InsaneNutter
Resident Nutter
About ODST:
Halo 3: ODST is a standalone expansion for the first-person shooter video game Halo 3. It will be released as an Xbox 360 video game console exclusive on September 22, 2009. Players assume the roles of elite human United Nations Space Command soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) during the events of Halo 2. After the alliance of alien races known as the Covenant attack Earth, the player explores the ruined city of New Mombasa to discover what happened to their missing teammates, separated from each other as they entered the city.
Bungie initially conceived ODST as a small side project to produce in the lull between Halo 3's completion and Halo: Reach. Instead of featuring recognizable characters such as the Master Chief from previous games, the developers focused on the ODSTs. Story director Joseph Staten penned a detective story utilizing film noir settings, design, and characters. Composer Martin O'Donnell abandoned his previous Halo themes to create a quieter, jazz-influenced sound. During development, the game grew in scope to that of a full-sized game.
Multiplayer:
In lieu of a complete ODST multiplayer option, the game ships with Halo 3's multiplayer contained on a separate disc. The 24 maps consist of the original eleven Halo 3 maps (Construct, Epitaph, Guardian, High Ground, Isolation, Last Resort, Narrows, Sandtrap, Snowbound, The Pit, Valhalla), the Heroic map pack (Foundry, Rat's Nest, Standoff), the Legendary map pack (Avalanche, Blackout, Ghost Town), the "Cold Storage" map, and the Mythic map pack (Assembly, Orbital, and Sandbox) as well as three new maps (Citadel, Heretic, Longshore). The exclusive maps are also counted as "Mythic" maps and are tied into Halo 3's achievements. The Halo 3 multiplayer does not require Halo 3 to play and ships on a separate disc.
ODST also contains a new game cooperative game mode called Firefight. Firefight is Halo's version of a survival mode, wherein players take on increasingly difficult waves of varied enemies and see how long they can last. Firefight will include new medals as well as the ability to co-op with up to three other players over Xbox LIVE or System Link. Each player has a set number of lives and the game ends upon their depletion. There is no time limit, no limited number of rounds and no maximum number of kills. Skulls will be incorporated into Firefight as a means to increase the difficulty and provide variation. The maps used in Firefight will be unlocked as the player progresses through the ODST campaign. It is also noted that the enemy characters appearing in each wave are generated at random, thus the player will be unable to anticipate the strength of the next wave prior to its arrival. Players are awarded medals for making special kills, and individual and team scores are tracked throughout the games
