✅ Subscribe: ru-vid.com 🖱 Support the channel: www.patreon.com/ben_plays_games Apologies in advance if I've messed up the pronunciation of any of the mission's names haha.
Kenyan Halo player. You only messed up Tsavo - the T is silent - and you said Tayari like it was spelt Tiyari instead. Swahili is mostly read exactly like it looks. Great video otherwise.
@@arachk Thanks for clarifying Kubo mate, this is super useful information! I'll no doubt be talking about those missions again at one point or another, so have made note of these for future reference.
This may well be my favorite game, because it really is the human covenant war at perhaps its best, It has a bleakness to it like Reach, but it does something different that I like more, I don't fully get why, but yeah.
For me it's the humour, something that I think reach lacked. In my dream world there's a love child between Reach/ODST and it word be a 10/10 halo game but unfortunately this game doesn't exist :(
For me, it's the soundtrack. It's an unbelievable piece of work that sets the whole tone for the game. As Victor said, it's also a more personal story than perhaps any other Halo title. Reach does similar but still has a level of bravado due to Noble Team being Spartans - stripping that away in ODST really works well.
Although it wouldn’t be much, I wish we had a lot of civilians running around. Make this a city, not an abandoned city. Maybe even have a group of civilians that are being rounded up that are about to be executed. I also am sad we didn’t get the covenant civil war live from the ODST perspective. We see a handful of dead elites, but never see them alive. Like how cool would it be if I’m the first couple missions we fought elites and brutes for a few missions. Maybe drag the story more than one day. Ya know, in order to roughly equal when the civil war broke out. So when it happens it would have been shocking for the marines on the ground.
I often think of ODST as being the baby step before Reach truly nailed a Covenant attack on a human city. Exodus is such a good mission and almost feels like it could have been part of ODST.
They seriously should have had you fighting Elites for the first half/two thirds of the game. They could have had the Brute encounters mainly be at night. Along with having Brutes and Elites fighting alongside each other right before the Great Schism. That would have made for a much better game.
In my opinion: Mombasa Streets. It has everything OSDT is about in terms of Atmosphere. And that music! But being that Mombasa Streets isn't an option, the Tank mission with Mickey. It's VERY fun. Your turn! (EDIT) I honestly think that your top ODST mission list backwards are mine in terms of enjoyment.
At present, I'm working on a project where I turn Halo 3: ODST into a full film, combining all cutscenes with my own theater footage, so my dad can experience the full game without getting motion sickness from the first person perspective. I just finished editing Tayari Plaza, and I found some interesting things about it I'd like to share. First and foremost, it's a tutorial. There is barely any combat in the first Mombasa Streets section, so it's more of a tutorial for mechanics like health and the map system than for combat. Tayari Plaza starts you in an elevated position, confronted with enemies you can't bypass, so it teaches you how to use positioning. Then you come to an area with a narrow chokepoint, which has a large group of brutes on the other end in good positions to ambush you, but if you talk to the marine he will suggest you flank through the building instead. If you do, the marines will push up and distract the brutes and you will have an easier fight as you sneak up on them. The same thing happens later when another marine suggests you flank through a building, but this time it isn't the only correct option, as the encounter is set up to be far more open and approachable from any angle, teaching you how to be more open minded when approaching combat later in the game. Even more direct tutorial elements are present in dialogue, as Dare suggests you use charged plasma pistols on shield Jackals (their first appearance in the game) and Buck says "turn around you bastards, let me shoot you in the back!" to the Hunters. It also serves to introduce the personality and relationships of the characters. Buck and Dare get to communicate alone, and you see not only their conflict and some hints at their backstory in the opening cutscene, but also how concerned they are in their conversations in gameplay. Dare says "Be careful, this grid is swarming with Covenant." to which Buck genuinely says "I appreciate the concern." but their conflict continues as Dare tries to brush it off with "It wouldn't be much of a rescue if you're dead..." Later, Dare is still trying to be helpful with the Jackal shield tip but still cagey about ONI secrets with the dead elites. She's very concerned about her mission, and when she thinks she's about to die she tries to explain