Halo 3: ODST Review

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 September, 2009

A short, sharp drop.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Getting more out of the Halo universe was never going to be difficult. There was plenty of drama waiting to be uncovered in New Mombasa, just as there will be in the since-glassed extremes of next year's Reach. But getting by without the Master Chief was always going to be difficult. He's the apex predator of Halo's enormously diverse battlefield ecology, sucking in his breath and diving out of space stations, smashing the Flood without breaking sweat, and hijacking Ghosts with one hand tied behind his Mjolnir armour. Everyone else can only be so tough; can only jump so high, recover so quickly, and do so much damage without need of backup.

Halo 3: ODST does present a compelling alternative to the Master Chief, but the smartest thing about the game is that Bungie faces down this intimidating challenge by realising it cannot do so through one man alone. Although you control the Rookie, a seemingly fresh-faced but faceless new tip of the spear in the battle against the Covenant, the developer prefers to tell the story of New Mombasa through a series of playable vignettes, each of which showcases individual acts of very human heroism on the part of a scattered group of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.

The Rookie's story begins in space as the ODSTs plans their attack on the Covenant forces that have appeared above New Mombasa, equatorial home to the space elevator that connects the world to the war machine that sits reluctantly on its shoulder in geostationary orbit. They're going in, but as they do so - in a fantastic first-person introduction sequence that captures the violent insanity of outer-terrestrial deployment - a Covenant ship jumps away, and its slip-space wake throws everyone off their drop coordinates and leaves the Rookie unconscious, suspended in his pod above the streets until after nightfall.

When he wakes up, at first it's to a game that is nothing like Halo: a dark, deserted city with very little human or Covenant presence to speak of, with nobody whispering instructions in his ear and little to go on besides an instruction to find medical supplies, while piano and theremin peels float unhurriedly on the wind. This is the game's hub world, a fat expanse of downtown New Mombasa, which the Rookie will spend the night crawling over for signs of his lost squad-mates.

'Halo 3: ODST' Screenshot 1

The new stamina system leaves you in greater danger than the Chief's recharging health, but health packs are well placed.

Like them, he's equipped with a VISR, which offers night-vision augmented by outlines and markers to identify beacons and hostiles, and which provides access to an overhead map of the city for plotting routes back and forth across it. Picking his way past Covenant patrols - some light, some heavy - he tracks down remnants, like a helmet with a crushed visor, a sniper rifle with a bent scope, or a faltering gauss cannon, each of which triggers a playable flashback level.

The hub may be a world apart from the Halo we recall, but the stories the flashbacks remember are not only the Halo world we recognise, they play out like a greatest hits compilation. They begin with squad leader Buck's assault on a Covenant-controlled plaza, a desperate rampage through streets filled with jackals and brutes in search of Veronica Dare, the naval intelligence officer with whom he has a history, and whose radio messages suggest is in serious trouble. Buck may be in a nervous hurry, but you will be back in your comfort zone, using the occasional building interior and split levels of the promenade to outflank and outgun the Covenant with your new suppressed, kick-heavy machinegun and revitalised, headshot-happy pistol.

Next you move on to the squad's hard man, Dutch, who ends up trawling the Covenant-packed parks outside New Mombasa in a warthog, lining up Wraiths for his gunner. Later you take control of Mickey, who drives a tank through the heart of the city. Then there's an explosive bridge sequence, and sniping among the rooftops with Romeo. It's a checklist of Halo disciplines level by level, but far from lazy, it's an ideal delivery mechanism for the thrills we've been missing since we finished the fight, with its own unique high points, like fighting off Banshees in the ruins of a downed Pelican, and teaching a Scarab to pick on something its own size. Between levels, the game returns to the Rookie, who continues his hunt, scavenging weapons and ammunition from Covenant detachments.

He also gets to know the Superintendent, the city's controlling AI, by locating glowing yellow phone booths and data points. This provides him access to supply caches - much-needed as ammo is scarce - but more importantly it gives him another couple of minutes' audio from the computer's logs, which tell the story of a young girl called Sadie and her attempts to reach her father, who is intimately connected with the events that brought the Covenant to bear on New Mombasa and, puzzlingly, only New Mombasa. You hear the audio recordings sequentially, no matter where you are when you locate the next one, and they are, in effect, a radio play; a well-acted, interesting side-story which leaves you anxious to learn more with each instalment.

The loss of the Chief has also had another side effect: it has thrust real, full-faced humans to the fore, encouraging Bungie to tell a human story. The result is worlds away from the wooden, military bombast and otherworldly Cortana interludes in Halo 3; in fact, with a core male cast plucked almost exclusively from Joss Whedon's contact book (Nathan Fillion as Buck, Adam Baldwin as Dutch and Alan Tudyk as Wash - sorry, Mickey), complemented by the multi-talented Nolan North (Uncharted, Prince of Persia), this is the closest we'll ever get to Firefly the FPS. There are a few duff lines, and Tricia Helfer is disappointingly shrill and one-dimensional as Veronica Dare, but Fillion in particular injects real pathos into the game's simple mystery.

'Halo 3: ODST' Screenshot 2

New Mombasa may be a single location, but Bungie also finds tremendous artistic diversity within the city limits - perhaps most evident in the transition from Buck's opening level to the Rookie and then Dutch's warthog battle in the park.

It's a major change, but as a whole ODST is still more of the same. The ODSTs lack the Chief's recharging health beneath an overshield, but they soak up a good few hits before they exhaust their stamina, which opens a broad health bar along the top of the screen to depletion unless you can find cover. The basic attack-and-retreat pattern of past Halo games remains, except now you need to keep an eye out for health packs, much as you did on the first of the Forerunner's ring worlds way back in 2001.

There is no equipment button, although you can always borrow a brute's shield bubble once it's deployed, and the ODST arsenal is pretty close to the Chief's, except for the addition of an enjoyable new incendiary grenade which douses targets in flames. Playing the campaign in co-op, you could well be playing Halo 3 again; pace and tactics are determined by the game's usually excellent level design, and even the night-time battles that rely on the VISR's night-vision play out in familiar fashion.

Bungie eventually knots the Rookie's story together with that of the other ODSTs cleverly, but the concluding sequence of discovery and deliverance is patchy, playing shotgun Wac-A-Mole with flying bugs before a repetitive flight from danger and a final siege sequence, all of which lacks the impact and urgency of its predecessors. With stretch-marks becoming evident, the campaign still ends after less than six hours on Normal difficulty, a figure that grows on Heroic and Legendary, or if you hunt down each of the 30 audio recordings, but not to an enormous degree. And while the Rookie's hub world interludes are generally laudable, the sight of locked doors and the respawning patrols are throwbacks that suggest Bungie hasn't quite mastered its new and otherwise encouraging approach to storytelling.

The greatest surprise, however, is that the game's co-operative Firefight mode, offered as an alternative to the competitive modes that made Halo 3 the most popular game on Xbox Live for a staggeringly long time, is an unconvincing extension to the New Mombasa playset. Repelling waves of Covenant reinforcements round by round, coordinating your attack and defence to make the most of the shared pool of lives, health packs and ammunition spread around each environment, has a lot in common with Gears of War 2's Horde mode, but despite the use of game-changing "skull" modifiers to interfere with your plans, there is both a sense of futility in the knowledge that death is only a matter of time and odds, and fatigue in the realisation that many levels play out just as they did in the campaign, except a bit more so.

Each of the 10 is drawn from the story mode, and some are just night-time versions of one another. Halo's gameplay foundations have always been laid in variable combat, and Crater - the plaza Buck strikes out for in the first flashback level - along with Rally Point and Security Zone are exemplary in dictating a fascinating character for each battle, just as they were in the campaign, but others are less successful. The rooftop Windward, fought among crates, split levels, corridors and ramps, is rather boxy and stifling, while Lost Platoon's sprawling parkland is quite the opposite.

'Halo 3: ODST' Screenshot 3

The initial orbital drop is probably the Halo series' best opening to date, so for god's sake don't watch the leaked videos on YouTube. Experience it properly.

Between the campaign co-op and Firefight, you can expect to double or treble the amount of time you initially spend uncovering the secrets of New Mombasa, but without the added battlegrounds, playlists and ranking systems we've come to expect, you'll be back to Halo 3 in no time. The second disk of Halo 3 multiplayer maps (three new, the rest drawn from existing Xbox Live map packs) and the promise of Halo: Reach beta access are valuable extras, but before long they feel less like bonuses and more like justifications for the game's premium price tag.

Horribly, it's that price tag that ultimately does for Halo 3: ODST. This is a marvellous campaign, and its clever pacing, shifting focus and expert storytelling all heave effortlessly under cover of wisdom inherited from the phenomenal Halo 3. Our fear had been that the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers would struggle to escape the Master Chief's shadow, but the developer's improving craft means they have no difficulty doing so over a short distance. Instead, it's the shadow cast by Halo 3 itself, and its contemporaries then and since, that proves slightly too long and broad for Bungie's valiant efforts of the past 18 months to escape, because no matter the quality of what's on offer, they can't reasonably make the same demand of your wallet, and yet they still do. It's all the more disappointing, because as a roadmap to the future of Halo, if not the future of Bungie, Halo 3: ODST is fantastic.

8 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (260) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • AaronTurner #1 2 years ago

    This is in the news section

  • Aname #2 2 years ago

    So as good as Halo then?

  • Psychotext #3 2 years ago

    Damn you Aname. :D

  • iN5OMANiAC #4 2 years ago

    So..... Theyre bleeding the franchise dry with short games at full price and few rehashed maps............

    Just remake Halo 1 on 360 and call it a day.

  • o_ci2007 #5 2 years ago

    4th comment, well not too bad. Halo ODST looks good, I will have to buy an xbox.

  • Aname #6 2 years ago

    @Psychotext

    Hehe. Gotta be quick, old bean. :)

  • ademkermad #7 2 years ago

    I've never criticised a Eurogamer review before, but I can't ignore the final paragraph of this one.Price, price, price. In the UK ODST isn't a full priced game. So how can you call it one and then use that as a negative? ODST is only £39.99 RRP, whereas most games are at an RRP of £49.99. Hence why ODST is available for around £30... you want to talk about price? ODST is £15 less than Modern Warfare 2... you going to take points of for that?

    This is a error in the review, so I'd expect there to be changes made to sort this out.

    EDIT: Really? You're going to mark this down when I'm making a valid point about an error in the review? It's says preorder for £30 on the page!!!

    EDIT 2: Ok, keep voting me down. It's not like getting your facts right is important in a review or anything. Let's see if you trolls can kick this down to -100.
    Edited by 3 at 20/09/09 @ 19:07

  • TriggerHippie #8 2 years ago

    Isn't it possible that the reviewer is well aware of its shelf price in the UK and still doesn't feel it delivers value for money?

  • dl0ad #9 2 years ago

    "Instead, it's the shadow cast by Halo 3 itself, and its contemporaries then and since, that proves slightly too long and broad for Bungie's valiant efforts of the past 18 months to escape, because no matter the quality of what's on offer, they can't reasonably make the same demand of your wallet, and yet they still do."

