Halo 3: ODST, to me, is this year’s Orange Box. Don’t get me wrong, I think that The Orange Box is Valve’s magnum opus (and quite possibly one of the greatest achievements in recent gaming history), but ODST is probably the second best game compilation I’ve ever played. The gameplay experience on this two-disc set is so diverse; everyone can find something to love.

I just finished playing through ODST’s campaign mode for the second time, and I can officially say that this game has my favorite Halo-universe campaign by far. Two contributing factors for my case would be the fact that two staple Halo elements are missing. One: the most annoying and pointless enemy species in any first-person shooter ever is M.I.A. (No, not that M.I.A.) So if you’re wondering, the answer is no. No one has unleashed the Flood. Two: The other key Halo element that is missing would be repetitive level design. The now-infamous “Library” levels of Halo and Halo 2 and the “Cortana” level of Halo 3 are all great examples of how not to design interesting FPS levels. But in ODST, I never got tired of a single level or wished that a level would end.

The ODST campaign was a complete blast. All of the encounters were very intense and exciting, and there was never a dull moment in the entire game. The campaign presented a great difficulty curve that was challenging, yet highly accessible. I played through the campaign once by myself, and once with some great buddies. And I can tell you that both times were simply fantastic.

But that’s enough about the campaign. I’ll continue this review with a quick question about Halo multiplayer. Query: Do you enjoy Halo multiplayer? If you answered yes, then you’ll love the second disc of this ODST set. The whole Halo 3 multiplayer experience is here, plus some new maps to sweeten the deal. If you answered no, then you should change your mind. Cause playing Halo online with a group of friends is an absolute riot.

Moving on to the final element of this beautiful concoction that is ODST; Firefight. This mode draws obvious comparisons to Nazi Zombies and Rainbow Six: Vegas’ “Terrorist Hunt.” But the most important and apt comparison would be to Horde mode. Now, we at Northwest Gamer have something of an affinity of Horde mode. We could, in fact, be considered aficionados when it comes to the 50 waves of Gears 2. So when I say that Firefight in ODST is as good if not better than Horde mode, I realize the loftiness of my declaration. I have spent hours, nay, days in Gears of War 2′s Horde mode, and have loved every second of it. But Firefight takes this wonderful formula of wave after wave of enemies, and enhances it exponentially. Every wave in Firefight is level-specific. It’s never restricted to this wave always equals this bad guy set redundancy. Plus, the addition of skulls and multipliers only brings about oh-so-much more tension and excitement. And don’t even get me started on the injection of vehicles! That’s poetry in motion right there, ladies and gentlemen, poetry in motion. Firefight may soon (and kinda already did) evolve into my new weekend gaming obsession.

A few more minor things I’d like to address come to mind. First: the score. This game’s music is magnificent. I purchased the ODST score the day after I bought the game. It’s a great mix of jazz, the Halo theme, and ambience. And another important element for any game is a great list of Achievements, and ODST is not at all lacking in that department. The use of mode-specific Achievements has always been much-appreciated by yours truly, so I look upon ODST’s list with great favor.

My only real complaint with this game is a small issue I encountered playing through the campaign on co-op. For whatever reason, the game does not like it when another player joins your party mid-level. It dislikes this so much, in fact, that the game will neglect to save any of your data from that particular level. This became a minor annoyance, but we learned to save and quit out of levels before admitting new friends into our game.

But I digress. If you’re wondering whether or not Halo 3: ODST is worth your hard-earned 60 dollars, oh dear reader, it is. Oh, is it ever. If you do end up picking this gem up, or if you already have, find me on Live and let’s dominate some Covenant on Firefight. Or Campaign. Or Halo 3: Multiplayer. Or the Halo: Reach Beta (in time.) The possibilities are endless.

MidwestGamer, aka Zack, Gamertag: AbsentAmpersand