Multiplayer Game Reviews

Or… Halo 3:OverDoneSequalTime?

Time and again in the entertainment business, be it the movies, video games, or even stand up comedy, there comes a time when something has simply been done to death. Sequals are rarely (many would say never) as good as the original work, and anything after that usually can’t even hope to hold a candle to how brightly the original shined. Halo 3: ODST, is not an exception to this rule. Halo captured the console shooter genre and held it in an iron grip until the release of Halo 2, which featured several improvements in gameplay and graphics, and even took us to Earth for a change of environmental pace. Admittedly, though, I lost interest in the series right around the time that Halo 2 hit the apex of its popularity. That being said, I never played Halo 3, because it seemed like a continuation of a series that already started singing the swan song of its golden age in the previous title. However, when Halo 3: ODST, promised a new perspective and a view of the Halo storyline from the eyes of the common footslogger, I was intrigued. And I certainly wanted to know if the designers were planning any interesting additions or innovations to the multiplayer aspect of the game. Needless to say, I was a little bit excited that the game might have gotten a face-lift with the new perspective, but here’s what I discovered…

Multiplayer
ODST offers multiplayer play in two different ways. You can play together locally with up to four players on a single Xbox 360, or you can play on Xbox Live with friends or random people from around the world. The Xbox Live method is undoubtedly the more convenient one, and makes it much easier for everybody to play comfortably, as you’re not splitting a single screen between two or more people. Topping off the diverse options for multiplayer play were a whole load of different game styles, the ability to customize your own avatar so you appeared unique (in non-team games) to everyone in the gameworld, and Xbox Live’s solid options for establishing a game. You can choose between playing only with friends, or you can allow Xbox Live to link you up with anyone around the world. It even tries to keep the skill levels of the players within the same realm of ability by matching the ranks of players based on how well they’ve done in previous games. Connections were stable, lag was very infrequent, and I rarely waited for more than two or three minutes to match up with a party, regardless of how big or small my requested game type was. However, while all the necessary tools were there to make the game a fun multiplayer experience, all the other aspects of the game brought it down to a dull, boring, drawl.

Technical Quality
If I’m not mistaken, it’s generally the preference of video game companies to introduce some kind of improvement in the graphical department when it releases a sequal to an already popular game. With ODST, I think it actually went the other way. Lots of jaggies and mediocre skinning make it look, to me, to be worse than I remember Halo 1 or 2. A near pitch black and colorless environment from the very beginning ruins the atmosphere of the game even before the next segment puts you into a “day-time” scenario, which does little to fix the dullness of your surroundings. Recycled structures, very empty environments and little imagination plugged into the level designs also make the experience hard to really engage yourself in. Controls have always been comfortable with Halo, but when you’re navigating a game that just feels empty, there isn’t much that good movement really does to enhance the gameplay. Sounds also feel recycled. I can recall each and every sound in the game from the ones I’ve played in the past, and forget about music. I know there was none in the multiplayer games, and if it existed at all in the single player campaign, it was completely unnoticeable. Music and sound are supposed to create an ambiance to the game that makes the player feel engaged and part of his environment, ODST doesn’t do this at all. There was a mild but unnecessary change to the interface with the inclusion of the VISR, and the new health bar doesn’t really do the game’s original design any justice. I couldn’t help but wonder, while I was playing, why these marines had a better interface system than the state of the art super-soldier you play through the first three games. In any case, I found myself so disengaged by the game’s complete failure to create any kind of atmosphere through its technical qualities that it was more of a chore than a joy to keep playing for the sake of assessing its actual gameplay aspects.

Gameplay Quality
When I started playing, I was expecting an interesting, entertaining new perspective from the eyes of a footslogger. The regular, non-super-human soldier who’s fighting to defend his home planet from an alien menace that threatens his species’ entire existence should have a very unique perspective of things. Instead, I was force-fed a B-movie storyline that looked like it was written for a made for tv movie, with chunks stolen from every other halfbaked storyline ever written for a shooter. From the start of the game you’re subjected to the overly attractive female commander who looks like an anorexic supermodel but can somehow pull her weight with the best spec ops team the human race has to offer. Then there’s the cliche` love interest among her and her lower ranking officer, a rookie who somehow made it into said spec ops team but falls asleep moments before a critical mission, and then proceeds to romp through squad after squad of alien invaders like they’re a joke. I’ve seen this storyline any and every time I’ve turned on a made-for-tv-movie. It does absolutely no justice to the originality of the very first Halo, and comments made not long after allude to portions of the storyline from past Halo games. So even the storyline feels recycled because I’ve played through the same general plot line already.

Overall…

HALO3: ODST

Gameplay:   Technical:   Multiplayer:

The series now officially feels done to death. The technical aspect felt ignored and the gameplay was fully recycled, predictable and boring. The only solid part of the game was the variety of multiplayer options available to the user. However, that was brought down from its high standing by the poor quality of the technical specs that made even the multiplayer games feel like they lacked the liveliness and intense fun from the earlier games. The game is not, by any means, worth the $60 release price. In fact, I feel ripped off.

There may be some mid-week reviews coming up this week as I’ve picked up a few other games that I’m hoping will clear my pallet after this mess. In fact, I’m even doing a special for tomorrow. Check back tomorrow for a Single-Player Sunday…for when playing with other people just pisses you off.

~Lucjan