Xbox 360 Review: Halo 3 ODST

It has arrived.......

Summary:

First, I love the Halo series. LOVE. So, if you are looking for an unbiased opinion about this game, then you came to the wrong place. I think even if ODST was terrible I would still like it. It wasn't terrible, but i'm just sayin.... ;)

If you enjoyed Halo 2 and 3, you will definitely like this game. Halo 3 to me was epic. It was moving, it was engaging, it had me in tears at some points. Do not go into this game expecting the same thing. ODST is a great filler between Halo 3 and Halo: Reach that comes out next year. If you have been aching for a Halo fix, much like I have, then this will hold you over for a bit. Again, don't be expecting Epic. The story is good but not excellent. The graphics are okay, nothing amazing. The gameplay is fun and the way they put ODST together is pretty darn good. It did not disappoint me and this is coming from a chick who has played thousands of Halo 2/3 multiplayer games and beat the campaign numerous times. I love Halo and I loved Halo ODST.

Game Facts:

It took me about 7 hours to complete the entire game, which might seem quick, but compared to the previous Halo's, it's really only a tiny bit shorter. (I can complete Halo 3 easily in about 8 hours.) The game price is $60, which I don't really want to get into. It isn't a full game and should have been cheaper, end of story. It includes 2 discs, one being the campaign with the multiplayer Firefight and the other being the Xbox Live Mutiplayer Halo with all 24 maps. The second disc is worth it for someone who is new to Halo or never wanted to spend the money to get the new maps. For people like me, who bought all the new maps as soon as they came out, I kind of get screwed. Now instead of playing multiplayer through Halo 3, you just insert Disc 2 and you play multiplayer through that. You also get an invitation to be the first to play Halo Reach (BETA) when it comes out next year, which would be rad if the damn thing wasn't coming out NEXT YEAR.

The Storyline:

I don't want to get too much into the plot as you can get this information on a million other websites. Briefly though - you do not play as Master Chief in this game (boo), you instead play as a normal human called "The Rookie". He is part of the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST). You are playing as them, during the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3. Not exactly a prequel...not a continuation. During a mishap, your team lands on the town of New Mombasa. You are all scattered across the town and must reconnect with each other. New Mombasa is were you are going to be during a lot of the game, so get used to it. It's sort of a run down, apocalyptic, futuristic town that is overrun with enemies. You pretty much roam this area while going from mission to mission.

New Thing Alert: You have a neat feature on your visor that allows you to see through the dark and it outlines enemies. It's pretty cool and it will help you move around in New Mombasa. Pic Below:

In ODST, you can open up your visor and you will see a map of New Mombasa. There are a few things this is used for. It shows you where enemies are roaming, it shows you where you need to go and it shows you weapons stashes. I only used it to find where I needed to go. Otherwise it's pretty much pointless. You use a compass on the top of the screen to guide you towards where you need to be, and at anytime during the game you get lost you just click the D-Pad UP and it'll show ya where to go. Theres also some audio file playback crap on your visor...you can find audio files throughout New Mombasa and listen to them. These don't have anything to do with you finishing the game, so I didn't search for any of them.

So, you land in New Mombasa and you need to find your homies. When you reach a destination (beacon) pointed out on your visor map you find an object that warps you to each of your homies destination after they landed. You then play as them, beat that certain mission and then you return to New Mombasa. It seems complicated, but it ends up making sense when you play. During this time you play as Buck, Dutch, Romeo, Mickey and Dare. There are 10 missions in total and you will be surprised on how short they are. A few of them were just downright easy. BUT, they are fun. Eventually you find everyone and escape. The ending was a little weak, but again, this isn't supposed to be epic its supposed to be nice fluffy filler between the two badboys that are Halo 3 and Halo Reach.

The Differences:

• The enemies/weapons are the same as before, the only difference is the SMG has a scope and the Pistol also has a scope and is badass.
• You hold more bombs. Woopidy doo.
• You are human so your jump is a little less than Master Chiefs and your bomb throw distance is shorter, but it's barely noticeable.
• Your health is almost exactly the same. You get hit, your visor turns red, you can hide out for a bit and regain your strength. The catch is that this can only happen a few times, after that your health bar will blink red and you will need to find a health pack. This might sound stupid (it did to me) but it really isn't that big of a deal. Most of the time you won't ever need to find a pack and when you do, they will always be close by.
• There is a neat feature that tells you how many more (sticks, kills, etc.) that you need before you get an achievement. For example, it will say "1 of 9 Pink Mist" on the corner of the screen when you kill someone with the needles. If you stay alive and get 9 needle kills, you get the Pink Mist achievement.

