Halo 3 ODST

With the Halo trilogy that ended the franchise seemed a bitter period of exile or products so interesting parallels, but of dubious quality, like the real-time strategy of “Halo Wars”.

However, the announcement of “Halo 3: ODST (originally called” Halo 3: Recon “) rescued the war between humans and Covenant – the central conflict of the trilogy – a story showing what happens before the events staged by ultimate Master Chief from” Halo 3.

What might sound like a slot machine recycled from the last episode turns out to be a fun chapter, bold and interesting, proving once again the power of Bungie as a producer, intelligently reusing formulas contained.

Better still is that Microsoft reiterates the excellent work location seen in “Halo 3″, giving “ODST” subtitles, menus and voice 100% in Portuguese of Brazil.

Change of habit

Leaves the scene Master Chief enters a special team of ODST soldiers (which stands for Orbital Drop Shock Troopers), which are released to the surface in special vehicles directly from ships into space. The group is sent to the city of New Mombasa to find an artifact before the Covenant find it first.

During the battle the group has an accident and the ugly main character, called only from Novato, wake up alone and six hours after the crash. It’s night and he is alone in the metropolis, which is patrolled by groups of enemies. The goal then is to find colleagues and then shines the single player campaign of “ODST”, which has about 6 to 8 hours in duration. As you explore the city, they found the weapons of his companions. When they find each one begins with a flashback and then you play with the character who owned the gun at one point of the last six hours.

The best is that the progression is not linear. At first only a few places in town are available, allowing you to find a limited number of weapons and, therefore, phases. However, the move opened new locations and with them more flashbacks. All stories take place in different districts of New Mombasa and are full of action, besides having flashbacks of other characters that interact with each other. That is, there are times when you will work alongside a soldier who once controlled.

Although the story did not run away from cliches of war stories, the way it is told thrills and intrigue, and fulfilling the role of holding the attention throughout the season. The fact that each memory be merged by the wanderings of Novato only helps because it brings a “Halo” a calm rarely seen. The change of pace is nice and helps bring air of novelty and personality to the game.

Holdings of Novato require the attention and care, since he is alone and the enemies more numerous and better equipped, it is impossible to defeat them. However, the stages themselves dominated by the frenetic action that marked both “Halo”. The news are now controlling a soldier is more shallow, not a Spartan advanced and trained as Master Chief. This implies greater vulnerability and need for teamwork.

This gives room for the cooperative element of the game shine, as the mode allows up to four people while the main ground-breaking campaign. The equipment has not changed much since “Halo 3″ actually regressing to less gee-whiz weapons as seen in the two opening chapters of crack. There are new weapons like a machine gun with a silencer, but does not bring major changes to the mechanics, using old tactics still fighting with grenades and other war items. Also, the vehicle control remains excellent and precise, always resulting in some of the most entertaining journey.

Excellence recycled

The main campaign is not the only option cooperative. Premiere “ODST” Firefight mode, in which again groups of up to four people face hordes of enemies – a kind of Survival. Although the idea is not exactly a great innovation, again weighing the enforcement authority, providing a way to play exciting, challenging and full of action and tension.

Finally, “ODST” encarta an additional disk dedicated to multiplayer games simultaneously. The DVD features all 21 maps already released for “Halo 3″ – among those who were already in game and later released for download – and it includes three new maps, one of them re-reading of an arena of “Halo 2″.

Otherwise there is nothing new, but so are still present all the options for multiplayer of “Halo 3″ which is already enough to put “ODST” far above other evidence of fire, thanks to options-editing and creation departures.

The technical department again exudes style and experience, relying on an excellent art direction to impress even with the graphics engine two years of “Halo 3″ – once the time was not the most impressive in the market. In the same way, the soundtrack has the same grandeur as before, but now also variety, always following the time of the plot. The segments with the Novato rely on artistic arrangements and melancholy, while the flashbacks have strong rhythms monitoring.

Voiceovers, subtitles and menus keep the competent work of “Halo 3″ and is less noticeable regional accents (as some have criticized the previous episode) and translations to sound more natives and reflects greater caution on the task, not just a translation to the letter.