Gamescom09 Hands On - Halo3 ODST - Firefight

Finally getting into the ODST booth at Gamescom was a really interesting experience (although i did get caught looking like I was having a pee by Bungie, that was of course intentional). On one hand I think new Halo stuff WOOO!!! everyone needs to play bladeblah but on the other hand I think whats going on here, are they fooling us with an experience thats samey, an experience that is just Halo 3 in different wrapping.

(Image taken from www.gearlive.com/gallery/image/2099/) 

In a way it seems so but also you have to think about lots of small changes to make a big difference when you play. From the new grenades to the change in the use of vision (they have visions to highlight opponents, night vision etc) to the lack in a way of shield all make your tactics and playstyle as Master Chief different to playing as an ODST, which I think is enough for the overall experience.

Now onto the mode Firefight. If your thinking Horde with vehicles in Halo 3 setting you'd pretty much be right because it has that feeling all over when you play it. But where this can differ is in the use of the skulls. You can collect the skulls again as you could in Halo 3 but they can be used to change the gameplay per level, which could be interesting. I'm anticipating sometimes just chucking all the skulls on to see the carnage that insues. 

This mode is going to be popular, horde was arguably the most popular thing to come out of Gears Of War 2 and it won't change here. From the short play we had I know this will probably be one of the better ways to play Halo 3 with your friends and luckily we don't have long to wait.