The Tragedy of Halo 3: ODST
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 เม.ย. 2019
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Halo 3: ODST was a bold move for Bungie. A non-linear and open world Halo game, with a melancholic vibe and without Master Chief. In some ways it was wonderfully clever, in other ways it fell on its face. Let’s explore the highs and lows of this forgotten game.
Sources
The Making of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past | Shmuplations
shmuplations.com/zeldalttp/
Games shown in this episode (in order of appearance)
Halo 3 (Bungie, 2007)
Halo 3: ODST (Bungie, 2009)
Gone Home (Fulbright, 2013)
The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo, 1986)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo, 1991)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo, 2017)
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Eidos Montreal, 2016)
Her Story (Sam Barlow, 2015)
Mega Man 11 (Capcom, 2018)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom Production Studio 4, 2005)
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog, 2017)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Konami, 2004)
Metal Gear Solid (Konami, 1998)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Studios, 2018)
Mass Effect (Bioware, 2007)
Dead Space (Visceral Games, 2008)
Halo 5: Guardians (343 Industries, 2015)
Music used in this episode
Halo 3 soundtrack - Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori
Halo 3: ODST soundtrack - Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild soundtrack - Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata, and Hajime Wakai
Other credits
Ocelot Time Paradox Metal Gear Solid 3 HD | Louie Vanderhyde
• Ocelot Time Paradox Me...
Contribute translated subtitles - amara.org/en-gb/videos/6wJZSc... - เกม
![[FULL EP.69] #เอิร์นจิรวรรณ เปิดบ้านหมื่นล้านทุกมุม ครั้งแรก! l เคหสถานบานปลาย l One Playground](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_J4_nw8c64o/mqdefault.jpg)
Just a point not a lot of people notice, the game's city is run by an intelligent AI that wants to help the Rookie. So if you turn off the waypoints, but still don't want to get lost, you'll be pointed to the next clue by screen lighting up saying things like "Keep right" if you need to follow the road to the right to your next clue, or "Road block ahead" if there are enemies on your path. It's so comprehensive the game doesn't really need waypoints unless you're feeling quite lazy.
Mark made a great video about that topic. It's titled: "Following the little dotted line" IIRC.
It's great.
*Steel Beam* I don’t remember it mentioning this game. Am I wrong?
It also directs you to weapon stashes or the Sadie's Story audio logs. I remember walking down the street and suddenly car alarms ahead of me started going off. I panicked, thinking enemies were around, and backed up to put some space between me and them. The alarms went silent. I went forward and they started up again. Then I noticed only certain car alarms were going off, so I followed the line they made, and got rewarded with a rocket launcher and a Mongoose. I kept a VERY close eye out for anything out of the ordinary in New Mombasa after that.
superintendent best halo character
YOu know, i played that game so many times and I never realised those were actual clues. I always thought they were just the remnants of the city, acting as it normally would but without any cars to actually direct
Bungie always was ahead of their time! Even back with Combat Evolved, a shooter played with dual analog sticks was far from the norm and people thought it wouldn't work. Great video, my man. Was very happy to see this on my feed!
@@roach_1011 IIRC the emp blast that sends the odst drop pods off course was caused by the slipspace rupture at the end of the mombasa section of halo 2. So odst starts in the early part of halo 2
Act Man thank you for the work you've put into the videos you made over the years. Bringing out the old games as well as praising the new. Hope to see your next video.
Hey Act Man hows it going?
The Act Man Same thing. I watch a bunch of Halo videos and now I have this gem recommended to me.
_This is honestly my favorite halo game-_
_It's a shame the asshat writing team decided that killing Rookie off-screen was a fantastic idea._
The OST for this game is utterly phenomenal. One of the best soundtracks ever in a game.
Martin O'Donell and Michael Salvitori did phenomenal jobs on all five of the Halo titles they worked on. I could name at least 3 tracks from every single game that are amazing.
Halo 3: ODST: OST
I sleep to Halo soundtracks all the time.
Vito C ODST: D’ OST
By far.
ODST might just be my favorite Halo. They really nailed that feeling of loneliness, isolation, mistery and dread of being a lone ODST behind enemy lines. The soundtrack was phenomenal, as well. And the VISR mode looks really cool, just like the (few) new weapon designs. But the coolest thing of all is the Superintendent, which helps you traverse the city safely and guides you towards the next clue, not only to the fate of the ODSTs, but also Sadie's.
Also I enjoyed exploring New Mombasa way more than Prague in Mankind Divided... man, that game was a trainwreck
Honestly the exploration in the original Deus Ex was pretty good but limited in scope. Decently sized chunks of the game are completely optional.
Along side reach its my favourite campaign
I love everything about this game, I bought it when I was a little kid, and played it over and over, I would not get bored of it, I love the atmosphere, the levels, the beautiful soundtrack, the characters, the story, basically just love the game from start to finish, buck’s lines are pretty iconic “you know the music, time to dance” and “what can I say.. it was one hell of a night”
ODST was at the very least super interesting for me and very refreshing from the typical Halo mold, even if it wasn’t perfect. Plus, how can you deny that soundtrack?