    To be fair, it should be pointed out that it was never Bungie's intention to have ODST MSRP at the level it is. Microsoft made that decision and it was beyond the legal control of Bungie. They are not demanding it of your wallet, Microsoft is.

  • TriggerHippie #10 2 years ago

    Indeed, its not really fair to level criticism of the price point at the developers.

  • harhol #11 2 years ago

    Who cares about price and length if the game is good? Uncharted was worth every penny despite only being five hours long. Sands of Time, Metal Gear Solid 2, Silent Hill 2 etc are even shorter. What about Rez? Barely an hour long and still an all-time classic. Six hours is about average for an action game anyway. If you don't like it, just sell it on eBay and get your money back.

  • ademkermad #12 2 years ago

    @TriggerHippie

    If that was the case, then I'm sure they would have mentioned the price as being reduced.

  • toa_boa #13 2 years ago

    Just a quick price vs. quality comparison and content breakdown:

    Wet and ODST has same RRP - £39.99. Most outlets has the games at £29.99.

    According to Eurogamer Wet is 7/10 and ODST is 8/10.

    Campaign in both is 4-5 hours. ODST has a significant multiplayer aspect, even an extra disc with loads of maps, Wet has none.

    Hmm what to do, I only got £30 to spend rest of September on games.
    All things being equal - as I'm not much of a multiplayer myself but love both genres - I'll get Wet, the campaign must be awesome compared to ODST's, that is, based on Eurogamer's recommendation.

    Before you press the "-"-button, please consider if the above statement is to be taken at face value or might be ever so slightly ironic (edited at -14 :-D)
    Edited by 3 at 20/09/09 @ 14:05

  • SchumiF1 #14 2 years ago

    A 5 hour game that makes no improvements can get an 8 now? It's still too high. At least it's better than all the 9s being thrown out.
    Eurogamer Italy had the best review by far, and the 6/10 score speaks for itself.

  • Avaloner #15 2 years ago

    The price point issue, which I think is very relative here, is not leveled at the developers or the game. Its rather a reflection of how much value it offers to the player. Having said that, it would not make sense to justify a very short game by saying that the publisher did not pump enough money to add a couple more levels. The means does not justify the end. Therefore I feel the reviewer has every right to mark the game down because it does not offer enough band for your buck. Why things turned out this way is irrelevant. The reviewer allegiance should always be towards the consumer and not the developer.

  • n3rdh8r #16 2 years ago

    This is available in Holland not for the usual €60 but for a more reasonable €40 to €45 .

    Don't pay too much kids!

  • Charlie_Miso #17 2 years ago

    They are still making Halo games?

    Pretty cool if you're into that sort of thing.

  • White_Westie #18 2 years ago

    I think the review is spot on, price does come in to it. Not whether you love the "brand" or not.

    With Halo 3 I was expecting something amazing, however, the single player felt a bit "dated" compared to many other games out there.

    This sounds more of the same (unfortunately).... Not reinventing the wheel or something revolutionary (lets remember it is STILL full priced, even if you can buy it discounted).... remember the leap from cod 3 to cod 4? .. Amazing jump....

    It is almost like they have run out of ideas and tried to use other games ideas... surprised they didnt go the whole hog and just put a few zombies in it as well.

    Get some originality back bungie....

    RIP Halo.... time for something NEW>.....

  • OllyJ #19 2 years ago

    @harhol

    You must play games superfast! All those you mention took me 10 hrs+!!!

    :D

  • Zappa #20 2 years ago

    lolz @ EG with no mention of its crappy graphics.

  • uzivatel #21 2 years ago

    The review is complaining about the full price and the advertisement under the review reads "pre-order today for £29.85 (save 25%)".
    But I guess this review is not really meant for us Europeans with our lower RRP and many discounts...
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 07:48

  • thenastypasty #22 2 years ago

    Iv only played the first couple of levels so far and im enjoying it much more than halo3 SP,graphis are much improved and it is a great addition to the Halo brand ,not played much firefight yet as not many on my FL have it yet or had chance to look at the 3 new maps yet on the MP.

  • patchbox360 #23 2 years ago

    an 8/10 for a sub 6 hour game - thats a joke when you know uncharted 2 is gonna get just one more point above odst but yet the quality and production between the two are almost a generation apart.

  • des #24 2 years ago

    8/10?
    Game sucks now...preorder canceled

  • brandon-flowers #25 2 years ago

    well i got it for £23 from argos does that mean i can add 1 to the score?

  • optimusprym8 #26 2 years ago

    Halo 3 took 6 hours. I'll rent this if mates are going to get it as Halo 3 4 player co-op was great fun

  • White_Westie #27 2 years ago

    "well i got it for £23 from argos does that mean i can add 1 to the score?"

    Course you did mate....

  • Dizzy #28 2 years ago

    I don't understand this "full price" thing. I have seen ODST for 45 euro everywhere. A normal game is 60 euro. It isn't a full price game.

  • matrim83 #29 2 years ago

    Good review and spot on. But ....

    and the ODST arsenal is pretty close to the Chief's, except for the addition of an enjoyable new incendiary grenade which douses targets in flames.

    The flame grenades were there in Halo 3. SP and MP.

    Did you just forget or never played Halo 3? :p
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 09:43

  • BadDevotions #30 2 years ago

    still looking forward to this. I had loads of fun on halo 3 so it's all good for me. Just hope my pre-order arrives on time.

  • Dizzy #31 2 years ago

    "They are still making Halo games?

    Pretty cool if you're into that sort of thing. "

    Yeah only a few million of us will be happy.

  • brandon-flowers #32 2 years ago

    well i dont mean i have it yet should hopefully get it for tues
    But pretty sure thats what i paid for it using the 20% off preorder code about 3 months ago

  • Moonprince #33 2 years ago

    8/10 = just for the lols

  • ViralNinja #34 2 years ago

    8/10

  • Bazfrag #35 2 years ago

    Halo 3: Omg Donnie Stop Tryin'
    Halo 3: One Damn Steep Transaction
    Halo 3: Own toDay Sleep Tomorrow
    Halo 3: Oh Do Stop Trolling

    Sorry was bored. Good score and review EG.

    edit: one of these doesn't work doh!
    Edited by 2 at 20/09/09 @ 09:44

  • Shadders #36 2 years ago

    Ridiculous to criticise the game for the price, especially when the criticisms levelled at the game are wholly false.

    I expect Modern Warfare 2 to get no more than a 5 then? Tony Hawks? You can give that a 3.

    Also the flame grenade was in Halo 3. And no experienced player should be playing on normal.

    Flawed review, flawed reviewer. I expect better.

  • Lovemoose #37 2 years ago

    This isn't a mastertronic £1.99 thing. I count anything over £25 quid as full price, it's only fair to expect you get good value for money.

  • kentmonkey #38 2 years ago

    Disgree with the normal difficulty and experienced player comment. As a reviewer surely it's better to play a game on the difficulty that most people who purchase the game will play at (which will be Normal, then on to harder difficulties after that if they so wish; very few lump it up to the hardest on their first go). It's also, again usually, the one the game was optimised for, which shouldn't provide for any major difficulty curves if done right.

    I see little point in playing a game on the hardest difficulty setting and reviewing it on that basis.

    And I'm not entirely sure that the game got knocked down because of price. It perhaps wasn't worded the best way it could have been (being the closing sentence) but I think it was more of a consideration for the buyer, rather than a 'I'm knocking a point of for this' justification.

  • onyxbox #39 2 years ago

    Sounds like a great game.

    The question on my mind is how long will it command that price? And for me to enjoy the game fully I've got to fork out an extra £30 or £40 for XBL, which puts me off a bit.

    They should have bundled 3 or 4 months XBL with the game IMO.

    L4D managed to keep a high price for ages (I didn't buy it until it was about £20)

  • asphaltcowboy #40 2 years ago

    I'm not the world's biggest Halo fan, but this does sound great! And as I didn't get any of the paid DLC yet, the price is fine!

  • morriss #41 2 years ago

    Sounds like a great game, sham ethe inflated price brings the score down a tad. I suppose if it was £30 it's 9/10.

    Good enough for me, really. (as was an 8)

  • lucky_jim #42 2 years ago

    I fully expect MW2 to be marked down severely for the ridiculous price, and I wish other games sites and mags would grow a pair and do the same. Value for money is, and should be a factor. If MW3 eventually comes out with a £200 price tag an a 20-minute long single-player campaign, would that be ok?

    It might be getting discounted, but ODST is a full-price title, and should be reviewed as such.

  • Moribundman #43 2 years ago

    They couldn't have given it nine because of the sheer SEA of piss that would have been taken with "better than Halo?" comments... ;-)

    Look how quick Aname got in there, and I bet half of you were thinking the same thing when you read that!

  • cianchristopher #44 2 years ago

    I always thought of Halo 3: ODST as being the equivalent of Crysis Warhead! And I loved Crysis Warhead! It expands on an existing, classic game and beefs up the multiplayer component! It was never going to get a 10 in the critical reviews, but if Halo 3 was a 10 to you, then it's safe to say that this is a must-buy!

  • morriss #45 2 years ago

    Oh look, a fan of Wii games trolling the comments section.

    How quaint.

  • Pro_Gamer #46 2 years ago

    This score is typical EUROFAILER trying to stir controversey. Bunjie can do things with physics in this game that NO other developer can match and you know it. This is a 10/10 game and its only the $ony crowd who seem to disagree...

  • TRUTH #47 2 years ago

    RRP is £29.99 not £39.99...Amazone are selling it for £28.99 inc p&p.

    ODST comes bundled with another disc, the Halo 3 Mythic disc, which contains the entire Halo 3 multiplayer experience, with all the downloadable content so far, AND three new maps. That's 24 maps, Forge, Save Films and File Share. And you can play that against all current Halo 3 owners too.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 10:10

  • HoriZon #48 2 years ago

    10/10 lol i dont think a game should get when it could of been DLC!!

    Even the 8/10 is high for a 6 hour full price game.

    oh anything over £20 is full price to me.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 10:23

  • asphaltcowboy #49 2 years ago

    @morriss - Err... the game IS £30!
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 10:16

  • DudBug #50 2 years ago

    [Comment on Firefight mode] "there is both a sense of futility in the knowledge that death is only a matter of time and odds"

    Hasn't EG missed the point of Firefight/Horde? It is integral to the experience that death is inevitable, the fun comes from trying to delay it happening for as long as possible and from trying to maximise a score or reach as high a level as possible in the process.

    " and fatigue in the realisation that many levels play out just as they did in the campaign, except a bit more so"

    This is a more worrying comment. Recyling maps from the campaign seems a little lazy, but, on the basis of Halo:CE especially, Bungie can get away with recycling maps better than most because it is the dynamic AI which keeps the game fresh. A different set of enemies on the same map can lead to a completely different experience.

    I had hoped for something to match the brilliance of Horde from GoW2. Other reviews of ODST have been more positive about the Firefight mode. It will be interesting to see whether it takes off.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 10:25

  • Peew971 #51 2 years ago

    I hear it's $60 in the US so I guess they took into account American readers but it's clear that RRP is lower in Europe. Well for once they're being shafted and not us, we're not going to complain! \o/
    So £30 for ODST, 24 Halo 3 maps (and you don't even need Halo 3 to play multiplayer!) and Halo Reach beta is a great deal in my book! This is obviously a 9/10 for us Europeans :D

  • Tomo #52 2 years ago

    This comments thread is comedy gold!