the objective that she hadn't before. Buck is also genuinely distraught by losing contact with her. The Super Intendant also gets a personality for the first time, from being a hidden guide that helps Rookie set up his map to a caring intelligence with attitude. If you wander off the beaten path and find a group of dead elites, SI will say "School zone; use caution" as you approach and respond with "Bill past due" after Buck wonders what happened. When Buck gets close to Dare's pod SI says "Lost items can be claimed on Lower Level" to try and show Buck where to find her, while still showing some attitude. In retrospect, SI was probably trying to tell him she had gone underground, but Buck simply thinks either the SI is on the fritz or its referring to the lower level of the park. Finally, it shows the Brute/Elite conflict from a different perspective than Halo 2/3 and sets up Halo 3 if you hadn't played it yet, with the foreshadowing of both times you find elite bodies in the level. Both encounters still serve to reinforce the personality and conflicts of the characters, SI's "Final notice; Bill past due" comment showing how he believes the brutes are going to get what's coming to them, and Dare/Bucks exchange about the conflict being classified reinforcing how her job and ONI duty is getting in the way of their relationship. That's all, just some details I appreciate about the effective introduction of Halo 3: ODST.
Fun fact about data hive: if you collect all the audio logs the security guard will lead you to a classified secret room. But the cop will eventually turn on you if you seen too much.
H3 ODST is Halo "open world" done RIGHT! But I would have expected nothing more from old Bungie. They made the limited tech they had work for them incredibly to make possibly the most atmospheric Halo in the franchise.
Deference For Darkness kicking in while The Rookie discovers the team's lost items are still some of my favourite moments in the series, absolutely dripping with atmosphere.
The only thing I have a problem with in Infinites open world is the lack of exploration. Not sure how they would have implemented it, but all the interior locations are part of missions. But I seriously think it would have been cool to be able to explore and find optional upgrades/tech deep in the core of the Halo construct. ODST is an empty city filled with Covenant. Infinite is an empty Ring filled with Covenant. I don't see how one is better than the other in the central "open" areas. Now mission wise ODST is better, even if Infinite still nails the gameplay. I hope Forge and possible future campaign DLC will help Infinite. I don't really care enough about multiplayer to comment.
@@matthewwhite3967 You're absolutely right Matthew, both are very empty and don't have a to do. Personally, I give ODST a bit more of a pass as it was something of a side game (even if it did release at full price, outrageous). It's structure was one I also hoped Halo Infinite followed, where you have an open world, with more to do than ODST, of course, plus separate missions off the map which lent more into the traditional open world Halo style.
My favorite ODST levels are Data Hive, Coastal Highway, and ONI Alpha Site. I just love how you can see Drones building a hive out of a human structure. It really adds to their character as a species. I also really liked how the last level progressively shows the scale of the Covenant’s fleet. That was super cool. For me my biggest disappointment with ODST was the complete lack of Elites. It takes place literally right after Regret’s ship jumped. There were still plenty of Elites stationed on earth. They wouldn’t just magically disappear and be replaced with Brutes after the first cutscene. What they should have done was have you be fighting Elites for the first half/two thirds of the game, and for the night missions and latter chunk of the game you’d fight Brutes. They could have had the Elites and Brutes fighting alongside each other at first, then towards the end of their introductory mission or the next mission the Great Schism would happen. You’d have the lesser Covenant siding with whoever they were closest to so the enemy encounters would be more diverse. They could have also had some parts of the night missions where Brutes are executing Elites and would be seen using their weapons with the leader’s clumsily using an energy sword (kind of like how in 2 Brutes used shotguns and had human weapons as trophies). There could have also been a section where a bunch of Elites and Spec Ops Grunts are in the middle of a siege by the Brutes. Great video as always!
I've always loved when you encounter two opposing sides focused on fighting each other, but will also go after you if they see you. It gives you fun support cities to play them off each other, either simply trying to run through or sit back and observe, or stealthily eliminate stragglers while they're distracted. Unfortunately, sequences like that seem to be pretty rare in video games.