That soundtrack was one of the first game OSTs I sought out just to listen to on its own, and I'll always love it.
Yeah, O'Donnel and Salvatori really knocked it out of the park. The ODST OST (say that ten times fast) was easily some of their best work.
@@SlySpaceChicken Failed at 5, saying: ost ost.
ODST was great. All the Halos were great and but some were simply perfect. PC gamers are in for a treat this year. Single player, Co-op, multiplayer casual/competitive. It all holds up so well. And the amount of content you get compared to a modern game is second to none.
Yeah, even though the open world was kind of empty and the gameplay definitely could have been refined. The tone of the game and the feelings the music invoked were superb.
The character writing and story development was very well done.
ODST is still top 3 for me.
"ODST doesn't quite stick the landing". I'm sure while you were editing your video, you thought "this would be a great clip to use here". I just want you to know that it was appreciated.
The initial drop also comes to mind, but might have been a bit on the nose. In any case the point was made and clicked with us.
Same
Athan Condax ODST had a better story than halo reach though
King NOOB 9000 play through both perception on 10 you’ll know the one
11:13
Outstanding video, as always. Back in the day I never realized just how original ODST was, and I saw it as just a slightly slower, darker and more subdued iteration on the Halo formula. Thanks a lot for these insights, and keep up the great work!
JOSEJUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Kekonio no esperaba encontrarte aqui. Video de Halo¿¿?¿?¿ xd
Eeeeh joseju
J O S E J U A N
Dónde caemos gente
The beauty of ODST to me came in playing on Legendary. The desperation you feel trying to fight through a patrol of Brutes in New Mombasa with weapons that do next to nothing and a health bar that gets dropped in an instant is so motivating. Combine that with what I consider to be Marty O'Donnell's best Halo score and the atmosphere is incredible.
Thank you been said that
I really liked ODST. It's the most unique game in the series and I think the Halo franchise could use more spin off titles like this.
I agree with the criticisms you laid against it good video Mark.
Now excuse me while I go play through all of the Halo's again for the 10th time.
Question is, if that's a good idea right now? The franchise isn't exactly at it's strongest anymore. So it might seem like a bad investment, but if successful could be a much needed breath of fresh air.
@@insaincaldo yeah thats a good point. I think it would still be beneficial if well made, obviously, and then having these smaller titles could help them show off more of the universe and be a play ground for testing new mechanics and gameplay changes. Even though halo isn't the huge title it was its still carries name recognition and can get some people excited. But I agree if done well like another ODST or Reach but way better it would help the franchise a lot.
@@afroarchitect2446 As I was writing. "You are right, it's still enough of a name hype pretty much anything, even if the name is tarnished. Just look at Spartan... Umh" Then I looked Assault up and realized, there is Strike, so I guess my point is null.
I think Microsoft and 343 should play it safe and do a really good Master Chief game where you play him 100% of the time, it will sell better, get the spotlight and get the masses back interested again. Then we can get another Reach or ODST game inbetween the next main title. Fingers crossed Reach on PC has a smooth launch.
@@ForgetfulFoot Does anything have a smooth launch anymore?
[JAZZ MUSIC STOPS]
*[ORCHESTRA MUSIC BEGINS]*
Man of culture
Out of curiosity ever heard of Slipspace entertainment?
trooper games Yes, I’ve followed them on Instagram for awhile. Is this comment coincidental to a post they’ve made?
Ironic That you say this on the one halo game with jazz music
The best example of the flashback payable style of game I’ve come of cross is What Remains of Edith Finch; its really cool how it uses the flash backs to tell the story of the family without it feeling like you’re just watching someone else’s game
Obligatory JPH video for anyone interested: th-cam.com/video/6bMn4CoyUkM/w-d-xo.html
While I am not a big "walking sims" guy, the flashback where you are playing as a dude doing his everyday routine while daydreaming is relatable as fuck.
Sadie’s story is so good. I love the clever way Bungie tied the final log into the gameplay
2:29
*urge to make a Boss Keys chart intensifies*
what
It must be a nightmare to storyboard for a film with a ton of flashbacks, I don't even want to think about the mountain of issues that could come with building an open world game with flashbacks. BOTW made it look easy, but when you make the memories playable? Woof. Huge props to ODST for taking a swing at that, even with it's shortcomings it's obviously still something very special.
I remember many people hoping that the champion's ballad DLC for BOTW would let you play in the flashbacks. I think it wouldn't be too difficult in that game's case if only because the flashbacks are from 100 years in the past, and so continuity issues like the crashed warthog wouldn't come up.
You could always cut up, rearrange and patchwork things together. To get results similar to people actually capable of planing for that.
Where it gets really tough, isn't so much the idea of acting in it, but it being able to have consequences, rather then just context.
For that warthog flashback, all they had to do was add a ghost and hog crashed in the 'present' and show some ai alongside you crash whichever vehicle you didnt choose at the end of the mission. Bam, pickle solved XD
@@spacewombat4569
Or even more plausible: Both vehicles are destroyed in the present, but in the flashback section only one of the vehicles is initially destroyed there, making the player's vehicle of choice chronologically the second addition to the wreckage
@@andrescampos3989 There's three vehicles that can crash. Easy answer: have three wrecks in the present. You can argue that two other vehicles were destroyed nearby.