  • Danoxth #53 2 years ago

    Eurogamer Italy gave it a 6/10, imagine that comment thread (if there was more than 13posts I'd be great I suspect)

    Eurogamer Portugal a 9/10

  • des #54 2 years ago

    "Even the 8/10 is high for a 6 hour full price game."

    Every shooter released this gen can be finished in 6 hours,it is the most stupidest thing that "people" complain about.
    You just have to be good at it.

  • LilithsCurves #55 2 years ago

    It is a full-price game with 30 pounds, (who in the hell is paying above 40 pound in the uk for a game if he reads eurogamer forums?). 8/10 is a very good score, and how i see it, the reviewer thought, that the game is a little short among its peers.
    And all in all he deemed it an 8. Those who like halo will probably buy it depending on the price and what they get for their money and others will not. The world will continue to be the center of the galaxy and sun will still circle around it until the gods stop it.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 10:47

  • El-Dev #56 2 years ago

    The RRP of this game, like most new games is £39.99, but you can get it from most places for £29.99 which is very reasonable for a game which most people get most from the Multiplayer modes.

  • WinterSnowblind #57 2 years ago

    Yeah.. I'm a little puzzled to see Eurogamer complain about the price. I can understand Americans being a little upset about it, but the game is only £30. That's not full price and assuming you haven't bought any of the Halo 3 map packs that come free with this.. that comes to £30 alone.

  • Wildsleven #58 2 years ago

    i see a lot of people complaining about the price... and they are right to be.... still any halo fans will buy it at the end of the day!
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 14:02

  • Dodgymat #59 2 years ago

    Overpriced Dlc Sold Today

    Halo has never done anything for me, didn't even finish the first one.

    Finish the fight? I didn't - because I thought it was shit :)

  • Kiigan #60 2 years ago

    In fairness, the inclusion of the Halo 3 multiplayer diisk with all the post-release maps represents quite a bit of added value... after all, some of those maps are still paid-for downloadable content on Xbox Live. Considering ODST is abuot 2/3rds the price of Halo 3, this seems like a bargain to me overall.

  • WinterSnowblind #61 2 years ago

    @Bullet_Dodger
    It's an expansion though, meant to add on to the Halo 3 campaign, not completely innovate the genre.

    Personally, I'm very happy to finally see more single player content for the game, rather than constantly getting nothing but multiplayer maps. I'm sure the game could have still been better, but I don't think anyone was expecting this to be better than a brand new FPS being released next month on a totally new engine.

  • Rushy #62 2 years ago

    To lose a point on the price is rather petty to be honest. It in the UK it has a £10 cheaper RRP and a 6 hour campaign is not uncommon for a "full price" title e.g. COD4. And I can't see how value can be put into question when it contains such a plethora of multiplayer maps.

  • Gearskin #63 2 years ago

    I've honestly paid more for less.

  • cianchristopher #64 2 years ago

    Think of it as basically a standalone expansion (like you get on PC with Crysis Warhead, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, etc.).....

    It's for the fans only (but this is Halo so there are loads of them)...........

    I'm getting it! I really like the sound of Firefight - Nazi Zombies and Horde are great fun and this *should* be better thanks to the improved mechanics Halo games have over Gears of War and Call of Duty (I'm thinking of the great driving in Halo, and the Blizzard-levels of polish and balance......)

  • muttler #65 2 years ago

    Good review and score. I will buy this day 1 if it's less than £30 as friends are getting it so co-op will be good. I've only recently joined live so dont have any of the extra Halo 3 maps so that does sweeten the deal. I think it is especially relevant to comment on price at this time of year when there are so many other games competing for my hard earned.

    Whats all this 'normal rrp of £49.99 for new games'? If I walk into any high street store new releases are £39.99, occasionally £45. I've never seen a normal edition of a game for £49.99 afaik?
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 11:15

  • electrolite #66 2 years ago

    This comments thread is brilliant. Like a mass public intervention for the idiots.

    50, 51 and 65 are my favourite

  • DDevil #67 2 years ago

    Oh look, there's Pro_Gamer at 51... Proving YET AGAIN that his user name is ironic. He (or she) clearly knows fuck all about games.

  • Xinch #68 2 years ago

    "or god's sake don't watch the leaked videos on"
    Capital g for God please.

  • KennySim #69 2 years ago

    Even though 8/10 is still a good score I honestly can't believe that this has been marked down for the price. As others have said, you could make the same argument for many other games but you don't. Will you mark Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 down for being even more expensive and do you score downloadable games a little higher because they cost less? Probably not so it is absolutely ridiculous that you have taken this approach. I thought a professional reviewer would have more integrity than that but then again, looking at the reviewer, I'm not at all surprised.

  • Widge #70 2 years ago

    I doubt if you like Halo you're going to be disappointed by this. Although I do think having spin off-y type stuff kind of devalues the impact of a Halo release. Kinda concerned that this is happening with Metal Gear Solid too.

  • Pastici #71 2 years ago

    Oh no, my beloved Halo will not look as good on Metacritic with an 8/10 kicking about :o. People were going to but this regardless of score anyway.

    I like the idea of health, its a concept that is slowly leaving gaming :(.

  • DjFlex52 #72 2 years ago

    O_bullet Dodger Silly Twit

  • DDevil #73 2 years ago

    Who says it actually lost a mark for the price? It could have lost two! Anyway all the review says is that it's disappointing, it's not necessarily lost a mark for it.

  • Xerx3s #74 2 years ago

    "So..... Theyre bleeding the franchise dry with short games at full price and few rehashed maps............ "

    Franchises such as mario have been releasing 7 to 8 games a year, every year for the past 20 something years but it's the halo franchise that is bled dry with 3 core games and 2 spinoffs over a period of 9 years.

  • Xerx3s #75 2 years ago

    "Isn't it possible that the reviewer is well aware of its shelf price in the UK and still doesn't feel it delivers value for money?"

    And yet he gives it an 8.

  • dl0ad #76 2 years ago

    I'll chime in once more with this bit:

    "It's all the more disappointing, because....Halo 3: ODST is fantastic."

    8/10 is not a bad score however, the writer's logic and sanity of the editor are all the more disappointing for it.

  • zisssou #77 2 years ago

    8 clearly means it is rubbish and you shouldn't buy it ever......

    *sarcasm*

  • Chufty #78 2 years ago

    Everyone saying this game isn't full price when the RRP is FORTY POUNDS STERLING is talking out of their arse. If you can get it cheap from Argos then well done, but if you're talking about the pricing strategy of a game you have to talk about its RRP. Any less is the retailer sacrificing profit for your business and should not enter into the argument.

    Forty quid is a lot of money to spend on a few hour's entertainment and if a game doesn't provide value for money, then the review should quite rightly point that out. The same goes for MW2 - but it is the value for money that should be considered, not its outright price.

  • Vergis69 #79 2 years ago

    Halo... "The" most overrated FPS of all time. A very good game of course, but overrated.

    Least this one didnt get a OMG its halo! 10 10 10 10

    Single player story sounds good so ill probs pick it up.

    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 11:35

  • Pasco #80 2 years ago

    The price tag of the game shouldn't have been mentioned in the review. In four months when the game costs half as much, nobody will care. I don't even care now. I am more interested in if the game rewards my time invested and not the money I invested.

  • miiiguel #81 2 years ago

    In Portugal the game is 20% cheaper, is this the same price as a regular game in the rest of Europe? Fail score in my book, good text though, this is mature Halo in every way.

    /out to play.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 11:38

  • DjFlex52 #82 2 years ago

    "Anyway all the review says is that it's disappointing, it's not necessarily lost a mark for it."

    Huh? Sony fanboys will say any bullsh*t to save face...lol

    IGN - 9
    Gamepro - 9
    1UP - 91
    CVG - 90
    Worth Playing - 95
    Team Xbox - 94

  • miiiguel #83 2 years ago

    Oh I see... my bad. You are in conquer the world mode, and you are talking to Americans with that pricing bullshit, right?

  • morriss #84 2 years ago

    I know what, let's have yet another conversation about whether Halo as a franchise is any good or not....

    :'(

  • AphoticCosmos #85 2 years ago

    Meh, was sold anyway.

  • Xerx3s #86 2 years ago

    "I fully expect MW2 to be marked down severely for the ridiculous price"

    Of course they won't. Everybody and their mum will give it a 10/10, even if it was a box of shite.

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #87 2 years ago

    Jeh, of cource it's not as big as Halo 3.
    Hence the "Halo 3: ODST" title. It's just a well done expansion.

  • electrolite #88 2 years ago

    Number 85 is pretty special actually. 7 or 8 Mario games in 1993? Right-o
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 11:42

  • RedSparrows #89 2 years ago

    Ahhh the old review merry go round.

    Little tip: If you don't like Halo, the game probably isn't for you. If you do, I imagine you're savvy enough to WORK OUT WHETHER PAYING £30-£40 FOR IT IS A GOOD DEAL FOR YOU.

    Why did I even bother coming into this thread? You already know the shit that;s going to be there.

  • DDevil #90 2 years ago

    DjFlex52 - I don't even own a PS3! I've got a PSP gathering dust though - does that count enough for me to be a Sony fanboy?

    If not, then I guess you're full of shit. Nice one.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 11:52

  • miiiguel #91 2 years ago

    @ spamm1: Read the review twat, is not big, is small.

  • Penguinzoot #92 2 years ago

    The world will continue to be the center of the galaxy and sun will still circle around it until the gods stop it.

    ... and Copernicus turns in his grave :'(

  • spudsbuckley #93 2 years ago

    ODST comes bundled with another disc, the Halo 3 Mythic disc, which contains the entire Halo 3 multiplayer experience, with all the downloadable content so far, AND three new maps. That's 24 maps, Forge, Save Films and File Share. And you can play that against all current Halo 3 owners too.

    I don't really like Halo at all (think it's over-rated by people who have basically only played about 3 shooters in their entire lives) but that is pretty cool and decent of MS/Bungie because this is basically a DLC pack for Halo 3 otherwise.

  • Spekingur #94 2 years ago

    I think you guys aren't realising the most important part about Halo 3: ODST.
    It's as close to a Firefly FPS as you can get.

    I support Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin and Alan Tudyk. Just for having those guys in the game Bungie get top notch marks from me - and they get my money.

  • Geordiemp #95 2 years ago

    IGN UK 8.6
    IGN AU 8.0

    Only USA sites giving it 9.0 s. Not as excited about this as Uncharted2, Sigma 2 (for coop) or Acreed 2 (Xbox).

    Although a bit same old, for me Halo 3 is a low res not wow factor single player FPS, but love it for the COOP (so have 2 copies), so will probably get 2 copies of this when price drops after XMAS.

    Easy to wait, no jaw dropping experience probably (sounds same as Halo 3 with a nigh vision mode), but coop done right I bet.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 11:54

  • DDevil #96 2 years ago

    Svpamm1 - Wait... WHAT? I think you'll find the reason they can't give it a low score is that it's a good game. Not because they're being paid off by MS.

