It's a lonely state of affairs being dead. I'm just a swirling non-entity haunting the ether. My only distraction from the infinite nothingness is my Xbox 360. Without it I'd be a gibbering mess. Sometimes, when I'm really bored, I talk to myself. I pretend I'm in a court room acting as both prosecution and defence. In the dock is a game that has split public opinion right down the middle. It is my job to present the jury with enough evidence to either condemn or aquit the game on trial.
Have I gone mad? Almost certainly. Do I care? Hell no. In fact I've transcribed my lunatic ramblings for your amusement. What do you reckon - Halo 3 ODST: innocent or guilty?
Prosecution:
Ladies and gentleman of the jury,
Back in September 2009 the American public were treated to a stunning
television advertisement. During the 230-second live-action piece, a one man drop-pod hurtles through the atmosphere above a raging Covenant battlefield. An ODST emerges from the pod under heavy fire and into the hellish chaos of war. Strewn over the plasma scorched earth are the corpses of fallen soldiers. Banshees strafe the sky, raining down white-hot laser bolts. Amid the panic and confusion a Brute ambushes the young ODST, striking him to the ground and sending his helmet flying. The Brute, about to deal the fatal blow to the injured soldier, is killed by the debris from an exploding Banshee. It’s pulse pounding stuff and brilliantly evokes the balls-out sense of adventure and danger that defines the Halo series.
Those fortunate enough to see the advertisement were given a glorious glimpse of what a Halo movie might look like. And boy did it look good. Unsurprisingly, the advert was a huge success. On the week of its launch Halo 3:ODST became the top-selling game for the Xbox 360 worldwide, and over 2.5 million copies were sold within the first few weeks of release. The Life, as the advert is called, went on to win a number of honours from the advertising and entertainment industries. It was never aired in England. And in hindsight that was probably a good thing. Can you imagine the crushing disappointment when American Halo fans, giddy with anticipation, finally got to play the game?
The myriad flaws that plague ODST become all too apparent when trying out the game’s new addition. The VISR is totally pointless. Accidentally equipping it in a well lit arena plunges you into an eyeball searing world of blinding white light. Used as intended, to illuminate the terminally miserable hub world, it soon becomes clear that the VISR is nothing more than a superfluous pair of night vision goggles. They are perhaps the most gratuitous addition to the Halo universe. So why include it? Without the gimmick of a shiny new visor, Halo 3 ODST has absolutely nothing new to offer the dedicated campaign player. The absence of Master Chief neither enhances nor detracts from the overall experience. His exclusion is a non event. To the untrained eye you may as well be playing as a Spartan. The superficial tweaks that are meant to promote a sense of human frailty are nothing but an acute irritation. Hunting for medipacks is a nuisance. But it’s the incessant, nagging bleeping and the lingering red mist that descends when your life force is low that really tires the soul. The diminished jump and the weakened melee attack, although frustrating, are forgivable. They help focus the player’s attention on the weapons. And, yes, the silenced pistol is a joy. But it’s simply not enough.
The hub world, touted as ODST’s unique selling point, is a gloomy distillation of everything we’ve grown to dislike about Halo - namely the uninspired labyrinths of identical corridors. Without the vivid alien vistas that made Halo 3 so pleasing to the eye, ODST’s hub is just a forgettable sandbox of concrete blocks. The VISR, a necessity unless you want to explore the streets of Mombassa in darkness, transforms the industrial murk into an abstract world of glowing neon contours. Yes, it’s pretty, but it feels lazy - an excuse to churn out the same indistinguishable streets and buildings.
One can already hear the defence’s protests…classic Halo gameplay, thrilling film noir influence, intense Firefight mode, yadda-yadda. Ladies and gentleman of the jury, do not be swayed by these feeble arguments. Not even the inclusion of the co-op game mode Firefight can keep ODST from drowning in its own blandness. Halo 3 ODST is nothing more than a glorified expansion pack. Bungie is guilty of that most shameful of crimes: mediocrity. And for this it must be punished with the fullest force of the law.
Defence:
Ladies and gentlemen of the Jury,
I do not intend to stand before you and claim that Halo ODST is a flawless masterpiece. Even C J Cowan, were he in this courtroom today, would doubtless concede that ODST’s restrictive one year development time severely limited what the production team were able to create.
But what they did manage to cram into the game is nothing short of excellent. In his eagerness to dismiss the sombre open-world environment of New Mombasa, my learned friend has entirely missed the point. The hub is astounding in both scale and design. It is anything but mediocre. Scouring the city in search of clues to your squadmate’s whereabouts is a master class in suspenseful storytelling. Upon discovery, each clue unlocks a flashback that allows the player to experience, first-hand, the fate of the ODST involved. Each vibrant vignette is a vivid contrast to the dark, jazzy streets of New Mombasa. Take Coastal Highway for example, an epic Warthog ride through a Covenant infested highway which culminates in a tense clash between a small group of ODSTs and a relentless Covenant onslaught. And not a single FLOOD in sight. Halo at its best.
Dropping Master Chief from the scene was a smart move. The Spartan comes with too much baggage and would have stifled the productions team’s ability to experiment with the story. Concentrating on the ODSTs also meant a change in the style of play. The VISR, the silenced weapons, the weakened shield, the medipacks, the absence of a motion tracker - all serve to heighten the sense of danger and tension, but never at the expense of that quintessential Halo gameplay.
I notice that my learned friend, spotting the canyon-sized chink in his argument’s armour, attempts to dismiss Firefight’s towering presence in a single sentence. One applauds his chutzpah, but he will have to do better than that. Firefight manages to distil the essence of Halo’s sacred ’30 seconds of fun’ into a fantastic co-op mode. Enclosed in arenas of varying size, you and three friends must destroy endless waves of Covenant troops until you finally succumb to their superior numbers and firepower. It’s intense, thrilling and the most pleasant war of attrition you’ll ever experience. Firefight achieves, with great success, what the campaign promised but perhaps failed to deliver: a feeling of comradeship with your fellow ODSTs.
Remember the first time you saw an ODST? Sure you do. Think back to Halo 2. They were the bad-ass, black-amoured, wise-cracking soldiers who accompanied you on Delta Halo. They were undoubtedly one of the highlights of the game and generated huge interest from the halo playing public. Halo 3 ODST allows you to immerse yourself in their world and experience their role in the epic battle with the Covenant: it’s a worthy companion piece to the existing Halo trilogy that expands and solidifies the Halo lore, adds layers and depth to the rich tapestry of the mythology and fleshes out the cast introduced in previous games. Go back and have another crack at Delta Halo. You’ll be amazed at how different it feels to fight alongside the ODSTs in light of your adventures with The Rookie and his band of brothers. You’ve been there. You know.
If nothing else, Halo 3 ODST is a rock solid time-killer to tide us over until Reach hits the shelves. In the name of Bungie’s inimitable creativity and dedication to its fanbase, I urge you to acquit.