When I die please bury me deep!
Place an ma-5 down by my feet!
Don't cry for me, don't shed no tear!
Just pack my box with PT gear!
Cos' one early morning bout' zero five!
The ground will rumble, there'll be lightning in the sky!
Don't be afraid, don't come undone!
It's just my ghost on a PT run!
Hoorah Marines!
Oorah!
Comparing ODST with Gone Home. I admire your courage.
I was going to say! When he mentioned that game I almost did a spit take, was expecting a loooot of salt comments
I think that there is a lot to talk about ODST in comparison to Halo 3. How it is kind of cool how it plays out as being weaker than the character you normally play for a game that may have a power fantasy element to it. I think it changes how you play in a tactics way.
Because I played all those games first in split screen, it had an interesting element where my brother would drive and I would be on the map for directions and enemies showing up. And how your HUD worked different where you could not see in the dark as well, but tactical vision highlighted things, it really works to make you feel like special forces, in contrast to just super soldier.
When I played it in split screen, in the vehicle missions I would drive and my brother would gun, AI drivers and gunners are terrible, and on foot I would be sniper/spawnpoint and my brother would repeatedly run right into the fray with a shotgun.
Meanwhile me and my cousin would take turns driving and on foot, had me rush in while he flanked the enemy
I found the way I fought enemies changed a lot too. Like in the MC Halo games, my tactic would be to take out the leader and mop up the grunts (hehe) for each squad, hiding to get my shield back in between
In ODST, I would hide behind stuff and try to take out as many of the small fry as I could without being seen, and then go for the leader either when all his back-up was dead, or when there was a direct line straight to him without much chance of getting hit by other enemies.
Trying to play ODST like I would Master Chief just ended with me dying a lot, because the ODSTs really were weaker, and especially on their own.
@@Mike_Roggeso true lol. the respawn mechanic is some Army of Two aggro shit lol.
As much as I love ODST, even having a signed copy by Biggie, I have to agree with what you've said.
It could have been even better with a little more development time but what we got was a damn good first attempt.
Edit: Obviously signed by Bungie but I love the typo, so I'm leaving it.
Signed by the notorious B.I.G? Dayum.
@@CassidyListon Gotta love auto correct...
I'm not changing it.
wow i didn't know Notorious B.I.G. liked halo. also i thought he died in 1997
@Jonah Deegan It was a high honor.
The millionaire, the mansion, the Xbox 360 Master Chief edition...
When ODST comes out for PC I am only going to play it when it’s raining outside. I will make sure to get my jazz ready as well.
Halo would be great with more spin off games line ODST. The lore is so rich with great story's to tell and characters to meet.
Still waiting for a ghosts of onyx game
You can play the missions out of order?
Did not know that.
_exactly_
I didn't think it was possible to play them out of order. I thought the gates to the next area were locked until you beat the current area's mission.
You can play them out of order but it's a lot harder to do it unintentionally because you have to go out of your way to play them out of order because of how mombasa streets is arranged
When I did a replay of the game I skip Mickey’s mission on accident and jump into Dutch second mission
You can go out of your way to play them out of order but there is honestly no point to doing it at all, theres no reward for it and you're essentially just spoiling parts of the plot.
The feel when you like ODST more than all of the examples used for doing it better.
I think that's totally valid. Like he said, you get bombastic Halo gameplay inbetween the more detective-y parts. That's a good way to change the pace up to not get too boring, and plenty of people are going to prefer that.
Do you like ODST because of how they dealt with things in these examples?
Cause sure, you can argue that these other games handled those situations better, but generally those games otherwise had nothing to do with ODST and doesn't necessarily attract the same crowds.
ODST is also 7 years older then the games he mentioned on the video. That's almost like comparing Ocarina of Time to Twilight Princess or Goldeneye to Half Life 2/Halo 2. It kinda shows that games havnt particularly improved much in terms of level design and AI, only graphics.
@@ForgetfulFoot he mentioned this in his video, specifically addressing that despite the fact that not every idea in the game sticks the landing, it was way ahead of its time
Considering half of them arguably aren't even games, I think that's fair.
Her Story is interesting as a modern day FMV experiment, but Gone Home is an overhyped trash game that did nothing new and only got big because game journos loved the "I'm gay" twist
Never thought I'd see a video drawing parallels from Halo to Gone Home and BotW, but here we are and I love it.
I was one of the very few people on my friends list that actually enjoyed ODST. I can't wait to play it on PC in the MCC!
There's something I like about a game making you the greatest weapon of all kind, just to throw you into the shoes of a normal soldier vs impossible odds
Halo ODST IS by far my favorite military shooter, even though is a scifi game, the atmosphere of a warzone and a city conquered by an alien Armada makes it very realistic,
I never feared the covenant becouse I was a Spartan, but the moment I was a soldier with my limited tech and weapons I realized how big of a treat they were
I have very fond memories of ODST. At first, I didn't like it. My teenage brain wanted to play the cool super soldier and not some "Rookie" but as I played the game, I kinda liked differences to the usual Halo. I would have liked to be a bit "weaker", as the player still felt like a one man army, but overall it was a great game.
