Halo 3 ODST is a game that sets a precedent for future games.
It’s the harbinger of Halo Infinite–that game that got delayed and couldn’t make it to the Xbox Series X launch? Yup, that one.
I talk about it in my Xbox Series X Unboxing video. You can check it out by clicking here to get caught up!
It is a shame that it wasn’t ready for prime time but at least we have Halo 3 ODST gameplay to keep us entertained!
Halo 3 ODST is my favorite Halo game. It took a chance and did things that other games just weren’t doing back in 2009.
Halo 3 ODST Time Stamps
- When Master Chief Calls, You Answer (0:00)
- The Orbital Elevator Falls on New Mombasa (1:58)
- The Rookie Verses New Mombasa (10:17)
- Defending the ONI Building (16:50)
- Once more unto the Rookie (26:57)
- Tank You, Tank You Very Much (31:27)
- Is Halo 3 ODST Amazing? (42:45)
Let’s orbital drop into some Halo 3 ODST gameplay and see why Halo Infinite has got a lot to live up to.
When Master Chief Calls, You Answer
But before we get to the gameplay let’s review some background information on Halo 3 ODST as a whole.
You take on the role of the Rookie, a recruit in the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST) ranks whose first mission was to drop into New Mombasa.
The covenant comes to glass the planet as you drop in and you get separated from your crew.
So basically the Rookie has three jobs to accomplish throughout the game.
- Find what happened to your crew?
- Discover what happened to the city?
- And piece together what the hell is going on?
All of this and more is answered throughout the game.
The Orbital Elevator Falls on New Mombasa
Starting as Dutch we jump right into blasting through some covenant on the beach and tear through some wraiths.
We’ve got brute choppers and everything trying to stop our warthog from making it to the orbital space elevator.
The important thing to note is that I do have the I Would Have Been Your Daddy (IWHBYD) skull turned on.
So we do get some humorous language throughout the episode that you would never hear otherwise.
I was really glad to see that the game just came with all the skulls unlocked from the start rather than having to unlock them all manually.
The game is all about the player trying to piece together the mystery of what happened to the Rookie and his ODST crew.
You are not a Spartan, you are an ODST, a difference that should not be taken lightly.
Spartans are giant, hulking, super-soldiers while the ODST is more like the universal soldier that goes in and gets things done.
Both have their places in the Halo Universe but I think the ODSTs are way cooler than any Spartan could hope to be.
After a few firefights, we move onto the space elevator, which is sadly taken down by the covenant, and make a mad dash for the level exit.
We roll the warthog through the battlefield and fall off a cliff to end the level. This brings us back to the present to see what the Rookie is up to.
The thing to take note of is that this sequence was in the past and the Rookie is in the present. A conundrum that I can explain…
The Rookie Verses New Mombasa
We join the Rookie as the world gets a little brighter but we still need our night vision.
The first thing to note is that this game has a map, which is an insane asset for a Halo game.
If you thought Halo Infinite’s map was crazy… well, it’s been done before.
Now we can choose our next mission from a few different options and then move around the open-world city to get there.
The game is linear, but you can choose how you want to piece the story together and what missions to do in what order.
New Mombasa is big and there’s a lot to do and discover while fighting the covenant and brutes throughout.
So, we set a waypoint and move out.
The city was designed with little mechanics where the game tells you how to get around. These can be anything from car horns to phone booths helping to navigate you.
This was insane to think about back when Halo 3 ODST came out; games today do this kind of world-building all the time. But back when this launched it was jaw-droppingly cool.
We find a phone ringing and gather an audio log we can listen to on our way to the objective.
Pressing forward through some covenant, we end up at the ONI building to see that it is on fire.
Defending the ONI Building
We once again play as Dutch and start by arming some bombs on the bridge.
The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are cool and here’s what they got:
- Humor
- Class
- Style
- And an incomparable badass-ness
Arming the bombs and getting a safe distance away, I learn that the AI that runs the city is named Vergil.
We run up a ladder and make the bombs go BOOM to help stop the covenant advance.
After taking out the bridge, we retreat into the front yard of the ONI building and fight wave after wave of the covenant before we have to hunker down inside.
From here we take control of a turret and decimate everything that comes our way.
Once the stragglers are taken care of we take a very unsafe elevator ride to the top of the building to hold out until a pelican can come to the rescue.
It’s just a few more enemies to take out before we’re at a safe distance and destroy the building the covenant was so keen on taking control of.
Once More Unto the Rookie
Going back to the Rookie, we get a notification that a supply cache is now available. Time to make a beeline right to it!
Grabbing a few good weapons–like a sniper rifle–we are now fully prepped to continue through the city and onward to the final mission.
Some brutes and grunts try to stop us but they are no match against our new arsenal, as we now can tear through everything in our path with ease.
We get to a creepy building filled with dead bodies and we make our way to the last mission. Time to try to figure out just what’s going on.
Tank You, Tank You Very Much
We move onto the final part of the episode where we take control of Mickey 90 minutes after the start of the game. We also get to drive some Scorpion tanks.
This mission is pretty straightforward: just fight your way forward and kill everything with a tank.
It’s a ton of fun–and oddly difficult considering the tank handicap–but it’s easy mode.
You go through the city in daylight so you can see the city has some life rather than pitch-black darkness.
It allows you to appreciate the city in a way one cannot do at night. Even while everything is exploding.
Once we get to the end of the mission we just need to defeat a few wraiths and meet up with our squad to call it.
Is Halo 3 ODST Amazing?
Halo 3 ODST is a game that impressed back when it first came out. It still impresses to this day.
It is hands down my favorite Halo game. It has such a unique take on the series that it is nothing less than memorable.
Halo Infinite has a lot to live up to with Halo 3 ODST casting a shadow.
It feels like the first steps towards Halo Infinite and Bungie took a risk that paid off.
I think the game is amazing, a true classic. If you have Game Pass don’t miss out on this incredible Halo game.
