Halo 3: ODST lets you play as Nathan Fillion

Admittedly, the game really doesn’t bring much new to the table. Make no mistake, this feels more like an expansion to Halo 3 than a full- blown sequel. The game is still a first- per­son shooter where you tear through waves of alien bad guys, albeit with a slight twist.

The story is set during the events of Halo 2, when the alien armies of the Covenant are ravaging the Earth city of New Mombasa looking for an ancient relic of unknown origin. Instead of following the exploits of the superhuman Master Chief, the protagonist of the original Halo games, you’re put in the shoes of The Rookie, a seemingly mute member of the Or­bital Drop Shock Troopers: the titular ODSTs.

That’s probably the big­gest change from the main series: You aren’t Master Chief. You aren’t an invin­cible half- man, half- killing machine demigod: you’re a guy with a gun trying to survive. There are things that you could do as Mas­ter Chief that will get you killed as an ODST, and killed quickly. You have to think differently, mak­ing more use of cover and flanking and battle tactics. Another big departure is the presentation of the story. Instead of a strict­ly linear experience, The Rookie is lost in the city trying to find the rest of his squad. As he sneaks through the city he finds artifacts connected to the lost soldiers: a discarded helmet, a bent rifle, a piece of an explosives detona­tor. Each artifact begins a new mission presented as a flashback, each flashback a white- knuckle set- piece action sequence for which the series is famous.

This method of taking us through the story is some­thing Bungie has never done with the Halo series, and it’s a gamble that pays off. By showing us the af­termath of each battle and then taking us back to play through it, it creates a sense of immersion other­wise missing in the series. That, and without the con­stant narration from the original series’ erstwhile companion Cortana, we’re forced to put the pieces to­gether ourselves, making for a slightly more satisfy­ing experience.

I say slightly because it feels as if Bungie doesn’t trust us to figure the sto­ry out on our own, so the “detective” portion of the game is insultingly easy. Finding the artifacts con­nected to the squad mem­bers is as easy as playing Marco Polo. I felt like I’m cheating by finding them so easily, and then being given a game achievement called “ Super Sleuth.”

Another letdown is the side- story we’re tasked to discover about a young ref­ugee girl trying to get back into the city as the Cov­enant attacks. I know the writers put a lot of effort into writing this hidden story, but I couldn’t care less about it. At no point did it seem relevant to the game, and listening to the installments felt more like a chore. Eventually I just started finding the chap­ters just for the achieve­ment points. This may just be me, but the highlight of the game was the voice acting. The leader of the ODST squad is none other than Captain Mal himself, Nathan Fillion! Even better, two of the ODSTs are played by fel­low Firefly veterans Adam Baldwin and Alan Tudyk. Rounding out the cast is Tricia Helfer, who plays the naval intelligence officer the player is tasked with saving towards the end of the game. It’s nerd para­dise.

I haven’t talked about the new multiplayer mode Firefight, because if you’ve played Horde mode on Gears of War 2, you’ve al­ready played Firefight. It’s the same thing: you and your friends fight wave af­ter wave of computer con­trolled enemies for points. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun, but it’s obviously pat­terned on the success of Gears.

The campaign is short and the formula changes little, so in a way it’s tough to justify paying the full price for this game. How­ever, the $ 60 price tag gets you an outstandingly written and fun ( if short) campaign, a fun new multi­player mode, and an extra disc with all of the Halo 3 multiplayer maps. Oh, did I mention Nathan Fillion is in it?