Halo 3: ODST

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Halo 3: ODST
Developer(s)Bungie
Publisher(s)Microsoft Game Studios
Platform(s)Xbox 360
ReleaseSeptember 22, 2009[1]
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player, co-op, online co-op, multiplayer, online multiplayer

Halo 3: ODST (initially named Halo 3: Recon) is a standalone expansion for the first-person shooter video game Halo 3.[2] Players assume the roles of human UNSC soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) during the events prior to Halo 3.[3]

Gameplay

Players assault an enemy Brute in ODST's campaign mode. The player's VISR differentiates friend and foe with a colored outline (enemies are highlighted in red, while allies are green.)

Halo 3: ODST is a first-person shooter with gameplay taking place from a first-person perspective. Although the gameplay of ODST bears a strong resemblance to previous Halo titles,[4] the player does not assume the role of the enhanced human supersoldier Master Chief. Instead, the player controls a lone UNSC soldier, known as "the Rookie", in the city of New Mombasa, East African Protectorate (formerly Kenya).[5] Since the soldier, known as an ODST or Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, does not possess Master Chief's advanced armor, reflexes and strength, he is more vulnerable to gunfire; players are forced to act more cautiously. The soldier HUD is different from the previous series, with red outlines for the enemies thanks to a new feature called the "Visor". The "Visor" also gives you a compass, but has no radar.[6] However, the aiming reticle remains.[7] It will also include an open world environment.[8]

Campaign

Set before Halo 3, the main objective of ODST is for the player to search through the ruins of New Mombasa and discover what happened to his missing teammates. As the player drops in the ODST pod, the Prophet of Regret's ship is seen jumping into slipspace.[7] After finding a piece of evidence left behind — a sniper rifle hanging on a lamppost, for example — a flashback is triggered and the player assumes the role of the missing soldier.[5] After players find the first beacon, the choice of where to go next is up to the player. It will also include an option which, unlike other Halo games, will allow the player to play the campaign levels in any order they want to.[9] Lead producer Curtis Creamer has stated that the campaign's length is similar to that of previous Halo games.[10]

Multiplayer

ODST's multiplayer offering is identical to Halo 3's, and will ship with a total of 24 maps. Maps consist of the original eleven Halo 3 maps (Construct, Epitaph, Guardian, High Ground, Isolation, Last Resort, Narrows, Sandtrap, Snowbound, The Pit, Valhalla), the Heroic map pack (Foundry, Rat's Nest, Standoff), the Legendary map pack (Avalanche, Blackout, Ghost Town), the "Cold Storage" map, and the Mythic map pack (Assembly, Orbital, and Sandbox) as well as three new maps (Citadel, Heretic, Longshore). The exclusive maps are also counted as "Mythic" maps and are tied into Halo 3's achievements.

Firefight mode

In a recent gameplay trailer, a game mode called Firefight is shown, wherein players take on increasingly difficult waves of varied enemies. Firefight will include new medals as well as the ability to co-op with up to 4 teammates over Xbox LIVE or system link. Each player has a set number of lives and the game ends upon their depletion. There is no time limit, no limited number of rounds and no maximum number of kills. Skulls will be incorporated into Firefight as a means to increase the difficulty and provide variation. The maps used in Firefight will be unlocked as the player progresses through the ODST campaign. It is also noted that the enemy characters appearing in each wave are generated at random, thus the player will be unable to anticipate the strength of the next wave prior to its arrival.[11]

Synopsis

Template:Halo Story Order

Setting

The game is set approximately two weeks prior to the events of Halo 3, concurrent to the latter part of Halo 2 in the fictional city of New Mombasa.

Characters

The game's protagonist, referred to as "the Rookie", is an unnamed member of the UNSC Marines' Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) or "Helljumpers". ODSTs often deploy in small, one-man Human Entry Vehicles (HEVs), launched from spaceships in the upper atmosphere.[12] During the game, the Rookie is separated from his four teammates and must find out what happened to them with the guidance of a city maintenance AI known as the Superintendent.[13][14] The Rookie's teammates are Buck, (voiced by Nathan Fillion)[15] Dutch (voiced by Adam Baldwin), Romeo, Mickey (voiced by Alan Tudyk), and Dare (voiced by Tricia Helfer), an ONI agent in charge of the squad's operation.[16]

Development

File:Halo-3-odst-Concept.jpg
Character concept art

Bungie began development of ODST in March 2008.[17] Bungie community director Brian Jarrard stated in an interview that the game "was a labor of love to [Bungie's] fans" who wanted more Halo-related content. Bungie veterans wanted to flesh out story elements, and fans wanted more action on Earth. "At the end of Halo 2, fans wanted to know what happened back on Earth, how humanity was defending it," Jarrard explained.[18]

