Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studios
Genre: First Person Shooter
ESRB: M

Over 2 years ago Halo 3 released; by the time the credits rolled the devestating war between humanity and the Covenant had come to a close with humanity emerging as the victor, the Flood was destroyed and the Ark (the control center for the Halos) was eliminated. However this victory came at a great cost; numerous marines and naval personnel died in the fight along with Commander Miranda Keyes, Sergeant Major Avery Johnson and Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN-117 (who is later shown to have survived the detonation of the Ark and has entered cryogenic suspension in the severed half of the UNSC frigate Forward Unto Dawn). As the title implies, Halo 3: ODST isn't a direct sequel to Halo 3 but more of a side-story that fills in some of the gaps of the plot.

The game takes place parallel to the Covenant invasion of Earth seen in the beginning of Halo 2. Instead of playing as series mainstay Master Chief you play as as one of the elite Orbital Drop Shock Troops, who have been tasked by infiltrating the Prophet of Regret's ship and taking him hostage. The mission is altered at the last second by ONI agent Veronica Dare, and the squad's drop pods are scattered when Regret's ship makes a slipspace jump inside the city. Awakening several hours later, the Rookie must locate his squad and figure out just what the Covenant are doing on Earth.


Right out of the gate, ODST feels pretty different from the previous 3 Halo games. The ODST's aren't as well armored, strong or as quick as the Master Chief. They cannot dual-weild weapons and require med-kits to replenish their health. Fights that used to be a breeze as the Master Chief now require tactical decision making and a more measured approach. As the Rookie, most of the game has you searching the abandoned city of New Mombasa searching for your teammates while engaging Covenant scout parties; as you progress through the game you will encounter "Flashpoint" objects that will trigger a flashback and place you in the role of one of your squadmates. These segments play more closely to the Halo we all know and love, and help to give the player clues as to where to go as the Rookie and the ultimate fate of the squad. On the multiplayer front, the game comes with all of the Halo 3 DLC maps and a brand-new mode called Firefight. Similar in regards to the Horde mode from Gears of War 2, Firefight has you (and friends if you so choose) fighting off multiple waves of enemies. The further you go, the more Skulls become activated, which can make the fights more difficult.

Graphically speaking the game looks exactly the same as Halo 3, which was no visual slouch. The environments, character models and effects all look great. Especially strong is the voice acting, which is largely handled by sci fi vets like Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, Tricia Helfer and Alan Tudyk. Likewise, the musical score is amazing as it compliments the new feel of the game while not sounding like any other previous Halo score.

If you are a Halo fan, you've most likely played this several times by now. Even if you are not a Halo fan, ODST is still a great game that is worth a try.

Story: 3/5
Sound: 5/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Enjoyability: 4/5

Yeah...so a long time ago I started my impressions of Wrath of the Lich King by talking about the Death Knight hero class. My next entry was to discuss the game proper...which never happened, so my bad. This entry, apart from giving a run-down of the content that shipped with the expansion pack but also the subsequent updates as well. 

Wrath of the Lich King takes place roughly one year after the opening of the Dark Portal that marked the release of The Burning Crusade expansion. The shattered world of Draenor has been saved from the tyrannical rule of Illidan Stormrage and his lieutenants Lady Vasj and Kael'thas Sunstrider. However, celebrations are cut short when forces of the Scourge attack Orgrimmar and Stormwind and bring word of the Lich King's efforts to rid the world of life. In response, the Horde and the Alliance have mobilized forces to assault the Lich King on his home turf of Northrend. The stakes are high; if the combined forces of the Alliance and Horde cannot stop the Lich King than all life on Azeroth will perish.

