I love ODST can't say enough good things about it, the human balance behind the game makes up for superhuman capacity of Spartan IV's , I was lucky in that I started Xbox gaming with ODST so had no pre conceptions about what was 'Halo' I just wanted to jump straight in.
The thing is, Halo ODST campaing plays out in a non linear fashion, which is really the perfect way to personalise a story, I don't think some players realised that you can use various parts of the map to play out as you wish but that you will eventually see the whole story anyway, the fact that you played out in the story with other squad members was nice (Reach style) and that quiet night time quests to snipe on your own and gather intell were enjoyeable in a more 'Black Ops' way.
I can't say that being Master Chief is really my thing at times as much as I love to bit's the whole Halo universe and don't really mind what angle is put forward, frankly though I would love another ODST 2 story preferably on Earth, as seeing future Earth images always get's me excited, and with the same kind of experience that the Halo 3 ODST story had to offer, I would really like to see a tie into the Halo 4 story, where you can get information about the Forerunners and Covenant from the UNSC and ONI.
And to final, I miss the whole team, including 'Rookie'.
'Rookie, if you ever get a girlfriend, make sure she's got balls.'...
Yeah, see this is the thing, I like campaigns that supply detail, option, intel (to gather to build missions and story or weapons for multiplayer) playing through the same campaign that everyone else is experiencing with no really quest is kinda boring, however I agree that their hast to be a balance between RPG type content and first person adventure so the fight stays authentic.
To be honest new ideas like, jumping in and out of fights on a stratergy map where you have deployed ODST and available hardwear would be something different, ODST mini Halo Wars 1st person mix..That could bring some interesting level ups to your Halo profile Hmmm?