Halo 3: ODST - A Short Once-Over

Did I like Halo 3: ODST? Indeed, I did. I most certainly enjoyed myself as I played through the cropped single-player experience. But what about the multiplayer you ask? Was the experience satisfying? As Sarah Palin would say, "You betcha".

Below you will find my likes and dislikes from the overall ODST experience. Enjoy.

POSITIVES

• ODST had a great overall feel. I really thought Bungie nailed the isolated unlikely hero vibe.
• Storytelling: ODST utilized the flashback storytelling technique quite well. I enjoyed the desolate and desperate feel as I searched the streets of New Mombasa for each of the items that triggered flashbacks.
• Personalization: The Bungie storytelling team put in some extra time to make the characters feel human.
• Voice-overs: Bam! said the lady. 'Nuff said.
• The Visor: Pure Awesome. The visor really made me feel like a high-tech soldier of the future. Pew-pew.
• The weapons: Yup. The Halo pistol is back and badder than ever. Slow and steady headshots FTW. The silenced SMG was also a nice addition.
• Enemy A.I.: The enemy A.I. was some of the best I've seen yet. I loved watching packs of grunts scatter after I tossed a grenade in the middle of them. (Well done @maxdyckhoff).
• Firefight Mode: A beacon of awesomeness. Non-stop action. The ultimate time killer. This mode caused me to be ultra tired every morning for a week.

Negatives:

• Too short: I know, I know, everyone has been complaining about this. Well add me to that camp. I liked the campaign so much that I wanted more.
• Storytelling - The obligatory love story seemed forced and awkward.
• Veronica Dare - Ms. Dare looked too much like Courtney Love for me to believe that anyone would be in love with her.
• Matchmaking MIA: Bungie really missed the boat by not including matchmaking for the Firefight mode. I've never seen so many Twitter posts and text messages trying to set up a multiplayer game. It's almost like it was on the Playstation Network (sorry...couldn't resist).
• Dropped Firefights: If one player drops from a round of Firefight, the whole game ends. Obviously, this is frustrating.

Halo 3: ODST is a winner. See the negatives listed above? They are all forgiveable. Buy it.