Bungie was interested in bringing changes to the classical Halo format which had remained essentially unchanged over three games. Having players control previous protagonists such as the Master Chief or Arbiter would have brought with it story baggage and expectations.[19] Because Bungie did not want to do "more of the same," the main character was made an ODST. "The ODSTs have always been fan favorites and the events that unfolded on Earth is something fans still clamor for after being 'short changed' in Halo 2," Jarrard said,[20] in reference to complaints that Halo 2 left the Earth setting early in the game.[21]

ODST was the first Bungie title completed in less than three years; production lasted just over a year.[22] Since the team had such a small window for development, they had to prioritize feature; for example, only a small new subset of artificial intelligence behaviors were added rather than completely redesigning the enemies. Because the game featured an open world that was different from most Halo missions, certain gameplay tweaks, such as revamped weapons and an overhead map, were necessary.[19]

In an interview on MTV on July 16, 2008, Microsoft’s head of Xbox business, Don Mattrick, stated that Bungie was working on a new Halo game for Microsoft, independent of the franchise spinoffs Halo Wars and Halo Chronicles.[2] An announcement of the new Halo project was expected at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2008 game exposition, with Bungie unveiling a countdown on their web site, but the announcement was shelved by Microsoft.[23] Microsoft stated that it wanted the game to have its own event. On September 25, 2008, a year after the release of Halo 3, Bungie debuted a teaser for the new project on their web site.[24] A full trailer was released during the Tokyo Game Show on October 9, 2008, officially unveiling the game's name as Halo 3: Recon and a release date of Autumn 2009. In an unusual approach for Bungie, the trailer was comprised of pre-rendered graphics, instead of being created using the game engine or existing assets; story director Joseph Staten explained that it was too early in the game's development to spend a large amount of time on the trailer, and it would not have allowed Bungie to add touches for fans to discuss.[17]

In post-trailer interviews, Bungie staff members told gaming press that ODST was the last installment in the Halo trilogy.[25] Though Bungie does not consider the ODST a full game[26] (community manager Luke Smith compared it to The Frozen Throne, an expansion to Warcraft III), the game will ship with all Halo 3 maps (including ones released in map packs) as well as new maps,[27][28] and will not require Halo 3 to play.[29] Smith made sure to point out the game would not be a crossover into the stealth and squad-based genres, noting "This isn't Brothers in Arms: Halo or Splinter Cell: Halo."[18] On November 25, Jarrard announced the game had been retitled to Halo 3: ODST as a "more straightforward" description of the game.[30] By December 2008, the game was "representational", meaning that players could experience the game from start to finish, albeit in an unfinished state. The entire Bungie staff was pulled from other duties to play through the game and offer feedback. Among the unfinished elements was the lack of finished dialogue delivered by voice actors; story writer Joseph Staten filled in placeholder audio.[31]

Bungie and Microsoft first showed ODST in a playable form at E3 2009, where the game's release date and retail versions were finalized. Bungie initially marketed ODST as a title smaller in scope than previous numbered entries in the series. When the game's retail versions were announced, however, the game received a standard price of US$ 60. "Over the course of development it got a lot bigger than we were anticipating," said Bungie's Lars Bakken. "We thought of it more as an expansion and then it grew well beyond that."[32] Producer Curtis Creamer explained that since the development platform was stable, "we were able to create quite a bit more content than we originally thought we would".[33] The discrepancy was not discussed until E3 2009, when Microsoft decided it was a full game.[32] Unlike the post-launch support for Halo 3, there are no plans for ODST downloadable content.[34]

Audio

Bungie's audio director Martin O'Donnell will contribute music for ODST, as he has done for the previous Halo games. Due to ODST's shift to a new protagonist, O'Donnell wanted to create new music that was evocative of Halo but branched in a different direction.[17]

Members of Bungie were fans of the defunct television series Firefly, and in Halo 3's development brought in several of the actors to fill Marine voice roles. Three of them—Nathan Fillion (a Halo fan himself),[35] Adam Baldwin, and Alan Tudyk—voice the non-player characters of the four man squad in ODST.[36] Tricia Helfer voices the ONI agent Dare; Helfer and Fillion recorded their cinematic dialog together in the same room, a rarity in voice acting. Staten said that "their performances were stronger having them together at the same time".[36] While much of the cinematic dialogue was written by Staten, combat dialogue could be improvised by the voice actors.[37]

Release

Halo 3: ODST will ship as a two-disc set. The first disc containing the campaign mode as well as the firefight co-op mode, while the second disc will contain the multiplayer mode with the complete set of Halo 3 maps. Owners of the game will receive an invitation to participate in the upcoming Halo: Reach multiplayer beta in 2010, while pre-orders will include a token to unlock recurring Halo character Sgt. Johnson as a playable character in the Firefight multiplayer mode.