Overall:

The game is fun, it's a great addition to the Halo 3 series. It should not have been $60. Firefight is pretty cool but its only playable with friends that you invite into the game, there is no searching for game players (like on slayer, etc.). It isn't included on the multiplayer disc, it's included on the campaign disc. The UNSC chick named DARE, who is supposed to be some hottie, looks like a dude and the little love story between her and Buck is pretty stupid. Most of the dialogue is campy but the UNSC dialogue has been like that throughout the other games. I was disappointed that ALL of the enemies are pretty much exactly the same on ALL of the missions. There were a bunch that weren't included at all. Finding ammo proved to be a bit difficult. The soundtrack is killer.

If you don't want to buy the game, borrow it or rent it. It's easily beatable in a 7 hour session. Play it on easy and it would probably be beatable in 4 hours. But if you play it on easy, you are a pansy.

One love,

Jamie

twitter: @OrlandoJamie

email: jamie32182@gmail.com

Waiting for the other shoe to drop....

I heard a "joke" once. A man goes to a hotel and gets a room. The hotel employee warns him that the only room left has a guy staying next door that is a bit high-strung so he should be weary not to startle him or make any loud sudden noises. The man says that is fine, as he only needs the room for a few hours to rest. Once in the hotel room, the man quietly starts to undress being careful not to make much fuss because of the guy next door. He sits down on the edge of the bed and starts to remove one of his shoes, he loses his grip and the shoe smacks down on the tile floor and makes a loud THWAP! The man cringes and hopes that this did not disturb the man next door. He is careful to remove his other shoe without even the slightest noise and places it gently on the chair next to his bed. After a few hours, there is a loud bang at the man’s door, he opens it and a man is standing there, clearly looking anxious and in a panic. He yells "FOR GODS SAKE, DROP THE OTHER SHOE!!!??".

I butchered that story but it was along those same lines. It’s a humorous take on where the saying "waiting for the other shoe to drop" came from. Most people use the term to describe a certain specific instance, as though it means the same as karma. That every action has a reaction and that if a decision is made (whether it be good or bad) there will be some sort of outcome to it (good or bad). If you work hard for many years at your job, you could be “waiting for the other shoe to drop”, meaning you are waiting for your reward for all of the years of hard work. It can also be negative, such as if you missed a ton of work and called out all the time, you could be “waiting for the other shoe to drop”, meaning you are anxiously awaiting your pink slip.

I do not entirely believe it to mean anything positive or negative.

I take it to mean that some people are constantly living with anxiety and panic waiting for the worst possible thing to happen in their otherwise normal and calm existence.

I am eternally waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It isn’t that I am walking around with nervous nellie butterflies in my stomach all the time waiting for a piano to fall on my head or for a car to run me over. I am acutely aware that some things just happen and I have no control over them. It is during the larger decisions that I make in my life that I am waiting on the SHOE.

For example, I recently decided to exit the workforce and go to school full-time and live off of student loans. I have a good resume, I have experience, I have the ability, knowledge, intelligence and motivation to get a decent job, however due to the recent economic crunch, the best positions I could find were not challenging, rewarding or anywhere near what I wanted to do in my life. So, I made the decision to focus completely on school at an attempt to set myself up in my thirties to have a job that I at least enjoyed to some extent doing something that I felt good about. I can almost hear the shoe dropping already.

Worst Case Scenario – I finish school, rack up tens of thousands of dollars in student loans and I still can’t find a decent job because the economy hasn’t turned around. Or better yet, they stop handing out student loans and financial aid to students thus ending any sort of chance I had at acquiring a degree in the first place.

I have mentally, physically and emotionally prepared myself for these outcomes even though I have 2 years left of school and there is no immediate threat of not being able to get student loans. But by preparing for them, at least mentally and emotionally, I am setting myself up to not have a nervous breakdown when both of those things inevitably happen (which they will). So although I am constantly waiting to get smacked in the face by the shoe, I’m not exactly letting it get in my way of doing what I set out to do.

