. Gears of War 2, Left 4 Dead and even Call of Duty: World at War have given us similar ways to slay with friends. Firefight's biggest advantage is that it is the new kid on the block. For a month or so, at least, there will be plenty of people wanting to jump into a match.

Firefight feels different than most other co-op survival games because it plays like Halo. The fuel rod gun looks impossible to lift, and nearly blocks all peripheral vision on the right. Loaded with TMNT-green cartridges, it hurls instant death wherever it is pointed. Such a gun would be considered overkill in most games. But in Halo 3: ODST it feels mandatory, because on certain maps, vehicles drop into the fray. Enemies come rumbling in deadly Brute Choppers -- massive motorbikes that rain fire with heavy fore guns -- or bombard your position from the heavily armored Wraith Tank.

Here is where the Halo universe's game of rock, paper, scissors trumps the rest. Gears of War may have dared to dream the Lancer Assault Rifle -- a weapon with a chainsaw mounted where the bayonet should be. But still, nobody brings the firepower like Bungie. And, finally, players aren't forced to aim this weaponry at friends.

Players share a pool of lives -- encouraging weak links to play more conservatively. When respawns are exhausted, the last men standing can bring their teammates back into the game by surviving the wave. The familiar voice of the Halo announcer dubs the player "hero" in his booming, slightly smarmy way. Few videogame rewards feel this good. To keep the rounds feeling fresh, a handful of "skull" effects slam players in the visor. Some buff enemies, dressing them in armor that deflects bullets or making them more prone to hurl grenades. Others weaken the player, forcing them to connect melee attacks to recharge their stamina.

And there's the benefit of being tardy -- Bungie has been able to observe and iterate on cooperative survival gameplay. Halo 3: ODST's Firefight does a fine job of meeting, if not exceeding, what has come before it.