So why didn't people like ODST?

[nitnit]

I just played through it and thought that it was actually really good. Except for parts of the final highway mission, lol.

Like the title says, why didn't people like the game? Were they all expecting a new multiplayer, didn't get it, and were disappointed?  

[Tron714]

The main reason people didn't like it are because it was promised to be a $40 game, but then Microsoft is all lets just throw in all the Halo 3 maps plus Mythic Maps and 3 new Mythic Maps. To me... thats not so bad because I never payed for any of the map packs. The other reason is that most people played on normal and beat the campaign in 4 hours and said it was too short. And the last reason was that Firefight was awesome and had potential but did not have matchmaking service.  

[Haratio TaFotter]

Everything I didn't like about it involved the campaign and its failed promises. Mostly that it was marketed as a stealth game, and regardless of what I did (I'm talking silenced head shot from at least 150 yards away from the nearest enemy) it always seemed like everyone instantly knew where I was. Now that Reach is out, I'd say that one thing ODST needed was the assassinations. For a game toted as being a stealthy version of Halo, it just didn't feel all the gratifying to bash a Brute in the back.

Other than that, I wouldn't say it was terrible. For the little while I was able to play it, I enjoyed Firefight, and I do enjoy the concept as its been updated in Reach.  

[nitnit]

Ah. Well I went into it without paying anything, and with no expectations. I was very pleasantly surprised. I actually enjoyed the campaign more than Halo 3's - mostly due to the very varied environments for the levels, and overall superior (in my opinion) level design.

I also really enjoyed New Mambasa. At first it was kind of strange using VISR just to see, but after I adjusted I came to realize that it's possibly the most artistically impressive thing Bungie has ever made.  

[Tron714]

Another thing I liked was that you got to play someone else in the Halo Universe that wasn't a Spartan or Elite. It kinda gave you a different persepctive in the Halo universe. Even though the gameplay didn't refelct that(except in Legendary). Hopefully 343 Industries can mix in a story of an ODST with the same polished story Reach gave us.  

[nitnit]

Yeah. ODST's story wasn't great by any means (it was average for a big budget game)... But it managed to feel very human for the most part, more so than a lot of other big title games, and much more so than the other Halo titles. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit until the rather silly (imo) last couple chapters.

The whole transporting the engineer alien to save the human race... kind of shifted the story of how the war was affecting the lives of these ODST troopers, into the typical Halo save the universe!!!?!11!!!1!!!!!! plotline.  

[Tron714]

Yeah the whole Engineer thing was kinda not what I expected... but I guess it worked for Bungie. Hopefully something different next time. Maybe a story with an squad of ODSTs, where your not a silent rookie and more like the Noble 6, assigned to take down a Covenant infested USNC War ship that did not/or not enough time to initiate the Cole Protocol. With a new spartan jumping in a quarter through the story where you only witness the spartan fight and then is lost from your sight. Then in the end the spartan joins/helps you and dies heroicly in the end. I dont know... sounds like a cool idea to me. Hell throw in the flood in there if they have too!  

[pathetic_negi_magician]

Save for firefight mode, it was pretty much the same as 3's gameplay, but with way better graphics and a worse storyline.  

[nitnit]

I have to disagree on a couple points. I felt the gameplay was a tiny bit different due to the health system and how VISR was almost needed at some points (also the map was really cool.. dunno why Reach didn't use it).

As for the story, I really dislike Halo 3's story. Of the whole series I feel it is by far the weakest. IMO:

Halo 1 has the best atmosphere. You feel like you are on board a spaceship during the first level. You feel like you are stranded on a crazy alien world. Halo 1 brings you to a wide variety of environments, and manages to make them all feel... almost real. The flood parts are far creepier than the flood parts in any other Halo game. Returning to the pillar of autumn for the final level, only to have the ship ravaged by flood and covenant was an awesome touch.

Halo 2 has the best narrative. The stories of John and the Arbiter are well fleshed out. Once you understand that the series is trying to be more epic (chief bringing the bomb onto the covenant ship, the boss fights, the scarab fight), you can appreciate Halo 1 and 2 as very different and satisfying experiences.

Halo ODST is the most personal. You are not a super soldier. You are just some guy trying to find his friends while you explore a once bustling city now in runs due to the covenant.

Halo Reach creates a very good combination of all the strong points of the series. It never tops any of those games on their individual strong suites... but it creates an awesome combination of everything Halo.



Halo 3 however... err. Well. It tries to be epic, but never reaches Halo 2's level. The scarabs are toned down. The one boss fight (unless there's some other than the moniter) is pretty much a joke. I dislike how they changed the Brutes to try to almost replace the elites, leaving them in a strange awkward middle ground. Arbiter goes from a main character allowing a very cool perspective of the covenant to an invincible sidekick for master chief... The deaths of miranda keyes and johnson were very abrupt and extremely underdeveloped (compare this to the death of Captain Keyes in Halo 1...) (to be fair, this is an issue in halo reach as well, most of the spartans die kind of abruptly)


Not to mention you have to backtrack through almost every single level to add length to the game... Not to mention the warthog run was very anticlimactic compared to Halo 1's.



Having said that, it's still fun to play, just pales in comparison to the other games' campaigns IMO  

[The Ginger Dude]

I liked firefight a bit, but the best thing about odst was the soundtrack for sure, campaign was personal, little fun, well story beats halo 3's any day, but probably my third favirote halo.  

[NinjaGod1234]

I didn't care much for how much unfamiliar it was from all the other halo's