Also, I really enjoyed Firefight with my friends.
Scythe The first thing to get me was taking fall damage. From then on I was hooked, and firefight was so fun for just being one of the first “Horde Modes” in games
My only gripe was the price tag.
80$ at my gamestop
Fun fact: Rookie wasn't a rookie. He's a hardened vet of the covenant war that had five years on Mickey, or Dutch one of the two.
I never understood why an ODST could punch wraiths do death but oh well
@@konggig It was $100 at EB Games in Australia (who are owned by Gamestop) and back then our dollar wasn't worth less than toilet paper rolls.
You bring up some good points but for me personally none of those criticisms detract from the game, ODST is one of my absolute favorite Halo games, I think the only thing it needed was more work into stealth since the suppressed weapons felt more like cool gimicks rather than useful tools. I hope another Halo game eventually gets made in a similar style to ODST (maybe taking place entirely before the Covenant War and instead you fight Insurrectionists) but is designed from the ground up for like squad based play and stealth mechanics.
The closest word for "screwy" in Japanese is probably 捩れる （ねじれる, nejireru）which means to be twisted or to get twisted, distorted, or complicated. It's a verb but it's intransitive so it can be used to describe a state that something is in much like adjectives do in English. Anyway, thanks so much for this video, GMTK is my favorite game design channel ever!
I think Halo is a pretty cool guy. eh kills aleins and doesnt afraid of anything.
I understood that reference
I understood that reference
I understood that reference
I understood that reference
I do not understand that reference. However I have a slight suspicion that it's a Miiverse post about Metroid.
At the time of release, i would say i preferred 3 over ODST, but both it & Reach have become my favorite entries in the series.
What did you like about Reach? I thought it was okay, but not as good as the others (ignoring 4+, which I never played). I think a lot of that was the chronology mismatch - it's supposedly a prequel, but there's all these new weapons and abilities because it's a newer game, and that's a real problem for immersion.
@@DavidGuild Yeah. That was my issue as well, but I loved it nonetheless. And it is still my favorite halo. It's not like they pulled a "Phantom Menace" on all of the franchise.
I loved the grittier and more dire tone of the campaign, plus, the multiplayer was fairly balanced soon after.
Like with Harry Potter, further scrutiny will only ruin the experience. Let's just enjoy it for what it is.
@@DavidGuild Three biggest things for me were an improved firefight from ODST, invasion, and the soundtrack, which is my third favorite behind h2 and ODST. I didn't play nearly as much custom games as 3, which was something like 3000, but I enjoyed the customs in reach so much that I think more highly of them.
@@DavidGuild I think they made a lot of the new features work though. The DMR, for example, is apparently a precursor to the Battle Rifle. The armor abilities weren't that unreasonable to me either. I mean, one is literally just running, another is a jetpack, we have had active camo previously as well as the bubble shield. It worked for the most part.
I really loved ODST the first time I played it, as the atmosphere the city of New Mombasa provides along with the stellar soundtrack from Marty O Donnell. Out of all the halo games, I truly think that this one needs a remaster the most.
its got a decent rehashing on XBOXONE
Finn Feaver While the MCC version is nice, ODST needs to be done on a new engine like the slipspace engine, which hopefully can render rain.
@@tejasraghuram1451 is it worth playing on MCC if I never played it before
"doesn't spend a lot of time with characters to care about them at the start"
Buck: Am i a joke to you?!
The way to fix the crashed Warthog issue is simple - don't let the player discover the vehicle until after they see the flashback. Have them discover another item, maybe something Dutch drops during the crash, and then the cutscene after the flashback would show the vehicle.
that's one way to do it, yeah, but then you lose what's so cool about finding the vehicle on your own, out of context.
another idea: two separate wrecks in the same general vicinity, and a different cutscene is triggered depending on which vehicle you used. (maybe with a slightly different kind of crash, to further distinguish them.) so the warthog is just an irrelevant burnt-out warthog if you use the ghost, and vice-versa. more work than changing the cutscene vehicle model, for sure, but it's an option.
I mean it's not as good an option but retroactively changing the warthog to a ghost would've worked a little bit better as well.
you could have the warthog be the vehicle rookie finds, then after the mission, change the model to whatever vehicle dutch was driving. It may be subtle enough that no one would notice.
I mean the crashed warthog could just be seen as 'someone else crashed here'. Like when you finish kizingo boulevard or the first flashback (i dont remember the name), despite taking place in the city the bodies are gone.
@@staryoshi06 If I'm not remembering wrong the reason the bodies are probably gone is that Brutes actually eat humans.
Did you ever hear the tragedy of Halo the Third? I thought not. It's not a story Bungie would tell you.
Why do I find this way funnier than I should?
I paused the video within the first 5 seconds to scroll down and see if I could find this comment.
@@doma3554 That is what I did, but was fortunate enough to find none of that
Literally the only reason I clicked on this video was to find a comment like this!
Ah, a fellow man of culture.
