The engine isn't an issue with me; I think re-utilizing of technical assets with a shift toward iteration and produce development aimed at better gameplay experiences is primary. Sure, technical faults should be shored up and this shouldn't preclude new features and services, but a new "renderer" or "physics do-dad" aren't what define a title for me.
As a PC gamer we would call 5-6 hours (read: I bet I can beat it in 4) of new SP gameplay and 3 MP maps ($5 value on XBLA) to be an expansion. The "old" engine isn't a factor, but the gameplay is essentially constrained by such (i.e. I have seen mods that change more of the gameplay mechanics). Being slower, not jumping as high, less armor, some slight gun and HUD mods, etc isn't much. My friend is lamenting how I am ovelooking the awesomeness of the ol' pistol!!!111 But that is my point: That is somthing that could have been free DLC, any mod can do that, and the only people who get excited about an uber pistol are Halo 1 fans. A new pistol in any other FPS doesn't excite interest in buying a new game at full price (as much as EA wished booster packs would!) ODST is really for the fans who are more than happy to get a less than full package for full price. The counter argument, of course, is there are a lot of $60 titles that suck. True, true. But then again I wouldn't buy those either, so that is a non-starter. But if I only have 3 $60 games in me the next 6 months the ODST expansion is up against other shooters of note (COD MW2, BFBC2), the best Madden in years, a full GTA expansion at expansion pricing, Forza Motorsport 3, and other surprise titles (OFP2? Sonic Racers?) and so forth. A SP expansion doesn't offer much value for me. But that is just me.
If it was shipping with a full suite of MP maps (12-18 maps), some new MP features (both gameplay, e.g. play as ODSTs, some new modes and weapons, etc; features like a custom game browser, improvements to Forge sharing, advancements in gametype modifcations) and the like I would be completely content calling it a new title. Initially FireFight sounded very interesting but the gameplay doesn't look "Halo" quality to me (seems to lack much strategy compared to Gears 2) and looking at Horde (a full fledged mode with a ton of maps) and seeing how it too eventually got a little boring and was best with 5 people it really has to be something I try before I get excited about it. After Horde I would have liked to see something more objective oriented and deeper in features/options, maybe even mini-story archs (bonus: have "Fire Fight" scenarios in the SP campaign). In general the feel I get is that there is nothing new that I wouldn't expect from an expansion and for $60 I don't see the replay value I got out of Halo 3 at $60.
But there is a reason this is called Halo 3 ODST. It is an expansion. MS/Bungie even pitched it as such until [opinion] the realized how the content holds up against a lot of the crap going for $60 these days and after a couple surveys of seeing how popular it was and some surveys of cost tolerance they shifted it to a full priced product. Seeing my friend call it a day 1 purchase without knowing WHAT was in it (it has the Halo name and is made by Bungie = instant buy for him) and seeing how with nominal exposure it shot to the very top of a lot of consumer buy lists it makes good fiscal sense. But I am not overly attached to the franchise, even if I do play it and think a lot of the criticism lamented here at B3D are pretty poor ones.
As for ODST as being as different from CoD4 is from Halo 3 or "different art style" I think that is something only Halo "fans" could see that way. As a general FPS game ODST looks like a mod from a gameplay perspective and the art (and technicals) look just like Halo 3. And they still haven't learned to a) avoid big flat objects (bilinear filtering with no AF) and b) long straight edges. The IQ issues on the bridge levels are something you think Bungie would have learned to avoid. The last level in Halo 3 was bad enough (literally looked plucked out of an Xbox game).
Design, mechanics, AI, and story are all strong in Halo but ODST doesn't do anything to really address the short comings--and at $60 is lacks a lot of the things you would expect from a full title, let alone one bearing the Halo name.
It really is a title for the fans who are willing to pay the fill price of admission. For those of us who buy 3-4 games a year it is a tough pill to swallow. Now that I think about it the #1 reason to get Halo 3 ODST really seems to be the Reach beta IMO for my preferences.