I put off playing this game for the longest time because I thought it was lame to not play as a spartan. It's definitely one of my favorite halo games, the environments and the music are great. Never thought halo music needed a saxophone, but its perfect
The rooftop fight is still one of my favorites, but on replay I've also come to appreciate the free-roam Mombasa Streets at night. Skulking around, hugging the building sides as moody music plays. Getting the drop on Brute patrols. Getting new context for each location after you play another mission. It felt like a completely new experience to Halo. Even though it's more of a hub mission, I still consider it a mission
I love ONI HQ, i actually beat that level without firing a shot for the Vidmaster achievement. I wish more shooters used retreating/scorched earth as an objective. It's such an unexplored side of war, you don't beat the enemy, you survive and deny them resources they want. Destroy the bridge, destroy these records, hold out till evac arrives!
I played through Halo 5 again recently and am about three or four missions into a replay of 4 to gather footage/refresh my memory. So, there will be something soon!
For me the repetitive claustrophobic hallways of Data Hive are a dealbreaker. It's pretty much the Library of ODST, and at the bottom of my list. ONI Alpha Site is another one I dislike, due to wasted potential. The opening defense of the bridge, heavily advertised in the trailers. is just you pressing a few buttons and making the bridge blow up. The second area is also too unfun to defend and ends halfway through anyway. So the actual defense you get is a single turret in the middle of a smallish room. I'd rank Uplift Reserve and Kizingo Boulevard higher, since I'm a sucker for vehicles. The best mission of the game is definitely NMPD HQ. It's pure fun from beginning to end with a great curve of engagements and music, and the ending fight is excellent.
Ooof, 'The Library of ODST' is a brutal description haha. Uplift Reserve was one that almost placed a lot higher, as I do really, really like it. I'm a sucker for anything with a load of Warthogs driving about the place 😂
While gameplay wise Halo ODST isn’t my favourite Halo title, it terms of score, game design, story telling, and atmosphere, it is far and away my favourite
For me it's gotta be NMPDHQ I really enjoy the overly atmosphere at the mission end, being forced up against a wall and having to push against an onslaught of enemies with amazing music as well Have just realised he put this as his as well
Halo 3 ODST were all good missions, my top 3 are Coastal Highway, Kikowani Station and Oni Alpha Site. I did the par score on Legendary on Coastal Highway and got 135,000 and then I felt confident enough to get to the top of the leaderboard, as PerfectyDark was No1 and he was No5 on The Library and I got to No2 on that level, so I thought I could get to the top of Coastal Highway and added another skull at a time to climb the leaderboard until I got to the top then added 3 more to stretch my lead by 82,000. I had all skulls on except Tilt & Mythic and got 380,000. Then was sickened to find my score smashed when the game was put on Pc. It made all the leaderboards meaningless when all the games were put on Pc, and I worked hard at some levels to make the top 10, and 343 have done nothing about it, they should be able to filter out all the bent scores or have separate leaderboards for Pc players.
I do admit there are a few things that could've been changed flying high the level you high jack a phantom feels like it goes to fast like you need to get in a banshee from the beginning of the level then have to eject yourself to manually unlock the doors but each section has a fair amount of enemies like banshees shade turrets brutes wraith grunts with fuel rod guns they could have changed it so the doors unlock themselves after the area is clear the scarab wouldve been a bit more devastating on other levels then it is on that particular level
Just before I watch I’m guessing the worst mission is the last one escorting Veronica 🤔 that’s my least favourite. On legendary anyway if you get a bad save omg it can be impossible! Ok So I was completely wrong 😆
Ha yeh, think we may have pretty contrasting views on that one! That being said, I also don't tend to take into account legendary difficulty when doing these videos, as I like to judge based of on the difficulty most people would play at during their first playthrough. I can definitely see it sucking on higher difficulties though.
