I recently bought Halo ODST. Money being tight and me having to pay for master’s classes, I didn’t expect to play it right away but the promise of playing with my friends got me going and I bought. For the most part I am entirely glad I did.
After playing some of the campaign game (which I’ll talk about in a moment) I put in the second disk which allows you to play with all the maps on Halo 3 Multiplayer. It had been over a year since I played it, mostly because I had sold my 360 to pay for classes but also because I wasn’t a huge fan. Now by all accounts I should be a fan because the Halo games are games that I continue to come back to, but the multiplayer is…well you’ll see.
Dbags and teabags- “You’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” I feel the same way as Obiwan when I play Halo multiplayer. The community I have experienced are comprised almost entirely of griefers and trash talkers. I can handle the trash talking to an extent because I can mute them but why on earth is there friendly fire?! I know that Bungie can’t control the multiplayer community, but you do foster the kind of community you want. I am however thankful for the avoid feature (something I wish more games had…I’m talking to you Valve).
Case in point. When I bought ODST I tried some online maps. My first map I was a bit rusty but still managed to get the enemy flag. As I ran it back to our base a few of my team members covered me which I thought was awesome…and then…one of MY team members stuck me with a grenade and took my flag. WTF?! I waited for a kick command to show up, but no such thing. So in essence when I decide to play as a team I am punished for doing so. I’m sorry but that is garbage. I will NEVER play Halo multiplayer again unless it is just with friends. Between the rampant team killing (for flags, weapons, or sometimes just the hell of it) and all the teen trash talking, it is not worth it to me. I’m not driven by competition. I want to work with people. This is where ODST Firefight rises out of the ashes to reclaim those of us unfit for the multiplayer.
I can’t help but think that there’s any easy fix for the Halo multiplayer…GET RID OF FRIENDLY FIRE. If hurting team members was gone I wouldn’t have to worry about some random schmuck killing me for a better gun. I’d be able to play with the team and not feel like the outcast for being courteous. I’m sure there’s arguments against it, something I’ve discussed with gamers at other times, but so far their reasoning still doesn’t sway my inclination that this would work.
Its that flaw that destroys the game for me (though I’ll be playing Firefight with my friends). Now for some nitpicky stuff that doesn’t need explanation.
Nitpick
- AI in ODST is flawed when it comes to sneaking. They know exactly where you are and on Legendary anticipate when you are behind them which makes the fragility and stealth part of ODST not work
- in ODST most of the game is either too light or too dark for visor, making the game
- in ODST Bungie opts to have invisible barriers for a lot of the climbable areas as opposed to the freedom they give you in all the other Halo games
Of course I don’t want to leave on a sour note. The next post will be on all the things Halo gets right, and there’s a good amount
