Buck from ODST looks a lot like Mr. Dawday, my fifth grade music teacher. He had a slanted nose, one that made an uncomfortable right turn halfway down. That's how I see Buck, only mixed with some sort of Playmobile/Lego character that got left in the sun for a week. It could be said somebody pasted Nathan Fillion's likeness onto this melted, moldy mess, but it wouldn't be a strong argument. Let's just settle for Buck sounding and acting a lot like Nathan.
Single Player
So let's look at ODST. On the plus side, it's a (short) fun game. I put it in Sunday morning and was finished by Sunday evening. Great way to spend the day, but keep in mind I also enjoyed an hour and half walk with my dog, two episodes of Warehouse 13, Christian Slater hamming it up in 'The Forgotten' pilot, cooking wings on the grill, and a nap. Not a power nap, mind you, a deep sleep bear-in-a-cave-hibernating-so-leave-me-the-f-alone nap. I enjoyed all those things plus the game.
So yeah, ODST is a short game. But like I've drunkenly mumbled for years, it's not the length that matters.
That's why I partially hate ODST: it finally makes sense why people laugh at that line. You can't do much with a short stick, and Bungie - try as they might - doesn't make a campaign worth your money. Put it on Legendary and play with some friends is the only advice I can give. It stretches the game into something longer, but still remains nothing worthy of the Halo name.
The structure goes a long way towards taking that length father it should. You'll then spend 80% of the game re-assembling your crew, via a silent rookie putting together clues. Each new clue he finds triggers a flashback, explaining who did what, where, and when it happened. [Ed Note: Why? How should I know. YES! Five points for Me.]
After your flashback finishes, you have to move your guy across the city and onto the next clue. This goes on and on, and unfortunately gets the story nowhere. It's perhaps unfair to compare the narrative style to Lost, I can't help it. Flashbacks work in Lost because it helps sell the story. If you don't have a story, it's hard to frame combat against the context of combat.
The bulk of the plot is hidden in the last two missions, which are after the flashback sequences stop. It boils down to taking a person to a place to get a thing, which is disappointing because it doesn't do much to extend the arch of the Halo mythology.
There's some good moments trapped in those flashbacks, but it feels like the game shuttles you from A to B expressly to display those good moments. It's like a walking tour of a museum, only you're told only to look at certain pieces. It lacks the fluidity of admiring the different exhibits as you pass them.
Multiplayer
Let's make this short and sweet. You're not going to be see much different, but the bulk of your new content comes from multiplayer. Firefight, the much heralded new online mode, is worth your time. It's a new online mode, and it's not so much like Hoard from GoW2 that you've played it to death already. Each successive wave spawns with random attributes, keeping it fresh. You'll enjoy it.
As for the regular Halo3 multi player, it comes with all the new maps.... I mean, c'mon. You know you love it. Even if you think you've over played it, go back and try to limit yourself to just one round. I dare you.
Overall
So is it worth your money? Sure, but not full price. Wait for it to go down to 45 or 30 bucks. The campaign's a turn off at 60 dollars, but the rest is all gravy.
