As a fanbase, the Halo Nation can be demanding. As a consumer base, they can be downright unforgiving. We want the world [nay, the universe], and we want it cheap – if not for free. Anything less, and we set flame to the village.
Anyone who has spent any appreciable amount of time on the forums lovingly hosted at Bungie.net [or relevant points elsewhere] should be well acquainted with the wish list of must-have items required to “perfect” the Halo Franchise. While it is impossible for Halo Nationals to universally agree on any point, there are some “suggestions” that you see over and over and over again.
Traditionally, the most coveted items at the top of that list have been:
1. Bring back the Super-Pistol from Halo: C.E.
2. Let us experience more of the Defense of Earth.
3. Remake the Midship map from Halo 2.
4. Give me Recon Armor! [ad nauseum]
What if one game accomplished all of those things? One year ago, such information would have been dismissed as a joke – or rediculous gossip.
Hold that thought…
What if the same game went above and beyond any of our pre-conceived expectations?
What if a Halo game delivered everything we ever asked for, and then stretched the boundaries of our imaginations in ways that only Bungie Studios LLC can? Would it be heralded as the Holy Grail of franchise installments? Would it be greeted by cheering crowds and rose pedals? Would we hoist the developers onto our shoulders and carry them through the streets as heroes of our warring nation?
To fully understand the contents of what was described as a “love letter from Bungie to its fans”, we need to break it down, line by line.
SuperPistol?: Check!
It zooms. It throws a bullet around the world. It kills Brutes in four shots – Grunts in one.
What’s more… this impossible hand-cannon comes equipped with a silencer, just to make you feel all the more badass.
Earth Defense Campaign?: Check!
Welcome to the suck. You are on the ground just in time for the cataclysm. You are “Oscar Mike” and knee-dip “in the shit”.
What’s more… this is not the usual checkpoint-riddled chute of action to which we should be accustomed. Our friends in Kirkland built us an entire city – a sandbox over which we have free and open reign to explore infinitum.
Midship?: Check!
Everyone’s second-favorite symmetrical thunderdome is back into matchmaking rotation. Your sword is right where you left it. So is your shotgun.
What’s more… everything is prettier than you remember.
Recon?: Check!
At long last, everyone who wants to don the coveted reconnaissance raiment can HAS it – provided you want it badly enough. Given the amount of forum bans that have been handed down just for asking, that should be a fair assumption.
What’s more… The challenges along the Road to Recon only lend to the replayability of the game – in ways that the player may not have imagined.
Add to that a Star-Studded Cast of Players.
Your Commanding Officer is the Hottest Chick in the Known Universe: Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica. Your Brothers in Arms are the fanboy heroes from cult hit Firefly: Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, and Adam Baldwin. Those people don’t work for free.
Add to that a new construct for Cooperative Play.
Firefight has the capacity for endless combat scenarios. It’s like matchmaking, only without the mob of bullies that seek to make you feel bad about yourself. Hunters might be bastards, but they don’t teabag. And, it all happens in ten environments that will never run out of opponents. All you have to bring is some friends.
Add to that a Reach Beta Invite. For Free.
Before Reach “falls”, we all get to kick the tires. Anyone else drop 60 bucks on a game called Crackdown for the sole purpose of enjoying the same privilege prior to Halo 3? Anyone else throw Crackdown right in the trash like a Fallschirmjaegergewehr on Prestige Day as soon as Snowbound closed its doors?
Add to that a shot in the arm for Halo 3 Multiplayer.
Midship ain’t the only arena added to our respective war rooms. Longshore and Citadel are the other new kids on the block. Some Multiplayer denizens are rightfully hacked off by the fact that the price for street-date DLC just jumped to 20 bucks a map, but they have the Hottest Chick in the Known Universe [see above – or below] to console them. Let them tell her that they don’t like her game.
It has been said that you can’t please everyone. It should also be said that there is no pleasing some people. It must finally be noted that, for every one gamer who starts a thread on this topic, there are dozens of loyal Seventh Columnists who descend upon them with an appropriate level of scorn. Give ‘em hell, troopers!
Sure, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
So here is mine…
This gamerblogger can only hope that the people who are lambasting ODST are not the very same people that asked for it in the first place. This game is one of the most diverse offerings we have ever seen in the franchise. And it’s a bold answer to a mountain of unsolicited feedback. If it wasn’t so sincere in its execution, it would almost seem like pandering.
