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With all its success and exclusivity, Halo has always possessed an uncanny ability to get the gaming community talking, and this particular group rarely has anything nice to say about anything.  Before we even knew anything about Halo 3: ODST, Internet-goers were already calling this sure-hit an "overpriced expansion" to Halo 3.  And in the weeks following ODST's release, the chatter continues to grow.

The story basically follows a squad of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, an elite military branch of UNSC.  You play as an ODST recruit appropriately named "Rookie," as he is deployed over New Mombasa with fellow troopers.  In the opening cutscene, which was released well before the game, we watch shit hit the fan as a Covenant ship enters slipspace, trying to get away from Master Chief, who's all up in the Prophet of Regret's business.  This event scatters the ODST pods throughout the city below, separating the Rookie from his more experienced comrades.  He wakes up six hours later, and the game picks up from there.

New Mombasa, a husk of what it once was, is now your playground.  This open world thing is new to Halo, and Bungie made sure players would not feel lost.  As you wander the remnants of New Mombasa, there are plenty of hints that you may utilize to find your way, separate from the little blue compass diamond we're so used to seeing.  Hitting "up" on the D-pad brings up icons indicating unlocked doorways, and a 3D, fully interactive city-wide map marks marks your next destination, enemies, supply caches, and so on.  An ODST's weapons of choice are the M7S SMG and M6S Magnum -- an effective combination.  Your starting arsenal is enough to carry you through the entire game without ever having to trade up (or down), but the city offers a wide selections that might inspire memories of Halo-past.

The story is told in a non-linear fashion, dropping between current time and past events, as we already learned through various previews.  Whenever the Rookie stumbles upon an area his squad previously passed through, he'll find a clue, triggering a flashback sequence.  During these sequences, you play as one of the named characters introduced in the game's opening cinematic, reliving whatever took place hours before.  The action feels more fast-paced in these segments, reminiscent of Halo's sandbox combat; by contrast, there is a greater emphasis on exploration and the open world when you're playing as the Rookie in present time.

In the smoldering remains of New Mombasa, the Covenant are your only company, unless you count the city's Superintendent, an A.I. named "Vergil."  The Rookie wanders alone in these empty ruins littered with hostiles, dead bodies, and abandoned vehicles.  When passing a kiosk, Superindendent occasionally recites his pitch, though he never addresses you directly.  Enemies patroling the winding streets can be ignored if you're feeling sneaky, though you may just run into them later.  Duck into a building, crouch behind some rubble, or just run at them guns blazing -- entirely your call.  Covenant ranks are now composed of Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals, as seen in Halo 3, with Hunters making regular appearances as rare spawns.  Thankfully, Bungie did not include the Flood in ODST, but we're also missing Elites, which is somewhat disappointing.

In contrast to the flashbacks, Rookie sequences possess a heavy and eerie mood.  Every key location you find is essentially a graveyard, containing memories of a previous battle.  This back-and-forth shift becomes an effective storytelling method that also keeps gameplay fresh.  You will, however, also need to do a little backtracking while retracing your squad's footsteps, since the drop pods were scattered all over the city.  Along the way, VISR mode (X button) will highlight key interests to check out in yellow, like those clues left by your squad's exploits or audio-vid files documenting the city's final moments through the eyes of a young woman named Sadie.  She's fairly important so let's leave it at that.  You can either let them run in the background as you play or go into your VISR menu to listen with images; be advised that this menu doesn't pause the game, and enemies can still attack if you're checking out the map or intel.  These audio files also serve as collectibles to unlock supply caches as you progress, dishing out weapons (even vehicles) that will come in handy as the number of Covenant patrols increase.  Guess they're on to you...

A.I. hasn't improved over the last Halo shooter, and you'll run into the same frustrations in a solo Campaign.  As the Rookie, you spend your time alone in the city, but during the flashback sequences, you fight with UNSC Marines who unfortunately have not learned how to properly operate a Warthog between Halo 3 and ODST.  The slow-to-action A.I. doesn't break the game, but keep in mind it requires a nudge here and there.