GEEK POST: Halo: ODST first impressions

So this is one of the first of the group of posts called Geek Posts. Geek Posts will always be about something geeky (mostly comic books and video games).

HALO: ODST First Impressions

Now I like Halo but I don't love it. When I play video games I usually play them alone without friends. And the single player campaign has always been one that was lacking something. The story of Halo is kinda bland and always seems like it was thought of second. Like Bungie decided to build multiplayer first then went back and did the story. And it's either extremely long and drawn out (Halo 2) or shorter and choppy (Halo 3). The story in every Halo game is also second behind the gameplay. The gameplay is not bad in anyway, but it can be very repetitive. Its just clear one area, move on to next area, clear, next, clear, next.

Now there is another game that is very much the same as Halo, but the fact that its story is better written makes it a much better game. This game is Modern Warfare. That story was amazing, and since it was blended so well with the gameplay it made the whole experience better. In Modern warfare you can tell the writers and game designers were in the same room, where as Halo makes it seem like they were in separate buildings.

But ODST takes the old story/gameplay convention of the past Halo games and changes everything. Finally the story moves the gameplay and not the other way around. Battles may be random but there is a reason for them, which makes it all fit into the world. In ODST you are trying to find out where your squad is and what happened to them. Your alone in this dark, desolate city, and you feel that. Then the gameplay makes a great shift when you find an artifact of your squad.

This is one of the best things about ODST. You are in this light/dark scenario, much like Link's Awakening. When you are in the city of New Mombasa as the Rookie it is dark and evil. You feel that any enemy can be behind you and death can hit you at any minute. However when you are playing the flashbacks of your squad its bright because there is actual sunlight. It feels alive and exciting. It immerses you in to the world of the Rookie and your squad, because the contrast makes you feel the character's emotions. Not many game companies can get this right but Bungie did with this one. In the past Halos the world never felt like it was one of a kind. It was just the snow level, the outside level, the temple level. Now with only being in New Mombasa Bungie was able to do all the little things that take you from playing a game, to making you feel like your in the game. (I know that was clique)