Halo 3: ODST

So, it looks like a new record, part 2.  I finished Halo 3: ODST over the course of 4 days.  Either I'm getting good or ODST is short.  I'm voting the latter as I still get my butt handed to me in any online battle.  :D

On to the review.

Story:

The story is broken into three pieces, "The Rookie's" search for clues to his lost squad, the flashbacks to the squad's searching for each other and fighting through New Mombasa, and the hidden Audio Logs detailing a civilian's trek across the city during the invasion.

The Rookie story line has a certain "creep" factor I like in FPS's. His story takes place at night in a mostly destroyed New Mombasa with him criss-crossing in a hunter/hunted vibe going.  I really liked this part in that you could either sneak around enemies or take them on, depending on how many there are and what weapons you were carrying.  The Rookie's New Mombasa acts as sort of a "hub world" as you'll always comeback to it after any flashback episode.  You are also able to pick which flashback episode to play next by searching out the items linked to those episodes.

The flashbacks a more of the usual Halo fare, though even these have a different flair with each squad member having a different personality and different initial weapon set up. In the end though you'll end up with whatever weapons you're most comfortable with.  This also had some great voice acting with Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, and Alan Tuduk of Firefly fame and also Number Six herself, Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica, has a role in the game.  Bungie even went so far as to license the likenesses of Nathan Fillion and Tricia Helfer for their characters.

The Audio Logs I find interesting, though a little cheesy. Even if there wasn't achievements attached to finding them I think I'd still look for them.  They tell the story of Sadie, a woman who lives in New Mombasa trying to make her way to save her father.  As of this writing I'm still missing 8 logs, and hope to find them soon.  Protip: make sure you're in a safe spot when viewing them. I found out the hard way time does not stop, bad guys are still moving around looking for you, and they love a perfectly still target that isn't paying attention to things around him.

Controls:

If you've played a lot of Halo 3, then there is nothing really new here for you (if it's not broke, don't fix it), with the exception of the on/off of the visor (X button). The controls are the same as Halo 3, easy to pick up, and work great.

Gameplay:

The gameplay overall while reminiscent of Halo, does have it's differences. There is no dual-wielding and you don't have a handy force field/shield meter...for that matter you don't have force field as a trooper anyways. Instead you have "stamina," but you do not get a meter for it, instead your HUD gets red around the edges and you health starts dropping. Speaking of health, it doesn't magically grow back either, but there are health packs around the levels.  Also ODST troopers are not as tough as Master Chief, so in some cases it's better to avoid fights and find other ways around.

The visor adds some night vision enhancement for dark areas ,such as New Mombasa at night, and it helps identify enemy (outlined in red), friendly (outlined in green), and "data" ie., Audio Logs or items to be investigated (outlined in yellow).  Placement of the ammo, health, etc. is moved around from the HUDwe are used to on Master Chief, but it's not a problem either.

Most of the vehicles are back, but most will be used in the Flashback episodes of the game.  The two new weapons are the silenced Sub-Machine Gun and Silence Magnum Pistol.  Both are capable and the pistol has a little added bonus of if used correctly, one shot/one kill courtesy of armor piercing bullets.

The campaign can be played in co-op with up to 4 people from your friends list.  So if you want to go at it with you friends you can.  Firefight mode is a version of Gears of War's Horde mode where you face wave after wave of Covenant aliens until your pool of extra lives is depleted.  Bungie has also added the skull modifiers from Halo 3 to this mode. 

Speaking of Halo 3, the included second disc has Halo 3's multiplayer on it including all maps currently available and 3 extra maps that at this point Bungie has no plans to release.  Also those looking to get their hands on the revered Recon Armor can finally get their chance by unlocking the last of the Vidmaster Challenge achievements, good luck you're gonna need it.

Graphics & Sound:

At this point Bungie has a certain level of quality that really is hard to match.  The graphics look great.  From the nighttime bombed out New Mombasa, to the daytime under siege New Mombasa all was crisp and clean.  Bungie is keeping that quality bar high.

Sound was very good. As I mentioned before they brought in some good quality Hollywood talent for the voice cast.  The music was especially good in that it was different than your typical Halo soundtrack.  It was more human and a bit of a range of styles.  Tribal beats to lone saxophone jazz all worked in and worked well in setting the mood.  I wouldn't mind getting this sound track if they made it available.

Overall:

Admittedly somewhere along the way the Halo series became kind of "meh" to me.  ODST changed that.  It is a breath of fresh air into the series.  It also proved that they can branch out with new characters and not have to be locked into Master Chief's story.  For a story that started as an expansion pack for Halo 3, it is worthy of being on it's own, but the length sort of denotes it's origin of being an expansion pack.  Really that is the only thing I can really complain about.  I hope that Bungie expands on what they've set up here and we get further adventures with the Rookie and the rest of the ODST team.  I'd give this game a 4.5 out of 5.

But wait you say, is it worth the $60?  Well really that depends.  If you are a Halo fanatic, you've already bought it and are just reading this to see if I'm gonna bash it.  You who have given heart and soul to Halo can stop reading this. Besides shouldn't you be playing Halo right now? ;)

If you are on the fence let's look at what you get.

