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[Black Mantis]

Firefight and the Campaign were awesome in my book. The hub segments of the campaign differed nicely from the MC-led campaigns and the music fit superbly. Then you had the memory segments, which offered the typical bombastic Halo gameplay. Great package imo.

 

[Black Mantis]

Awful game. The whole city part felt pointless, and instead of giving you a meaty campaign they have you little bitesize sections which ended as they were only just starting to get good.


I like how the game was meant to be budget priced, and then they threw it up to full price just because it's Halo. Then tried to justify it by slapping in the same multiplayer and maps that we had already bought years earlier.

Only in the US was it full price I think, it was £25-30 in the UK and EU.

 

[Mashin Haters]

it was hell of a lot better than halo 4's campaign.

and it also came with halo 3s multiplayer which is also better than halo 4's lol

 

[BlazeBreak]

EDIT: Also LOL at all the people who are saying "they just packed in the multiplayer that everyone already had" ugh this disc packed in with Halo ODST was the reason Halo 3 was the only Halo game with a decent population with DLC maps cause they were all on dat disc.
And well game was not full price here, it was 40 € for me, 60 € with the special controller

For people who had the maps (besides the 3 Mythic Maps that Microsoft was holding hostage with ODST), it felt like just more bad justification at the $60 price tag that Microsoft insisted on. However, yeah, in practice it worked great because it greatly improved Halo 3's DLC maps situation (Though don't forget that Halo 2 had the best DLC population of the entire franchise... because all the maps either launched or became free after several weeks). In contrast, CE:A shipping with only the Anniversary maps was just another dagger into Reach's multiplayer.


ODST was my favorite campaign experience and soundtrack of all the 360 Halo entries. You just have to understand what it is, which I don't think was the OP's attitude/understanding toward the game - ODST was never intended to be the epic cornerstone of a full-fledged, completely new $60 Halo entry. It's a side story. You can't compare it to the scale and the plot importance of the other games in the franchise.

 

[Acorn]

My favourite Halo by far.

 

[masterwok]

It was just more Halo 3 but that's a good thing.

 

[Fotos]

I loved this game. Firefight was AMAZING. That ODST drop in the beginning was one of the coolest things I've seen in a video game.

 

[Ora]

music. firefight. atmosphere. oh, and this.

 

[squidhands]

ODST was/is a great game, but it was so overpriced that it made people who weren't in the know feel like they were ripped off for what they got.

 

[User 73706]

music. firefight. atmosphere. oh, and this.

"But how did he jump straight into a pod that was in freefall?"

 

[IHaveIce]

For people who had the maps (besides the 3 Mythic Maps that Microsoft was holding hostage with ODST), it felt like just more bad justification at the $60 price tag that Microsoft insisted on. However, yeah, in practice it worked great because it greatly improved Halo 3's DLC maps situation (Though don't forget that Halo 2 had the best DLC population of the entire franchise... because all the maps either launched or became free after several weeks). In contrast, CE:A shipping with only the Anniversary maps was just another dagger into Reach's multiplayer.


ODST was my favorite campaign experience and soundtrack of all the 360 Halo entries. You just have to understand what it is, which I don't think was the OP's attitude/understanding toward the game - ODST was never intended to be the epic cornerstone of a full-fledged, completely new $60 Halo entry. It's a side story. You can't compare it to the scale and the plot importance of the other games in the franchise.

Yeah I meant best on the 360, Halo 2 is the GOAT in that terms.

And well like I said it wasn't full priced here Sad that it was that expensive for the US and turned many away from it

 

[FyreWulff]

For people who had the maps (besides the 3 Mythic Maps that Microsoft was holding hostage with ODST), it felt like just more bad justification at the $60 price tag that Microsoft insisted on. However, yeah, in practice it worked great because it greatly improved Halo 3's DLC maps situation (Though don't forget that Halo 2 had the best DLC population of the entire franchise... because all the maps either launched or became free after several weeks). In contrast, CE:A shipping with only the Anniversary maps was just another dagger into Reach's multiplayer.