While I have already gone into detail regarding the Death Knight hero class, I really haven't talked much about the main content of the expansion pack.  Unlike Burning Crusade which had content for veteran players and newcomers alike (in the form of new races like the Draenei and Blood Elves and their accompanying areas), Wrath of the Lich King is targeted at veteran players alone. Northrend, the icy continent to the north of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, is the focus of the expansion pack. While this crecent-shaped land looks smaller than Outland, it is far more varied and carries more depth.  In order to help alleviate the overcrowding issues players faced when venturing into Hellfire Peninsula, the first new area in Burning Crusade, Northrend featuers two starting areas with each being on the opposite side of the continent; The Howling Fjord on the right and Borean Tundra on the left.  The character level has been increased to 80 and class talent trees have been reworked, allowing you greater customization and more powerful abilities.  Despite the theme of ice being prevalent throughout the expansion set, Icecrown is not a completely frozen wasteland; the Howling Fjord and Grizzly Hills sport beautiful green vistas and forestland and Sholazar Basin's lush jungle life help to mix things up a bit. Like the previous expansion, each zone features instances for different character levels. Below is a complete list of such instances:

Zone:                                      Instance:                                     Level:

Borean Tundra                        The Nexus                                     69-72
Borean Tundra                        The Occulus                                   78-80
Borean Tundra                        Eye of Eternity (raid)                      80+
Howling Fjord                          Utgarde Keep                                69-72
Howling Fjord                          Utgarde Pinnacle                           78-80
Dragonblight                            Azjol-Nerub                                   72-75 Dragonblight                            Ahn'Khet: The Old Kingdom           75-77 Dragonblight                            The Obsidian Sanctum (raid)          80+
Dragonblight                            Naxraamas (raid)                           80+
Zul'Drak/Grizzly Hills                 Drak'Tharon Keep                          74-76
Zul'Drak                                   GunDrak                                         76-78
Wintergrasp                            Vault of Archavon (raid)                  80+
The Storm Peaks                     Ulduar: Halls of Stone                    78-80
The Storm Peaks                     Ulduar: Halls of Lightning               78-80
The Storm Peaks                     Ulduar (raid) *                                80+
Tanaris (Caverns of Time)       Culling of Stratholme                       78-80
Icecrown                                 Trial of the Champion**                  80
Icecrown                                 Trial of the Crusader (raid) **         80+
Icecrown                                 Trial of the Grand Crusader (raid)**   80+
Icecrown                                 Frozen Halls: Forge of Souls ***     80
Icecrown                                 Frozen Halls: Pit of Saron ***         80
Icecrown                                 Frozen Halls: Halls of Reflection ***      80
Icecrown                                 Icecrown Citadel (raid) ***             80+



* denotes instances added in patch 3.1
** denotes instances added in patch 3.2
*** denotes instances that will be added in patch 3.3



While the core aspects of the game remain the same, there are new featuers to be had. Siege machines, powerful vehicles of destruction, make their appearance early on and figure heavily in the Ulduar raid as well as Wintergrasp which is an area dedicated entirely to PvP. Every hour the battle for Wintergrasp begins; the side currently in control of Wintergrasp fortress must defend the keep from outside incursion while the opposing faction must breach the defenses  and take control of the fortress. Patch 3.1 introduced the Argent Tournament and  mounted combat in the form of jousting. The expansion also features a new profession in the form of Inscription, which allows aspiring scribes to craft glyphs that aurgment character's abilities such as adding a stun effect to fireballs or reducing the rage cost for warrior attacks.


Taking a page out of Microsoft's book, Blizzard has implimented an Achievement system to mark your accomplishments. They range from reaching specific level markers, learning the ability to ride a mount, completing instances or fully exploring each zone to wide-ranging holiday events and completing difficult feats within instances or raids and more. Some achievements, like killing all the leaders of the opposing faction or completing all the holiday events, will reward you with an exclusive mount. Others will reward you with a title which will appear by your character's name.  Others still will reward you with a character pet or tabard.  


Raids, which are a big part of WoW's end game content, are far easier to get into in WoTLK now that Blizzard has two different versions of each raid; one for a 10 man raid and another for 25 players. While its easier to get a group of 10 players together, the 25 man version offers loot of a higher item level so there is a trade off.


One of the more exciting recent developments was the announcement of the new instances in Icecrown, which will let all players face the Lich King himself. In vanilla WoW and BC, the end-game baddie was strictly a raid fight. While raiders will ultimately see Arthas' (the Lich King) fate in the Icecrown Raid, its very nice of Blizzard to let all players feel like they are taking part in the climax of the expansion pack.