  • RedSparrows #97 2 years ago

    Spuds, I've played countless shooters. Am I an idiot?

    WHY DO I DO IT TO MYSELF?

    /leaves

  • LilithsCurves #98 2 years ago

    @Penguinzoot yes you are right, i could have said: And the moon will continue to perform his turns around our planet and we will continue to make our turns around the sun and our sun will circle itself in one of the outer reaches of our own galaxy around its center. Every galaxy will drift further apart from a common center at sub light speed and as strange as it seems will increase at its speed, which geeks who earn a lot of money (also called academically successful scientists) suggest is due to dark matter...... but then again that would have been much longer and less entertaining... and in the end also less of a little humor :-)

  • Kiigan #99 2 years ago

    FWIW I have no complaint about Tom's review, which was excellent as always. Well, perhaps it was a little spoilerific...

  • Geordiemp #100 2 years ago

    Actually, read the AU IGN review, the ozzies hold no punches and give it straight, and is more concerning :

    "Despite the drab visuals....Even playing it on the Heroic difficulty level.....players are able to plough through the game with very little opposition or challenge. In fact, we finished the entire main campaign in under five hours

    You're almost able to jog through the entire game.

    There were only a handful of times in the entire game where we were taken back to the last checkpoint.....it's not unreasonable to expect at least a tiny challenge"
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 12:17

  • VandelayIndustries #101 2 years ago

    Excellent, this will tide me over nicely until Uncharted 2 is released.

  • morriss #102 2 years ago

    Never, ever play a Halo game on Normal. Ever.

    Like never ever.

  • liverpoolfc #103 2 years ago

    so killzone and resistance 2 is better

  • liverpoolfc #104 2 years ago

    so killzone and resistance 2 is better

  • Shrike #105 2 years ago

    Sold, personally. But -

    If cost is going to be a factor in determining score, then bring it in across the board. Even though price is obviously variable based on time/shop/subjective value judgements, it's useful to know that a reviewer didn't feel there was enough in the box. I'm not actually sure whether I like the idea of a short game getting automatically marked down, but if you're going to do it then do it for everything. Left 4 Dead, for example, really should lose a mark for the same reasons: a full-price game with a tiny amount of content compared to other titles. There's a strong quality/quantity argument to be made but the impression I get from this review is that ultimately it's the latter that matters.

    If that's not the impression that Eurogamer wants to give then they should probably not mention cost at all.

  • Grayvern #106 2 years ago

    I don't think cost was a determining factor in the score. It's just a symptom of the divorce between score and text.

    And to be honest the score is good when you consider it's mostly based on the single player experience. Halo 3 judged solely on the campaign was a 5 generously a 6.

  • uglygamer #107 2 years ago

    Never, ever play a Halo game on Normal. Ever.

    Like never ever.

    Yeah I know I play it on easy.

  • electrolite #108 2 years ago

    Eurogamer is biased!!!!!! There it is. We now have the full set of 'special' comments

  • Mark1412 #109 2 years ago

    Totally what Shrike said. And someone else mentioned it, but Uncharted was an extremely short game with no multiplayer component. Did it need a multiplayer mode? No. Seven hours of exceptional quality justified the £40 price tag and ODST is £29 unless you're extremely silly/ can't use the internet.

  • Geordiemp #110 2 years ago

    Bet anyone digital foundry do NOT do a tech analysis on Halo ODST. Not one mention of the graphic technology LOL.

    Taking the michael having a FPS with such an old engine as a new release. MS and Bungie should have thrown some money at it and wowed us with at least 720 P visuals ...Bungie have made their money !
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 12:39

  • Eoin #111 2 years ago

    So will the game be re-reviewed later and given a higher score when shops start selling it for lower prices? Or when it gets re-released on the Classics range?

    Price is mutable, and of course the same price will mean very different things to different people. Unless a game has an extremely high or an extremely low price, it is very difficult to bring price into a review of that game. You should only be reviewing the game, not what you imagine I may be paying for it.
    Edited by 2 at 20/09/09 @ 12:47

  • The_Realist #112 2 years ago

    I think EG sum it up nicely in the last paragraph.

    "Instead, it's the shadow cast by Halo 3 itself, and its contemporaries then and since, that proves slightly too long and broad for Bungie's valiant efforts of the past 18 months to escape, because no matter the quality of what's on offer, they can't reasonably make the same demand of your wallet, and yet they still do."

    Although ODST is a great quality game, it doesn't matter how polished it is, there's just not quite enough content compared to other games out there. Because of it's pricing it has to be compared to full games and not just DLC.

    Yes, you're getting the Halo 3 multiplayer which adds value, but if you already have that(and most people will) then are you left with as much content as similar titles? Maybe not.

    8/10 is a very fair score imo. Any less wouldn't be giving the game credit for it's quality, but anymore just wouldn't be reasonable.

    I'd also like to add that people saying MW2 should have points deducted because of it's price are maybe not understanding the point made. This is about VALUE, not cost. There's a big difference. You don't automaticaly deduct marks because of a price tag. You first consider the value, then mark the game accordingly.

    If MW2 comes out and it's not got more, or at least equal content to similar games then by all means it should be marked down because of the poor value. But if it does have more content and more value then it should be reviewed on an equal level to similar games.

  • Shadders #113 2 years ago

    "Everyone saying this game isn't full price when the RRP is FORTY POUNDS STERLING is talking out of their arse. "

    Not really, there isn't a single shop in the UK that sells a game at RRP, EVERY game on 360/PS3 has an RRP of £49.99, but the shops all sell them for £40 [Look at any new game on Play and you'll see "RRP: £49.99 | You save: £10.00 (20%)"] so it's only fair to assume that when this comes out with an RRP of £40 that the real price you will pay will be about £10 less. We can make this assumption because this is what happens to EVERY SINGLE OTHER GAME.

    As we know MW2 has an RRP of £55, it'll still be in all the shops for £45, of course, we can now fully expect Eurogamer to mark that game down accordingly too.

  • spatss #114 2 years ago

    Gee, M$ is really milking the Halo franchise. It seems it's the only thing they have going for them.

  • morriss #115 2 years ago

    CoD MW took most people 5 hours, was full priced and scored highly.

    What's the problem?

  • Retroid #116 2 years ago

    Svpamm1: "Yet again for some reason Eurogamer cant give a big Microsoft exclusive a low score."

    You'd have a point if their score wasn't broadly in line with the general consensus.

    /Joeys

  • Eoin #117 2 years ago

    I'd also like to add that people saying MW2 should have points deducted because of it's price are maybe not understanding the point made. This is about VALUE, not cost. There's a big difference. You don't automaticaly deduct marks because of a price tag. You first consider the value, then mark the game accordingly.

    If MW2 comes out and it's not got more, or at least equal content to similar games then by all means it should be marked down because of the poor value. But if it does have more content and more value then it should be reviewed on an equal level to similar games.

    How does this logic actually apply to the real world though?

    I mean, you can walk into a games store and pick up a used copy of Halo 3 - or even a new copy - for a pittance. By any reasonable standards, it has at least as much content as MW2 will have, and it will be way cheaper. Alternatively, for people who aren't fans of Halo, you can pick up a copy of one of the earlier CoD games for way less than MW2 will cost.

    Any attempt to bring value (which is even more subjective than price) into a review is admirable from a theoretic viewpoint, but riddled with practical failures. Games pricing changes too fast and varies too much for it to make sense including in a review.

  • FooAtari #118 2 years ago

    Can't beleive there is 100+ posts over a game getting an 8. It's a good score.

    But, how about we drop the scores EG. Do it like Ars Techina who have three "scores" buy, rent, leave. Leaves much less scope for retarded arguments.

  • LilithsCurves #119 2 years ago

    I liked THE_REALIST's differentiation between money and value. For this reviewer, it was an 8/10 game, but obviously THIS price issue would not have come up, if he would have used other words to describe that he thinks this halo is not enough for a higher score then 8/10 (in his review, his honest opinion). The thing is, one could argue, Halo: ODST never intended to be a full game but more of a great DLC addon package thing. Well, i think a lot of people expect more value from this one and to point that out in his review - i understand.

  • Lukus #120 2 years ago

    I'm looking forward to the campaign, it sounds great. A shame about the reviewer's not as glowing opinion on Firefight mode though. I was hoping that would be really good.

    As for some of the comments I've read here; may I recommend reading the review and thus getting your facts right to the anti Halo types before rushing in with the ill informed anger. I've not read so much bullshit in a long time.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 13:02

  • BabyJesus #121 2 years ago

    8/10 isn't bad atall, especially since they slated the price.

    A game doesn't have to be 10/10 to be brilliant to you.

  • mkreku #122 2 years ago

    Damnit, I read the first page and thought "This sounds awesome, an open-world Halo" and then I read it's 6 hours long. What?! It broke my heart.

  • IronGiant #123 2 years ago

    "phenomenal Halo 3"

    Obviously you played a different game to me. Its good but far from phenomenal.

  • lavalant #124 2 years ago

    I might pick it up when it's £10 in a few months.

    If it plays just like Halo 1 2 and 3 then what's the point? If you want a brilliant game I urge everyone to go read the godhand article and buy that game instead.

  • Liamario #125 2 years ago

    The first fair review I've read so far. If you're a Halo fan you'll love it, but as a standalone game, a little disapointing and overpriced.

  • Widge #126 2 years ago

    Short games ftw. My shelf is littered with stuff that is unfinished so its nice to have something to grapple with, get done and be happy with. Especially in this world of time stealing multiplayer games.

  • miiiguel #127 2 years ago

    No game has the "I don't like this game, it's worse than that other game" magnet has Halo. I can't imagine why.

  • TRUTH #128 2 years ago

    Might get this as AI is still the best in any fps...Also can'tbe bothered to wait for Crackdown 2, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell Convection, Bioshock 2, Left4Dead 2, Forza 3, Assassins Creed II.

    Also games like MGS 4 - take away all the cut scenes and you have just approx 6hrs gameplay too!..god those fmv's were the main part of the game. CoD 4 is approx 6-7 hrs too (again an overrated game!)

    Go to Amazone, Play.com it's selling for £29.99 inc p&p - if soild any higher (HMV are always overpriced!); it's the shop is taken extra profits from RRP (meaning purposely overpricing). Mot new PS3/360 (though sometimes PS3 games are a bit more!) games are priced at £39.99 - anyone paying more is there own fault.
    Edited by 2 at 20/09/09 @ 13:48

  • Windypops #129 2 years ago

    I can see your Halo, Halo, Halo,
    I can see your Halo, Halo, HALO,
    I can see your Halo,

    Scored eight out of ten. Good score. Might buy it.

    Ooo-eee-ooo

  • Alkeno #130 2 years ago

    I believe people fail to see the value in ODST because Microsoft made an estrange decision in not fragmenting the market properly. It seems that most ODST buyers fall into 3 categories:

    1.- Those loving Halo 3 and its multiplayer: They are most likely to have already bought all the maps and have played them for years, so they are left to expend full price for a new mode and a short campaign. So they feel ripped off.

