TomLikesGuitar said:
Seriously? This goes for everyone who seriously thought ODST had a good story. I'm not even trying to be a dick, but what the hell?
I just beat Reach and feel that the stories are extremely similar except for two crucial elements that ruined the story of ODST for me.
I can see where you're coming from here: two games set in the Halo universe, both involving squads of badass soldiers. However, they don't feel the same in terms of atmosphere and the nature of the fighting is quite different. ODST had a sense of lonliness and isolation for all the parts you play as "The Rrookie", until the crowning moment of awesome that is the last level - one of the Halo series' better vehicle chase/race sequences if you ask me.
1. Buck: Everything about this character seemed out of place in the Halo universe for me, and I mean EVERYTHING. His attitude did not fit the serious nature of the game, but was to frequent to call comic relief. Thank God he barely shows up in Reach.
He was just egotistical. I don't really see why this is so horribly out of place for you - most of the marines in the Halo universe mouth off quite a bit, and although the few and far between ODSTs you see in Halo 3 are more like the silent protagonist in ODST, I think Buck's overall attitude contributed well to the overall characterization of his team.
2. Love: Ok, I get that Master Chief and Cortana is a slight love story. Really, I consider it to be much deeper than that, delving into issues of human/AI friendship that actually show up in Reach's datapads. But the love story between Buck and ***** Who's Name Doesn't Matter was so forced and the drama in it was so frequently fluctuating, that it took ANY realism or emotion and destroyed it.
I agree. The moment where Dare pulls Buck in for a kiss was one of the most awkardly executed moments in gaming history. I get that buck and Dare had a relationship, and I was happy to accept that up until that point. But that's the moment where Dare went from badass black ops Oni operative to pitiful damsel in distress who needs the big bad male lead to come rescue her perky ass.
I have a few other problems with the plot as well. Unless you read the books, Reach and ODST are both about random military squads with an unusually quiet member, and both stories are presented with little to no background information about any of the characters. ODST's basic plot for a non Halo gamer is literally described in one short paragraph:
'You wake up after crashing and your team is gone. You find shit about them and subsequently trip balls and re-enact their day to find out that they are either dead or looking for some AI or engineer or something that mattered I think. Plus Buck loves some *****. The End.'
I don't read the books, and do not follow the story beyond what is encapsulated by the games cutscenes and in-game level progression/vocal exposition. I had played Halo CE and Halo 3 - at that point I had no real familiarity with the story of Halo 2. I had no difficulty following the storyline. Something I think a lot of people failed to realise is that ODST was as much about the city itself (or more correctly the Superintendant/Virgil), as it was the Rookie. I remember Yahtzee commenting in one of his EP columns that the Rookie uses his magicalpsychic powers to "see" stuff that happened earlier in the day... which isn't the case at all. The Rookie is following a series of clues to track down his squad - occasionally he finds some ODST ordinance (Dare's helmet, the medi-foam canister, the bent sniper rifle) and knows he's on the right track.
The scenes WE play through are what VIRGIL saw earlier in the day.
I think it was a fascinating way to execute the storytelling experience. As a plot? It's not particularly strong, but you can break ANY piece of media down into a couple of sentences if you want, and equally make any piece of media sound like utter shit if you don't give it the respect it deserves.
Is The Lord of the Rings just about "some short guys with hair feet who walk a long way to drop a ring in a volcano, occasionally assisted by elves and a wizard"?
Reach's story is well presented and actually has a degree of meaning in the Halo universe. While playing as Noble Six you honestly feel as though your actions will potentially contribute to saving the entire Human Race. And THAT'S mainly why I didn't like ODST's story.
Yeah, but ODST was really more about stepping into the shoes of the Helljumpers and seeing what happens. It was intended as a spinoff/expansion for a reason - it's not part of the main story. The ending, in retrospect, was more of a teaser for Reach than anything else - they're excavating something on earth and it turns out Dr. Halsey was studying something similar on Reach too... and ultimately these forerunner installations were the key to seizing control of - and destroying - the Halo rings, which led to the defeat of the Covenant and the destruction of the Flood... presumably.
Plus: No competitive multiplayer. Shitty firefight. Little to no upgrades from Halo 3 engine. And it was INITALLY A FREAKIN EXPANSION PACK.
It was built on the Halo 3 engine, they never promised anything more than that. There's no competitive ODST multiplayer because the ODST multiplayer WAS the Halo 3 multiplayer. You may feel like Firefight was shit, I personally thought it was a fun idea - I much prefer it to the Gears of War horde mode it allegedly ripped off. I'm glad it was included in Reach with matchmaking.
So not worth $60... if it was even $10-$15 dollars cheaper I'd reconsider.
It's either worth playing or not, quibbling over whether it should have been a few bucks cheaper is just nitpicking - ultimately, you voted with your wallet.