The more time passes by the more fondly I look back on ODST. There's just something special about being regular guys. Not supersoldiers. And I know reasonable people can disagree but I really liked the characters a lot.
I liked the characters too. I did think it was funny that we had these "normal" soldiers running around with turrets and hijacking vehicles though, which was a little bit of a realism mood killer for me back in the day. That said, not having those mechanics would have made that game a whole lot harder.
@@NotARussianDisinfoBot agreed on both parts.
Easily the fairest and most well-rounded critique of ODST I've seen. I didn't even notice the crashed warthog, and I always finish that level on a ghost. :')
+Vorpal_Slade You always finish that level riding a Ghost? Weirdo!
I think the failure could have been the old Metal Gear Solid 2 issue, they hyped up the whole franchise to revolve around one character, give you the feeling of being an unstoppable bad-ass while playing as him, then make you play as someone you've never heard of before.
Ironic really as Bungie themselves got it right when introducing The Arbiter as a character in Halo 2 by letting you play as him in chapters.
Dang Mark, why don't you just _marry_ Her Story already.
She's a cutie
He is betrothed to Botw, that's why.
One of the things I felt they messed up was the clues.
Things like a detonator leading to a flashback of a demolition experts seems ridiculous writing wise. The UNSC probably has a million of those. Romeo's broken sniper rifle could have been anyone's.
By contrast, I remember how intrigued I was when I saw Dare's shattered helmet smashed into a TV.
An easy solution I'm surprised nobody at Bungie thought of, would be to give each character unique/recognizable items which would end up being the clues.
Imagine if Romeo's sniper rifle had a distinct painted scope. Or if Mickey/Jayne carried a distinct medic bag which was dropped at Kikowani station.
Simple stuff like that wouldn't have required significantly more development time and in my opinion made a huge difference on the impact of finding "clues". Which almost all had no significance to the player until after the flashback mission.
Actually, as I've heard from supplemental material, they're not actually flashbacks; they're recorded logs from the Superintendent, the same AI that's highlighting all the clues for you.
@@LepidoliteMica yes, and thats why most levels start from a camera or something like that
“It’s too dark”. Have you ever heard of VISR?
But then it's too green!
@@Shnarfbird lmao
as soon as he referred to the slipspace rupture over New Mombasa as "an EMP blast" and didn't acknowledge how important that event is, I knew this guy didn't know anything about Halo
I absolutely loved ODST. Had no clue you could play the missions out of order! Waypoints ruin so many games. Just use clever hints and design tricks to point me in the right way, I don't want waypoints. Why should I know where my mission objective is? Am I omnipotent?
Thanks for giving me nostalgia with that soundtrack though!
Especially because ODST used an in game system to guide you towards Easter eggs. The city AI would highlight certain signs or traffic lights to point you towards collectibles. They could have expanded on that, but ultimately went with waypoints.
I mean it technically makes more sense in these more technologically futuristic games with at least a partial mask or visor covering one or both of your eyes, especially for Spartans or ODSTs.
ODST at least gave you a reason for that.. Your character is connected to an AI that controls all the municipal functions of the city. Most of the equipment and clues found were also connected to that same AI, and the ones that weren't were all within sight of the security cams... The AI was also shown (via the audio logs) to be clever enough to know what your character would be searching for, and that's why it set your waypoints to view the story in order. Not just so the player understood, but so the Rookie would understand as well.
But I also agree with you... were it not for the production cycle of this game in particular, I'd say Bungie could have done a much better job of it without using waypoints, and games in general (in particular, the Bethesda games and open-world games inspired by Bethesda's) are WAY too reliant on waypoints to tell you were to go and what to do, and remove any aspect of agency from the player
@@holycowitsdave I must say that I absolutely adore your reply. I completely forgot about Virgil and his antics. Remembering that side of New Mombassa with the city giving little hints and dialogue. I wish that got explored more for sure! Exploration of more standard AIs in Halo would be awesome!
Hopefully Bungie will revisit the idea in one of their own endeavors or perhaps 343 will throw their hand in. They've already proven they can make solid RTS and listen to fans. Maybe us ODST boys can get a sequel
But thank you for the excellent point in any case! I love hearing reasons for...interesting design choices! Have a pleasant day!
To an extent but waypoints are pretty neccary for games like this. If your world is this winding and large, it will be impossible for developers to assume players will reliably find what they want. Players will sometimes walk past or ignore important items. You can't flag or make the items crazy obvious without hurting the smaller context that comes from finding a sniper rifle on a lamp.
I feel the obligation to mention Serial Experiments Lain here. Much like Her Story, though not a suspense game, you also piece together stories based on media files (mostly audio) that are accessible in arbitrary orders. This was back in the PS1, but sadly it didn't make it out of Japan. There are translations out there though.
Even with all it's issues, ODST is still my favorite Halo game to date. Such a different feel to it, that piano bit gets me every time. So moody.
Thank you for this video Mark. You've very succinctly put why this was my favorite Halo game. Especially since all the other games you mentioned went on to be some of my favorites as well.
Can't wait for the Master Chief Collection to come to PC!
Wow, loved seeing an entry from the Halo series. Totally fair assessment of one of my favorite games.
