- SweetTRIX
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- Exalted Mythic Member
Doc: "i'm a pacifist"
Caboose: "your a thing that babies suck on?"
Tucker: "no dude, that's a pedephile"
Church: "tucker, i think he means a pacifier"
This thread is hilarious, but i'll add in my 2 cents anyway:
ODST, IMO, is an homage to the perfect gameplay of Halo CE. CE (out of the main titles) had the best balance, the best gamepley, in MP and campian, the the best story. Simply put, they did everything right with the first title. I'm in no way saying the others are garbage, but CE is one of those rare titles that just happens to nail everything.
CE had a campaign that is still exciting to this day. The story, the scripting, the pacing and the feel, was far superior to either of it's sequals. To this very day, as a gamer for nearly 20 years, I can say with no doubt that Halo CE is the most replayable shooter I have ever played.
Now, we move to ODST. It is a tough comparison between CE and ODST for two very big reasons, the way each game tells their stories, and the way each game was formated. Hace CE was a standalone title, a fresh new property. ODST was built off of the same engine as a previous title, and had an established world to play in. Halo CE was a linear story, whereas ODST is not, allowing for some very different play scenarios. While I certainly enjoyed ODST, it is alarmingly short, even on legendary. CE is a fun but challenging game, whereas ODST is more like an exciting romp.
The "meat" of the game is in the night missions as the Rookie, the exploration and the tension, the catch is that much of that can be avoided and rushed through. Add to that that if you are not searching the area, and simply traveling from way-point to way-point, you greatly cut the game time down. All said and done i've beaten the game on legendary inside of 3 hours. That doesn't make it terribly, but it does make it terribly short, and affects it's replayability.
What ODST does have for it is Firefight, which is a ton of fun, and a great addition, but saddled with it's own issues. Halo CE's MP was strictly console or LAN, meaning it avoided the problems on online gameing (xbox connect notwithstanding) and played marvelously. I cannot take graphics and presentation into account when comparing titles that are seperated by as many years as these two are, not to mention an entire console generation. The score in ODST is by far more touching, but it was supposed to be the more emotionally "grabbing" game. CE was large, ominous. ODST was tight and threatening, and the music reflected as much.
I guess all said and done CE is still my favorite Halo title, but ODST is an easy second and obvious choice for consistent play due to current features. ODST's success is largely due to the fact that it brought Halo's gameplay back to the simplicity of CE, something that was lost in 2 and 3.