We asked. Repeatedly. Bungie delivered. Repeatedly. Over in this corner of the Halo Nation, we say thankya.
Amen, brutha. Amen.
Dig it! And sooooo true. Lovin’ ODST.
Very good words and very true. The saddest part is that this is exactly what so many have been clamoring for, but in reality, many of those same people will find fault with this iteration even so (pricepoint, mythic2 maps not available as dlc, etc)
Very well said!
another nice article deej! just love how you sneaked ‘Fallschirmjaegergewehr’ in a Halo article.
That was just beautiful. There’s not enough people who truly love this game left anymore.
To true. Ending was absolutely epic. Play-through was a solid retail games worth. Mombassa at night and Sadie’s story was well worth hours upon hours of exploration. Firefight is awesome. New multiplayer maps! Whats more, I ain’t finished yet.
If only other companies and franchises provided and exceeded as often and relentlessly as Bungie and Halo do.
The rich story that you have to look for in the game is amazing. Fan of Halo and its characters (Firefly) for life!
you forgot to mention that those lucky/smart enough to pre-order get to play as one of Halo’s most loveable cliches, the Badarse Sergeant Major Johnson.
sadly for me i didnt have the dough to pre order, but still….who didnt want to be an ODST when you saw them in 2&3?
I hadn’t looked at it quite like that. All I knew was when I played the game, I found:
Blocked pathables all over the place, Why? If this is truly “explorable” why can’t I go where your physics should permit me to go?
Also why can’t I drive a tank through open areas? You gave me the tank, and then remove it on a whim? Would it kill someone to allow me to use my weapon of choice to shape my own encounters? (even if it’s just on subsequent play-throughs?) The tank may be overly powerful, but so? you’re not the one playing the game.. or maybe you could have wraith tanks spawn to counter it if it makes you so fretful about balancing it out?
You think a tank ruins gameplay? how about invisible blocks that force you to get out of the coolest vehicle/weapon in the game? Maybe don’t be so obvious next time? like truly have something blocking the way, and a reason to be somewhere that there’s simply no room to get a tank in.. rather than such a transparent “ok, you’ve had your fun” sort of way. It felt very “patchy.”
Postgame stats which show what each medal is.. SOMETIMES.. Other times you have to flip back and forth between players before they show up.
Player characters which seem to be in the throes of an orgasm when attacked without stamina. To a ridiculous point where non-players in the room are looking at you like you’re playing video porn.
AI that yells “Reloading! Cover me!” in single-player games,
A significant lack of forge.
A lack of swords.
Levels (night & Day) that must be transversed several times, with and without enemies.
Cartoony movement animated cutscenes, with a love story of the dumbest proportions, using a female lead that’s rendered/rigged to look like a ventriloquist dummy or something. Why not stick with the core story we already knew about and have been invested in since Haslo 2.. The covenant are on Earth.
Only one or two firefight levels capable of decent vehicle play.
No matchmaking. I know I’m not the only person to make new friends through Halo 2 matchmaking that I still play with today. That was the whole point of being on LIVE. If I wanted to play with folks I already know locally, I’d be playing across a LAN (which I do, now and then.. or used to, back when the Halo universe supported more than 4 people)
One Drop in the whole game..? really? Kinda’ seemed like a really cool focal point. Drop straight into battle zones that are gonna get hot quick. You’d even have a worthy excuse to get me out of my tank.
Finally, I also got to play full price for a partial game that I perceived to be patched together at the last minute. When the credits rolled, I thought for sure it’d be a short list. I haven’t listed everything I found wrong with the game, and I kept telling everyone, “you know, if they’d have done the kinda’ testing they did with Halo 2 and 3, they would have had a much better game here.”
I saw that list of playtesters on there and all I could say was “FAIL.”
All in all, as I said, I liked the game, and I’ll get some more use out of it before I retire it, but it’s nowhere near the caliber that Halo 1 thru 3 were. I feel like it’s a little time killer.
Bungie knows that the fans don’t always know best, but sometimes Bungie doesn’t know better either.
Let me establish my position here.. I’m not a biased player with a PS3 or something, trying to stir up dirt. I “like” the game. which is saying a LOT considering I absolutely loved Halo 1 thru 3, I bought the Xbox and xbox 360 (twice), soley because of the Halo franchise.
I certainly hope “Reach” is a better game. I can’t wait for the Beta. I hope I don’t miss it by shelving ODST too soon.