my friend and I got it last night. We started playing and were very confused why the opening level is sooo dark. Its not normal darkness either. We have all played games that have dark levels before, and you can still see fine. Even with the brightness on the in game menu turned all the way up, you still cant see the details of a car 4 ft in front of you. It isn't even darkness. The game is muddled and is presented in a graphic style that definitely takes some getting used to.
It is obvious that the "visor" is just a filter they added to allow the player to be able to see edges of buildings because without it, very few shapes are discernible. When you wear the visor there is a slight light that shows like a flash light in front of you, but it doesn't actually cast light, it just sort of illuminates the area in front of you, none of this helps visibility though.
Shadows are apparently not allowed. It has been a while since I have played Halo 3, and because Halo basically invented FPS's on consoles, it was the first and the mechanics are set in stone. This means that all other FPS's have essentially refined the process of actually playing as a person in a FPS.
There is no weight to Halo, I forgot this. You get no feel that you are controlling a person. You are controlling a floating camera. There is NO sound for footsteps even. The dynamics of shooting consist of standing or crouching. There is no interacting with cover, there is no reaching around objects, there are no tactics. This is nothing new and I knew it would be this way, but it just seemed old. They took away duel guns and any strength the player had, (of course I knew they did, this isn't Master chief after all) this would not be a bad thing, but they didn't introduce anything new, like stealth mode or sneak ability, the ability to hide behind cover... anything. just silenced weapons? really?
This game IS halo 3 and somewhere along the line I was convinced it would be something slightly new or different. My mistake I guess. I am absolutely shocked more reviewers did not have the courage to give this game a lower score. It is a sign of the times I guess though.
-In the defense of the reviewers giving the game a 9-
How can arguably the best online multiplayer experience which is literally you booting up halo 3 multiplayer (with all the maps) be a bad thing? It cant. And I did play firefight, and that mode is really really fun. Just as fun as it is in Gears of War and Left 4 Dead. Oh and I almost forgot, there is no matchmaking for this mode... WTF! Halos have the best infastructure of any shooter, why is there no matchmaking. I was playing splitscreen. Semms rushed or something, but why? finish the only new part of the online multiplayer so it works!
In my opinion Halo 3 ODST is an excuse for Microsoft to re-sell the Halo 3 online experience in a holiday season when exclusive MS titles are non-existent. There may be a single player campaign, but it is just Halo 3 with options taken away, and artistic decisions that makes me scratch my head in bewilderment, and all of this is presented on the exact same engine which absolutely shows its age.
I cannot believe the OP thinks this game is on par graphically with other heavy hitting graphical beasts. I 100% disagree with that. IMO it isn't even close. Simply put, the Halo 3 online multiplayer maps look better than the single player ODST campaign.
At the end of last night of playing this game, my friend took the opened copy so that I could keep the unopened copy if I do decide to return it.
If anyone wants to play this game, just play Halo 3
̶3̶R̶D̶ 2ND! Place has never been so sweet.