Only Halo 2 and Halo 3 have achieved majority DLC adoption due to how their DLC was made available. Halo 2 with the freeness, Halo 3 didn't get the majority adoption until Mythic, to the point that Bungie was able to mark almost the entirety of matchmaking as DLC-optional and you'd still regularly get DLC.

Contrast this with the Reach side of the Anniversary disc:

1) Only had the Anniversary maps

2) Could not even load the other DLC. So the disc didn't even sell DLC to the owners of it.

3) Playlists that the Anniversary disc could enter were not able to mark Reach disc maps as optional, so the Anniversary playlists could only ever have the six versus maps playable.
a) This meant that Blood Gulch, which could be considered the Halo 1 multiplayer map, was not playable in Halo 1 mode in matchmaking. It was in Reach as part of Forge World. But since Reach disc maps couldn't be used in the Anni playlists, it was never playable in Halo 1 mode online. 343 could have easily had Halo 1 Slayer on Blood Gulch in other playlists, but they were so insistent on putting the Halo 1 gametype behind a paywall, it never happened. Bask in the silliness.
b) This also meant none of the other Forge remakes of classic maps were playable in Halo 1 mode, because Forge World was unavailable to Annidisc users. The Bungie version of the classic playlist actually had MORE classic maps than the 343 version. So in a way, 343 flipped off their forge community and said "fuck your maps. Play only our official ones and enjoy it."

4) They ran out of room on the disc for the Anniversary gametype that lets you use the Halo 1 pistol. So you cannot even play Halo 1 mode out of the box with the Halo 1 Anniversary disc, you have to go online and find someone's fileshare to download it from. You can only save it from matchmaking if you have Gold.

5) I could go on forever about the handling of Reach and the anniversary disc.

6) It would have actually been less harmful and more consumer friendly if they had just included only the Anniversary map code with Anniversary. At least the Anniversary playlists would have been able to use the Reach disc maps then.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

Can't say I disagree with this, especially the bolded. That being said, I'm curious to read your thoughts on Halo 4 if you have any links/posts to share.

There's probably a post somewhere, but I can't find it now (however, I did manage to find some of my thoughts on Reach). The short version is I really enjoyed it. Prometheans are perhaps not as fun to fight as the Covenant, but they're not bad either, and I feel like they have the potential to grow into something much better (think Halo 3's Brutes, as compared to Halo 2's version). I enjoyed most encounters, and while the game lacked some of the huge dynamic battles that we saw in Halo 3, maybe even Reach (though I can't really think of any decent Reach examples at the moment), I thought it was about on par with other games in the series in that regard. It's also worth noting that not a single part of the campaign was as grating as Halo: CE's Library or Halo 3's Cortana, and the campaign as a whole didn't overstay its welcome, which is something I could never say about Reach.

The story was all right and not hard to follow (I never read any of the books), although it did feel a bit rushed, and 343i failed to capture both the sense of place and the sense of wonder from the first Halo. Some Cortana moments were a bit too much, but I thought the same about some Cortana moments from Halo 3.

So looking at campaigns, if Halo 3 is a 9/10, and ODST a 7/10, Halo, Halo 4, Reach and Halo 2 all fall somewhere within 8/10, in that order.

Spartan Ops, on the other hand, felt extremely inconsistent, and too long for solo play. I know it was optimized for co-op, while I played through all of it alone, but still, a few of those missions were among the worst I've ever experienced in a Halo game (perhaps even in the genre), with absolutely atrocious, mindbogglingly unfriendly checkpointing.

 

[Terbinator]

The Engineers were in Halo Wars too.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

If i remember correctly, Halo ODST was supposed to be DLC or an expansion and was made into a full game. The game was pretty fun, but to me it felt like and expansion pack. Well, I guess it essentially was.

 

[BlazeBreak]

I could go on forever about the handling of Reach and the anniversary disc.

For me, it proved to be the first instance of BS doublespeak from 343. Frankie justified doing the Anniversary maps as Reach DLC (versus actual CE:A online multiplayer) as a decision they made so it "wouldn't divide the population".

