Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3: ODST, formerly known as Halo 3: Recon, is a first-person shooter video game exclusively developed on the Xbox 360. ODST was released worldwide on September 22nd, 2009 at 12:00 midnight.

Taking place in the Kenyan port city of New Mombasa, "ODST" follows a squad of elite Marine Orbital Drop Shock Troopers during the Covenant invasion of Earth on October 23rd, 2552. Knocked off course due to the Mombasa Slipspace Incident, these six Marines fight through the waste filled and destroyed streets in order to link up and destroy/evade the Covenant occupation force in the city.

ODST is a campaign expansion and prologue to Halo 3 which fills in the details of what happened in Southeastern Kenya from Halo 2 and Halo 3. An official five-part prequel comic, Helljumper, was released in the months following up to and after the release of ODST starting in July, and ending in November. A multiplayer beta invitation of Halo: Reach, recently announced at E3 2009, is included with ODST, and will become available sometime during 2010.

Opening Scroll
Shown after the Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios logos, and before the main menu, is an opening scroll

The Drop
"The Navy put up a good fight."

- Private First Class Michael Crespo.

"'Course they did. It's Earth."

- Corporal Taylor Miles.

"Better late than never."

- Lance Corporal Kojo Agu.

The game begins on a UNSC warship orbiting high above New Mombasa, Kenya on Earth at about 4:00pm (16:00 military time) on October 23rd, 2552, where the majority of the Squad is relaxing around a holo-table displaying the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier hovering near the Orbital Elevator. Corporal Taylor "Dutch" Miles, Lance Corporal Kojo "Romeo" Agu, Private First Class Michael "Mickey" Crespo, and Lance Corporal "Rookie" are resting in the back, jokingly remarking how the Navy only put up a good fight until the Invasion of Earth and still managed to allow a Covenant carrier to slip by the Orbital Defense Grids high above the planet, to which Dutch criticizes Romeo for, stating that they left the lone ship for the Marines to infiltrate. Shortly after, the ship is put on alert when their team leader, Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck, enters the room with an attractive Naval Intelligence operative named Veronica or "Dare". Romeo quickly responds to them entering the room with "hello, beautiful", which caught the attention of Buck, ordering them to their SOEIV "Drop Pods".

Walking to the armory nearby, Buck is stopped by Veronica who talks about the men in his squad being replacements, to which they go on about the small numbers of combat-experienced Marines they have to lead into combat. Conflicted about what she likely told him prior to entering the room, Buck attempts to protect his men by confronting his previous romantic interest about the Assault Carrier being a more vital concern than her covert mission. Dare reminds them they have orders to follow, and that she should be referred to her rank of Captain, in keeping with military regulations.

Buck directs the Captain to their pods, when Romeo asks about her; obviously angry about the mission, he confronts the curious Lance Corporal, informing that she is their "new boss". He gives a short speech to his men, and hands a SRS99D Sniper Rifle to Romeo, confusing him and his teammates about the Assault Carrier mission they were previously given by the Admiralty. Proceeding to enter their pods, Romeo hits the Rookie across the head with the stock of his rifle (the player then transitions to a first-person mode) while still in his pod, which Dutch pushes him out of the way, handing the F.N.G. an M7S Caseless Submachine Gun; the Rookie's pod is then shut closed, spun around, and lowered into the launch bay to begin drop preparations.



"Troopers, we are green, and very, very mean!"

- Gunnery Sergeant Eddie Buck.

Marine forces are informed by Dare that the Covenant Army is massing beneath the carrier near the Mombasa Orbital Elevator for an organized retreat. Dozens of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are launched into Earth's atmosphere in a coordinated drop to infiltrate and capture the Prophet of Regret aboard the Assault Carrier. They pass by a few destroyed Frigate-type ships in orbit around the elevator, and begin to enter cloud cover above the city. After a flash forward (as shown by a brief white flash), the Captain orders the squad to adjust their trajectory and drop locations on her order, which launches the Marines way off of their intended course.

