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Halo 3: ODST

Hands-on: Horde for Halo
It's an exciting time to be a Halo fan. We've got not one but TWO games to look forward to (You heard about Halo Reach, right?), and this one is out within a matter of months.

After its big unveiling at Microsoft's press conference, we hunted ODST out on the show floor to give the new Firefight mode a good seeing to. And guess what? It's like Horde mode in Gears.

You and three other ODST types fight endless waves of enemies - reminiscent of Gears of War 2's Horde mode, albeit a bit less frantic in the demo we tried. Most of the enemies arrived by drop ship (which guns the hell out of you when it comes in, so you have to hide from the turret), though some slipped through the side doors.

You pound through one wave and the game announces the next. The twist here is that each new round announcement (still voiced by the standard Halo voiceover guy) introduces a new restriction or gameplay tweak - they stack up on the left-hand side of the HUD. The one we saw was "Enemies love to throw grenades" - pretty self-explanatory that one. Think along the lines of Halo's famous skulls and you'll get the idea.

Halo 3 ODST Official trailer
1:49  Out September - don't forget
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Most of enemies are familiar to Halo fans - the little Grunts, Elites with shields and Brutes with their bloody great big hammers. Although we're sure they'll have a few new tricks up their sleeve in the final version.

Matches can be played in either day or night - we played night because it shows off the new visor enhancements. When it's on, enemies are highlighted with red outlines in the world, so you can see where they are - even when they're partially obscured.

You'll need the visor most when cloaked enemies enter the battlefield - with the visor switched on you can spot them highlighted with yellow outlines. After a few hits they become visible, making it easier to finish them off.

When you die you respawn in a side room, and you just charge straight back into the action. But you have a fixed number of lives per wave, so it's all about killing without being killed to many times. Your life count resets for each wave.

Our time with ODST was, however, over all too quickly as a strict time limit, clearly tweaked for a busy show floor, booted us pretty sharp-ish. What can we say? It's Horde mode for Halo. All good.

ODST is due out on September 22, which isn't that long to wait in the grand scheme of things.

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Posted by o Raging Bull o
Looking forward to this,games whore that i am.It will be be weird playing without Master Chief.

Bungie always deliver IMO,now im off for a bank loan for the 50 games i wanna play.
Posted by StonecoldMC
Anything Halo and im there, anything Halo and Bungie related then im there in a heartbeat.

It may not push the boat out graphically but the Halo series is the most fun Ive had in Gaming since, well since I can remember.

Bring on the Haters!!!
Posted by altitude2k
I'm liking the direction and the risks Bungie are taking with ODST. The new HUD, open-world environment. It's all sounding like warm-up practice for Reach which gives me goosebumps.

Plus Firefight (although a blatant copy - but go with what works) makes this little bundle a day-one purchase for sure.
Posted by Little Moth
The only thing I played from the Gears of War 2 multiplayer was Horde, and I absolutely loved it. With Halo gameplay though, this is going to be a lot more fun than Horde in my opinion. Definiely a day one purchase for me too then.

This year is just brilliant and we have already have so much to look forward to next year: Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake and Halo: Reach for example.
Posted by adamp105
Awesome! Horde is good, n lets face it, ideas spread like this naturally, it was only a matter of time before someone did it. And, noone ever accuses the second caveman who discovered fire of copying! lol. Seriously though, the next year looks good for gamers. ODST, Modern Warefare2, Assassins Creed2, Mass Effect2, Halo Reach... Something for everyone and everything for someone. :lol:
Posted by Little Moth
You're right, there's so much to look forward too these days, here's my list:

2009:

Red Faction: Guerrilla
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Bioshock 2
Modern Warfare 2
Halo 3: ODST
Assassin's Creed 2
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Forza Motorsport 2
Left 4 Dead 2
GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

2010:

Half-Life 2: Episode 3
Mass Effect 2
Crackdown 2
Final Fantasy XIII
Alan Wake
Halo: Reach
Dead Rising 2

And that list will just keep on growing... :wink:
Posted by ledickolas
Want this now
Posted by altitude2k
Optimistic for Ep3!
Posted by Black Mantis
This is shaping up very nice indeed. Still can't believe it's coming out in September.

I just went to pre-order on GAME and they had the price for this and Halo: Reach at £54.99. :shock:
No mention of the controller either :?
Posted by altitude2k
The Bungie site states that if you pre-order from selected stores you'll get the Sgt. Johnson model to play Firefight with! Wonder which (if any) UK shops will be doing this?
Posted by Black Mantis
Not sure. I just hope it's not GAME with those prices!
Posted by funkyjack
This looks like it could be a lot of fun.
Posted by altitude2k
»

I know...£55! I pre-ordered mine from Amazon @ £38, but I may have to move it if it's only GAME doing Sgt. Johnson.
Posted by StonecoldMC
»»

I think ill wait until closer to the time of release before putting any pre orders down then again uill probably get carried away with all the hype and pre order it months beofre :lol: .
Posted by Black Mantis
»»

I think it has to be the package with the ODST controller. I know Sgt. Johnson is great, but he's not £17 on top great! :)
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