My favorite part of it was the AI that guides you through the game. Just subtle hunts about where to go through changing signage in the city, etc. Very cool way to handle that without having Navi over your shoulder the whole time.
Personally odst is one of my favs. Also, it's dark so you can use the night-vision
I really love ODST it was honestly one of my favorite Halo games aside from the issues that you talked about that I too had with the game when I played it. Just watching this video makes me melancholic to go and play this game again but I don't have the ability to. I really wonder what would have happened if a game like ODST was given the budget of a main line Halo game today that would be something.
ODST is by far my favorite Halo game, and I’ve been playing Halo my entire life. For a while, it was Halo 3, but ODST’s noir atmosphere and jazz soundtrack hooks me every time I play it.
I also agree with pretty much all of your points about the gameplay. It claims to offer a lot of freedom, but in the end, it really doesn’t. I just see it as a REALLY GOOD linear Halo game with a fantastic side-story. However, you can DEFINITELY tell the ODSTs apart. First off, they’re literally color coded, so there’s that, but they all have distinct personalities that make them each unique. I mean, Rookie isn’t, but that’s on purpose: he’s just you.
My favorite Story halo game us ODST, while my favorite multiplayer Halo game is 3.
Never really was into Halo or even owned an x360, but always was curious about this one from all the reviews and footage. Doubt I'll buy ALL of the Halo games when they release on Steam, but this might be one of the ones I do - especially after this video.
They're being released as a collection.
You buy them separately on Steam, they will be released one by one as separate purchases, only being a collection after they've all had a release. @@deriznohappehquite
It's worth it, it plays very differently than any other FPS I've played before. If it wasn't for the fact that it is set in the same universe as the Halo series, it could easily be a standalone experience. I highly recommend it.
This brings so many good memories if playing halo back
Awesome video Mark :) !
Awesome video Mark :) !
Really enjoyed ODST I didn't notice it's flaws at the time, but I see your point
Top quality editing as always
Nitpicking little shit here, but 9:07
ODST was a mixed bag for me, and I think you nailed all the reasons why. From a narrative perspective I felt I could have been given more time with the character. Have a mission where everyone is together at the start, then have the second mission be the drop on new Mombasa. But in terms of gameplay, especially when playing with a friend, ODST was a wonderfully memorable experience.
All of the characters in one mission didn't help Reach much. Probably the thing that helped Noble team the most, was how easy they were to tell apart.
I really, genuinely appreciate how you handle quotes in these videos. You narrated enough for me to understand your point, but you showed more context on screen for me to understand the context of why the quote was being spoken. Thank you!
ODST is my favorite game of all time, I know it isn’t the greatest game of all time, but the feel and the atmosphere of it all make me love it so much. And smooth jazz of course
Tied with Reach for favorite halo game for me. The atmosphere was astounding, and wasn't slowed down by learning new mechanics and controls. Familiar franchise, fresh characters, 3 actors from Firefly reunited and an amazing soundtrack
Also Firefight
ODST is probably my favorite Halo game. Can't wait for the Master Chief collection on PC to be able to play through all of the games again!
ODST isn't on there is it?
@@gleenfales It is. As a DLC that costs a couple bucks. Reach is looking like it might be added. So that's (possibly) EVERY Bungie Halo plus halo 4 all in one place.
Same, except ODST is the only game on the MCC I haven’t played, so I’m really looking forward to that.
Did I ever tell you the tragedy of Darth Rookie the Mute? It's not a tale a SPARTAN would tell you.
Phabio Host I had no idea that ODST was on the master chief collection, my weekend is sorted thank you
There is zero tragedy. ODST is an absolute gem. A perfect campaign, probably the best playable campaign since the original.
Really hope "The Tragedy Of X" becomes a new recurring series, in the vein of Boss Keys.
Ah god i love these videos i cant begin to imagine how many times ive watched each video thankyouuuu
I literally started an ODST play through a few days ago and I was playing it today. What the heck Mark. I'm actually scared.
The atmosphere in this game is so incredible. It was the first time in any game that I stopped moving and just thought "Nothing is happening, yet I'm really feeling some thing"
This has to be one of my favorite episodes you've ever done! I really like the change from talking about a concept and using examples to doing a deep dive into one game and seeing the strengths and weaknesses of it and comparing those aspects to relevant titles. I wouldn't say one type of video is better than the other but I hope to see more videos like this one!
I love how in depth all your videos are there great examples of how to do video essays. Great vid man
Loved the Vid! Nice editing! Keep it up, bro!
It was nice to see this, as Halo 3:ODST is like my third favorite Halo game.
A great unknown game where you play flashbacks that influence the present time: Cryostasis
One of my favorite games. It's like a child of Dead Space 1 and To The Moon.
Thank you Mark. I kinda cried a little because waves of nostalgia washed over me watching this video and remembering what it was like to play ODST.
I appreciated it for what it was even if my friends didn’t.
I remembered that particular feeling I had playing this game while watching this video playing a game set in Halo’s universe but with this sense of mystery that kept me engaged the whole way.
It wasn’t perfect but I still enjoyed the game and the experience it gave I will always remember. That feeling when exploring New Mombasa and hearing that music... i can’t describe the feelings I feel.