I follow this pattern with all the decisions I make in my life that should or could have some sort of outcome. I’m not saying that this is the correct way to think; I am actually saying the complete opposite. It makes for quite the depressing school day when I am constantly thinking about how after all this hard work and dedication, I will most likely be unemployed with an expensive piece of paper in my hand that simply means “Yay, you can memorize stuff and pass tests!”.

Relationships are no different.

Worst Case Scenario - I meet prince charming and fall head over heels (another good saying). I finally open up and trust that this person feels the same way I do. Then, I get cheated on or lied too or dumped or murdered in my sleep with a shoe.

By preparing myself for the end before it even begins, I am actually creating a nice comfy spike shield around my heart so that instead of it breaking it will actually slice through the skin of any unsuspecting suitor who tries to fuck with it. This of course makes relationships very difficult for me, as I am never fully committed for fear of said heart breakage.

This can go the same way for friendships.

Worst Case Scenario - I meet a new friend, begin to trust them, share stories, tell secrets, then they swiftly stab a giant shoe in my back quicker than I can remember their kids names and birthdays (doing so is a big deal to me). It’s bound to happen and even if it doesn’t, I sure as shit will be ready for it.

So what is worse? Anxiously yet preparedly waiting for the shoe to drop? Or simply assuming that the shoe will never drop because it has been quietly placed on the chair next to the bed?

I don’t think I could ever be comfortable knowing that the shoe won’t drop. Mainly because I’m hoping with all of the Worst Case Scenarios, there has to be at least one or two Best Case Scenarios that will happen. But can a BCS actually happen if I am never fully dedicated? If I continuously prepare for the worst and never think of the best, can the best actually happen? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Peace,

Jamie

Follow me on Twitter: @Jamie_ODell

Email me @: Jamie32182@gmail.com

The Day...The Fountain Died...

Heya ;)

So if you don't know already, the fountain that graces Downtown Orlando's Lake Eola was struck by lightening the other day and is broken. It's so sad looking...just a rusty dome sitting in the middle of our beautiful city. I can see this fountain practically from my front yard and have been a neighbor of it for almost the entire 3 years of me living in Orlando. I love this fountain.

With that being said....I realize that there is no easy way to repair it. It's going to cost a lot of money, a lot of money that the City of Orlando just doesn't have. We are in the hole just like every other city and it feels wrong to put something like this on the front burner of a whole slew of other problems we are having.

Now, I also realize that it is not our (loyal citizens of Orlando) fault that we have no money. It is not our fault that we are in the hole. It is the fault of our elected officials who have done absolutely nothing to try to climb ourselves out of said hole. They have done nothing for us and will continue to do nothing for us. During this "Fountain Crisis" Mayor Buddy Dyer has done nothing but set up a donation fund for the great people of Orlando to donate to help repair this fountain. I believe that Mayor Buddy Dyer and the District Commissioners should be knocking on the doors of every single business in Downtown Orlando asking for a handout, but they won't. It is those businesses that rely on us to keep their businesses open and it is my love for the fountain that keeps my business in Downtown Orlando.

I love the spirit of Orlando, I love that we can ban together to help a cause and put aside our own issues to help others in need. This was apparent during last weekends Cure for the Run (www.curefortherun.com) put on by SomaCow (www.somacow.com) and Rock for Hunger (www.rockforhunger.com). People do stand up when times are rough.

If you have the money, donate, if you don't then don't. (www.orlandotrust.org). I personally wouldn't give the city a dime until they showed me the proposal for repairs and show me exactly how much money has and is being donated on a daily basis so that we know when we reach our goal. I know that there are wealthy businesses and businessmen and women in and around Orlando who could step up and save our iconic fountain. But will they? I doubt it.

So it is with a heavy heart, that I made this video.....an ode if you will. An ode to our beloved fountain that has been a part of this city for 50+ years. A fountain that was the focal point of "The City Beautiful". A fountain that might leave this beautiful city and leave an empty hole in the hearts of its citizens....

Love,

Jamie

twitter.com/JamieExp

jamie32182@gmail.com