• A whole new story, with new characters (no Master Chief in sight)
  
• A new game, Firefight
• 3 new maps for Halo 3 multiplayer
• Halo 3 multiplayer included
• Finally able to get the Recon Armor

If all that isn't enough, rent it.  I think you might be pleasantly surprised and maybe change your mind.

Halo 3: ODST is rated M for Mature for Blood, Language, and Violence.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

It's a new record.  I have finished the storyline of Batman: Arkham Asylum in a week.  Normally I get a game and I play it for a few days and then I get distracted by a different game.  Not this one, it hooked me in and kept me.  I could have possibly have been done with it sooner too had I not needed to eat, sleep, or work.  Rocksteady Studios did their job well.

Let's get to the review.

Story:

The basic plot is The Joker tricks Batman into bringing him back to Arkham Asylum, only to spring a long planned trap in which The Joker sets free all the asylum inmates and takes over the asylum.  Commissioner Gordon and Warden Sharp are both captured.  Batman has a long night of rescuing and recapturing inmates ahead of him.  Saying much else will give away spoilers.  The story is kept pretty much in currently established cannon.

Two minor sub-plots adds a "find the goodies" game as the Riddler has hidden puzzles and trophies all over Arkham and "The Spirit of Arkham" has wrote it's own story in hidden areas also. 

The games story was co-written by Paul Dini who won Emmies for his work on the shows "The New Batman Adventures" & "Batman Beyond," so you know it's going to be good.

Controls:

Rocksteady has put together a good control scheme. Simple and to the point, not overly complicated.  They are easy to pick up and easy to use. Movement is on the left stick, camera on the right.  Batman's various gadgets can be selected on the D-pad and readied and put to use with the shoulder buttons. Various actions (running/grabbing/etc.)are handled by the "X" or "A" Button (PS3/Xbox 360 respectively) with the rest of the face buttons handling combat(punch/counter/stun).  "L2" or Left Trigger is for turning on/off Detective Mode, the "R2" or Right Trigger for crouching/stealth.



Gameplay;

With a great control scheme, the gameplay works wonderfully.  The "freeflow combat" that they came up with works wonderfully.  Point Batman in a direction and start hitting the punch button ("square" on PS3/"X" on 360) and keep moving.  If you are in a large crowd your "combos" will rack up quickly.  If someone is about to hit Batman they will have "lighting bolts" appear around them, quickly hit the counter button ("triangle" on PS3/"Y" on 360) and Batman will counter them and you will not get hit.  If you miss the counter, when you get hit the screen will got to "double vision" momentarily, but will go back to normal.



But while Batman is a capable fighter, he is a smart fighter, and this is where the "invisible predator" system comes in.  Armed inmates or large groups can take Batman down very quickly.  The environment has plenty of places to hide such as gargoyles, ventilation shafts, etc.  Batman can quickly and silently take out foes from these areas.  Both the combat and the "invisible predator" work very well and are very satisfying.

Now while there is plenty of combat, the game does also include a fair amount of platforming too, surprisingly.  Navigating Arkham Asylum provides plenty of jumping, swinging, climbing, ducking, and gliding.

Batman's gadgets work well for exploring and navigating Arkham, as well as assisting in taking out bad guys.  These can be upgraded as the game progresses with an experience system.  Take out bad guys, gain experience (and health).  Find Riddler trophies, solve puzzles, gain experience.

In addition to the main story to play through, there are the challenge maps that test your skills in combat and stealth.  Additionally, if you have the PS3 version you can play through challenges as The Joker, who has his own gadgets and fight moves.  I have to say his fight move are fun as they are a bit more silly/clown based.

Graphics and Sound:

If you played the demo then you have a good idea of what it looks and sounds like, beautiful.  Rocksteady put a lot of detail into their work.  Right down to the fact that as Batman progresses through the game he visibly shows various cuts bruises and scrapes.

Sound is crisp and clean.  And considering they got Kevin Conroy, Arleen Sorkin and Mark Hamill from the Batman Animated Series to reprise their roles (Batman, Harley Quinn, and The Joker), there is no badly delivered lines...at least from all that I heard in the game.  The rest of the cast are top notch talent.  Music fits, sounds very good and is not intrusive.

Overall:

This game kicks ass and takes names.  It has a great balance of story and gameplay, neither being sacrificed for the other.  After years of terrible Batman games, many of which were just quick movie tie-ins, Rocksteady hit this one out of the park. And with this being the second game created by the studio, that's quite a feat. 

The only thing I can complain about is the camera position.  For a majority of the game you are looking over Batman's right shoulder.  My personal preference would be to have it centered, which is what they do when you are in combat or running.

Still like I said that's really the only problem I can find, and even that is just nit-picking.

I give the game 5 Bat-shaped Stars, Two Thumbs Way Up, a 10 out of 10, and I highly recommend it for Batman fans.  Thank you Rocksteady for a AWESOME game. 

Batman: Arkham Asylum is rated T for Teen for Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence