"KEEP IT CLEAN!"

Ah yes, the age old phrase of the Superintendent. Remember him? The one random green dude that appeared all over Halo land about May of last year. Well you all probably know that it lead up to the announcement of Halo 3: ODST and all that good stuff. Well ODST came out about 2 weeks ago, I'm sure most of you have picked it up and had your fun with it already. I have completed the campaign with my friend(whom you are familiar with as Storm) on Heroic right now, we still have to beat it on Legendary. I have almost beat it on Legendary solo, I have just one more level to do. He's working on Heroic right now and I think is almost done with it also. Granted it's a short game, but if you don't sit there for 7-8 hours on easy(like most people I know did, at least not on easy though) and actually take a break to do something else you would be surprised at how much play time you can get from the 7-8 hours of campaign. Plus if you want it to last about double that time, just explore the city, look for the audio logs or more Covenant to kill or just walk around mindlessly admiring all the cool looking architecture and stuff.





Anyways, moving on. I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but it should be interesting...



I'll start with the new multiplayer/co-op mode called Firefight. It's kind of like Gears of War 2's Horde mode...I guess, I've never played that. It's meant for a full team of 4 people, but if you're bored enough and have plenty of time, you can go in on your own. Now what I find cool is that going in solo and going in with 3 other people, the amount of enemies do not change at all and I think that is really neat.

The two things I don't like about it are these: it only has 10 maps, 7 of which are available straight out of the box. I mean yes, they're good maps and I enjoy them, but seriously 10 isn't enough. Granted Bungie has said that there are no plans on releasing any DLC maps since they are mainly focused on Reach right now, but if the demands arise, they might start considering it. I seriously hope they think about it even for a second.

Also the skulls needed to be randomized. Tough Luck, Catch and Black Eye are good selections for round skulls, but when you complete a set and start with the same three skulls again with just adding a new skull, it gets boring after a while. Don't get me wrong, I think the skull selection is great, but making them random would be more interesting. So I guess this is more of an idea of improvement then a complaint.



Onto a little bit about the campaign. Note: there are possible spoilers here, so if you have not completed it yet, just skip over this section here. I'll let you know when you can start reading again.



*Spoilers ahead!*

Most people I know felt it was short, and it was somewhat, but it wasn't meant to be an actual game. The story was really good, except the drama between two of the characters, that just isn't Halo I'm sorry. I enjoyed the flashbacks, they lead to a lot of interesting gameplay and memorable moments. Take for example the end of Uplift Reserve when you're playing as Dutch. You are supposed to escape the area and get into the city, or whatever it is I forgot, and you drive through this hole in a cliff wall and all of a sudden, you're flying from 1,000 feet in the air(or something like that) and crashing into building. Now I'm sure most of you are familiar with the classic crash the Banshee you're in to the nearest wall, well this is the same. It's another one of those classic moments that you'll remember a while down the road.

Another thing I liked was the fact that since you're not the Chief anymore, some of the Covenant are actually larger then you. Like the Hunters, remember how in Halo 1 the Hunters were about as tall as you were? Then they gradually increased in size in Halo 2 and 3. Now they're actually these 12 foot tall walking tanks. Roaming around the city is really nice, since you can pretty much go anywhere and explore the majority of the city is great. Plus with the hidden audio files, it gives you a reason to explore the city.

*Spoilers end.*

Yep, that's it for spoilers. I really enjoy music in the game, it sets the mood for it perfectly. It still has the "Halo" sound to it. Granted it's not like the music for the past three games, not the more uplifting sound that they have had, it's more quiet then the it has been before. So far my favorite piece is "Finale", though "The Menagerie" is slowly becoming my favorite. I first started off by liking the overture the best, but once I got the actual soundtrack the previously stated tracks sound really good and I like them more now. I think that Neon Lights is becoming a favorite of mine also, it's really good.

I think I'll close of this post with a few screenshots that I took over the weekend. Most of them were taken in campaign, but again, are free of spoilers. They're just some pretty sweet action shots that I thought were cool. Also, instead of seeing them right here embedded into the post, I'm going to give you the link to them. You know, make you work for them.

Okay, not really, but I've noticed that pics I have uploaded and posted as of lately you have not been able to click the picture to get a larger version of it. Well a couple of these need to be seen in more then just a small 2x2(or something like that) thumbnail. So by giving you the links, you shall be able to see them in all there juicy digital color.
I'll start off with my favorite out of the bunch I took called, "Green and Dark."
I really like how that one turned out with the lighting of the Hunter's cannon blast mixed with the pitch black background. If I would have to say so myself, it is one of the best screens I have taken yet. Moving on.

This next one isn't a real good one, but it shows how much larger the Hunters are compared to an ODST. Nameless Screenshot 1.
Like I said, not real good, but it's sort of an action shot.

Again, nothing interesting going on, but if you take notice there is something lurking in the background...
Nameless shot 2.

My first screenshot from ODST called "Cornered." It's a fairly decent shot, it shows me and Storm trapped inside a room on one of the Firefight missions, Windward, by five Jackals. Yeah, there where more, but they kind of died before the majority of them in the frame. So I tried to get as many as I could in there to try to make it look epic and this was the end result.

Another interesting action shot here. "Drone and Chieftain vs. ODST." Umm yeah, so apparently a Drone and hammer Chieftain against a lone ODST doesn't end well for the poor soul. That was classic, a 15 foot or so lunge while on fire that still kills the ODST.

Finally, this is another one of those attempted lurking screens. However, this one is a little bit more hard to notice...maybe. Hiding. This one is semi decent I think for the simple fact that they had no idea I was there.

Well that is all for now. I will try to get a post out sooner next time...of course whenever I say that I don't manage to do it. So, maybe I should just stop talking about doing it and just do it.
Also look forward to some screenshots over the next week or so. I plan on taking more of them, how good they are is another question. I'm more of an action shots kind of person. No pre-staged standing in a corner with a sniper rifle.

In the meantime remember; "OBEY POSTED LIMITS."