Split-Screen :: The Game-Geek’s Daily Read

By Ravi Sinha

Halo 3 ODST is still due for release in a couple of weeks, but video footage and screenshots have surfaced recently, along with new details about the gameplay and features.

The game has certainly evolved into a much more non-linear and tactical experience. The city of New Mombasa is vast and feels empty after a battle; one needs to constantly look over the map to ascertain his position and adjust his movements accordingly.

Interestingly, several modules of the Firefight mode can be seen in the single-player campaign. For instance, the appearance of enemies in waves of drop-ships along with your designated objective to hold a position until victory are just like the separate Firefight campaign. This gives us the impression that just like how Halo 2′s levels was primarily designed from a multi-player perspective, so have several of the levels in Halo 3 ODST been designed keeping Firefight mode in mind.

Probably one of the most defining new features is the Achievement Tracker (seen in two of the screens below). This same feature was seen in Epic Games’ Gears of War 2. On the right side of your Heads-Up Display, you’ll see the various Achievements you can unlock, along with how many more kills and such you need to make before reaching them. Thus, you’ll be kept up to date in real time on the status of your Achievements.

You can also see in the second screenshot something regarding an “audio transcript”. The game keeps track of all audio and visual material you gather. The different audio logs help flesh out story elements surrounding the game’s world. Keep in mind though that most of the audio logs are hidden, like the terminals in Halo 3, so you’ll need to do a bit of exploring to find them if you want to know more about the backstory.