The Master Chief Collection: Halo 3 ODST (Review)

When Halo 3: ODST was first announced in 2009, during Microsoft’s E3 press conference, it created a divide among gamers about whether or not it would live up to the already high bar set by Halo 3 and its predecessors. After all, Master Chief had already defeated both the flood and the prophets. The universe was safe, for the time being. Why revisit old ground, especially with the ending still fresh among gamers? Then it released the following September, and those concerns were laid to rest.

While the game chose to focus on a squad of ODST troops instead of the beloved Master Chief, it went on to sell more than three million copies and received praise from critics for its change in atmosphere, music, and story approach. The soundtrack alone helped it stand out from the other games in the series, with Martin O’Donnell leaving behind the orchestra in favor of a more jazz-like noir sound. After the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, many fans were surprised to find it missing from the experience, but as a reward for those who suffered through the Master Chief Collection’s endless problems, the good people at 343 Industries have finally released it as downloadable content, leaving fans to wonder if it was worth the wait.

For those of you who entered the franchise before the release of Halo 4, the original trilogy revolves around the conflict between humanity, the covenant, and the flood. Halo 3: ODST takes place in between Halo 2 and Halo 3. It revolves around a squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (those guys who fall from space in tiny pods) and follows the rookie as he tries to figure out what happened to the rest of his squad after a slip space rupture scatters their pods across New Mombasa. Abandoning the run-in-with-guns-blazing gameplay of the previous entries, ODST requires players to be more strategic. You play as a soldier instead of a Spartan, which means that your health doesn’t recharge, you can’t jump off of things, and you’re not humanity’s last hope. So nobody really cares what happens to you. Those things aside, it’s hard to not love every moment of this game, glitches and all.

When Halo: The Master Chief Collection was released in November, there were more problems with it than gamers could count. While the re-master of Halo 3: ODST isn’t as bad, it’s not without its own troubles. The controls are unresponsive at times, the audio log side-quest tends to not work or stop working after a certain number, and sometimes the game can’t remember what you’ve played, which results in more achievement difficulties. If you can deal with those frustrations, it’s definitely worth the $4.99 price tag (or free if you purchased the MCC back in November). There are so many things about this game that are hard not to enjoy: the music, the setting, the story, and voice talent from actors like Nathan Fillion and Nolan North. It’s a true experience in cinematic gaming, but like most games to be re-mastered for the Xbox One, it’s nowhere near perfect.

Score: 8 out of 10

Played On: Xbox One

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