Before the Marines can ever deploy the internal parachutes, the invasion forces have already evacuated inside the carrier. Dutch picks up a radiation alert in his pod, and the Assault Carrier proceeds to enter Slipspace. The slipspace rupture generates a devastating shockwave, while the (FFG-142) enters the rupture provided by Regret's flagship. An EMP blast emitted by the rupture causes the Marine assault force to lose power in their SOEIV Pods, throwing them all over New Mombasa.

The Rookie Awakes
Six hours after being knocked unconscious by the impact of Mickey's pod and a violent landing into the side of a building, the Rookie finally wakes up at 10:02pm (22:02 military time), to the noise of a flight of Type-52 "Phantom" Troop Carriers flying low above the city. After regaining his situational awareness, the Rookie arms the four explosive bolts located in all four corners of the door to exit the pod. With the door removed from the pod, the Rookie jumps a few meters down into the streets below, completely draining his stamina and injuring him slightly. After combing the area for medical supplies, he regains his health, and proceeds to find his lost Marines.

Located only a few minutes away from the Rookie's location is a small area patrolled by at least two Covenant squads (one Jiralhanae and four Unggoy each); this is where the Rookie spots a ringing data terminal shortly after defeating both of the squads using his limited arsenal of suppressed weaponry. This introduces the Superintendent, a 2nd Generation dumb A.I. responsible for the infrastructure of the city. This A.I. provides data unlocked by their commanding officer, Dare, a long time before he encounters the terminal. Complete with maps and notable locations throughout the city, the Superintendent begins to aid this young Marine in his mission.

Major Characters
United Nations Space Command
 * Lance Corporal "Rookie" - The main protagonist of ODST.
 * Captain Veronica Dare - The Rookie's female commanding officer and Naval Intelligence operative . She is voiced by actor Tricia Helfer.
 * Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck - The former-leader now second-in-command of the squad. . Voiced by Nathan Fillion.
 * Corporal Taylor "Dutch" Miles - The Heavy Weapons specialist. . Voiced by Adam Baldwin.
 * Lance Corporal Kojo "Romeo" Agu - The Marksman in the squad, and is quoted as being a "wiseass". . Voiced by Nolan North.
 * Private First Class Michael "Mickey" Crespo - He is the demolitions expert for the squad. . Voiced by Alan Tudyk.
 * Superintendent - New Mombasa's Urban Infrastructure A.I. construct. Voiced by Joseph Staten
 * Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson - An experienced Staff Non-Commissioned Officer with nearly a half-century of combat experience. Voiced by David Scully. (Epilogue only)
 * Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood - The Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet. (Mentioned only)

Covenant
 * Vergil - A Huragok with the data and memories of the Superintendent transferred into him.
 * Prophet of Truth - The de-facto leader of the Covenant Empire, he leads a fleet to Earth in order to find the Ark. Truth can be seen during the Legendary Ending in a cave that goes underneath New Mombasa to the Portal hidden beneath the city.
 * Prophet of Regret - One of the three Hierarchs of the Covenant, his only known role in the game is at the beginning where his Assault Carrier enters slipspace over New Mombasa. (Mentioned only)

Minor Characters
Covenant
 * Huragok
 * Jiralhanae
 * Kig-yar
 * Mgalekgolo
 * Sangheili
 * San 'Shyuum
 * Unggoy
 * Yanme'e

UNSC
 * UNSC Marine Corps
 * Marine Infantryman
 * Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
 * New Mombasa Police Department
 * NMPD Officers

Locations

 * New Mombasa, Kenya
 * Lumumba District
 * Mbaraki District - Most of Dare's squad landed in this district after they diverted their course from the Assault Carrier to the area surrounding the ONI facility directly across from the Space Tether.
 * Kikowani Station
 * Kizingo Boulevard
 * NMPD Headquarters
 * ONI Alpha Base - This Section Two facility was the site of a fierce battle that pitted New Mombasa Police and the UNSC Marine Corps, against a Covenant assault from across the bridge. This building was destroyed shortly after the battle for unknown reasons. A Firefight map, known as Security Zone, takes place in front of the entrance to the facility.
 * Tayari Plaza
 * Uplift Reserve
 * Tanaga District
 * New Mombasa Orbital Elevator - Severely damaged by the Slipspace Jump caused by the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier, snapping due to the tremendous stresses put on the tower, wreckage from this space tether can be seen all across the city. Only the base of the tether and the bottom few rings survived the jump, though the structure can be seen from most places in the city, still blazing.