It feels a bit vindicating when your friends didn’t appreciate ODST and hearing the end quote Mark.
It’s stupid, but this video meant a lot to me in ways I didn’t expect. Thank you.
But is it as tragic as Darth Plagueis the Wise?
Was looking for this comment!
No, but more tragic than the tradegy of the commons.
Damn 69 likes
My favorite Halo with the best soundtrack ever on a Halo game
This was my favorite video of yours in a long while, it felt a lot more like the kinds of videos that you used to make.
I can't be the only one who would willingly listen to Mark narrating a butt conforming mattresses commercial :)
I never heard of this game before, but as always, good work Mark, it's always a pleasure watching your videos.
You are not the only one indeed
Odst was great! One of my favorites. After reading the books, I dreamed of playing as one!
"It's too dark"
You weren't using the night vision??
In played, talked about, and listened to people talk about this game many times over, but this was one of the most succinct analyses I’ve seen. Made me think of onesie my favorite games differently. Thanks!
Dude I love these videos where you analyse a single game like this. Keep up the great work!
I've been in a halo mood lately. this is perfect , thank you so much ❤
Always great to see your work. Thanks for doing this.
Hello mark, I love the quality, thought, and attention to detail in your videos. It’s really refreshing from the rest of TH-cam. I’d be happy to see a few games that employ your views and ideas. Keep producing these videos! I, and I’m sure large numbers of people, always look forward to your content.
I am absolutely blown away by the quality of this channel, this is just what I wanted from a game design oriented channel, and I thank you a lot for it. I truly hope you get all the subscribes and love you deserve because there's a lot of work put into this!
Also, the soundtrack is amazing
Ayyy
Halo + Game Maker’s Toolkit?
So excited
I never took the time to *thank you* for not having ads or bits where you talk about those mattresses. It elevates your video. Kilometers up ^^
Great video guys, I'm learning so much from these videos. keep up the great work!
My God that soundtrack alone is inoff for me to replay this game
A couple more small gripes I had with the game when I was younger: I've always hated Call of Duty a little bit for turning the screen red to indicate health loss, it's an immersive idea but ultimately just made it a lot harder to play when you were already hurt. Halo's traditional method of indicating health loss with Chief's shield was my preferred look so I was disappointed to find they'd gone the Call of Duty route with ODST. I genuinely think the other stuff is interesting and had potential but I could never get over the health thing
I have a deep fondness and memory for Halo 3: ODST and always applauded it for trying something different! That's why I immediately came to this video after seeing it in my sub box, did NOT expect to see you cover ODST, and I am glad it was done with justice! The soundtrack if anything is brilliant and a great departure from the bombastic and epic main games. It was one of the first ways I got into jazz music more intently after listening to it for years from my parents music. Super chill, but mysterious atmosphere you get from the music here. And the rain on top of it just made it even better. Thanks again for covering this game!
Appreciated topic though
Thanks for your spin on this.
Loved ODST for the intimate setting you get walking through the cities streets and the way the story was handled. And having a fresh pair of eyes explain a different view on one of my favourite games is welcome. Thanks for the hard work. Have a good one
Halo 3: ODST is the best Halo imo because it adds realism to the Halo universe. Instead of being an invincible spartan that destroys everything that stands in your way, you're just a regular soldier that has to fend off the covenant without being extremely OP. It actually kinda helps show the perspective of all the other soldiers in the Human-Covenant War, and I like that alot.
Ever play on legendary?
You’re a supersoldier alright. But sometimes that isn’t enough...
Still totally beatable of course, but if you make a simple mistake or have bad luck you’re down fast.
I would argue the playing ODST on Legendary takes a lot more thought and effort out of you just because you are so squishy.
@@topgunner150 What? In ODST you can tank so much more than compared to Halo 1/2.
Hey Mark, Master Chief isn't just chief, he's Master Chief
Sincerely: some dude who got ripped apart by an actual navy master chief
But is he a sir, or does he work for a living?
@@AubriGryphon Also if he ripped Harrison Lane apart, how is Harrison Lane here to tell the tale?
I love Halo. And ODST has a special place in my heart. I was so impressed. Mark didn't mention, but, aside from all the cool narrative stuff, there's also a brilliantly designed shooter, with awesome enemy encounters, criative veicle sesegmets and one of the best soundtracks to ever be in a videogame.
Sorry for the grammar, second language!
Halo ODST has always been my favorite of the series. I just adored the music, the mood, and the fact that you were playing as just a normal guy instead of a super soldier. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Take a shot every time Her Story is referenced on GMTK
It will lead to health problems.
If you tried to do it each time Mark mentions original Zelda you'd probably die
How about Far Cry 2?
ODST had the best soundtrack out of all Halo games, come at me
Psst.. Halo 2 Breaking Benjamin - Blow Me Away
@@insaincaldo Psst, doesn't mesh well with the rest of the 2 soundtrack. Some songs may be more fun in other games, but ODST was consistent all the way through.
@@LepidoliteMica On that we can agree.
