Halo 3 ODST: Does anyone actually care?

[Doc Theta Sigma]

This has been bugging me for quite a while. When I saw the original teaser that Bungie released I have to admit I was intrigued. But when the full trailer was released I can't say I was excited. I just didn't see the point in it. It seems that Bungie are pulling a George Lucas and trying to fill in the gap between the ending of Halo 2 and the start of Halo 3. But does anybody actually care what happened?

While I agree it would be interesting to see the Covenant invasion of Earth from a perspective of someone other than an eight foot tall walking tank. Sorry to reference George Lucas again but The Force Unleashed story wasn't exactly ground breaking. As soon as you saw the Rebel insignia on a flag at the start of the game, on the main characters home no less, I think most people guessed what was going to happen. But anyway, I've been rambling for too long. Let's hear your views.

 

[Neosage]

I care, all of bungies other games have been great. And this should be no exception.

 

[D_987]

I care; Halo 3 was a good game, and I will be buying this addition too.

 

[A.I. Sigma]

As far as the upcoming Halo game is concerned, I'm looking forward to it. I love knowing all the extra things that happened; prequels and whatnot. Plus, it will be nice to experience the Halo universe with a different character for once, instead of MC all the time.

 

[Trivun]

Yes, I care. I am a huge Halo fan and there are too many gaps between Halo 2 and 3 that lead to plot holes. The question of where the Master Chief was is answered with the comic Halo: Uprising, but as for the whereabouts of Johnson, Keyes and the Arbiter and Special Ops Commander between stopping Tartarus and building the huge bunker near Voi in Halo 3, we have yet to know. This new game will provide an answer as well as looking at the Covenant invasion from a new perspective, and we get to see what it's like on the frontline when you don't have various augmentations and power armour. Plus it's an interesting comparison and a new way of looking at the Halo gameplay style when you can no longer charge in and whack Grunts (Unggoy) and Jackals (Kig-Yar) over the head to kill them. Finally, for anyone posting after me, the thing you need to remember is that Halo is NOT about the Master Chief. He is important, yes, but the Halo universe doesn't revolve solely around him, as some on The Escapist have claimed in the past.

 

[IsoNeko]

Personally, I'm intrigued. I like Swat, I like MLG and I like anything else that isn't whacky shooty run gun fun in Halo. Call me a sadist, but to have a brute smash you across the face, I want to feel it. In Halo 1 and 2. When you saw a convoy of Elites, you knew you were going to have your ass pounded. I liked that feeling, it kept me on my toes. Nowadays It's more like, oh look, a group of brutes. I'll just use this conveniently unload this entire barrel of rawk-it-lawn-chairs that's conveniently placed for this set task.

 

[51gunner]

I care. I actually find the Halo universe to be interesting, and seeing through a different set of eyes would be nice.

 

[A.I. Sigma]

Fianlly, for anyone posting after me, the thing you need to remember is that Halo is NOT about the Master Chief. He is important, yes, but the Halo universe doesn't revolve solely around him, as some on The Escapist have claimed in the past.

*nod*

As I said, seeing things from a different perspective is what interests me the most.

 

[ThePeaceFrog]

I think Bungie and Microsoft should stop beating around the bush and admit that Halos 4 to 67 are nearing completion and give the slavering masses what they really want and not bother with petty add-ons

 

[mokes310]

Nope, I quit caring after 5min into Halo 2. I thought they went in the wrong direction witht he series and havent cared at all.

My cynicism aside, I do hope that it's good for all of the Halo fans.

 

[IsoNeko]

Oh, and the Voi base? That base is old, I mean really old. That's why it's still using old fashioned doors and locks.

"It's full of old tech"

 

[Crunchy English]

It's a fair question. Halo-Hype hit critical levels not all that long ago, and it's easy to assume that people are just sick of hearing about Earth's War with Covenant. Still, Bungie is a solid development team and if ODST manages to take Halo in a new direction, then yes, I care.

See, video games are an industry defined by theft of ideas. And if someone looks at a Halo, and makes a million Halo knock-offs, that's fine. But if someone sees that Halo was getting stale and, rather than pumping out "Halo 6 : The Master Chiefs Wedding" or whatever, that Bungie actually took an existing license in a new direction and committed to it with a budget that can actually get something done, then they'll follow suit.

Every time the industry takes a breather from releasing the same game over and over again, I care.

That said, ODST still has time to become a heaping pile of tie-in, second rate, "look an ad for Halo 4", crap, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[Eagle Est1986]

In some ways I feel sorry for Bungie, the slaves of Microsoft, forced to make Halo games forever...someone should start a 'Free Bungie' campaign.

Not really, Bungie can make whatever they want, they've just chosen to make more Halo games, perhaps because they don't trust themselves to make something original, it's been a long time for them after all.

I'm a little interested, I suggested this game to my friend back in the Halo 2 days, that we should be able to play as an ODST, taking away the all guns blazing approach. This is the Halo game I've wanted for a while or it will be, as long as Bungie don't do another 'Bungie'.

 

[Arionis]

I'm personally psyched. The full trailer had me going "Yes, yes, yes, I want this game NOW!"

Halo has so far always been "Run in, kill everything in a room, wait three seconds, repeat." Even on Legendary. Personally I think the toughest Halo was the original. Having your shield recharge didn't really mean you were safe. Just that it would take an extra .02 seconds to die when you had only one bar of health.

THIS, looks like it will focus on "Oh, btw.....you're a normal human. Try not to get shot more than three times. Or at all in the head."

 

[A.I. Sigma]

THIS, looks like it will focus on "Oh, btw.....you're a normal human. Try not to get shot more than three times. Or at all in the head."

XD

Amen to that~

 

[Kukakkau]

all that was left out was the brutes began invading earth.
and theyre just milking the series now

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

I got the impression it was basically Halo 3 but with a COD 4 health system. Campaign looked interesting though with all the time traveling shenanigans.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

I care. From what I've seen, I think the game will rock... so long as there's enough content, that is. The mission design seems to be borrowing a lot from my favourite level, "Halo" from the first game. Hub-and-spoke giving you some freedom of choice on how to tackle the set-pieces was a lot of fun then, and I hope it'll be just as fun now.

-- Steve