Weapons
United Nations Space Command
 * AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun
 * M6C/SOCOM
 * MA5C Individual Combat Weapon System
 * M7S Caseless Submachine Gun
 * M9 HE-DP Fragmentation Grenade
 * M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun
 * M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher
 * M68 Gauss Cannon
 * M90A Close Assault Weapon System
 * M165 Demolition Charge
 * M7057/Defoliant Projector
 * SRS99D-S2AM Sniper Rifle
 * W/AV M6 Nonlinear Rifle

Covenant
 * Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenade
 * Type-2 Antipersonnel Fragmentation Grenade
 * Type-2 Energy Weapon/Hammer
 * Type-3 Antipersonnel/Antimatériel Incendiary Grenade
 * Type-25 Carbine
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle/Jiralhanae
 * Type-25 Grenade Launcher
 * Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher
 * Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon
 * Type-51 Carbine
 * Type-50 Sniper Rifle System
 * Type-52 Pistol

Vehicles
United Nations Space Command
 * D77H-TCI "Pelican" Dropship (Police Variant)
 * M12 "Warthog" Light Reconnaissance Vehicle
 * M12G1 Light Anti-Armor Vehicle
 * M274 "Mongoose" Ultra-Light All-Terrain Vehicle
 * M808B "Scorpion" Main Battle Tank
 * M831 "Warthog" Troop Transport
 * Olifant Waste Recycling Vehicle
 * Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle
 * F-99 "Wombat" Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle
 * UNSC Frigate
 * (Teasers only)
 * (Teasers only)
 * Various Civilian Vehicles
 * Various Civilian Vehicles

Covenant
 * Assault Carrier
 * CCS-class Battlecruiser
 * Type-25 "Chopper" Rapid Assault Vehicle
 * Type-25 "Wraith" Assault Gun Carriage
 * Type-26 "Banshee" Ground Support Aircraft
 * Type-32 "Ghost" Rapid Assault Vehicle
 * Type-47 "Scarab" Ultra Heavy Assault Platform
 * Type-52 "Phantom" Troop Carrier
 * Type-52 "Wraith" Anti-Aircraft Artillery

Gameplay


ODST has the main protagonist, The Rookie, searching for beacons across the city of New Mombasa. It is up to the player how they get to the specific location, and in what order, giving a very open-world feeling to the game; something for which the main trilogy has been criticized for, due to its linear gameplay style. The "beacons" are various objects, each linked to a particular squad mate in some way. Finding one of these objects sends the player back in the game to find out what happened to one of his five squadmates (Buck, Dare, Dutch, Romeo, and Mickey). Once you go back in time for a short period, you will take control of the player for around thirty minutes, and play the situations that the particular character went through. Unlike the overall game, these flashback scenes go along the path of the linear gameplay that has been common throughout the original trilogy of Halo.

Due to the fact that the player is playing as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, the player will not be using the shielding or the motion tracker featured on the MJOLNIR Battle Armor suits. The Rookie and his squadmates will also lose the ability to dual-wield weapons, such as the M7/Caseless Submachine Gun or the Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle.

On the other hand, the player will receive a helmet-integrated data management system known as the Visual Intelligence System, Reconnaissance (or VISR), which includes a new low-light vision mode which identifies allies and enemies through the HUD on his helmet's visor by illuminating and classifying objects; green outline for allies, red outline for enemies, and yellow outline for important objects. The VISR can also be used to manage waypoints, mission objectives, and information which will help the player. The squad has two new weapons, the M7S Submachine Gun and the M6C/SOCOM, which the protagonist and most of his comrades land with in Mombasa during the initial drop. Also, the grenade limit has been increased to 3 per grenade type.