    2.- Those who liked Halo 3 but are not into the multiplayer: They would have been happy with a heavy DLC add-on for Halo3. They never cared for the multiplayer maps (and thus never bought them before!). I belong here.

    3.- Those new to Halo 3. They are the only group to get a good value as they might find everything interesting: A short and intense campaign, a firefight mode and a bunch of great multiplayer maps that may get them into the Halo3 community. For them this is a good as a full game gets and deserves full price.

    I reckon that making ODST a retail title was necessary for those in the third category (and those who don't have a HDD) but it seems that selling the campaign as DLC for 1200 MS would have been a good idea (at least for me, I want to try it but not at the current price, so I will either rent it or get it second-hand in a few months).

  • TRUTH #131 2 years ago

    Lets not forget Mario Galaxy - I completed this within 4 hrs...Never played it before until I went to my mates house (got it for his wife), way to simple. This was a full price game - no one complained about the price it was fairly short and fairly easy to complete. Ico (good game), this was approx 7hrs gameplay - Uncharted 1 was six hrs (i completed this on normal setting); most games are approx 8hrs esp action/adventure titles.

  • Widge #132 2 years ago

    Ico was about 3 1/2 hours... but its quality was in the sheer constant beauty of the game and appearence.

  • lavalant #133 2 years ago

    @truth You completed mario galaxy in 4 hours? you do realize you haven't completed it at all then?
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 14:03

  • Nephirion #134 2 years ago

    So .... as good as Section 8 then :)

  • Graham_Bark #135 2 years ago

    I have to say that I strongly disagree with price being in factor in reviews. Sure, its something thats important to consider for anyone buying a game, but that should be for the consumer to weigh up against the critical opinion of the game, and not for the reviewer themselves to decide if a game is value for money. My main complaint here is that games will inevitably become cheaper as time passes, sometimes very quickly after their release. Does this suddenly make the game better? No, of course not, but it could become better value for money. As a site such as Eurogamer cannot spend time re-reviewing every game as its price changes it should not be part of the original opinion at all. Reviews should be a commodity that people can use along side price to judge for themselves whether a game is a solid investment.

  • darkphoenix #136 2 years ago

    I don't think a game review should be so dependable on the price factor.
    As lots of fellow eurogamers posted, the score will become misleading and unfair when the game goes budget in a few months.

    On the other hand, the old saying "read the reviews, not the scores" applies perfectly in this case, since the review reads like a solid 9, brought down in the end by the price factor.

    And who the hell pays full-price for games anyway?
    I got mine sent by Shoptonet to Portugal for £33...


    In my opinion, great review, not so good score, it will not stand the test of time and will join the eurogamers infamous list of out-of-touch-scores.

  • Widge #137 2 years ago

    I think price should be a factor, especially with Activision wading in with £100+ games.

  • jetli #138 2 years ago

    Ah, cool, I was just thinking I wasn't paying enough for expansion packs.

    I already have Halo 3 and it wasn;t exactly great to start with, now I'm expected to re-buy it's multiplayer content just to get access to a 5 hour campaign that sounds like it falls well short of other FPS titles we've gotten this generation? Fuck that, you can keep this shit Bungie you greedy c***s. I MIGHT give this a rent someday, but there is no way in HELL I'm paying full price for 5 hours of game when Modern Warfare 2 is just going to shit ALL over what little this actually does have to offer.

    Blinkered idiots will line up for it of course, but I sure won't.

  • Bremenacht #139 2 years ago

    I like a decent story-telling in games, so in that regard this game sounds a lot more appealling than H2 or 3. Shame about the short length - can anyone comment on replay value?

    The price itself isn't a firm factor, but the price bracket is.

  • Shadders #140 2 years ago

    I really don't see how someone could question the value of this..

    Lets take Orange Box as a comparison, it's a game that is generally considered to be very good value.

    Orange Box on 360 was £45 in most retailers, I paid that at GAME, the same shop I'll be getting ODST from for £30.

    Orange Box included two games which I (and any other fans of good games) had already bought, it also included an online game which I wasn't really a huge fan of (much like how some people don't think much of Firefight), and then two original games, which combined offered about 6 hours of gameplay.

    ODST offers the Halo 3 multi along with DLC (which a lot of people will already have), a new multiplayer game, and then a single player game that apparently lasts about 6 hours. There's also the Reach beta, maybe it's not fair to include that in this discussion, decide for yourselves.

    The similarities here are obvious for all to see, now I'm not implying that ODST is as good as Orange Box or that it deserves the same score, but to level complaints of "value" at a game offering a similar amounts of content (with both games recycling and repackaging old stuff) seems ludicrous.

    Orange Box cost 50% more than ODST, and in all honesty probably offers about 50% more/better stuff (obviously there's no way to measure this accurately), Orange Box was also widely regarded as one of the greatest deals in the history of videogames, so why be so harsh on ODST?

  • Shrike #141 2 years ago

    I think the issue is partly that the review makes explicit the fact that the game is losing points due to cost. It's not a case of 'it's a 8/10 game which is also fairly slight, and therefore you should consider another 8/10 game'. The review reads fairly explicitly as a 9/10 - using words like 'fantastic' etc which correlate fairly well with EG's own definition of a 9. This suggests that if you can get it cheap (which everyone can), it's higher than an 8. Which is why the review is so confusing.

    That said I won't know exactly how short 'short' is until I've played it myself. I'm guaranteed two playthroughs (a Heroic and a Legendary) and however much mileage I get out of Firefight (plus the fact that I never got round to buying the Halo 3 DLC so there's that as well.) I feel pretty confident that I'll get my £30 worth.

  • FooAtari #142 2 years ago

    Didn't realise there were so many ninja gamers that can complete any game in 4 hours

  • jimbo118 #143 2 years ago

    As a person who has never played any Halo game I thought I might take the plunge on this. What impressed people so much with Halo 1 will probably equally impress me with the newer games in the series, whereas lifetime fans are probably more used to the series' strengths by now.

    The graphics, like halo3's, seem its weakest link.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 15:14

  • monkeywithnoeyes #144 2 years ago

    firefight mode looks the most promising part of this EXPANSION.. but limiting me in that because theres no matchmaking for it.. meaning i cant simply play it whenever i choose to, seems silly to me... and is actually enough to put me off from buying it at its over priced rrp tag. Which at the end of the day is over double that that expansion packs with just as much contents have come in at - GTA4 dlc, HL2 episodes, Oblivion expansion packs ect

  • kendoji #145 2 years ago

    I'm not getting this. I'm also not getting MW2. I'm so radical!

  • maximusfarticus #146 2 years ago

    So, not as good as Noby Noby Boy then?

  • metalangel #147 2 years ago

    jetli, of course, is not a blinkered idiot when he lines up for Modern Warfare 2 or sings its praises despite not having played it.

  • BillyBrush #148 2 years ago

    Seems like quite a lot for £29 quid to be honest..

    You have to consider some of us didn't shell out for Legendary or Mythic map packs..

    So, for me the multiplayer disc is a pretty big thing.

    I guess it depends on how you look at it....i think ODST's well known origins have maybe...affected the way many people look at it.

  • gandhimaster #149 2 years ago

    i dont think price should affect a review score.

    either the game is great or it is not.

    and if i can afford it then great. the content of a review is most important, i can decide for myself after that whether i have the money to buy it.

    the comments regards activision en al are fair, however great a game tony hawk ends up being its too expensive for me but if its a great game it deserves the score to go with it.

  • Avaloner #150 2 years ago

    Gandhimaster so if Braid or The Maw were released as full price games then they still should have gotten high scores using your reasoning? ODST was meant as an addon and according to the reviewer it shows. Its not priced as an addon. Now if you manage to get a deal then well and good but the RRP is what it is and that is what a reviewer has to go by. I for one will not be getting it just yet. I did not like Halo 3 that much to justify getting something similar at this price point. When its 23€ I will definitely consider it.

    Edit: Typos
    Edited by 2 at 20/09/09 @ 16:01

  • MikeJones #151 2 years ago

    Pretty good score for a expansion pack.

  • TRUTH #152 2 years ago

    The Orange Box (aka Half Life 2) was one of the best packages ever - you should all have bought this.

  • Raiten #153 2 years ago

    @Shadders: you're actualy trying to compeare an extremely tiny game package against orange box? for your entire comparison to be even remotely close to the value point, ODST package should've contained halo1 - 3 & odst, and it would still be lacking in the content provided.
    Bottom line is, some people might actualy be annoyed about the price of ODST when they compeare it to any similiar offerings, aka expansions or even the orange box they might've bought, since usualy expansions carry equal amount of content to ODST and in general come with lower price tags. Frankly ODST barely delivers anything beyond your regular expansion in fps games, but with avarage higher price tag.

  • Law07 #154 2 years ago

    *awaits MW2 review*

  • lucky_jim #155 2 years ago

    Price always is a factor in reviews, and it should be. It was explicitly given as one of the reasons EDF got given 9/10 on this site: it offered a lot of fun for your £20. ODST is an expansion pack with an RRP of £40. A good one, from the sound of it, but that still doesn't represent great value for money. I remember Samba de Amigo on the Dreamcast losing marks in the Official Dreamcast Mag because the RRP of the game and maracas was so high, and that was eight years ago or something.

    And no, that doesn't mean a game should be re-reviewed when the price goes down, that's just stupid and facetious. If I can get a 6/10 game for £10 I'm obviously more likely to consider it than when it was £40 or £50, because I have more than two brain cells and can therefore figure out that it's better value at the lower price. I don't need a re-review to tell me that.

    I'll probably buy it cos I like Halo 3, but not til it's £20 or so.
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 17:44

  • Negotiator #156 2 years ago

    Can't wait to get this, read most of the reviews on the internet and all range from 7 to 9's, with only the size and length of the game a factor in giving the game a lower score than expected. They all agree that the gameplay is superb and all apart from this review love firefight, this game was made in 12 months by a small team at bungie, I never expected it to be a full price game. £29.99 with everything you get is a great price, amazon.co.uk is the place to go.

  • o_ci2007 #157 2 years ago

    I am not a fan of Halo, but I dont think its overated at all. Its still the most played game on xbox live, even though many have come and gone Halo still is king of the xbox. It has sold close to 10 million, one thing is true in gaming, a good game will sell well except for wii sport. People will go and buy a good that is good regardless of the price. Game reviews are more about the technical abilities of a game rather than the fun factor, where as people play games to enjoy and not because they have a 10/10 review score. If Halo was bad would people keep coming back for more, I don't think so. Uncharted 2 will probably get a 9 or 10 but more people will buy COD MW2 because its just more fun. In terms of graphics, fps, and overall technical ability Uncharted 2 is untouched on any platform but best be assured it will be outsold by odst which has" only" an 8/10.

    Now fire away Mr Fenster.

  • JayKwon #158 2 years ago

    Wth, in holland you can get this game for €33 at quite a few retailers.

  • Wolverfrog #159 2 years ago

    CoD WaW used the same engine as CoD 4, it had a short, cliche WWII campaign, practically the same MP as CoD 4 except with new maps ripped from the campaign and older weapons, and it cost more than ODST does. Nazi zombies was dull and linear, with very few options, and you have to fork out loads to get the best out of the mode.

    It got a high score. Why not ODST?

