Relationships deteriorate, whether they're with significant others or game series. But you keep plugging away, because you hope long-gone magic will return.
I mean, look at the five phases of the Halo series so far. When you met Halo, it was novel and exotic. You could play with it for months. It seemed cool and infatuating.
The next phase, Halo 2, was not as novel but there was still that joy of repetition.
Halo 3 was comfortable, and sometimes redundant.
Then came Halo Wars, where you had to strategize every move in order to avoid a fight, but inevitably, there'd be a fight, and this grew tiresome.
And now, Halo ODST strikes into part five of the relationship: It's trying to resurrect the feelings you got when you met Halo - but something seems off, so you don't expect a tight future between the two of you anymore...
Okay, never mind. The analogy ends with Halo ODST, because Halo ODST turns out to be more fun and thoughtful than a souring relationship.
Halo ODST is a shooter set in the 26th century, in the sci-fi time before Halo 3. You play as a rookie soldier for most of the game. You walk through city streets, blasting aliens with laser guns, machine guns and shotguns.
This main section of the game is unusual for Halo, because the setting is neo-noir. Exteriors are darkly lighted. The music score is down tempo. And you move alone as this rookie, as opposed to previous Halos, where you never felt lonely among your bonded buds.
During other parts of ODST, you play flashback battles, where you portray different soldiers who kill aliens in intense firefights. These flashbacks are more Halo-like (and entertaining) than the main storyline of the game.
I like ODST's cheeky, comedic dialogue, which reminds me of the very funny Halo spoofs on
