No one wanted ODST, it's as simple as that. Die hard Halo fans, still fragging away on Halo 3's multiplayer, were hungry for another story continuation, perhaps a return from Master Chief himself. What they didn't want was a touchy feely prequel starring the distinctly un-augmented members of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. It's not that the premise of ODST was a bad idea, it just seemed for many a creative and narrative step back for the Bungie team, fortunately, this couldnt be further from the truth.
ODST remains one of the best games in the franchise, it may not have had the robust tool set of Halo 3, or brought anything new to the FPS table like Halo: Combat Evolved, but what it did have was a bold new visual palette and a further fine tuning of those sweet Halo mechanics.
Its clear now that the darker, less vibrant art style of ODST was a dry run for the complete overhaul of Reach, but at first it seems strange and uncomfortable. Ushering the FNG through the desolate night-time streets, not a soul in sight aside from a handful of patrolling covenant, has a tension usually reserved for survival horror titles. The daytime flashbacks are almost a relief, those familiar purple shades soothing the players rattled mood.
The games structure and flow can often make it seem like a greatest hits of previous Halo games. Each clue found on the streets leads to a linear daytime skirmish in which you control one of the other ODSTs, who each have generic FPS roles (soldier, heavy, sniper etc). Yet amongst all that familiarity is a great story containing some engaging characters.
The story of the FNG is a thinly veiled nod to film noir and the hard boiled detective novels of the 1950's. It's fun to think of Bungie as Raymond Chandler, with the FNG as his Phillip Marlowe, getting knocked about in some godforsaken rain drenched city, slowly gathering the clues to solve the mystery. It's a great story mechanic and a refreshing offshoot of the generic sci-fi fable that is the Haloverse.
Elsewhere their is some great characters to fill out the ODST roster. The FNG is the strong silent type as usual but the rest of the crew is voiced by Firefly's Serenity crew. So, heavy trooper is given the gruff tones of Adam Baldwin, cocky pilot duties fall to Alan Tudyk and leader of the unit is Nathan Fillion, whose very presence can increase enjoyment in pretty much any production. The voice cast is a genius stroke for Bungie, highlighting both their commercial heft as a developer and the obvious love they have for the Halo fans.
But lets not forget Firefight, the only evidence of multiplayer on the ODST disc (all Halo 3 maps and modes were generously shipped with the game also) and a mode so good that it quickly outlived any accusations of being derivative (the mode is strikingly familiar to Horde mode in Gears 2).
Firefight brings all the scuba-tight mechanics of single and multiplayer Halo into co-operative arena based battle. Although it has since been built upon and made better for Reach, memories of those early days on ODST firefight will never fade. Provided you had some willing and able squad mates (no Firefight matchmaking in those days), ramping that diffuculty and rocking those skulls could eat up a whole night.
For all these things and more should ODST be praised. It dared to be different in a franchise where change was not welcome. It's visual style paved the way for the best game in the franchise and it's Firefight mode is one of gaming's best co-op experiences.
ODST is a significant triumph in a series full of them and anyone who passed it over on release should definitely give it a try now the sun has set on this beloved franchise.
Comments
Post a Comment