  • Shadders #160 2 years ago

    @ Raiten

    You're wrong. Comparing Orange Box and ODST is perfectly reasonable...

    Recycled content that many of the target audience will already own:
    HL2 and Ep 2 vs Halo 3 Multiplayer + DLC

    A new online component:
    TF2 vs Firefight

    New single player content:
    Portal & Ep2 (≤6 hours) vs ODST campagn (~6 hours Arguably it will have a lot more replayability, what with 4 player co-op and all)

    Plus ODST has the Reach Beta.

    Now take into account that at retail Orange Box was a full 50% more than ODST (going by the prices I paid at GAME) I think it's a perfectly reasonable comparison, I'm not saying that ODST is as good as Orange Box or that it deserves the same score, but it is insanity to say that it doesn't represent good value whilst it is commonly accepted that Orange Box was great value.

  • Negotiator #161 2 years ago

    Let's not forget EG gave the first Halo 8/10, so what do they know. Joking aside this game is pure quality, only the length and scale of the (new features etc.) game has kept the scores down some what, but as I said before you can get this for £29.99 and for that amount who wouldn't, I know I will.

  • ThePissartist #162 2 years ago

    I hate to say it, but this'll be the first Halo game I DON'T get on day 1. I honestly thought while playing Halo 3, that it had to be the last game that used that engine. I think Halo 3 was a great game, it was just visually very dated at the time of release.

    For me the negatives of the Halo franchise are mostly visual; graphics, animation, effects. Aurally, it's fantastic! Presentation is second to none... I just find it really hard to justify buying another game that's on its fourth (FPS) installment and really hasn't innovated since the first game.

    The competition is just too strong this time, Halo. I'm sorry, but our relationship is over. Get a haircut, a makeover, and learn some new moves and I might be interested again.

  • sargulesh #163 2 years ago

    Games aren't art. Price is important.

  • El-Dev #164 2 years ago

    Online stores put the RRP at £49.99 so they can pretend they are giving you a discount. Why do you think every shop sells games at £39.99 without £10 off stickers?

  • WayMucho #165 2 years ago

    I initially thought I'd wait on this, as I'm most interested in more Horde-type multiplayer and MW2 may do this better. But £30 quid for something that will probably be more like Horde than Nazi Zombies in terms of quality has suckered me in, and it should have more variety than Ambush in MW2 (I assume that will be shoot the middle-eastern looking guy and repeat, forever) and Bungie do AI better than most.

    I think it's a bit sad that price is taking up so many comments here - did anyone moan that WAW was just MW in old clothing with a crappy version of Horde tagged on at the end in a rush?

    Edit: 179 had already nailed my thoughts!
    Edited by 1 at 20/09/09 @ 20:56

  • andywilkie35 #166 2 years ago

    Sounds fuggin' excellent, can't wait!

  • layleeloo #167 2 years ago

    PANTS

  • TelexStar #168 2 years ago

    I really don't understand the copious amount of teenage halo angst in this thread. From what I'm reading, the review seems like a pretty level-headed opinion of a game that's sub full price and offering quite good value. Decent sounding SP, horde mode and all the Halo 3 maps thrown in?

    Wizard!!

  • figaro7 #169 2 years ago

    Definately pick it up down the line, might even import if its region free, havent played a decent FPS on the 360 for ages. RRP in AU is $100, which really is the standard full RRP, some games this generation however are $120. At discount release you could prob pick it up between $80-90.

  • FooAtari #170 2 years ago

    Ouch!

    only 8 of 10? pre order cancelled :(

    That can'tbe serious. A game getting an 8 stops you buying it?

    And who bothers with pre-orders these days. You can order a game a few days before release and still get it before release day.

  • login_name #171 2 years ago

    If they released an offline version for £19 I'd snap it up. I could care less about the online content, I just want to play through the story.

    A new online component: TF2 vs Firefight

    Did you just compare a game mode to a whole new game? Come on, that's pushing it just a tad don't ya think?

  • Nephirion #172 2 years ago

    Thing I found hard to get past in Halo 3 was how low the screen res was, I am assuming this is the same?

  • Shadders #173 2 years ago

    @Login_name

    I've twice pointed out that Orange Box is bigger and better than ODST, but it also cost 50% more, that's a big chunk of cash, I'd expect it to be a lot better, I'm merely pointing out that content-wise ODST has a reasonable amount of bang for its buck, I wasn't saying it was 1:1 with Orange Box, just that when you break it down they're actually similar packs and Tom has been unduly harsh when criticising the value of ODST. I mean, he completely wrote off the Halo 3 multiplayer component as a non-event in the review, but no-one would have said that about Orange Box even though most people would have already played HL2 and probably Ep1 too.

    And I know this is just me, but I can see me playing Firefight a lot more than I've ever played TF2.

  • smelly #174 2 years ago

    I would get it - but Im am SO bored of games featuring Master Chef.

    I hate lloyd grossman

  • smelly #175 2 years ago

    >Thing I found hard to get past in Halo 3 was how low the screen res was


    DING!!!!!

    You win award for the most dumbest post i've read on this page! Im SURE you noticed the low resolution while playing SOOO much that you couldnt get past it enough to experience the game... Very sure... *sigh*

  • Spekingur #176 2 years ago

    But wait, isn't the Firefight mode basically just like the Survival thingy in L4D?

  • FiOth #177 2 years ago

    I think that in this day and age, rating a game according to its length is simply sad. For me, a great moment in a title is all it takes for it to stay in my memory, and this is as close to describing an "experience" as possible in my book.

    Someone rightly stated below that MANY great games where short in the past and got great reviews but more importantly - we LOVE them -. Its not about the length, its about what the game delivers and passes to the player. And when it comes to Bungie, we know just how much is worth of remembering.

  • man.the.king #178 2 years ago

    To the people commenting on the price: It sounds as if the campaign length is 6 hours, somewhat similar to Halo 3 length, and has multiplayer to boot. As such, the fact that they may be charging full price doesn't seem so outrageous.

    As far as the game is concerned, Halo 3 didn't impress me much, but this one sounds a bit different, and possibly worth a try.

  • Shikasama #179 2 years ago

    At the end of the day, tom has clearly failed on Eurogamers own standards. Reading their stated scoring policy, it is all about the game and what is presented to you. Price should not be an influence of the score.

    If he genuinly though the game was 8/10 then fair enough, but he should not have harped on about the price in that final paragraph and I feel that he has overstepped the mark, based on EGs own framework. Like another guy said, I am perfectly capable of deciding what I can afford, but I am not a proffesional in the games industry.

    I'd prefer it if the reviewers let me stick with what I know, and I'll let them stick to what they know.

    I wonder if there will be anything official from the Eg big cheese about the 'price vs score' issue.

  • Khanivor #180 2 years ago

    I get the impression that Tom over-compensated for that aspect which affects almost all reviews - the game cost the player no money. ODST has full Halo 3 MP with a bunch of DLC that still cost money. For someone like me who doesn't own Halo 3 but as completed the campaign the idea of a new SP game, new game mode AND the ability to play Halo 3 MP games sounds like a pretty good package, value for money-wise.

  • smelly #181 2 years ago

    "Im SURE you noticed the low resolution while playing SOOO much that you couldnt get past it enough to experience the game... Very sure... *sigh* "


    HAHAHAHAHAA!!! THAT got negative responses!?!?

    Okay.. I take it back.. i'm SURE the game is SHIT enough that the resolution of the graphics makes a HUGE difference to your game.. as at the end of the day - it's just another shit middle of the road shooter!



    (Which is more worth the negs?)

  • smelly #182 2 years ago

    "To the people commenting on the price: It sounds as if the campaign length is 6 hours, somewhat similar to Halo 3 length, "

    Thus proving that BOTH are a bargain! *cough*

  • RedPanda #183 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • muscleblade #184 2 years ago

    Ive been playing this all weekend both in singleplayer and 2-4 player coop. I dont understand the complaining about the lenght. Its perfect. You want to play it again and again completing all the difficultys alone and with friends ( the game tracks this) and on top of this you got firefight. I have been playing for alot more than 6 hours and i have 2 levels left. I dont believe that many people can complete it alone on legendary in less than 12 hours.

  • Retroid #185 2 years ago

    login_name: "I could care less about the online content"

    Really? How much less? A lot less or just a little less? :)

  • Xerx3s #186 2 years ago

    Smartie. ¬_¬

  • GaidenZero #187 2 years ago

    Price is not important, it's all about the value YOU are going to get from it. Personally if it's anything like Halo 3 (which lets face it, it will be) then I will play through the campaign a number of times on different difficulty settings, play firefight for a couple of years, and enjoy what look like three new awesome Halo 3 MP maps (I have downloaded the previous map packs).

    So for me personally, £30 represents brilliant value. If however you are only going to play through the campaign once, and not touch Firefight or the Halo 3 MP then you obviously wont get the same value. It's about how much you want to play the game.

  • Retroid #188 2 years ago

    Only smarties have the answer.

  • HardCoreGamer999 #189 2 years ago

    I personnaly don't understand review based on Content ,value price. ?
    It' s personal , the game has a 6 to 8 hour campaign and costs XX? , ...to short and therefore we will substract points.
    WTF? Reviewers should exclude this scoring but mention it. This has nothing to do with how the game plays, the graphics , the presentation is..(basic reviewing)

  • Shadders #190 2 years ago

    Surely by the same logic a 59p iphone game that lasts 6 hours should get at least 16/10?

  • Ace_McCloud #191 2 years ago

    I don't really get all these people up in arms about the reviewer commenting on the price. EG regularly mention price in their reviews. Usually it's in Live Arcade reviews or games with expensive peripherals. I definitely remember price being mentioned in the review of Trials HD.

    That being said £30 sounds like a discounted rate to me and the game doesn't sound like it lacks content so can't understand the price being held against it.

  • TelexStar #192 2 years ago

    "I don't really get all these people up in arms about the reviewer commenting on the price. EG regularly mention price in their reviews."

    The problem with a reviewer basing (part of) their score on the price is that it renders the review completely out of context when read, say, a year from now. I think it's fair to mention the price but it shouldn't factor into the score.

    That said, none of us have any idea if the reviewer's score was influenced by the price, do we? Which renders it all a bit of 'moo' point.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 10:53

  • Shadders #193 2 years ago

    That said, none of us have any idea if the reviewer's score was influenced by the price, do we? Which renders it all a bit of 'moo' point.

    From the review: "they can't reasonably make the same demand of your wallet, and yet they still do. It's all the more disappointing, because as a roadmap to the future of Halo, if not the future of Bungie, Halo 3: ODST is fantastic."

    That's the closing sentence it sounds VERY much like the "demands on our wallets" are effecting the review score.

  • login_name #194 2 years ago

    Really? How much less? A lot less or just a little less? :)

    Depends upon how much coffee is surging through my system and how late (or early) it is when my opinion is formed.

  • muscleblade #195 2 years ago

    For fans of Halo its obviously 10/10.

    My only gripe is the lack of custom lists for firefight.

