Halo 3: ODST Forum
This topic has moved here: Subject: The price is $60, "Deal with it."
  • Subject: The price is $60, "Deal with it."
Subject: The price is $60, "Deal with it."
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  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

Will everybody stop trying to break down the price to provide justification as to why Halo 3: ODST should be $60 or not! The price is $60, and here is why:

Microsoft saw Halo 3: ODST. After playing it and thoroughly exploring all in-game options and scenarios promised by Bungie (including free downloadable videos such as ViDocs in the Extras menu), they decided that the packaging had enough content to be $60.

Bungie has stated recently at E3 that ODST is no longer "just an expansion." The game has "grown considerably" and is much more "in-depth than we first imagined." We don't even know how long the campaign is. While Bungie still imagined ODST as "just an expansion", they said they didn't view it as a fully-priced game. They also said it would only be 3-5 hours long.

We now know that the campaign includes an entire city to explore if you want, and you play flashbacks as each squadmate. You play as each ODST at least one time throughout the game, which means that some you will get to play as twice, or possible thrice (doubtful, however). Also, Brian Jarrard revealed that after you do a certain amount of flashbacks, the flashbacks and real-time start to converge, which means that even once you finish playing the flashbacks, the game will still continue as you try and find the mysteries of New Mombasa.

I believe that Halo 3: ODST's campaign will be as long as Halo 3's, or at least close. This means that ODST's campaign will likely be 6-10 hours long, depending on if you just zoom through everything, or actually take the time to explore the great city of New Mombasa.

New Mombasa is the largest environment created by Bungie for a Halo game, so there will undoubtedly be tons of easter eggs to find, as well as just fight Brutes and Grunts, or get a co-op team to trap Covenant bastards.

Moreover, the storyline of this game will surprise most with it's depth and it will be on-par with other Halo games. While it won't be anything Forerunner, as Bungie has said, "As you continue playing and find clues, you get one step closer to finding the mysteries of New Mombasa."

I think the Campaign alone could be sold for $35-$40. And then there is Firefight and extras such as 3 new maps, all previous maps on a disc (frees up Hard Drive space), and ViDocs and a beta to be accessed through the game.

In conclusion, this game has more than enough content to fulfill it's price tag. At this point in time, I believe that many skeptical people are judging the price on statements made by Bungie before ODST became what it is today. Believe me, this game will be worth the price, and will be a worthy entry in the Halo series. If Bungie really wanted to, they could just drop the "3" in the name, because it is not an expansion anymore.

Oh, and in the words of Sergeant Johnson (0:52), deal with it.

  • 06.09.2009 5:27 PM PDT

Death to rank junkies.

Why do I get the feeling that people are going to react to this the same way that 343 reacted to Johnson?

  • 06.09.2009 5:34 PM PDT