I am infamously terrible at first-person shooters. I do not know why, but it might have something to do with the fact that I can't quite aim when it comes down to things. My inability to simply point, aim and click a button on a controller however has not stopped me from enjoying the Halo series, and ODST is no different. I will not be discussing gameplay much in this review, because the gameplay and my lack of skill at the genre isn't the reason I love this game whole-heartedly. It is not the reason this is one of my favorite games of all time.

The Halo series has always drawn me in with it's rich atmosphere, worldbuilding and it's music; ODST has all three in spades. The dreary, rainy, nighttime cityscape of New Mombasa is an incredible backdrop for this game, one which feels more reminiscent of a film noir movie than a first-person shooter, or even a Halo game. The music, marked by it's lonely saxophone, driving strings and the ever-present piano only amplifies this more. When I played ODST for the first time, which seems like a long, long time ago, I was enraptured and fell in love with this game's atmosphere. It was unlike anything I had ever played before, and I haven't found a game since that meets it.

I said I wouldn't talk about gameplay, but that was a lie. The sections where you play as the Rookie are devastatingly lonely, which the games music, backdrop and the lone patrols of Brutes, Grunts and Jackals add too. I always found myself waiting in nervous anticipation, looking at my mini-map or peeking around corners to see what would be waiting for me.

The Audio Logs also make this game special for me. The Audio Logs serve as the game's B-Plot and act in a manner similar to Breath of the Wild's memories, in that it tells a different, yet connected story to the one you are currently playing through. I found myself endeared to Sadie the more I learned of her story, and it all culminated in a satisfying ending when I had collected all of the Audio Logs and got to the end of the game, where the A and B-Plots met and connected with each other in such a satisfying way.

There is no game out there quite like ODST, and if there is, I have yet to play it. But I certainly look forward to it all the same.

A Halo spin-off that really deserved more. ODST is a great testbed for future games like it. Smaller scale stories about weaker protagonists that still feel impactful and engaging. ODST's shortcomings come from its short story, lack of replayability when compared to other games in the series, and less gameplay deviation from Halo 3 than there should've been.
While the 'open world' night missions as Rookie are nice when playing through the story as a whole, the game is lacking when you just want to play through some more action-based levels. There are only 7 or so missions that are actually combat focused. Granted, they are short and sweet with Uplift Preserve and ONI Black Site being the best of the bunch.
The other issue comes from ODST not feeling as 'ODST' as it should. You're effectively just a Spartan that can't jump as high and moves a bit slower. The fact that the game still lets you use super heavy weapons like the Gravity Hammer and portable turrets despite not wearing power armor further highlights this issue.
This is where modding and hopes for a sequel come in. Like with Halo Reach, ODST has a Realism Rebalance mod that makes you feel like the squishy human you really are. My idea for an ODST sequel would be to almost make it like an old school Call of Duty campaign where you feel like a vulnerable cog in the machine going to battle with other Marines and ODSTs. Give the animations the MW19 effect to make you feel more fragile and human compared to a Spartan and have bigger enemies like Brutes, Elites, and Hunters feel like actual bosses you have to exploit and fight