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Sergeant Johnson is a connoisseur of music; especially that of flip.
Posted by: iDarkWint3r
Normally I don't rant and in-despicably try to compare the values of two over-hyped games.I will focus how much worse in my opinion,ODST is.
Before I begin however, if you're one of those Deluded Bungie supporters that get in the faces of people with conflicting opinions (that are backed up with legitimate reasoning) by saying things like "try playing on legendary" or something equally hollow and retarded like "go back to Call of Duty 4 then", instead of sending me a crude e-mail, just attach your dick to the railroad track of a speeding train with a big nail gun and shut the f**k up you d**che.
Nah, I won't. I'm not exactly a zealous supporter. I can see where things in revered game series go wrong.
I'll start with Halo 3: ODST's campaign mode, which I found to be very underwhelming. I began on two player split-screen with a friend and got to the third or so stage, then eventually realized that Halo 3: ODST is one of those games where the campaign is much more enjoyable when played solo (unlike most, e.g. Gears of War 1 and 2), and so restarted and played the campaign from start to finish myself, and I was still underwhelmed.
Then you should have started the game solo. Its like saying that the second time you completed Halo was better then the first time. However though, it would have been alright to duo [/ trio / whatever] up on the flashback missions.
I found the gameplay in campaign to be extremely repetitive, for reasons specific to the game and also the fact that the typical Halo enemy formula is simply getting old now. A couple grunts and a brute, the occasional chieftain or hunter to mix things up.Most of the game is spent watching Phantom after Phantom come down to drop off ground units.
It is a bit repetitive, but we have two new ways to kill, right?
I love the new pistol in Halo 3: ODST, and that's really one of the only few good things I can say about the campaign. Getting headshots with the pistol is quite satisfying, unfortunately not enough to save the campaign though.
Agree with this bit, but the automag considerably bolsters the enjoyment of the game. The Reach pistol was absolute crap, alongside 2 and 3. CE was alright; though that was practically DMR 1.0, more satisfying as an all-purpose weapon. ODST's was more satisfying.
Always keep in mind that I'm just another guy with another opinion on the game, but it honestly surprises me that so many people commend ODST on its writing and voice acting (I realize I'm not really one to talk here but bear with me). Much of the dialogue is cheesy and overdone, and the voice acting never seems to be great, it's always executed with either not enough emotion, given the line's context, or simply overdone.
The only sources of cheesy came from Dutch (who makes Ghostbusters and Full Metal Jacket references) and Mickey, and the occasional cop. Oh, but Sadie's Story was the real cheese banquet. There is emotion in the lines, but only when the context warrants it. And the squad is more likable then Noble, right? RIGHT?
Am I honestly the only one who laughed when Buck, in the first cinematic sequence, said ". . . GET SET . . ."?
"So check your mouths, find your chairs ...and get set for a combat drop!"
And if I lived in a world where principals of schools walked into classrooms during fire drills and said "You know the music, time to dance", I'd shoot myself in the f**king head.
This bit does win the argument, yes. But I'm afraid the actual military actually uses this cheesy stuff from time to time.
Another thing that bothers me is the animation style in the game, which is simply too dated now. All the characters are so damn bouncy that at times I feel like I'm watching Madagascar 2: Back 2 Africa. Most games nowadays utilize motion capture technology to make characters move in a believable way, but for some reason Bungie refuses to hop aboard this train, which is cool in a way since hand animation is more traditional I suppose, but ultimately lame since to me, all the cutscenes look ridiculous. Watch ODST's first cinematic sequence, then a cutscene from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and you'll see what I'm talking about.
As long as the animation isn't like moving a mannequin's hand [I'm looking at you, Dead Rising], it passes. Right?
Overall the campaign seems very uninspired. When Buck and Dare walked in and started -blam!-ing at each other, I thought I was watching the Abyss with Ed Harris and that chick, can't remember her name. Not to mention their relationship was just totally uninteresting, partly due to the fact that Dare is an ugly b*tch. Sorry.
Ugly as in... her looks or her ONIness/personality?
