I recently bought ODST because I am a Halo fan and have played previous iterations. I am a moderate fan in that I usually finish the single player campaign, play some multiplayer games and then archive the game (or give it to my stepfather J ).
Two questionable design decisions struck me as strange (perhaps even mean spirited). I was playing on normal, and expected a decent challenge. However, I think in ODST the desire for challenging gameplay (perhaps with a bent toward satisfying hardcore Halo players) trumped the fun factor and soured me on the series.
First, in the campaign you are given a really weak (damage) main weapon - M7S Caseless Submachine Gun. I found this weapon to be really poor in combat. Unless you can manage a headshot it seemed like a liability. Even the headshots only do significant damage on weaker enemies. The new M6C/SOCOM is cool and perhaps a better overall weapon. However, onto my second issue, where is my AMMO!
So I am in this hot-zone of Covenant hell, and there is a severe paucity of ammo for my UNSC weapons. Throughout the campaign I was forced to wield Covenant weapons because my UNSC weapons were always dry. I felt like a vulture…and a Covenant recruit.
Finally, Firefight stinks when you are alone. Now I consider myself an above average FPS player, but jeez going solo in Firefight is a masochistic existence. The lack of UNSC weapons and no ammo is omnipresent, and health is no where near abundant to give you a fighting chance.
Finally, the fun ends early in that by wave three; Covenant forces are sending Brutes and Hunters with a healthy dose of Wraiths and Choppers to vex you. UNSC vehicles were in short supply, and at least early on, failed to respawn. How can a soldier survive and feel badass in these conditions? I often found myself running around like a scared rabbit. Even with three pals, Firefight turned into a grind as your collective seven lives were quickly lost.
So I found myself sort of dreading finishing the game and even shunned invites to play co-operatively because the design restrictions seemed (imo) to suck the fun out of the game in favor of crushing challenge.