I've been waiting for you to make a video on Halo for so long...Thank you very much
This video was beautiful and it gave me a fresh look into a game that I couldn’t really get into years ago. Looking forward to replaying it with some buddies when it gets released on the PC Master Chief collection! Thank you!
5:45 "...stubble upon a *satisfactory* answer..." oh come on mark!
I don't know about ODST, but I strongly disagree that "Breath of the Wild" gave a satisfying answer to the "narrative vs. opennesss" conundrum.
There are many reasons, but probably the biggest one is that what we have in Link's memories is NOT the story. It's the BACKstory, which is a completely different ballgame.
Worse than that, the memories are a character study of Zelda, and if you see the memories in a bad order, the emotional impact is severely hampered. Case in point, many, if not most of the people who saw the memory of Zelda lashing out at Link early on, without witnessing what had happened before that point, had an AWFUL first impression of her, which in many cases didn't recover after seeing the rest of the memories, despite the fact that Zelda's character arc is actually very good.
That's not to say that there isn't value in this form of storytelling, but it works more for developing the game's lore, like the "Metroid Prime" series did, or even to fill in some blanks in the narrative as a spice. But I think it doesn't really work for narrating the story in the here and now, and it REALLY doesn't work for character development. It creates more problems than it resolves.
Agreed. The "story" was far and away the weakest part of BOTW. Nintendo is not experienced with this kind of storytelling, and it shows.
I think you summed this up really well. As much as I loved the new gameplay elements of BotW, the complete lack of an engaging story (again, not backstory) combined with the missing interesting/unique items (another Zelda staple), really brought the game down.
honestly Botw feel like it was just one of those games made to showcase an engine, except it wasn't.
It pretty much had nothing from prievious titles, dungeons are gone, there was no metroid like progression system and it didn't even have a heroes journey as the story.
I honestly spent 5 hours beating Ganon without doing any side missions because that's the only part that matters, I didn't need the triforce or master sword, link beat him in his underwear which frankly ruins any kind of story it has because why couldn't he beat him before? did he really need a nap or something.
@@_l-_-l_ Yeah, Nintendo thought they were being so edgy going back to their roots, they forgot that it was actually the later additions that made the franchise so big. I'm glad they did what they did with BotW and I had a ton of fun. But I really hope they don't rinse and repeat for the next title
@@Balomis I don't think Nintendo was trying to be "edgy" going back to their roots. What BotW was in that regard was an over correction. The whole game feels like an apology for "Skyward Sword", which once the hype died out, became the 3D black sheep of the franchise.
I know SS has its fair share of fans, and I personally liked it, but once you step out the Zelda fandom echo chamber, it's painfully clear that general audiences didn't care for it, to the point that you can't really consider it "divisive" anymore: the negative opinions clearly outweigh the positive ones. Specially in game developer, game academia and game journalism circles (which I'll refer to as "gaming intelligentsia", for the sake of brevity), where the game is largely considered a well-intentioned, but ultimately bad mistake at best. At best.
As a matter of fact, if you go back to articles written back in 2012, you will find many articles and essays from gaming intelligentsia claiming that Nintendo had to ditch the Zelda formula and go back to its roots. Case in point, there's this article from Tevis Thompson published in February 2012, just 3 months after the launch of SS, which went viral:
tevisthompson.com/saving-zelda/
Seriously, try to read that essay and NOT have the feeling that it was the pitch document for "Breath of the Wild". The game tics pretty much every box suggested in it. Every. Single. One.
But that article is just one representative example of what the meta-narrative around the Zelda series was post-SS. Part of it was because at the time "player agency" was starting to be considered the end all, be all of video games as an art form by gaming intelligentsia. And open world games like "Red Dead Redemption" and, of course, "Skyrim", were deemed the best way to achieve it. And Zelda was considered to NOT be about that, making its position as one of the most respected franchises in video game history to be problematic.
But also because people had started to take the Zelda series for granted, and when something like that happens, positive criticism is quickly forgotten, while negative criticism lingers indefinitely.
Nintendo obviously heard all these criticisms and took them to heart, just like they did with "The Wind Waker" and "Twilight Princess" (although in these two games the criticisms were only about the aesthetics and presentation, not the gameplay). And the result was "Breath of the Wild", for better or worse.
Personally I think mostly for the better... if they learn the right lessons from BotW shortcomings. Which I'm not sure they will.
Unfortunately, I'm afraid the next Zelda game will double down on BotW. I mean, they don't have any reasons to not to. BotW is about to become the highest selling game in the franchise, and although it's true that inside the Zelda fandom it's become a bit divisive after the hype died out, again, once you step out the Zelda fandom echo chamber, it's almost unanimously reverenced by general audiences and SPECIALLY gaming intelligentsia.
However, I hope I'm wrong about this, and that Nintendo will be smart enough to realize the game's shortcomings and be able to finally mix the things that BotW did well with the things that the post-OOT era excelled at.
I love your videos. You are incredibly well articulated and the tone of your videos makes for a pleasant and enjoyable experience. Continue your good works sir. I tip my hat to you.
I loved ODST, it was different and I felt much more vulnerable than when I played as Master Chief. Beautiful soundtrack helped create a great atmosphere for the game.