Halo: ODST lights up the night

Halo: ODST, another great Halo game by Bungie, wastes no time in literally dropping you straight into combat, with six hours of comical and hard-hitting game play.

Unlike the previous Halo games, you are no longer playing as the legendary Master Chief. Instead, you are a rookie Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, or ODST.

As an ODST you are not as impressive as Master Chief. You can't jump as high, fall as far, take as many bullets, you can only shoot one gun at a time and you have to find health packets to replenish your health (though you do have a regenerative shield).

As the name suggests, you, the rookie, are dropped from orbit into the African city of New Mombasa in a one-man ship, where you crash land and wake up six hours later to find that your squad is scattered. There, you begin your story, which takes place between Halo 2 and 3.

One of the new features an ODST soldier has is a new night vision that, unlike previous games, outlines your surroundings and distinguishes friends with a green outline, enemies with red, and objects like a car with yellow. This feature is definitely one you will use, as dark levels make it nearly impossible to see without night vision.

ODST offers a game called "Firefight." In "Firefight," you find yourself fighting wave after wave of enemy forces with up to four players, or two if you are playing locally. As you fight off each wave, enemy forces become stronger, more aggressive and accurate.

There is also a "boss" wave at the end of every round, which is usually accompanied by multiple enemies with hammers looking to smash your head in.

ODST also has a second disc that is strictly for online Halo 3 gameplay. The disc has all of the old Halo 3 maps and three new ones, offering a total of 24 battlegrounds to test your skills.

If you are a Halo fan, this game is a must. However, it is only an expansion that is priced at the value of a full game. You may want to wait until the price goes down as it is not a completely new game; you have all of the same weapons and graphics with few exceptions.