Except it did exactly that, since they were then forced to forever keep separate Anniversary-only Reach playlists. It further crippled Reach's DLC situation by thinning out the population with all the maps, because you then had people playing the Anniversary playlists, decreasing the instances of DLC in other Reach playlists (in regards to both the Noble/Defiant and Anniversary maps). The extra anniversary playlists, especially the Ridgeline/Headlong-only BTB playlist, also muddled the Reach playlists more and made it that much harder to get stuff like Reach's BTB playlist into proper order.

If i remember correctly, Halo ODST was supposed to be DLC or an expansion and was made into a full game. The game was pretty fun, but to me it felt like and expansion pack. Well, I guess it essentially was.

Yeah, ODST was initially conceived as an expansion of sorts. Bungie never envisioned it as part of any $60 experience. Microsoft's insistence at selling the game for $60 only worsened the relationship between Bungie and them more. It pissed Bungie off to the point that their Destiny contract with Activision specifically gives them some price control.

 

[Krappadizzle]

I really need to play it again. I remember being incredibly busy and only giving 20 mins. at a time and never really sat down with it. Maybe that'll happen too. I really hope 343 works out a deal to bring Reach and ODST to the One. I know they must be crazy busy right now though with H5. I do remember that ODST had incredible music.

 

[Emperor Bohe]

I really need to play it again. I remember being incredibly busy and only giving 20 mins. at a time and never really sat down with it. Maybe that'll happen too. I really hope 343 works out a deal to bring Reach and ODST to the One. I know they must be crazy busy right now though with H5. I do remember that ODST had incredible music.

Would be awesome. Reach Team SWAT & ODST Firefight all day

 

[Neuromancer]

This is my second favorite Halo after Reach. I loved the atmosphere in the city and playing as a regular ass human for a change. The flashbacks were neat too. So that's the deal, some people liked it even if you didn't.

 

[Blackthorn]

Generally, I prefer intimate, smaller scale stories than epic, high stakes, saviour of the world/universe narratives so it's one of my favourite shooter campaigns.

I don't understand why it being inconsequential to the larger Halo lore is important if what is told within the game is satisfying.

 

[Solidsoul]

At the time of this writing I have not scanned the entire thread to make sure I am not repeating what anyone else said.

Correct me if I am wrong but I am pretty sure ODST was very important to the overall story. It was your team of ODST's that rescued the engineer. That same engineer gave Johnson the information on what Truth was digging for and where he was digging for it at. Isn't it entirely possible that if it had not been for Buck's crew of ODST's the Master Chief and company may have never made it to the Ark to stop Truth?

 

[Sakujou]

OP is funny.

and right.

 

[Darryl M R]

ODST was my favorite Halo game. The atmosphere was amazing. I hope 343 brings ODST and Reach as DLC for MCC.

 

[Akai__]

One of the best Halo campaigns. Firefight was also miles better, than Halo Reach's Firefight.

I absolutely love the game. It has such a good atmosphere and very good music.

 

[Bgamer90]

I loved ODST. The more dark/mature vibe of it in comparison to Halo 3 was a welcomed change in my opinion. Really enjoyed playing it.

 

[Portugeezer]

The deal was that it was the best Halo game last gen.

Almost had a Metroid feel as you explored the world on your own, then it was nice to play the sections of your team mates as you found items. Really nice change of pace.

 

[diamount]

It was a meh experience for me, the game wasn't any harder than the previous Halo games which is odd considering you're just playing as a normal soldier without any augmentations or special armour.

 

[Human_me]

ODST was amazing.
While I do agree with the points raised in the OP it's still a great game.

 

[Bgamer90]

The deal was that it was the best Halo game last gen.

Almost had a Metroid feel as you explored the world on your own, then it was nice to play the sections of your team mates as you found items. Really nice change of pace.

Yeah, it definitely reminded me of Metroid during certain parts.

 

[Solidsoul]

ODST was my favorite Halo game. The atmosphere was amazing. I hope 343 brings ODST and Reach as DLC for MCC.

