Mombasa Streets

Mombasa Streets is the second campaign level of Halo 3: ODST, and serves as "the hub", an open-world environment used to access flashback missions. It is set in the city of New Mombasa.

Summary
Unique as a Halo game level, this level is an open-world environment which contains "beacons", and objects left by or noted by the Rookie's squad members, which trigger "flashback" levels, explaining previous events. In addition to the beacons, the level also has additional content, such as Audio Logs and Supply Caches.

The city map provided by the Superintendent highlights points of interest, such as the "beacon" objects. The Superintendent also guides the player into the right direction using the city's plentiful digital signs and billboards.

During the first playthrough, some areas in the city are inaccessible, and the player is forced to play the flashbacks in chronological order. Completing flashbacks unlocks more areas in the city, allowing the player to progress to the next beacon. Once game is completed, the city is fully unlocked for exploration.

Plot
The level starts six hours after the Squad's failed orbital insertion, in the occupied New Mombasa City Center. Some time after the Rookie wakes up, exits his pod and starts to explore the city, the Superintendent will contact him via a public phone and upload a map of the city to his VISR navigation database. After finding the final beacon and completing the last flashback level, the Rookie will receive a distress signal from Captain Dare, who is pinned down in the data center under the city. At this point, the city will be mostly locked, with only a way to the nearest underground entrance, where the Rookie will descend into the depths of the city underground.

Transcript


THE ROOKIE

Occupied city center

6 hours after drop

''The Rookie slowly opens his eyes in his pod. There is static interference in his visor, and multiple cracks in his pod's windows. The screens that are still working are filled with static. Two Covenant Phantoms fly in the background.''

''Shortly after the dropships pass, the Rookie activates four explosive bolts to release his pod door open. The pod is on the edge of a short building, but, having no other choice, the Rookie hops out, only to fall about 15 feet to ground, injuring him slightly. If the game is being played in cooperative mode, the bolts section is skipped, and the hatch is popped automatically, as is the Rookie jumping out.''

{Tayari Plaza Intro}

''The Rookie finds the Recon Helmet embedded in a monitor. He removes it from the screen. Changes to one of the Superintendent's camera, focusing on an SOEIV pod.''


 * Superintendent (on-screen): MOTOR-VEHICLE CRASH! SEARCHING N.M.P.D DATABASE... NO MATCH!

The camera then focuses on the window that the Rookie is standing at.


 * Superintendent (on-screen): LOST-AND-FOUND ITEM!

The view switches back to the Rookie, looking out of the window.


 * Lance Corporal Kojo "Romeo" Agu (flashback): "You're going to tell us her name, Gunny?"


 * Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck (flashback): "Ms. Naval Intelligence. Our new boss."


 * Private First Class Michael "Mickey" Crespo (flashback): "Oh, brother..."


 * Buck (flashback): "So check your mouths, find your chairs... And get set for a combat drop!"

''Fades to black. Tayari Plaza begins.''

{Tayari Plaza Outro}

''The Rookie taps the broken Recon helmet, then puts it down on the floor. He peers out of the window. Several advertisement panels change to "KEEP RIGHT" signs, pointing at an open blast door. The Rookie readies his Silenced SMG.''

{First Huragok Encounter, Sector 8}

Under a walkway in Sector 8, a Brute Captain is holding the explosive charge for a Huragok, while two Brute Minors are struggling to held the Huragok down.


 * Brute Captain: "Arrgh! Hold the creature still!"


 * Brute Minor: "Place the charge, before I lose my grip!"

''The Brute Captain forcefully inserts the charge into the Huragok's explosive armor. The Huragok gives out a high-pitched wail.''


 * Brute Minor: "It's armed!"


 * Brute Captain: "And ready to explode, in case any human comes too close!"


 * Brute Captain: "Let it roam! Let it do the Prophets' work!"

The Brute Minors release the Huragok.

{Uplift Reserve Intro}

''The Rookie crouches down to the Optics Package. Some sparks flies out of it, and the camera twitches. Switch to the Package's camera, which shows the Rookie's face. Switch to a overview of the area.''


 * Buck (flashback): "You heard from Mickey? Dutch?"


 * Romeo (flashback): "Negative."


 * Buck (flashback): "We need to get above this crap, link up with the bee-net. One of our drones must have seen where they hit."

''Fades to black. Uplift Reserve begins.''