As stated by Bungie in the January 23rd Weekly Update, the Sangheili will not be appearing at all in ODST. . Although, several groups of Sangheili corpses are found throughout the campaign, apparently killed by Brutes. By December 2008, the game was "representational", meaning that players could experience the game from start to finish, albeit in an unfinished state. The entire Bungie staff was pulled from other duties to play through the game and offer feedback. Among the unfinished elements was the lack of finished dialogue delivered by voice actors; storywriter Joseph Staten filled in placeholder audio. Bungie's audio director Martin O'Donnell will contribute music for ODST, as he has done for the previous Halo games. Due to ODST's shift to a new protagonist, O'Donnell created new music that was a homage to Halo, though was taken in a new direction.

Firefight
Firefight, a brand new feature to the Halo franchise announced at E3 2009, is a cooperative campaign gameplay mode. Four players over Xbox LIVE or System Link play to complete a series of Human vs. Covenant matches. All features from the Campaign Scoring, as well as skulls, achievements, and leaderboards of Halo 3, will be featured in ODST.

Due to a technical issue, Firefight is relegated to an invite-only game, as opposed to a matchmaking system used by previous installments in the series. Fans who have spoken to Bungie employees on this matter have allegedly stated that the matchmaking function would have taken an additional six months to create for ODST.

Firefight Maps
Below is a list of maps for ODST 's Firefight mode:


 * Alpha Site
 * Chasm Ten
 * Crater
 * Last Exit
 * Lost Platoon
 * Rally Point
 * Security Zone
 * Windward
 * Crater (Night)
 * Rally Point (Night)

Map Packs
All map packs (Heroic, Legendary, Mythic, and Cold Storage) will be available for those who haven't already purchased them over Xbox LIVE Marketplace. In addition to the other map packs, an additional map pack will be featured in the ODST package. These maps are currently known as Citadel, Heretic, and Longshore.

While previously confirmed to only feature a Campaign element as the only gameplay mode, the second disc in the ODST box will contain all of the maps, which you will be able to play directly from there, without having to download the maps to your Hard Drive and starting Halo 3.

Superintendent
On May 29th, 2008, a viral campaign for Halo 3: ODST started which focused around the AI of the same name, New Mombasa's janitorial second generation dumb-A.I. construct that aids The Rookie and his squad in surviving the Covenant occupation of New Mombasa.

ONI Candidate Assessment Program V5.02A
On September 4th, 2009, a second viral campaign was released on Xbox.com, letting fans watch interviews of the main characters of ODST. These videos go into the background of each character, with Buck and a various teammate talking about their past, military career, their education, and about the misson ahead. Clips directed by Rupert Sanders can be seen via a marker the Marines place on their right temple.

Announcement
First, different screens of areas of New and Old Mombasa come on screen, followed by HEV pods entering the atmosphere. Here you can see the Prophet of Regret's carrier on the right, then it moves behind buildings. The pods come into view as a large explosion (Caused by the Prophet of Regret's carrier entering Slipspace) appears, sending the pods off-course. Then, the Superintendent appears, and shows warning signs and then reboots. All the screens from earlier flash onto the screen, but heavily damaged from the blast. Then, a single HEV pod falls through the sky, when the Halo 3 Logo appears. The pod then crashes into the camera and goes black, followed by the words 'Prepare to Drop'.

The second part to the trailer, released on the 8th of October, followed on from this - the Superintendent reinitialized itself, attempting to assess the catastrophic devastation and tries to identify the object that survived. Later, after a Covenant Phantom dropship has passed by, the object opens to reveal a lone surviving Marine Shock Trooper to clamber out, wielding a modified M7S Caseless Submachine Gun. The Marine narrowly avoids a Jiralhanae patrol, before encountering messages from the Superintendent, presumably leading him to safety.

Elements from this trailer have dramatically altered from announcement to the present day.

