Halo 3: ODST

It’s been awhile, I know… Moving past that quickly.

Halo 3: ODST is a widely acclaimed game for it’s story. While many have complained it was “too short,” it was a great move away from the very linear story lines of Halo CE, 2, and 3. While I agree that it was too short, the game kept me playing by accomplishing missions in an order I chose. The idea of the main character, Lance Corporal “Rookie” roaming around the mega-city, New Mombasa, trying to figure out what happened to his team was brilliant. I reminded me of the Grand Theft Auto series, you know, except for the stealing of cars and pedestrian slaughter-fests on the side of the road. What exactly happened?

----Spoiler alert!----

The Rookie awakens to the sound of two Phantoms flying nearby. He soon regains his situational awareness, but is unaware of the fact that his drop pod is lodged in the side of a building, ten to twenty feet above the ground. He tries to exit, and is slightly injured by the fall. After combing the area for medical supplies, he heads in to the city to find his squad.

Almost immediately after starting out, the Rookie encounters a few Covenant patrols covering a small area. The Rookie uses his silenced weaponry to eliminate the patrols, after which he is alerted to a ringing data terminal. Upon accessing the terminal, the Rookie is connected to the Superintendent, a second-generation "dumb" A.I. tasked with maintaining the city's infrastructure. The A.I. provides the Rookie with data that had been previously unlocked by Dare. The Superintendent begins to assist the Rookie, giving him maps, marking notable locations throughout the city, and providing warnings using road signs.

As the Rookie travels throughout the city, he finds clues regarding the fate of his squad mates. When the Rookie finds a clue, the game's perspective shifts to that of the relevant ODST.

Six hours earlier, Buck had landed somewhat safely and made radio contact with Dare, who told him that she had been trapped in her drop pod. With the assistance of two Marines, Buck attempted to fight his way to her position, but by the time he got there, she was nowhere to be found. Buck noticed a Huragok, and saw that it was holding Dare's helmet in one of its tentacles. Curious, the alien began to examine Buck. Having mistaken its curiosity for hostility, Romeo sniped it from afar. The Huragok's explosion threw the helmet out of sight, although the Superintendent recorded a video showing where it landed. Romeo and Buck regrouped, the former stating that Dare was dead. The Rookie later finds the helmet.

Meanwhile, Dutch landed in the Uplift Wildlife Reserve, where he led a Warthog charge in an effort to breach Covenant defenses and secure the long-departed carrier's landing zone. Mickey had landed nearby, and stumbled upon retreating Marines from the 405th. Mickey used a Scorpion to bring the Marines to their rally point: the entrance to ONI Alpha Site. There, he and Dutch regrouped and found a desperate police officer.

The two ODSTs worked with the officer and several Marines to defend the ONI complex. Dutch and Mickey used explosives to destroy the bridge leading to the base, but the Covenant countered by using Phantoms to land troops past the broken bridge. The courtyard was quickly overrun by Covenant forces, prompting the besieged humans to retreat to the structure's interior. The humans are eventually forced to retreat from the building using a police Pelican, as they fled, they destroyed the base using remotely-detonated explosives, preventing the Covenant from using the structure and its contained information. While in flight, Dutch and Mickey managed to re-establish communication with Buck; they headed to the NMPD Headquarters.

Upon arriving and attempting to land on the rooftop, Mickey, Dutch and their Police allies were attacked by Banshees. They made radio contact with Buck and Romeo, who fight their way across the rooftops to the downed Pelican and their Squad mates. There, the four ODSTs used missile pods, heavy machine guns, and rocket launchers to defend the building from Banshees and Phantoms with their landing parties. They were successful in repelling the Covenant assault, but in the process, Romeo was badly wounded by a Brute Chieftain, and their Pelican was damaged and left inoperable.

Buck led the group to Kikowani Station, planning to use the tram system to escape the city. On the way there, the ODSTs stabilized Romeo using biofoam. Upon arrival, however, the group discovered that the tram system has been severely damaged. They proceded to hijack a Phantom and escape the city, fighting their way past enemy Banshees and even a Scarab in the process. Along the way, they noticed the increasing number of Phantoms and Covenant aircraft moving toward the crater left by the Assault Carrier's Slipspace jump. Buck then figured out where Dare is, and ordered Mickey to turn back.

Reunited with the Team

Meanwhile, the Rookie having made his way to the Superintendent's Data Center, finds Captain Dare locked in on sub-level nine. Her orders were to fight her way to the A.I.'s data center and retrieve the information that had recently been discovered about what lay beneath the city, and deny access to the Covenant. The center however, had been infested with an entire hive of Drones, which in turn were supported by numerous other Covenant forces. She explains that this was why she requisitioned a whole squad for her mission: it would have been suicide to fight these forces alone.

Dare and The Rookie fight their way to the data center, arriving just as the Superintendent was disabled by a Huragok. Dare reveals an ONI discovery: the Huragoks were enslaved by the Covenant, and were forced to fight against their wills. She also reveals that this particular Huragok, named Vergil, has combined it's knowledge with the information possessed by the Superintendent. Information that can aid humanity in the war.

The two convinced the Huragok to follow them just as the Covenant arrived; Buck arrives at the same time. They escape the data core and fight though hordes of Covenant troops before reaching an elevator, which takes them to the highway. Buck informs Dare and the Rookie that he has a Phantom waiting in a scrapyard. Vergil powers up an Oliphant; Dare drives, while the Rookie and Buck provide supporting fire from a Warthog, and later, a Scorpion.

More Covenant ships enter the city, and the fleet begins to glass the area in an attempt to uncover the buried Forerunner Portal to the Ark. Buck, having witnessed glassing during the Battle of Reach, is particularly disturbed by the sight. A Scarab manages to score a direct hit on the Oliphant, damaging it severely and forcing the ODSTs to abandon their vehicles and take cover inside the building entrance to Uplift Wildlife Reserve. Buck orders Mickey to provide extraction instead of waiting for them to arrive.

The ODSTs endures multiple Covenant attacks while waiting for Mickey to arrive. When Mickey and the rest of the squad reach their position, the group boards their captured Phantom, narrowly avoiding a Covenant Carrier's glassing beam.

A month later, Admiral Terrence Hood gives Sergeant Major Avery Johnson clearance to interrogate Vergil on an ONI orbital facility. Dare warns Johnson to be careful. As the three enter the room, they see Vergil attempting to access the Covenant Battlenet. Referring to the Covenant excavation in Africa, Johnson casually tossed his lighter to the delicate creature, before confidently remarking, "You're gonna tell me exactly what they're looking for. And then, you're gonna help me stop 'em." Vergil raised the lighter, flicked it open, and lit the cigar that Johnson just placed in his mouth, suggesting that this Engineer is friendly and willing to cooperate with the humans.

----Spoiler Alert! Finished----

It’s quite the story, but I’m not sure it was worth the 60 dollars. You see, the campaign took me maybe 5 hours to go through. This, is what everyone had to say about the game. While fun it was to short. I only can hope Reach is longer.