{Uplift Reserve Outro}

''The Rookie drops the Optics Package, which falls to the ground with a dull thud. He stands up and turns around, Silenced SMG at the ready.''

{Kizingo Boulevard Intro}

''The Rookie pulls himself up to the ruined Gauss Turret. He looks through the damaged electronic scope, down to the plaza below.''


 * Colonel (COM) (flashback): "Where's the rest of your team, trooper?"


 * Lance Corporal Taylor "Dutch" Miles (flashback): "Scattered, dead, I don't know."


 * Colonel (COM) (flashback): "That's too bad. We're gonna need all the men we can get!"

''Fades to black. Kizingo Boulevard begins.''

{Kizingo Boulevard Outro}

''The Rookie releases the turret, then pats it. He jumps off the turret's base.''

{ONI Alpha Site Intro}

The Rookie crouches down to the Remote Detonator, then picks it up.


 * Captain Veronica Dare (COM) (flashback): "Stand by to adjust trajectory. On my mark."

The Rookie spins the Detonator


 * Dutch (COM) (flashback): "What did she just say?"


 * Dare (COM) (flashback): "Mark!"

The Rookie looks up at the smoldering, cube-shaped building in the background.


 * Mickey (COM) (flashback): "We're way off course!"


 * Dare (COM) (flashback): "We're heading exactly were I need to go."

''Fades to black. ONI Alpha Site begins.''

{ONI Alpha Site Outro}

''The Rookie looks at the burning ONI building. He stands up, then tosses the Remote Detonator into the water. It skips a few times, then sinks.''

{NMPD HQ Intro}

''The Rookie looks up at a bent Sniper Rifle hanging over a power line. It is too high for him to reach. He picks up a metal pole, and uses it to push the Rifle down to the ground. He tries to straighten it, to no avail. He then looks up at the skyscrapers above him.''


 * Buck (COM) (flashback): "We're in the Police HQ."


 * Dutch (flashback): "Can you take us there?"


 * NMPD Officer (flashback): "Affirmative!"


 * Buck (COM) (flashback): "All right. Meet you up top!"

''Fades to black. NMPD HQ begins.''

{NMPD HQ Outro}

''Dust falls down to the Rookie, who is still trying to straighten the Sniper Rifle. He finally gives up, and tosses it to the ground.''

{Kikowani Station Intro}

''The Rookie crouches down to pick up the Biofoam Canister, then examines it. He then turns to see a not fully closed shutter.''


 * Buck (flashback): "How bad?"


 * Romeo (flashback): (gasping) "Not good."


 * Mickey (flashback): "We're gonna get you outta here."


 * Romeo (flashback): "Arrgh!"

''Fades to black. Kikowani Station begins.''

{Kikowani Station Outro/Dare Transmission}

''The Rookie shakes the Biofoam Canister, then squeezes some biofoam out of it. Seeing that it's empty, he tosses it to the ground. Suddenly, he picks up a transmission:''


 * Dare (COM): "Can anyone hear me? This is Captain Veronica Dare!"

The Rookie puts his hand to the comlink on his helmet.


 * Dare (COM): "My beacon is active - need immediate assistance! Someone, please respond!"

''The Rookie looks up to see a Phantom passing by and activating its searchlight. He then readies his Silenced SMG and moves out.''

After the cutscene, the rest of the sectors in the level will be locked down, and the nearest underground entrance will be marked with a beacon.

{Data Hive Intro}

''The Rookie enters the underground tunnel and stops at the edge of an empty elevator shaft leading deep underground. He glances down to see just how deep the shaft is, then holsters his SMG and jumps over the shaft to grab an elevator support cable. He hesitates for a moment but soon begins to slowly rappel down.''

''Fade to black. Data Hive begins.''

Beacons
There are six beacons around the level, each an object related to a squadmate. The following is a list of the locations of these beacons, and the flashback levels they trigger, in chronological order.

