The Halo series - perhaps you've heard of it? - and I have a long, occasionally sordid history. It has cost me many hours of sleep, sometimes because I was playing, often because I felt a deep need to write about it. It inspired the only scream that has ever awoken my deep-sleeper of a son, when a glitch ate nearly 34 hours of Halo 3 campaign time. And perhaps most importantly, it cemented my deep, deep loyalty to the Xbox platform.
Do I play games on other platforms? Yes. But inevitably, I find myself thinking about how it would be so much better on an Xbox. And when I play things on my original Xbox - yes, we still have two! - I wish it would work on the 360. (I'm looking at you, Hunter: The Reckoning.)
That's why I'm not reviewing Halo 3: ODST. I am gonna talk about it a little, tho.
In the first three Halo games, you played as Master Chief (Miss Chief if you're nasty...) in a dystopian world inhabited by aliens with a wide range of intelligence and paranoia. Based on the in-game dialogue, you must be pretty badass. The bigger, strong aliens prioritize your demise... and send smaller aliens as cannon fodder. For what it's worth, those at the bottom of the totem pole know exactly who you are ("He's here!"). Of course, they might be having a past-life flashback, as "Not again!" came up a lot during grunt battles.
Like I said, a wide range of intelligence and paranoia.
It was innovative, beautiful, and scary as hell. The night I encountered the Flood ended up being an all-nighter. Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. Granted, the second and third times through Halo weren't quite the same seat wetter, as I knew what was coming. But finding new ways to take them down, wondering if I could somehow stop the sudden but inevitable betrayal that drives the game's last act, kept me coming back.
It's like watching a Joss Whedon show and thinking that maybe this time, a favorite character won't die. You know it's there, you know it's coming, but you just have to watch. I managed to luck into a very limited, private beta of Halo 2. For three sweet weeks, I was able to frag people I actually know - for that matter, I was able to frag. Gamewatcher camped out to get a copy of the game at midnight madness, and we eagerly dove into what turned out to be a pretty decent, albeit short game. I tore through it, reached the end, and discovered... they forgot to finish it!
Well, by most accounts, the "cliff-hanger" (uh-huh) would pay off in Halo 3. Been there, done that, got the glitter babydoll... which I still proudly wear, even though I never finished the game. Remember when I mentioned the game ate my save? I mean the whole thing. No saves to reload, nothing to do but redo everything in the game. And this time, Halo, I just wasn't that into you.
By the time Halo Wars came out (RTS? Seriously?!) I was done with Halo. At least, I thought I was. Then I saw Halo 3: ODST.
Despite having one of the worst titles ever (WTF?), it was still Bungie, and Bungie was going to be at PAX showing off their baby. And did someone say Nathan Fillion? Yes please!
The PAX session convinced me it was time to sign on for another tour of duty. The lush, Blade Runner-esque noir design, the inclusion of not one, not two, but THREE Firefly/Serenity alumni (Fillion, Adam Baldwin and Alan Tudyk), and the promise to give me back my needler was all it took. I was hooked. Once again, we headed out to pick up the game - not midnight madness this time around, but when the store opened - and brought home the latest addition to our Bungie library.
Then it sat on the shelf at home for weeks (we are BUSY gamers). Gamewatcher picked it up first, and after an honest assessment (beautiful, some tough areas, semi-bored now) I gave it a shot. Perhaps it was the lowered expectations, or maybe it was my decision to play on Easy (I know, I know...), but I can't put it down. I LOVE this game. I love this universe. I'm picking up all the achievements you probably don't want appearing in your list (Pink But Deadly!), and I won't be getting much credit for finishing it on Easy.
But you know what? I'm having fun. I'm still annoyed that I have to hit a checkpoint before I can quit and save (lest I lose progress), but at least they seem to be slightly more generous with them these days. And the voice acting is superb, which is an achievement for any videogame. Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in - again.
Maybe they should have called it Halo: OMFG.