Wish people would ask for a full retail release with ODST/Reach/Halo Wars as well as in the box codes for both Spartan Assault and Spartan strike. I want to own those 3 games physically. DLC for MCC would make it digital only, and they can't do a re-release with it on disc because the disc is full already.

I'd pay $60 for a Halo: Origins bundle with those games I listed. Make it fall 2016!

 

[Miles Quaritch]

This is my second favorite Halo after Reach. I loved the atmosphere in the city and playing as a regular ass human for a change. The flashbacks were neat too. So that's the deal, some people liked it even if you didn't.

You're favourite Halo is the one that set the series on the road to near ruin?

 

[Solidsoul]

You're favourite Halo is the one that set the series on the road to near ruin?

Different people, different opinions.

Who would have thought?

 

[op_ivy]

terrific campaign

 

[Exploratory]

It had some of the best atmosphere and music in a video game period. I loved it.

 

[SugarDave]

It's the best Halo.

 

[Walshicus]

You're favourite Halo is the one that set the series on the road to near ruin?

Reach and ODST are the two best Halo games. There.

 

[superNESjoe]

Odst and Reach are my two favorites. Surprise.

 

[jacobeid]

Cool noir feel with the last great Halo sandbox singleplayer experience? No reason to complain from me.

Pretty much this for me. I was hesitant going into the game, but I greatly enjoyed it. Definitely would not have minded about it being included in the MCC, but I'm not complaining.

 

[nOoblet16]

What I'd do for a 1080P/60FPS update of ODST (with some AF) and Halo Reach....ODST more so than Reach because of it's poor IQ.

ODST and Reach are the only two Halo games where I found the night time to be seriously impressive looking. The art direction and the lighting engine went hand in hand.

 

[DeadManWalking]

ODST is probably for me best sp of all halo's. Night atmosphere is amazing.

 

[Sesuadra]

ODST is like the short novel you buy with a side story to your favourite book.

 

[TheXbox]

Bungie had to make another game to fulfill their contract with MS and only a year to do it. Small team made a small game with a brilliant atmosphere and Firefight.

As for the story being irrelevant, who knows? Apparently Nathan Fillion is in Halo 5.

 

[Final Verdict]

There are some cool Easter eggs in Halo 2 anniversary in the level Outskirts that reference the AI construct of New Mumbasa first shown in ODST.

If your intrigued about it like I was, here is a link to More Console's video that talks about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYlxAb1f9zQ&list=UUTTx-gTU-ePcxHLpF15l8hA

 

[FFP2]

People like Halo so they made more?

 

[Marvel]

Loved it myself.

 

[duessano]

ODST is the best Halo game. That's all that needs to be said.

 

[MarauderShields]

The point of the game was to be the best Halo campaign ever

 

[EGM1966]

ODST was when I began yo drift away from the franchise. Approach didn't appeal to me and quite frankly I felt burned that what should have been an expansion pack got inflated to a full game to try and cover a weak spot in MS 1st party line up.

It was when I felt the expanded Universe started topspin out of control too losing my interest in the core experience.

Reach, while mechanically sound (as was ODST to be fair), furthered the process as a totally redundant prequel.

So yeah it never clicked with me either OP and Firefight should have been DLC.

Not really sure at this point if I'll pick up Halo 5 and Halo is normally what gets me to pick up an Xbox.

 

[Celestia]

ODST was an interesting game, and funnily enough the only one I've ever gotten a perfect gamerscore on. The idea of being alone in a big dark city, the atmosphere, and the music were all top notch. There were some pretty annoying things about it though. The silenced weapons didn't actually work. Don't know why they bothered putting them in there, but if it had more of a stealth focus I think it would have been better since you aren't a Spartan that can run in, guns blazing. Also the incessant beeping when your health was low and the screen turning red were pretty unfun. On legendary this happened frequently and I thought it was a bad design choice. I kind of wish they had chosen to do a story from the Covenant's side of things, but for what the game was it was alright. Should have been cheaper.

 

[Complistic]

ODST had the second best campaign after CE.