Monday, October 5, 2009

Halo 3: ODST (Ten Thoughts - Part III)

http://geekemporium.blogspot.com/2009/10/halo-3-odst-ten-thoughts-part-ii.html

8) Love the return of the ridiculously overpowered pistol. Even cooler: it's silenced.

9) Really need to play the story cooperatively. Haven't gotten around to that yet.

10) Great music. Solid story with innovative ideas. The standard superior controls and presentation that one expects from Bungie.

Bungie's still got it -- and I'm especially eager to play Reach next year. That story, a futuristic version of Pearl Harbor, has the potential for some truly gripping storytelling (and let's be honest, Bungie creates better stories than they do games), but for this series to finally live up to its hype, there's a few things the next Halo campaign needs to do.

New enemies and/or new tactics: killing grunts, jackals, elites, and brutes has worn out its welcome long before each of the four Halo games has ended. Shake things up. Keep throwing new things at us throughout the whole game.

Level design is one area where Bungie has steadily improved, and it's a shame to see that the final section of ODST requires you to go through endless waves of bland, identical corridors, followed by big open rooms, followed by bland, identical corridors, etc. For the love of God, please let there be none of this in Reach.

Complete Lack of "Holy Shit" Moments In-Game is one thing Bungie has never capitalized on. There are simply no "holy shit" moments in the campaign, like the scripted sequences found in games like Half-Life or Call of Duty. You simply move from one area to another killing aliens, with little variety, tension, or drama.

There's one moment that almost works, when you have to cross a makeshift bridge from one skyscraper to another. What happens? The bridge shakes...a little. Seriously, a little. That's it. Come on, Bungie, put the drama found in your games' cutscenes into your gameplay. You've got one of the best stories and settings in videogame history. Make it live up to its full potential.

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