Easter Eggs

 * On this level, there are several graffiti tags reading "BELIEVE", perhaps a reference to the extensive marketing campaign for Halo 3 of the same name. There is other graffiti in the city, some of which read "YOU LOOT, I SHOOT", "HELL ON EARTH", "TWILIGHT OF MAN", "KINSLER IZ A THUG", "UNSC=LIARS", "FASCISTS", "REMEMBER REACH", "MILITIA AIN'T WORTH SPIT!", and "GLASS THIS!".
 * After entering the building next to the first locked weapons cache, search the floor surrounding the door leading to the first courtyard. When searching the floor, players may find a box of cereal labeled, Web-O's. The mascot on the front of the box is a picture of a gorilla with a cowboy hat. This character is recognized by Bungie employees and Bungie.net members as "The Webmaster" (one of Bungie's many inside jokes). In the right corner below him the phrase, "Your mom LOVES 'em!" can be seen.
 * On the left side of the second floor of ONI Building's lobby, there are two photo IDs on the floor in the mess of papers. The photos on the two IDs are of Martin O'Donnell and Shi Kai Wang. In addition, the ID inside the front door entrance has a photo of Shishka. In fact, all of the IDs found laying around in the lobby on both the first and second floor are of Bungie employees that served a major role in ODST's development.
 * In several of the buildings, there are Asklon business line charts going from December to "Infinity". This is a reference to Bungie's Marathon Infinity.
 * At the ATM which gives the player an audio log, money can be seen being dispensed randomly. The coins, Kenyan shillings, dispensed from this ATM each have the face of Jason Jones, the co-founder of Bungie, on one side.

Glitch

 * There is a glitch at the beginning of this level in Theater mode. When the Rookie jumps out of his SOEIV, right after he gets his Silenced SMG out, viewers can press Y once and they can be able to fly wherever he/she want, even up to the Space Elevator, in a way similar to pan-cam.
 * There is a glitch in four player co-op that causes one of the players to be killed while still in his pod by a Kig-yar Sniper. This is because the sniper spawns on a building right next to the player's pod.

Mistakes
After the player finishes Kikowani Station and returns to Mombasa Streets, the positions of the vehicles in the area have changed. Most noticeably, a bus has appeared at the end of the street. If the player drove a vehicle to get to the Kikowani Station beacon, a brand-new, undamaged vehicle of the same type will be parked in front of the bus.

Miscellaneous

 * This is the first non-linear open-world level ever in a Halo game, and the largest open environment Bungie has ever created to this date. Additionally, this level is the only level in Halo 3: ODST which does not unlock an achievement upon beating it on Normal or above. This is probably because of the fact that this is a free-roaming level.
 * The location of the beacon the player uses to access the city underground and Data Hive will vary depending on which beacon the player accessed last. If the player follows the correct chronological order and completes Kikowani Station last, the beacon will be in Sector 0 at the top of the map. If the player completes NMPD HQ last, the beacon will be in the center of Sector 3. If ONI Alpha Site is completed last, the beacon will be in Sector 10, and if the player completes Kizingo Bouldevard last, it is in Sector 4. Each area features similar resistance. Regardless of which elevator shaft the player accesses, Data Hive will always begin in the same location.
 * The entire BSP (the level geometry itself) is not rendered at once because of engine limitations - this is why Bungie put in blast doors and walls in between sectors. Furthermore, some of the BSPs are identical - Sectors 4 and 5, 3 and 8, and 0 and 9. The only noticeable difference is that players cannot enter the building in Sector 4 as they did the one in Sector 5, and another being the Uplift Nature Reserve in Sector 9. Also, when the player opens a blast door, the BSP loads, but, for example, if the player enters Sector 8, it will load the Sector 3 BSP since they are one and the same. Note that scenery items are not included in the BSP, since no part of the BSP is movable.
 * After the Uplift Reserve flashback level, the cutscene depicts The Rookie putting down the Optic Package, and taking out his holstered Silenced SMG from his back, even though in normal gameplay the Silenced SMG is holstered on the character's right thigh.
 * When the player is in Sector 10, Sector 10's map in the VISR database also shows the bridge, which was destroyed already. The player can also explore the map of ONI Alpha Site.
 * For the feel of continuity, players can see objects that hint the past presence of the fellow squadmates. A Warthog wreckage (presumed drove by Miles) can be found in the same plaza where the optic package is. A Scorpion (presumed commandeered by Crespo) and a Wraith, both destroyed, can be found near the gate that separates Sector 4 and Sector 10. In Sector 3, an SOEIV (presumed that of Crespo's or Agu's) can be found in a courtyard, with a silenced SMG beside it.
 * In many parts of the level, the Huragok have marked areas of interest by mysterious symbols which are highlighted when the VISR is turned on. Most of these symbols are geometric glyphs similar to those used by the Forerunners, commonly arranged around an "Y"-shape. Some of the symbols depict the Superintendent's avatar, hinting at cooperation between the Huragok and the Superintendent.