E3 2009 Gameplay
Shown to the press at Microsoft's E3 '09 Media Briefing, the first gameplay trailer showcased the events surrounding the campaign and the new Firefight mode. It focuses mostly on the Rookie wandering around the streets of the city and looking for his lost squadmates, along with Dutch who fights during the Battle of ONI Alpha Base.

This trailer also shows the very first glimpse of Firefight, the brand new cooperative game mode designed specifically for ODST.

ViDoc: Desperate Measures
The first ViDoc of Halo 3: ODST, Desperate Measures takes a look inside the squad that consists of the main characters in the game. It summarizes the skills that each Marine has, along with what equipment they'll be using in-game.

Also shown are little clips of the flashback missions, namely, featuring GySgt Buck and LCpl Agu on a landing platform at NMPD Headquarters, where a police Pelican dropship was extracting the two Marines, before getting chased off by two Type-26 Banshee fighters.

ViDoc: Bip. Bap. Bam.
The second ViDoc for ODST first shown at the 2009 Games Convention in Cologne, Germany, ''Bip. Bap. Bam. shows off the new Firefight'' mode revealed earlier at E3 2009.

SgtMaj Avery Johnson is the narrator of the ViDoc, making a stylish entrance in a SOEIV "Drop Pod" over the Security Zone map. During the video, Johnson details the gameplay of this new gametype for ODST, along with telling how they can play him by pre-ordering the game at a number of participating retailers.

ViDoc: Terra Incognita
The third ViDoc for ODST released on Bungie's website, focuses on the development of Halo 3: ODST.

The game developers at Bungie were entering unfamiliar territory, making the largest enviroment they ever created as the freely-explorable level of New Mombasa. It also says the differences and similarities of the ODSTs and the SPARTAN-II soldiers, such as jumping height and the fact that no motion tracker is present in ODST.

Strategy Guide
Prima Games released the 272-page strategy guide alongside Halo 3: ODST for $25 USD.

Contents include :
 * Move Out Soldier - Complete coverage of the single player missions. With labeled maps for New Mombasa and tactics included for the Legendary level of difficulty.
 * Team Up - Intense Co-Op strategy to ensure you and your squadmates survive. With input from the actual developers and testers to give you the inside track.
 * Clan Wisdom - All Halo 3 multiplayer maps with breakdowns and tips from some of the best clan players out there.
 * Rise Through the Ranks - Detailed info on every Achievement from Halo 3: ODST and Halo 3. More than a list, instructions and tips for every one.

Special Edition
A "Halo 3: ODST Collector's Pack" is available alongside the standard version. This includes the game itself, along with a limited edition UNSC-style Xbox 360 controller, and will retail for $99 USD (£60 GBP). The Collector's Pack is only currently available at GameStop in the USA, EB Games in Australia, and Game.co.uk in the UK.

We Are ODST
A 2 minute live-action short made exclusively for the launch of Halo 3: ODST will be released on September 7th, 2009 on Spike TV with a run-time of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. . This short is directed by Rupert Sanders, who previously directed the Halo 3: Believe series.

This short showcases the 19th Shock Troops Battalion during their operations in the Human-Covenant War.

ODST Tour


To promote the upcoming release of the game, Bungie and Microsoft started an "ODST Tour", showcasing the game's Firefight mode to fans all across the United States. Beginning August 22nd in Redmond, Washington, this tour will last for nearly a month, coinciding with the release of the game.

Soundtrack
Like previous games in the series, Halo 3: ODST was released alongside an Original Soundtrack comprised of music heard in the game. This soundtrack features seventeen new tracks, composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, on two discs. Though over three hours of music was composed for ODST, only two hours will be released on the soundtrack.

Trivia

 * The tagline for the game is Prepare to Drop, which references the method of Orbital Drop used by the ODST's for quick insertion into operations.


