Prepare to Drop

Find a Medical Kiosk to Restore Health

Great, so you've flown off course and crash-landed somewhere in New Mombasa. Upon awakening, your first task is to get the hell out of your capsule. To do so, you'll have to arm the four glowing green bolts by looking at them and holding the right-bumper. There's one on each wall and they're impossible to miss.

Freedom! Now that you're on ground-level, the game will provide a quick tutorial of how health works--if you never played Halo 1, you should pay attention. Now you essentially have two health bars: one's your actual health, and can only be restored via medical packs. The other is your shield, which automatically regenerates so long as you keep out of harm's way for a few seconds. Since you've taken damage from your fall, your first task is to find a Medical Kiosk, and there just so happens to be one across the street, on the right.

Explore the Streets, Find your ODST Team

With your health restored, it's time to regroup with your squad. From the drop capsule (assuming you're facing away from it), head right and be prepared to take on a Brute and a few grunts. The potted trees can provide cover if you need it, simply by crouching behind them. Now's a good time to test out both of your weapons: the pistol and SMG.

After your first engagement, the path seemingly splits. The ramp leads to a dead-end, so stick to ground-level. As you turn the corner, you'll spot several grunts on the central concrete island, with a Brute just beyond them. If you're stealthy, you can take down most of the grunts before drawing the Brute's attention. Once the Brute approaches, remain on the concrete island, circling the interior barrier for cover. You may want to grab one of the Grunts dropped weapons, such as the Plasma Pistol, to quickly deplete his shields, then follow-up with either some human-made weaponry or a few quick melee attacks.

With the enemies down, a couple more squads (including a pair of Brutes!) will soon approach from a side-street, to the left (assuming you're facing away from the street you just came from). We suggest grabbing the Brutes grenade launcher (remember to use your visor to easily find it), then taking cover by the flipped car--use your pistol (or other single-fire weapon) to target the grunts before turning your attention to the Brutes--a shot or two from your launcher should clear them out.

Contact City Superintendent

With the street cleared, you'll hear a ringing sound coming from your left. Approach the glowing terminal (remember, use your visor!) and interact with it to activate your map, which will plant a coordinate on your HUD, showing the location of a nearby ODST squadmate!

Search Tayari Plaza for ODST Squadmate

Now that you have your squadmate's coordinates, the blue marker on your compass will provide some loose guidance of where to go next. For now, that means proceeding up the right side of the street, where the enemies just attacked from. If you need a health refill, you'll find a couple of stations on either side along the way. At the end of the road, you'll find an unlocked door with a green light that you can continue through, on the right.

Continue through the dark hall, using your visor to find your way, and open the door at the end leading back outside. Well, would you look at that--it's a Grunt! But he's but the first of a field-full! At any rate, you should be able to melee both him and his compadre to the right before the others catch on. We suggest remaining on the walkway, using the plantations for cover (crouch and hug the wall behind them to make yourself near invisible) and use your human-weaponry to target the foes. If you run out of ammo, collect one of the grunt's dropped weapons, or toss a grenade near the middle to take several down at once. If you take heavy fire, you can always retreat back into the hall for protection.

With the field cleared, grab whatever weapons you need, then proceed through an unlocked door, opposite of where you entered. Inside you'll reach the marked Beacon. Continue up the staircase, just left of the second door. Proceed along the hall, up another staircase, to the third floor.

On the third floor, be ready for a door to open on your right, leading into a room with two Jackels--you should be able to either shotgun or melee them before they know what hit them. Proceed up another staircase, where you'll soon find a Combat Helmet embedded in a screen on the left, which will begin the first several flashback missions.