A special edition "Collector's Pack" has been confirmed, containing the game and a special ODST wireless Xbox 360 Controller.[38]

References

  1. ^ Staten, Joe. "E309 Halo 3: ODST Press Briefing".
  2. ^ a b Totilo, Stephen (2008-07-16). "Microsoft: Bungie Is Developing A Halo Game". MTV. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  3. ^ Staff (2008-10-09). "TGS 2008: Halo 3: Recon Facts". IGN. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  4. ^ "A New Look at the Halo Universe". Xbox.com. Microsoft. 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2008-10-10. {{cite web}}: Text "Microsoft#Entertainment_and_Devices_Division" ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b Robinson, Andy (2008-11-17). "Halo 3 Recon goes open-world". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  6. ^ <"E3 2009".
  7. ^ a b Grant, Christopher (2009-06-01). "2009 E3 Halo ODST preview". EnGadget. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  8. ^ Geddes, Ryan (2008-10-10). "Halo 3: Recon Preview". IGN. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  9. ^ http://www.gamepro.com/article/previews/208610/halo-3-odst-bungies-joseph-staten-talks-halo-3-expansion/
  10. ^ IGN (2009-08-13). "Halo 3: ODST Xbox 360 Interview - Curtis Creamer Interview (AU)". IGN. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
  11. ^ http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=17195
  12. ^ Osborne, Eric (2008-11-21). "Bungie Weekly Update: 11/21/2008". Bungie. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  13. ^ Leahy, Brian (2008-11-17). "'Halo 3: Recon' Story And Voice Talent Details". G4tv. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  14. ^ Leyton, Chris (2008-11-17). "Halo 3: Recon Detective Details News". Total Video Games. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
  15. ^ http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=201842
  16. ^ http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=Halo3ODSTsquad
  17. ^ a b c Jarrard, Brian; Luke Smith, Chad Armstrong. The Bungie Podcast 10/31/08: With Joseph Staten, Martin O'Donnell, and Jim McQuillan (.MP3 (zipped)) (Podcast). Washington: Bungie. Retrieved 2008-11-02. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |date2= ignored (help)
  18. ^ a b Staff (2008). "'Halo 3: Recon'; Please remain calm, the ODST are here to finish the fight". Official Xbox Magazine UK (41): 40–41. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  19. ^ a b Jarrard, Brian; Luke Smith. The Bungie Podcast 10/31/08: With Joseph Staten, Paul Bertone, Lars Bakken, and Dan Miller (.MP3) (Podcast). Washington: Bungie. Retrieved 2009-06-03. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |date2= ignored (help)
  20. ^ Burg, Dustin (2008-10-15). "Bungie's Jarrard talks Halo 3: Recon, new weapons, details". Joystiq. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  21. ^ Staff (2007-01-01). "Inside Bungie - Edge Online". Edge. Archived from the original on 2008-07-12. Retrieved 2007-02-09. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2007-01-22 suggested (help)
  22. ^ Campbell, Gerard (2009-08-10). "Halo ODST: producer interview (page 1)". Gameplanet. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  23. ^ Smith, Luke (2008-07-07). "E3 Announcement Shelved, For Now". Bungie.net. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  24. ^ Geddes, Ryan (2008-09-25). "Bungie Video Teases New Game". IGN. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  25. ^ Elliott, Phil (2008-10-10). "Bungie: Recon is our last Halo trilogy project". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  26. ^ McWhertor, Michael (2008-10-10). "What Is Halo 3: Recon? Here's What It's *Not*". Kotaku. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  27. ^ Geddes, Ryan (2008-10-09). "TGS 2008: Halo 3 Recon First Details". IGN. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  28. ^ Bungie (2009-02-06). "Bungie Weekly Update". Bungie. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  29. ^ Totilo, Stephen. "'Halo 3 Recon' will have several bonuses for 'Halo 3' players". MTV. Retrieved 2008-10-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |pdate= ignored (help)
  30. ^ "Halo 3 : ODST". Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  31. ^ Osborne, Eric (2008-12-19). "Bungie Weekly Update: 12/19/08". Bungie.net. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  32. ^ a b Robinson, Martin (2009-07-24). "Halo 3: ODST Preview; Bungie and Microsoft take us through the ambitious expansion". IGN. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
  33. ^ Wildgoose, David (2009-08-11). "How Halo 3: ODST Went From Expansion To Full Game". Kotaku. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  34. ^ http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=220135
  35. ^ Osborne, Eric (2009-06-26). "Bungie Weekly Update: 06/26/09". Bungie.net. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  36. ^ a b Kuchera, Ben (2009-08-25). "Small team, one year, $60: behind the scenes with Halo ODST". Ars Technica. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  37. ^ Fillion, Nathan; Brian Jarrard, Luke Smith, Joseph Staten, Martin O'Donnell. Bungie Podcast: 7/07/09. Washington: Bungie. Retrieved 2009-07-07. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |date2= ignored (help)
  38. ^ Totilo, Stephen (2009-06-01). "Halo 3 ODST Priced Like A Full Game, Loaded With Content". Kotaku. Retrieved 2009-06-01.

External links

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