 * A teaser trailer for Halo 3: ODST was Keep It Clean released on September 25th, 2008 at 07:07:07 am PST, which coincided with the one year anniversary of the launch of Halo 3. The trailer was viewed through the many security cameras around New Mombasa. The time at which this trailer was revealed is a reference to Bungie's long-time "obsession" with the number seven.


 * The "Road to Recon" challenge, as named by Bungie, will give players the chance to unlock the MJOLNIR Mk.VI "Recon" (simply referred to as "Recon Armor") for use in Halo 3 multiplayer . This challenge will require unlocking the current Vidmaster Challenges from Halo 3, and three more Vidmaster Challenges only available through purchasing ODST.


 * On November 25th, 2008, Bungie LLC. renamed the in-development Halo 3: Recon to Halo 3: ODST. The reasons to why the upcoming expansion was renamed is due to the player playing the character of an ODST in the game, and to focus attention off of the fact that players will be able to receive MJOLNIR Mark VI Reconnaissance Armor.


 * Though the game takes place during the events of Halo 2 (First Battle of Earth and Battle of Installation 05), all of the characters, weapons, and vehicle models were taken from Halo 3, creating an inconsistency within the canon, unless regarded as a Retroactive Continuity.


 * During an interview at Gencon 2008 in Brisbane, Australia; Alan Tudyk commented on a so called Halo 3 Supplemental, in which himself and fellow Firefly actors Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin would lend their voices to the game. All three of the actors played the role of Marines in Halo 3. Assuming that this supplemental is Halo 3: ODST, Tudyk and Baldwin will likely voice members of the squad in the game. The E3 2009 Gameplay Trailer confirmed Fillion, Baldwin, and Tudyk's roles as Buck, Dutch, and Mickey, respectively.


 * To accompany the launch of the Xbox 360's new Avatar Marketplace, Xbox LIVE members will be able to purchase a special clothing set featuring the ODST's Battle Armor . As of early September 2009, only a UNSC Marine Infantryman costume has been released.


 * McFarlane Toys will release a 6-inch figurine replica of The Rookie as a part of their "Medal Edition" line of Series 6, due out in October 2009  . Included in the package is the M7S/Caseless Submachine Gun and exclusive Medals.


 * In early September 2009, Rooster Teeth began a four-part Red vs Blue special debuting ODST 's Firefight mode to the cast of Recreation. The first episode, entitled "Guys Like Us" (referring to both the cast of RvB and ODST being "normal" soldiers), can be viewed on Rooster Teeth's official website here.


 * Marketing for ODST will encompass a broad range of mediums, including print ads in magazines; with television spots taking center stage "with multiple ads prepared and sponsorship of key shows arranged" . Advertisements will be shown up to Christmas 2009 and into early 2010. Such ads can already been seen in the American version of the Official Xbox Magazine and even here on Halopedia. GameStop has already began their advertisements, showing off both UNSC and Covenant in the Firefight mode dancing to SgtMaj Johnson, a bonus unlock item for those who pre-order the game . Spike TV has designated September as the "Halo Month", with five programs lined up over the course of sixteen days . One such show will mark the debut of a live-action ODST short and a preview of Halo Legends 's ODST-centric film The Babysitter.


 * Copies of ODST were sold early in France, to which Microsoft responded by investigating and threatening to ban any players on Xbox LIVE playing ODST before its official release of September 22nd . Microsoft France lead manager Stephen Toulouse later stated that they would not ban legitimate buyers of the game.


 * In an interview with Microsoft Game Studios' Ryan Crosby on Joystiq.com, a sequel to Halo 3: ODST would be considered if fan and media reception exceeds expectations, and the need arises for a follow-up . Despite that, there are no current plans for a sequel, despite the hints of an "ODST 2" during the Epilogue cinematic.


 * As a bonus feature for those who pre-ordered ODST at select retailers (including such stores as GameStop and Amazon.com), a token to play as Sergeant Major Avery Johnson in Firefight was included.

Internal Links

 * Halo 3
 * Halo: Helljumper
 * Mombasa, Kenya
 * Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
 * ONI Candidate Assessment Program V5.02A