Reach out and touch space
Microsoft and Bungie launch Halo 3: ODST, with another on the horizon
By Chris O'Neal 09/24/2009
Halo is many things to many people: a friend, in that lonely hour between waking and sleeping; a brother, when life has got you down; or, better and most notably, a violent excuse to have a frat party rife with keg stands and bros screaming, “HEAD SHOT!” This comes with being one of the fastest and best-selling games of all time, so that its fans, rather than niche gamers with a knack for imported role playing games (RPGs), are more often than not those who would be considered popular, for whom other games are for chumps. It’s the reason why nerds cringe when, on the SyFy Channel, people who would clamor for a chance to pummel a math major call themselves “gamers.”
Bungie, the developer behind Halo, seems to have noticed that its fan base has grown significantly over the last decade, from its slow beginning as a congregation-inducing first-person shooter (FPS) to the very soul of a party. In order to keep the attention of the wide range of fans it possesses, Bungie has evolved the brand into more than just a game — there are Halo novels, board games, live-action movies (both successful and failed — just ask District 9’s director Neill Blomkamp), underwear, flavors of Mountain Dew, and the list goes on. Now, instead of a simple FPS, Halo is becoming varied, with more narrative with which to clench its greedy claws around the wrists of gamers everywhere — whether footballs can be found in their rooms or not.
Halo 3: ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers) um, dropped this week, and there is no doubt it’s breaking at least one sales record (this article having been written the weekend prior). Just the name Halo, like Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley or Jesus, is enough to send people into a frothing frenzy. But long-time fans may be in for a bit of a surprise. Gone are the brooding, tribal drums so familiar to the soundtrack, replaced with … a brooding, jazzy score, more akin to film noir than science fiction. It’s because ODST isn’t your typical Halo game — sure, there are aliens, banshees and warthogs, but there’s also a cool, calm and collected detective behind the wheel, searching the wreckage of New Mombasa, an African city and home to a large portion of humanity in the 26th century, for signs of his lost comrades.
This story does not involve Master Chief, the protagonist of a majority of the Halo franchise. Instead, you are in control of the not-even-ironically named Rookie, who was separated from his crew at the beginning of his mission. If anything, those Halo fans for whom the constant strain of online multiplayer has taken its toll can rest assured that, in ODST, “tea-bagging” your fallen opponent isn’t a cherished pasttime.
Looking ahead to 2010, Bungie has its hands full with Halo: Reach, a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved (the first in the series) and no doubt one of the most anticipated games of the next decade. (I wonder if I’ll be saying that about a different Halo game in 2019?) Reach, from what little is known and what has been deduced from the teaser trailer, might also not involve Master Chief. Could this be Bungie’s idea of doing away with the clichés and focusing more on character development (looking forward to that Rookie back story?) No, probably not. Check out the teaser trailer, and your guess is as good as mine (or that of the countless others who have paused and deliberated over every single frame).
The Halo series, for all of its faults, can and should be considered a pillar in the gaming canon. With the addition of ODST and Reach, the ranks keep growing — will they ever stop? Space Odin only knows.
Chris O’Neal is a full-time English teacher from Camarillo who recently moved to Seoul, South Korea. In his free time he likes to stare enviously at people with gaming systems and is in desperate search of non-fluorescent lighting.
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT