I like to think of ODST like the Rogue One of Halo. It shines the light away from the main cast onto a set of side characters during the main conflict who need to accomplish something at hand, which contributes to the accomplishments of the main cast's mission.
ODST takes place in the city of new Mombasa, one of the best Halo levels from Halo 2 in my opinion, but expands the lore of this once populated city. Through environmental storytelling, you're given more of a showcase of human life in the year 2550, something the previous Halo games kept mysterious. I appreciate it though, as it no longer makes the world of Halo feel like just one gigantic battlezone, and reminds you what the fight is for.
The characters included in this story are given a lot of personality and motivation, but I still couldn't find myself caring too much about them.
The gameplay is kind of interesting compared to everything else in the franchise. You play as a regular ODST solider, you are weaker and more fragile. Because of this, half the game kind of plays like a survival game where you are alone, limited on resources and need to get from point A to B. Between each of these points, you play a flashback that plays more like a regular Halo mission. These missions can be described as some of the better Halo missions. I really enjoyed the variety in both gameplay and setting these flashback missions provided. I can't say the same about the experimental survival sections. I know to others these parts were the highlight, but to me I really did not enjoy these sections.
ODST can be seen as an expansion to Halo 3 as it is pretty short, and literally has Halo 3 in the title. What I liked about this title the most was that it provided more lore and context to the Halo universe and I appreciate it for that. It still is a very good expansion, but it's not a highlight of the Halo franchise.
ODST takes place in the city of new Mombasa, one of the best Halo levels from Halo 2 in my opinion, but expands the lore of this once populated city. Through environmental storytelling, you're given more of a showcase of human life in the year 2550, something the previous Halo games kept mysterious. I appreciate it though, as it no longer makes the world of Halo feel like just one gigantic battlezone, and reminds you what the fight is for.
The characters included in this story are given a lot of personality and motivation, but I still couldn't find myself caring too much about them.
The gameplay is kind of interesting compared to everything else in the franchise. You play as a regular ODST solider, you are weaker and more fragile. Because of this, half the game kind of plays like a survival game where you are alone, limited on resources and need to get from point A to B. Between each of these points, you play a flashback that plays more like a regular Halo mission. These missions can be described as some of the better Halo missions. I really enjoyed the variety in both gameplay and setting these flashback missions provided. I can't say the same about the experimental survival sections. I know to others these parts were the highlight, but to me I really did not enjoy these sections.
ODST can be seen as an expansion to Halo 3 as it is pretty short, and literally has Halo 3 in the title. What I liked about this title the most was that it provided more lore and context to the Halo universe and I appreciate it for that. It still is a very good expansion, but it's not a highlight of the Halo franchise.