Those of us with speaker badges got into the convention center a few hours before the general public and got to invest some quality time playing ODST. I’ve been a huge fan of the Halo series since the beginning but I was hesitant about this game. Is it really Halo without the Chief, Cortana or the Arbiter? The answer is: Yes.

The second I started playing the Firefight variant demo, I felt right at home. Firefight mode basically allows for a co-op team of up to four to fight the Covenant as a unit while still competing with one another for score. The team has 7 lives, and when they’re gone, so are you. The button layout is almost identical, the weapons are easily identifiable and the enemies are familiar. However, there were definitely enough new touches that enlivened the experience. One of the biggest changes is that you can engage this night-vision type view when in dark environments and it identifies and outlines both friends and foes.

Another huge change is the eighty-sixing of the battle rifle and the drastic improvement in usefulness of the pistol. You can’t take down Banshees with it like in Halo CE, but it’s definitely got a stronger punch than in Halo 2 and 3.

One of the coolest things I saw while in-game were a pair of grunts, both duel wielding plasma grenades. Thank the Forerunners for that bubble shield. I enjoyed the variety of enemies that were presented – everything from Buggers to Hunters and even a few Wraiths. Sometimes it was tough to remember that I wasn’t the Chief and that my shields and health wouldn’t regenerate. Also, watch out for fall damage, I learned that one the hard way.

Overall, ODST manages to fit into the Halo genre effortlessly even without the series’ main characters. Although it was engineered with a different feel and vision, there is no doubt that this is a Halo game.