Other than the campaign, which can be played in co-op mode with up to four players, you can hit the other new feature: Firefight. In Firefight, you can play with up to four other players (two players local) against wave after wave of Covenant troops. Each wave represents a portion of a round and once you’ve completed five waves, the round is over. Each round you get a negative effect, ranging from enemies throwing a lot of grenades to taking less damage from your shots. Here’s the catch—you have a pool of lives to share amongst your team. There are several levels to choose from for Firefight purposes, with more levels unlocked through completing portions of the game. Firefight is easily my favorite part of ODST. Anyone who likes Horde mode in Gears of War 2 will want to check this out.

Also included in the ODST package is the entire Halo 3 Multiplayer experience. On a second disc, the Halo 3 multiplayer engine and forge reside with all of the currently available map packs. If you haven’t played Halo 3’s multiplayer, this is a great opportunity. The map packs are quite expensive on their own and this collection can save you a lot of hard drive space and MS Points.

All in all, ODST is a solid addition to the Halo franchise. The fractured way the campaign is set up is annoying, but the included Firefight mode, co-op campaign support, and Halo 3 Multiplayer disc easily push this over the top for anyone that might be on the fence.

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