ODST Firefight – ‘FloodFight’

In Halo 3: ODST, we’ve done more than just add the Flood to Firefight!

To support this fan-favorite mode, we’ve made numerous networking improvements which benefit Firefight across the board. We’ve also fixed several issues with enemies getting stuck or not seeking out the player properly.

Players can now use the VISR map to see enemy locations, even while waiting to respawn, in Firefight matchmaking. Players can now use the Energy Sword and Sentinel Beam in ODST for the first time ever, and can even spawn with these weapons in Fiesta Fight. We’ve also mixed new enemies (such as Elites and Flood) into the wave lineup for various Arcade variants in Firefight matchmaking.

A handful of these fixes and improvements have been imported back to Halo: Reach as well. For example, players can now trade weapons with allies (Covenant units in Firefight Versus, and the friendly Marines on the Installation 04 map) and evict them from vehicles to take over their seats in Firefight matchmaking.

The Flood in Halo 3: ODST have also received numerous upgrades over their counterparts in Halo 3.

First, players will notice that Flood are accompanied by dense fog which gives each Firefight mission a new and spooky ambiance. Players will see this fog dynamically fade in when a Flood wave spawns and fade back out when a regular Covenant wave spawns (in variants which mix Flood and Covenant enemies).

Flood can now occupy vehicles for the first time since Halo 2 and players will encounter (and potentially commandeer) these across multiple Firefight missions. Flood enemies now have a few new animations which allow them to pilot these vehicles, traverse the environment more effectively, and even wield support weapons like turrets.

In ODST, there are also three new types of Flood Combat Forms—the infected civilian, the infected ODST, and the infected Elite Major which sports red armor and energy shields.

The Flood can employ all their familiar strategies as well. Stalker Forms can climb on walls and deploy as Ranged Forms in unexpected locations, totally changing the way the classic Firefight missions play. Flood can also drop onto the map via dispersal pods.

Lastly, unlike the Master Chief, ODSTs can be infected and resurrected by the Flood. Beware, as you may have to fight your own resurrected allies—or even yourself!

The Flood may be more ferocious than ever, but thankfully you have a few new options to combat them as well. New “boons” are available across the Firefight missions to aid you against the undead onslaught. These boons include things like weapon racks containing assault rifles and battle rifles (neither of which were available in Firefight in the original Halo 3: ODST release).

On some maps, players will find Flamethrowers to fend off the Flood. On others, players will be assisted by allies. Marines and NMPD officers will help combat the Flood and can help you by manning vehicles and turrets. On night missions, allied Elites are delivered via insertion pods to aid you. If matchmaking isn’t your thing, these allies can help even the odds in solo Firefight and they can be enabled in any Firefight game variant, not only in Floodfight. Lastly, some Flood enemies will be generous enough to drop any grenades they may be carrying which you can then use to restock your inventory.