9.5 out of 10. The game itself was excellent, and included several new ways to play the game, one of the most involving side-quests that was built in beautifully to the game and just added to depth, and some fun combat times. Since we're rating the game itself, we don't include the second disc, or the fact that we had to pay $60 for a fairly short game. The game quality was incredible, with deep characters and story that really helped flesh out the Halo storyline. Short and a rip off for the price we had to pay? Sure. But that doesn't get included in a rating.
The main storyline was entertaining but far too short. If you remember, Bungie was going to offer this game as an add on for a reduced price but M$ pretty much forced them to sell it at a $60 price point. For me I sometimes have to look at a game from a value standpoint and this disk may have had value for a Halo noob, but not a grizzled veteran. If you have been playing Halo 3 for the last 2 years the second disk was pointless, and I could even go as far to say that it was a slap in the face. I paid for every single map pack up to that point and now they are magically included. Yeah you got early access to the new maps but that was clearly a ploy to get you to buy ODST. So in a nutshell the overall package looked good on paper, but turned out to be just mediocre for an avid Halo player. I applaud Bungie for at least trying though. They could have just released a 6 hour game for 60 bucks and called it a day, but they at least added a disk for those that didn't have the maps (like all 4 people) and they included Firefight mode. Sadly though, while Firefight was entertaining at first it ultimately failed overall. I mean, who is still playing it? I have a friends list packed with FH members and Halo players and I haven't seen anyone play Firefight in months. I will agree with Insane that the quality of the game is the most important factor, and for that a 9 is pretty fair, but I can't agree that the second disk shouldn't factor in. In this day and age and with this economy gamers have to be more selective in the games they purchase and the games they borrow or rent. I personally wish I rented since the rental time frame is about the same as the time frame of enjoyment I got out of this game. It should have been a downloadable add on, or multiple downloadable add ons. Maybe the campaign for 1200 M$ points in September, Firefight for 800 M$ points near christmas and the new maps for 800 M$ points around now. That slow release would have kept players more interested and would have been a cheaper ($35 total if you want all 3) alternative to a disk full of stuff we didn't really need. Campaign: Short but good. 9.0 Overall Package: Unneeded. 6.0 Accrued Score: 7.5
The thing is, that Bungie wanted it to be an expansion pack to Halo 3, for $30 if I remember correctly. Microsoft wouldn't let them, rushed them, and demanded they release it as a full game. So, you can't really blame Bungie for that, IMO.
I did mention that. And while your point is valid it also isn't an excuse for the price point and lack of value it had. It may not have been Bungies fault but the situation exists nonetheless and can't be ignored. I felt ripped off a week later. Keep in mind also that they have offered no support to this game as well. Wouldn't you like a few new Firefight maps? Hell, Gears of War 2 had released 19(!) new maps for Horde mode less than a year after it's release, so it can't be that hard. The whole thing just screams brand whoring IMO. Microsoft really stuck it to Bungie and Halo fans with this release and we all bought it up and want to defend it because it's Halo, but I am trying to look through the fog and accept the fact that I was disappointed overall in paying full price for an add on. Not trying to be a **** here, and money may not be a concern for you, but it is for many and that mentality is what allows developers to take advantage of a brand. Hell, look at what Activision wants to do. They want to make Modern Warfare and yearly thing AND charge a subscription fee on top of your XBL account. That is just wrong.
I give ODST an 8/10. I loved the story and firefight, but I just haven't played it as much. I did use the MP disk(I used to be obsessed w/ custom games before mw2.) a lot though. It was a nice change from regular halo 3, but in the end, I think one feature that should have been added(and would give it a 9.5 or 10) is Matchmaking for firefight, I KNOW I KNOW, bungie said it wasn't possible. But I didn't play that much because no one wanted to really.
Agreed. As I said earlier nobody, and I mean NOBODY, on my friends list plays ODST anymore. Firefight would be awesome if you could get matched up through a matchmaking component. And I don't believe for one second that it's not possible, they just didn't have time to do it. Horde in GoW has it so clearly it's possible.
They should have done Firefight like **** Zombies from World at War. You could join games with random people and choose the map so...yea... it was cool
I'd give it a 9/10. I agree, the firefight mode would've been better if it was easier to meet new people to play. I don't play it much, except for solo, just for that reason. If they had something that functioned like that, I'd give it a 10 But then, I love halo. my roommate is a so so fan, so he says 7-8.
...did you play the game for more than 4 minutes? I felt, at first, the game was disappointing. Why? I had no clue where to go. However, I soon learned, and learned to love this game. I feel that the giant world they dropped you in is very fun, and playing it with a friend is very fun. Firefight was friggin' brilliant, because unlink **** Zombies, you have a variety of enemies and many different levels. Sure, there's no Matchmaking, but that's probably so that people just don't spend HOURS of going through Matchmaking trying to find people for Endure and only for Endure. I would be playing it right now, but my disc doesn't work! 10/10
Solid 8. Firefight was great, the story was pretty poor (Bad acting, not hardcore enough?). Really short, not really worth the whole game. I'd much rather they'd have released the campaign separately for half the price, firefight on games on demand, and the maps as the DLC like they are now on the original Halo.