SPOILER ALERT:
Also, don't get me started on Buck and Dare's kissing scene near the end of the game, which was taken almost word for word and shot for shot from the movie Chicken Run.
Wait... and Buck IS Rocky... and its all a god-damn conspiracy set in motion by the Illuminati... and Nixon, NIXON, he WAS TRYING TO SAVE US ALL! AND THE 7TH COLLUMN IS THE NEW WORLD ORDER? YOU'D BETTER WATCH OUT SKE7-- Oh, wait, what were we talking about again?
One thing I'll give the campaign is the music, on which Marty O'Donnell did a wonderful job (except for the parts with the saxophone, seriously, what the -blam!- is that), but the only problem is that there isn't enough of it. The music seems to just stop and restart at the oddest moments, leaving epic fight sequences with no orchestral backing of any kind.
The music is more subtle in places or there's really no need for music. And there's blaring music in several set pieces. The saxophone isn't exactly -blam- quality in your opinion.
I like what Bungie attempted with the rookie character at night in the desolate streets of the "hub" New Mombasa, where lengthy and lonely treks from one end of the map to the other are accompanied by haunting piano melodies sounding suspiciously similar to Resident Evil's "safe room" tunes, but also, the problem with this is that it just isn't entertaining long-term and ends up becoming rather dull as it carries on. A little after halfway through the game, I was literally thinking to myself "Oh great, I'm gonna beat this level and have to go back to that f**king boring-ass city and find the next weird flashback-generating object like a used dildo or rubber fist or something". Yeah, the audio clips that you find on your journeys through the empty city are a nice touch, but not enough to keep me wanting to go back to it.
Dildo eh? Yeah, there was quite a bit of jarring backtracking and bad navigation involved in tracking down the beacons, but its alleviated slightly by getting some audio logs to unlock some weapon caches with Mongooses.
Halo 1's campaign was much MORE enjoyable and well-executed, and ODST's campaign felt like nothing more than a cheap, uninteresting and forgettable sub-plot due to dated technology, unrealistic writing, flawed line delivery and lack of music (but what was there was good at least) that was more of a chore to finish than a joy.
Chore: Assault on the Control Room. Enough said. Lack of music really is the one place I have to tell you to go BACK TO CALL OF DUTY BLACK C-- oh, sorry. Really, it depends on whether you want nothing but nonstop sonic wallpaper (in the words of Marty O'Donnell). Really, the soundtrack is either the second best or greatest in the Halo series. It goes:
Halo: 3 tied with ODST -- Halo: Combat Evolved -- Halo 2 -- Halo Wars -- Halo: Reach.
TBH, Reach was Martin's real failure at music.
I'll now jump to ODST's other feature that everyone's raving about, and that's firefight, which I have to admit really can be quite a blast and in my opinion is the sole reason anyone should consider buying this game. My one complaint about it is that the "catch" skull (which causes enemies to throw a -blam!- ton of grenades) should have at least been moved further down the queue towards the end so it's not encountered for a while, or perhaps even just taken out altogether, because it's annoying as f**k. Otherwise, it's a solid, polished and enjoyable multiplayer mode where you join up with three other players and hold off hordes of A.I. and rack up points. However, one can't help but feel that the feature is cheapened by the fact that it was so transparently taken from Gears of War 2 (Horde mode), but ODST did it better and that's what counts I suppose.
You're complaining because of the Catch skull? Eh.
ODST also has the theater mode feature, which is kind of nice. I have no use for it, but better that it's there than not I guess.
I believe Bungie has now essentially gone down the same path as Rare, where they perpetuate an unjustified aura of mysticism and epicness around them while currently generating mediocre product, deluded due to "that one game" they have under their belt (Bungie: Halo 1, Rare: Goldeneye 007/Perfect Dark 64). In this day and age, I believe companies like Infinity Ward and Epic Games deserve much more attention, along with a few others.
Well, Modern Warfare was so much crap in multiplayer and campaign I took it back to the shop. Gears of War was so much crap in multiplayer and campaign I didn't bother to play the rental again.
[Edited on 12.20.2010 7:59 PM PST]