  • login_name #196 2 years ago

    @Shadders

    The flaw in your argument is that most people who would buy ODST would most likely have bought and played all of the Halo 3 multiplayer, it is very popular after all. HL2 and Ep1 on the other hand, I'm not so sure. Ep1 had not been released on console and HL2 had limited success on the original XBox. To many 360 owners, I would assume the HL2 games would be a new experience.

    The other games in the Orange Box - Ep2, Portal and TF2 - are completely different gaming experiences. They are in no way similar to each other (assuming you're not going to be pedantic about the basic control method). The extra stuff in ODST offer a very similar play experience because they're the same game, just varying modes of play. They're not really comparable at all.

    I'm not saying that ODST offers poor value for your money, I've not played it so I can't give an accurate comment, but I doubt very much that it offered even 50% of what the Orange Box offered.

  • XdarXideX #197 2 years ago

    I'll most likely get a negative or 30 on this... but my brief playtime on ODST has convinced me NOT to buy it, and rather wait on my friend to acquire his free copy from MS and play his one instead. I'll admit I only got up to the first flashback level, but the only interesting bit about my first moments on ODST was the orbital drop itself... walking around an abandoned, dark and not necessarily pretty city scene was pretty uninteresting.

    I'm hoping the experience gets better further into the game.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 11:48

  • ronuds #198 2 years ago

    An 8/10 for a game that isn't worth the price? Must be an awesome game then! lol

    The game has as much content as most SP games these days, so I don't see the problem. Oh well...

  • Goodfella #199 2 years ago

    @ XdarXideX

    Unfortunately it doesn't. 6/10 game for me.

  • muscleblade #200 2 years ago

    @XdarXideX

    It really does get better later on. Lot of greta action in the second half of the game.
    Edited by 1 at 22/09/09 @ 08:10

  • Goodfella #201 2 years ago

    LOL, and yet it appears I'm getting marked down for my opinion.

  • captainrentboy #202 2 years ago

    XdarXideX I thought exactly the same thing whilst playing my copy but it definitely picks up, conveniently pretty much from where you left it :) The next flashback is the Banshee flying one and it's pretty bloody awesome ending with an appearance from one of those gigantic Scarabs.

  • DrRobotnik #203 2 years ago

    "I'm going to say it now and be vindicated on release - Halo 3: ODST will average in the 80's on Metacritic."

    Vidicated! :-)

    I fucking love being right.

  • barchetta #204 2 years ago

    Not sure of this sites' 'form' but NowGamer certainly haven't pulled any punches!

    I'm still interested but I am anticipating my online gaming 'allowance' to be used up by OpFlash2 so this may go down as a rental for the SP to be honest.
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 13:03

  • layleeloo #205 2 years ago

    PEOPLE ARE SOOOOO THICK!

    How can you say "price is not important. Either its good or it isnt". You utter imbeciles!!

    EVERYTHING on this planet is only good depending on price, whether its a car, food, DVD, game, CD, everything! So of course price is dependant on the game. TRIALS HD>Brilliant. One of my fave games. Would it be so for £40. Not a chance. I rest my case
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 13:08

  • DrRobotnik #206 2 years ago

    "Not sure of this sites' 'form' but NowGamer certainly haven't pulled any punches! "

    NowGamer is a new site that failing misserably... and you know what gets good ratings don't you? :-)

  • altitude2k #207 2 years ago

    I think people are positioning the multiplayer disc incorrectly. I see it as if this product would be worth the current price if it's just a campaign (that's almost as long as Halo 3) and Firefight mode AND the extra map pack all for the less-than-full-price of £30. The idea behind the Mythic disc is "oh by the way, if you didn't already have it, we've thrown in the classic Halo 3 multiplayer too".

    Sadly, if the Mythic disc hadn't been included I honestly believe ODST would be getting higher reviews even though you'd get less.

  • patchbox360 #208 2 years ago

    completing halo 3 on veteran solo has lefted me mentally scarred - no more halo for me

  • DrRobotnik #209 2 years ago

    "completing halo 3 on veteran solo has lefted me mentally scarred"

    You've been playing too many FPSs; you're getting them confused :-)

    Halo = Legendary
    CoD = Veteran

  • muscleblade #210 2 years ago

    "You've been playing too many FPSs; you're getting them confused :-) "

    I believe he is rather confused.

  • Beek4257 #211 2 years ago

    8/10. Well that's comforting. I'm a bonafide Whedonite you see, so I have no choice but to buy this. However this also forced me in to buying WET last week which is sort of okayish ... That's me being generous.

  • Cragz #212 2 years ago

    If the price /has/ impacted the score then that's disappointing. Gamers looking to buy this used or discounted in 2010 will find the 8/10 rather misleading. Please, score the game as an experience and mention the RRP in the body if it has particular bearing. I truly hope this kind of nonsense doesn't impact the MW2 review, for instance.

    Incidentally, PC World up until lunchtime today had ODST priced at £99.99. Fairly eye-watering!

  • telboy007 #213 2 years ago

    Is it me, or is there an echo in here?

  • altitude2k #214 2 years ago

    Thank goodness for "ignore poster". Either he's a complete tool or he needs a new computer.

  • XdarXideX #215 2 years ago

    @Zero_Cool

    Wow... way to be! Good going! Hack the Planet!

  • Shadders #216 2 years ago

    I don't think that the Halo franchise is all that over rated.

  • muscleblade #217 2 years ago

    Eurogamer! Do something. This is not cool.

  • Beek4257 #218 2 years ago

    I think rating yourself Zero on the Scales of Cool might still be a bit generous in your case. Overrated?

  • XdarXideX #219 2 years ago

    @Beek

    Yeah, he should change his name to something less or at least equally stupid. Like Crash Override.

  • Petulant_Radish #220 2 years ago

    Who is this Zero person you speak of? Or have they already felt the full force of a banhammer, I’m guessing by the disparity in displayed comment numbers on the front page and actual comments that that’s the case.

    Love Halo or hate it, but everyone has to agree that not many games quite stir up opinion like it! Personally I like it, and getting this game for £26 from Argos seems like good value to me, though I am running the gauntlet of delivery, I somehow doubt I’ll be getting that on it’s release tomorrow.

  • Beek4257 #221 2 years ago

    @Petulant_Radish

    I think it's <a href=http://www .edge-online.com/users/topdollar>him</a>. Well at least the comment's the same (i.e. the one with all the 'sucking').
    Edited by 1 at 21/09/09 @ 18:05

  • smelly #222 2 years ago

    Reet.. so we're in agreement that if the game is good then not having full HD means very little.

    Good to see we're talking common sense here.

  • Cragz #223 2 years ago

    @twinberettas: Absolutely. I'm not for one second defending the outrageous price gouging this generation (and indeed generations ago) but I'm disappointed people can't separate content from cost. I liken a review score to how enjoyable the reviewer found the game. That's it. The body of the review is where price concerns should be raised, they shouldn't be taken out on the rating.

    If a game were to maintain its price indefinitely then I'd be all for combining content & cost, but without Eurogamer re-reviewing titles when they take their customary price hit in a few weeks' time it ensures reviews are out of date shortly after they're published.

    I'd like to see an editorial covering the subject as Shikasama mentioned, I'm just not particularly optimistic.

  • GaidenZero #224 2 years ago

    This is more like it :)

    [link url=http://www.edge-online.com/features/review-halo -3-odst?page=0%2C1
    ]http://ww w.edge-online.com/features/revi...[/link]

  • davisorle #225 2 years ago

    "In terms of graphics, fps, and overall technical ability Uncharted 2 is untouched "

    PS3 exclusively. Cause both on the 360 and PC ( YEARS now ) we have seen bigger results than that. And the fact that the ONLY reason why the Uncharted is impossible for the 360 is cause of the way its programmed to be using the HDD on the fly to avoid some loading times. If worked on the 360 in the first place GRAPHICALLY it could of been even better if you ask me. Deal with it.. So stop mentioning bulshit unrelated and proving what tards you are pls. Like i said, sice you care so much about your console, find some lube and stick it in it too, to get what you paid for that way at least.

    About the game... I haven't played it myself, I rarely agree with ratings ( not just here ) which means I might even consider the game even worth less than 8/10 might find it more amusing than a 8/10. The fact I read last sentence that "its a fantastic game" doesnt make sence for a 8/10 unless the price bugs you then if you had to rate PSPGo and PS3 till before the Sim and the pricedrop they are a 5/10 GAMEWISE and not ffucking BRDwise. Correct? Correct you say. I do wish the game is worth if not ill be personally dissapointed. Other than that i can care less :)

  • Olympus_God #226 2 years ago

    The only reason people say its not a full game or that it shouldn't be 60$ is because it started off as DLC. People would have saiid the same thing about any other game if it started off as DLC.

  • Incarta #227 2 years ago

    £30-40 does seem expensive for a 6-8 hour SP mode. Especially if you've already got MP halo with Halo 3. Not everyone agrees because not everyone has a good sense of value for money. Stupid spoilt kids mostly who don't know what it's like to have to pay a morgage every month ;P If I buy a game for that kind of money, I want it to last longer then my weekend and that really is the bottom line.

  • muscleblade #228 2 years ago

    I finished the game on legendary last night. My score is 10/10 for this great game. I love the story and setup with the flashbacks. Great stuff. The score is simply amazing.

  • Nephirion #229 2 years ago

    I might be tempted to get this if MS do a slim of the phatbox hoover

  • drumbaby #230 2 years ago

    Any game that lobotomises its reviewer must be good.

  • man.the.king #231 2 years ago

    @trebell

    "True, i finished KZ2 last night in 7.5 hours. It was ace and worth the money.,. should it have been cheaper? I don't think so."

    Me - I take my time in a game, playing cautiously. So, for me, no game is short. BTW, have you played KZ2 in Elite mode? It's maddeningly & frustratingly difficult, especially the Visari Square and Visari Palace sections (at least to me), but the sense of achievement when you ace the game in that mode is great :)
    Edited by 1 at 22/09/09 @ 08:35

  • EmiliasHorse #232 2 years ago

    Just bought, can't wait to play.....LOVE Halo.

    Read review in a bit, must play.

  • iago71 #233 2 years ago

    Not particularly offended by this review. I think its pretty obvious in the reading that this game is great. If you love Halo then price is really not an issue. Even at 40 squid its hardly a bank breaker and you could easily exceed that in a night at the pub and wake up with sore head and little/nothing to show for it. People are over reacting at this review - Its not like Tom has analy raped your mothers.

    Im sure its more of the same but in my book the same (in this case) has served up some damn fine gaming over the last few years. Halo has always sat there in my pile of games and has never been traded until the next iteration. If thats not value for money then well....

    P.S. Im sure the above could be misconstrued as me being a Halo nut that refuses to admit that there could possibly be anything wrong with it. This is not the case - If I play it and its shit then I'll be the first to say. Thats my two penneth aired!!!!

  • penhalion #234 2 years ago

    OSDT is a 3 hour game on the easiest setting, especially if you play with friends using co-op. Let me just re state that 3 FRAKKING HOURS! There is no way in hell that anyone can be saying this is anything other than an bloody expansion pack. It is in no way a full priced game. The hub sections are just plain boring and their purpose is so obvious it's not even funny (to pad out the woefully short game).

