Halo: ODST is a great game. Short, sweet, efficiently does what it sets out to do: tell a great story in the Halo universe while introducing new characters, new enemies and new twists on the ones we’ve known before. Rather than play as a superhuman, ODST is all about Marines in super suits that allow them a greater chance at survival than regularly armored soldiers, but I still found myself dying a few times because I got too close to a Brute Chieftain’s warhammer.

I always wondered what became of the African city of New Mombasa after the Prophet of Regret warped away is his giant spaceship, destroying a big section of the city. Now I know…and it sucks for New Mombasa. ODST’s story is great (and sometimes funny), the characters are compelling, the music is very Halo and sometimes quite touching. Level design and general flow of the game is smooth with a non-linear flashback setup that tells the story of a single Marine searching for his squad in the aftermath of an epic battle where the good guys lost. I haven’t gotten into the new multiplayer mode Firefight yet, but my favorite bit is Nathan Fillion as Sargent Buck because it’s nice to know the captain of Serenity is still getting work.

ODST is nothing completely revolutionary in terms of first person shooter games, but it is a fun, quick and worthy addition to the Halo universe.

So, 3d Realms has shut it’s doors, huh? Twelve years of waiting for Duke Nukem Forever and no pay off, huh? All righty, then. See what happens when you try too hard? The project became too bloated for its own good and they ran out of money. Nice. That’s the biggest F-U to gamers I’ve ever heard. I seriously hope this is a marketing stunt.

Saw this Half-Life 2 inspired goodness on YouTube. Thanks to Mar and ExtraLife for showing it to me.