Developed by: Bungie
Published by: Microsoft Game Studios
Score: 75

3 years and 4 days ago Halo 3, the game touted as “The most anticipated game of all time” (until the next one, that is) was released. We at THS almost immediately viewed the game as a big disappointment and have since moved on to greener pastures, however many players have remained faithful to the once-revolutionary-yet-now-average franchise. Those faithful have now been rewarded with Halo ODST, a title which introduces a new story campaign and an extra multi-player disc that includes, er, all the maps they’ve already bought.

I recently picked it up. So far I feel myself already going through the Final Fantasy motions. Y’know the one where I care, don’t care, care some more, hit the bottle hard and then finally get around to finishing it. The dialogue as expected is boring as all hell. Light and dark bullshit has run its course. It’s like it’s the simplest reason to have people in the SqaureEnix universe beat the shit out of each other. I imagine that it’s sort of like flashing Crips and Bloods gang signs in Compton (is Compton still cool these days?). The dialogue is so damn boring. Y’know in any other universe, a collection of heroes and villains would usually attract a clash or personalities that would create excellent conflicts, but for the FF universe, no. They’re all terrible. Villains usually go into 2 groups, the ones that act “cool and smooth” or the ones that are power crazy and always going on about stupid shit about “you rely on your friends and-” aw fuck, it sucks. Maybe it’s just that until now, I’ve realized it’s terrible. Maybe, it’s been this same garbage that I’ve been hearing since VII, but was forgivable given the cutscenes. NOT ANYMORE. And that’s because aside from the awesome opening cinematic, the cutscenes boil down to this back and forthing or one-upping fest that is the dialogue.

…I’m sorry if that went on a little long, but for the love of God, when you start skipping at the second or third cutscene, then something has gone terribly wrong.

Oh and I guess I should mention the gameplay and visuals. They’re pretty good so far. If you love particle effects, then your pants might already be wet. Between the flashy fights and intuitive controls, all those fights you watched as CGIs can finally be played out in real time instead of navigating a series of menus.

A review will be up soon for it.