    I have played Halo 1,2 and ODST seems like it was a good idea. The problem is that it feels like the expansion pack it was supposed to be. For full price, this game should have gotten a 5. It in no way deserves an 8 and I suspect that these forums will start filling with people who have bought and played through it suddenly realising they were ripped off and the review was seriously exagerating how good the game was due simply to the word halo being before the title.

    If this game had simply been called ODST and not Halo:oDST, then I am confident that the review score would have been 3 - 5 with remarks about how dated and un-original the whole thing was. It even has set pieces lifted straight from Halo 3 for frak sake!

  • muscleblade #235 2 years ago

    @penhalion

    Who the hell plays this on the easiest difficulty. Bungie has explained that the easy difficulty is for the people that never has played an fps before. Bungie has done this:

    easy=first time fps players only
    normal = easy (other games)
    Heroic= normal
    Legendary= hard

  • muscleblade #236 2 years ago

    Many people including myself have completed Mass Effect in 4 hours on the normal difficulty btw.

    I completed RE5 in 3,5 hours on normal ( you get a very cool weapon for this).

    ODSTs campaign length is about average for a retail game. It took me 10 + hours to complete it on Legendary ( the only setting any serious gamer should play the game on).
    Edited by 2 at 22/09/09 @ 12:02

  • izak #237 2 years ago

    Is there any info available on the split screen modes? Are these the same (4pl competitive, 2 pl co-op) as Halo 3? Or do all ODST's modes support 4pl split screen?

  • Alkeno #238 2 years ago

    mucleblade: Many people including myself have completed Mass Effect in 4 hours on the normal difficulty btw.

    So some people actually enjoy speed running a dialogue-heavy RPG? I hope you placed the game in a normal pace first, getting to hear characters speak and getting to know the plot a little bit ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 22/09/09 @ 16:55

  • AphoticCosmos #239 2 years ago

    I finished it a few hours ago . . . IMHO it is the best Halo to date, particularly in comparison to Halo 3. The score was impossibly beautiful [as in the best soundtrack I've ever heard for any media], the action was much better paced than in any of the previous Halo games, and the characters were all win! Some fantastic environments, too.

    This is so much more than I was expecting, I only wish that it were longer, but not from the point of view that it's too short. Oh well, it's prime replay material! Roll on Reach.

  • abot #240 2 years ago

    The MS marketing department really screwed this up. First they said it was a standalone expansion pack then simply by adding more stuff they decide to set the retail price at full cost leading reviewers and people to make comments on whether its worth the price. Obviously you can purchase for less than full retail (RRP) at some outlets like Shopto.net at £29.85 but still we debate on whether it was right to set full retail.

    To me a game that takes 5 hours to play and uses a game engine that is more than 2 years old AND still has Halo 3 in the title, is an expansion pack. If I were a reviewer that would have no effect my opinion on the quality of gameplay BUT it will effect my opinion on whether its worth full retail. I personally wouldn't pay full retail but that doesn't mean I think the gameplay is bad.

  • muscleblade #241 2 years ago

    @Alkeno

    I sure did. I just couldnt do all that stuff more than once. RPGs isnt my favourite genre.

  • BillyBrush #242 2 years ago

    Played for about 5 hrs last night...it's excellent!

  • man.the.king #243 2 years ago

    @trebell

    "That final section must be rock hard on that difficulty"

    It is... ball-crushingly so. I was thanking all manner of gods when the Intruder (or whatever they called it) came crashing into the Visari Palace interior and I got to the final round with Radec.

    "For people not tied to brand a year with KZ2 and Halo ODST in is bloody brilliant"

    Have you played ODST? How is the single-player? Unfortunately am strapped for cash right now, and have my money planned out for Uncharted 2, R&C and Fallout 3 GOTY right now, but if SP's good, I'll give it a go. I like MP, but for me SP is the most important aspect of a game.

  • brim4brim #244 2 years ago

    I've yet to see anyone mention the dated graphics engine TBH. It wasn't up to scratch for Halo 3 but passable, it is now well out of date.

    Just seems like the maps are to push more copies of the game and not a bonus. Release them separately to buy on XBL if they are a bonus that comes with this game?

    No didn't think so, its a way to ship extra copies of a game that is a spin off from the main franchise. It looks like an interesting idea but I don't think its worth the asking price. Was bored of Halo 3 single player by the time I got to the end of it and this doesn't really do anything new.

  • AphoticCosmos #245 2 years ago

    "I've yet to see anyone mention the dated graphics engine TBH. It wasn't up to scratch for Halo 3 but passable, it is now well out of date. "

    To be honest, that's a load of bollocks. Were your eyes open during the night-time segments? Aside from the lack of anti-aliasing, which is something most console games suffer from, it looks absolutely sublime.

    For a 2-year old engine, it held up to the point where it actually impressed me, and I wasn't expecting that considering I just finished Crysis Warhead again and had pretty high expectations.

    On top of all that, it does deliver a solid frame-rate and some impressive set-pieces.

  • cianchristopher #246 2 years ago

    Ah fuck it, I have to say this:

    HALO IS THE BEST VIDEOGAME SERIES OF ALL-TIME (yep, it beats Mario, Zelda, Half-Life, Civilization, anything you can think of). I fucking LOVE this series!!!

    Halo (10/10), Halo 2 (9/10), Halo 3 (10/10) and Halo 3: ODST (9/10) - not bad, eh? (They're the EDGE Magazine scores, and they're right)........

  • GaidenZero #247 2 years ago

    @cianchristopher

    You sir... are right!! :)

    I'd score them the same too.

  • man.the.king #248 2 years ago

    @trebell

    "darker and a bit of a different feel to Halo 3......It's nice not to be a superman, to have to think more, to be pinned down and have to fight like hell to move forward."

    Darker is definitely good. Lack of it was one of the reasons I did not like H3 much - a serious story in a discotheque themed world. And that was why I liked GeOW 2 way, way more than H3. The H3 world just seemed so ... surgically clean.

    "got Fallout 3 last year.. you've got a treat coming there"

    I'm actually currently playing Fallout 3 on a rental PS3 copy. However (as is my habit with Bethesda games), I finish most of the side missions first and then start on the main storyline. As a result, I'm at level 20 (maxed out without the add-ons) and have not even met Moriarty in "Following in his footsteps" :). So the F3 GOTY is more of a tactical thing - I'm not getting any of the SPECIAL bobbleheads (except for the 2 I already got), maxing out most of the other skills and when I get the GOTY, I'll start on the other side quests and main quest, so I can start getting the XP again and use it to max out whatever is remaining. And you are right... Fallout 3 is a treat!

    "If you ever get it and fancy a game on live then i'd be up for some firefight or co-op."

    While I don't pay for XBL Gold (as that is cash I could use for other games), I'll stay on the lookout for one of those weekend periods when they allow Silver members to play online. My XBL gamertag can be viewed on my EG User Page.
    Edited by 3 at 23/09/09 @ 20:59

  • TRUTH #249 2 years ago

    (FO3) GOTY expansions are all shit - check out all the reviews; most only score it a 6 at best!!!...don't bother as most of the rpg is chucked out, only more fps that's not up to scratch put in. Don't waste your money on GOTY edition.

  • man.the.king #250 2 years ago

    @TRUTH

    Well, the thing is, the "Broken Steel" expansion will allow me to take my character up to lvl 30 - and max out my SPECIAL attributes and skills as much as possible. In addition, I still have some side quests and most of the main quest to go through, so the Fallout 3 GOTY is not useless for me. Maybe it is not a hardcore RPG lover's dream, but Fallout 3 is good enough for me.

  • muscleblade #251 2 years ago

    @cianchristopher

    EDGE do know have to review games.

  • kaya08 #252 2 years ago

    I think this is my favorite halo.
    No Flood, woot! (or at least not yet).

  • RedSparrows #253 2 years ago

    EG were so wrong about Firefight.

  • MAX99 #254 2 years ago

    running around an empty city looking for map markers is not Halo...this is a dull boring sequel.

  • Gecks #255 2 years ago

    fallout 3 is wank. i love how the fact that you get to level 20 with ease is somehow turned into a marketing ploy for future DLC, rather than the balancing disaster that it is!

    ODST is decent. the single player is satisfying but certainly quite short, but firefight and the muliplayer DLC fleshes it all out into a fairly compelling package. i thought the review seemed fair enough - price is clearly a factor for this release so it seems right to mention it. if you don't care about price then you can mentally add a +1 to the score, if you really want, but that would involve putting the score in the context of the text, which seems a step to far for most gamers...

  • onyxbox #256 2 years ago

    if MS are quick enough there's still time to get a HALO 3: ODST GOTY edition out with... um... Halo 1 & 2 on the disk?

  • coolbritannia #257 2 years ago


    ignore poster | #272
    +7
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    Show
    Ah fuck it, I have to say this:

    HALO IS THE BEST VIDEOGAME SERIES OF ALL-TIME (yep, it beats Mario, Zelda, Half-Life, Civilization, anything you can think of). I fucking LOVE this series!!!

    Halo (10/10), Halo 2 (9/10), Halo 3 (10/10) and Halo 3: ODST (9/10) - not bad, eh? (They're the EDGE Magazine scores, and they're right)........



    FUCKING THIS! Good to see you gentlemen have taste.

  • Aurifex. #258 2 years ago

    ODST- it's ok but not the great game i was hoping it would be. Too dark in places too. Dissapointed to be honest. But not too much.

  • Fightclubber #259 2 years ago

    After careful consideration this game is pretty gash. Dont get me wrong there are elements fo it which are preety decent, the flash back story the dark neo lite levels are also nice to look at, but ultimately halo odst is possibly one of the dullest most boring badly made games ive played in recent years.
    It seems the bungie got lucky with halo one by creating a universe that people really responded to, 5 plus years later they have done nothing to add to this, i mean it looks like the same fucking game.
    The fisher price toy guns the cartoon bad guys the boring empty soulless levels that greasy sliding floaty feel of the game, i mean fucking hell why to people worship at the altar of this game, have they never played Half life 2 a game that nailed action story and character about 3 years ago.
    ODST does nothing really to develop the game other that make another empty void of a game but only for about 5 hours worth of gameplay, i felt ripped.

    This has turned into more of a rant at Halo, but mainly because i was willing to give ODST a real shot and still got duped by the same horrible empty shitness of the past halo games.

    Ive always thought if you give a universe like halo to say infinity ward that they would make an exciting gritty amazing halo game abit like the recent odst addvert would like you to think halo is like, but if you gave cod to bungie they would make something resembling a ps1 game.
    Dump bungie and you may have a half decent game on your hands for the future.

  • AtomicFlan #260 2 years ago

    played through all halo's and also enjoyed games like crackdown, HL2 & Orange box, original Rainbow6 games and vegas2, brothers in arms-ish, counter strike, Max payne2, Deus x2, Escape from butcher bay, KOTOR and COD4. Certainly think ODST lives in my list and i haven't even finished it yet. It's halo but it's got a twist, and as mentioned the music and night environments are awesome. The VISR is cool and feels an original way of putting in night vision. A high tech version of eye-shine. It's the only time I've ever felt like sneaking around in a halo game.

    I for one recommend it.

    In also think you get a lot of bang from your 'buck'...