The epic tales of Master Chief and the fight for humanity has spawned some epic games, now we see what the fight was like from the Marine’s side.  Drop in feet first! This game has been a long time coming since the Super Attendant’s appearance on the Bungie forums. Then we were all teased with the video of pods dropping down from the sky in New Mombasa.  Several other trailers followed and word spread of the next incarnation of Halo, ODST.  If you have read any of the Halo books, than you know that these elite troopers serve more than bullet catchers for MC.  These bad mofos get shot in from space into the middle of a battle and shoot there way out. They are notorious for being crazy, violent, and getting the job done.  Seeing as they are Marines and the chief is Navy, they two dont get along well and ODST will often speak down of the inhuman Spartan project.  In the ODST game, we follow a member of squad originally called, The Rookie.  Aside of being new to the squad, there is nothing novice about this dude.  Straight from the get go, I was able to take on Covies just like the Chief, we almost.  The major difference between Troopers and Spartans is, Shields.  If you catch a stray needle, your aiet, but if you catch 6 needles, then your boned.  Its still feels like playing a spartan because you must manage your stamina, the small amount of damage you can take, before your health starts to drop.   Though this is a major disadvantage, it adds for some edge of your seat fights and forces you to rethink the way you play Halo.  During the first 3 scrimmages, I dove in like only 117 can, but I was only fighting small groups of grunts.  As soon as a few Brutes were thrown into the mix I got a little bit shy. Facing 3 Brutes and running low on ammo can prove for a rather one sided battle.  The best strategy I found was to keep your back to the walls, pick off the little guys, and Stick anything bigger than you.  I have to say that the Hunters were a bit intimidating, especially when I knew one shot from their cannons would end me.  The action is evenly spread out as Phantoms drop in new bodies to shot and a great side story unfolds through the downloading of the Sup’s data files.  On the down side, I don’t care for the music.  I feel that a more up beat feel would get me pumped to fight but instead i plow through bodies listening to a saxophone and eerie tones.  Ammo and a smaller amount of usable weapon really downplays all the armament that has been through out the Halo series and why the hell cant a ODST dual wield?

This expansion of Halo 3 comes at the price of $65 dollars, which might seem high especially when Microsoft said that it wouldn’t be that same price. Given the great game play and story, 3 new maps, every map previously released, and an invitation to play Reach’s Beta, I think its all right. Also available is the limited edition release with an ODST controller.  I found the controller to be better than the Elite I have.  It fits the hands better and has a texture to better my grip as I pwn.      In the end I find my self sitting in the dark with my game being the only light in the room and keep telling myself that I will stop after this next mission.  We all have said that and we all know thats not true.