Uplift reserve ain't my favorite but thanks to MCC it has earned a special spot, there's a challenge where you need to finish a level in less than 5 min and on Uplift you can just speed through everything, par time is 4 min and I can get it down to 2 30 on Heroic and around 3 on Legendary and just now love to traverse through the level and trying to find faster routes, also mission's dialogue is almost nonstop makes it hilarious
Such a banger! I've actually done an entire video on why that mission is so great too: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-12B9bkmubCU.html
I might be one of the few people who really can’t stand Costal Highway. The spectacle of it IS truly fantastic, but the escort section of it just infuriates me. I prefer to play ODST on legendary, and that section of the mission is one I dread. I never feel like I have enough time to kill everything before I get overwhelmed by Ghosts or turret towers. Otherwise, I love the level. But that section is just awful for me.
The warthog sections on Coastal Highway are brutal on higher difficulties, especially with the crazy amount of Fuel Rod grunts and how resilient enemy vehicles are.
Ah you see I'm too old and slow to play games on the highest difficulty nowadays haha, tend to stick to heroic, or similar, in other games so that I don't spend hours stuck on different sections. Back in the day, I was a fiend for Halo solo legendary though, proud to say I finished all the Bungie titles that way.
I must confess, I only heard about it from someone for the first time in another comment under this video! It's really interesting and am definitely going to have a bit more of a look into it.
For me, each level in the campaign is better than the last one, up until it reaches a climax with NMPD HQ, which I was hoping would be your #1. The following night time levels are still good, I especially like when the police officer turns on you in Data Hive if you have all of the audio recordings, and Coastal highway is a good finale with a lot of spectacle. Whenever I sit down to replay a few ODST levels, I end up playing almost all of them because they are just that enjoyable to me. Also despite the jazzy noire atmosphere of Mombasa Streets, the daytime levels are pretty lighthearted due to the squad and their banter, the lack of flood, and the music. Compared to Reach or H3, it’s a nice laid-back adventurous story without super high stakes (in comparison to the other games in the series) or a lot of death, and I like that. I only wish that this game had a proper ODST pod drop into combat like in the live action trailer, if not during the campaign then at least during Firefight when you respawn!
NMPD Building is probably my favorite, with Coastal Highway coming in a close second. The warthog run section is a blast in Coastal Highway, and the Rooftop part of NMPD with the missile pods is one of the best moments in the series. I also got a really funny spiker grenade clip on that level too. I think I'll post it on my channel after I'm done writing this. Feel free to check it out if you want.
Data Hive is the only mission I would change here, mostly for the repetitive nature of it as you suggested. To me, it kinda feels like The Library but with Covenant. Though the atmosphere definitely improves it significantly, especially once you complete Sadie’s Story. I also agree with the placement of Buck and Mickeys levels, and I think I know what makes them so much less exciting. I think it’s because their play spaces aren’t designed for a linear story mission, they’re artificially sectioned off versions of the streets map. That’s totally fine in my opinion, and makes for some cool “oh shit that’s the body of that turret I destroyed in my tank” moments. But I think they suffer from not being spaces designed for the levels themselves. Perhaps if they’d expanded into areas that you can’t get to in the night section for a spectacle moment they would feel a bit more special. Other than that, this was a fun video, and I look forward to your inevitable video on Mombassa Streets!
For me (favourite to least preferred): 1. Prepare to Drop (Ik it’s a cutscene but it’s just so awesome to not include) 2. Coastal Highway 3. NMPD HQ 4. Mombasa Streets 5. Uplift Reserve 6. Tayari Plaza 7. ONI Alpha Site 8. Kizingo Boulevard 9. Kikowani Station 10. Data Hive
Data Hive has one of the best atmospheres of any Bungie halo mission I can think of. It’s the only ODST mission I find myself thinking about on occasion, even if it’s been years since I last played the title. Especially the half before you rendezvous with Dare. The 3D map is quite visually pleasing. It was a good kind of dark, and the alternate encounter with the cop if you collected all audio logs is a treat. Good audio tracks too.
I had planned on picking up ODST and giving it a playthrough to unlock Recon in Halo 3 MP... Man, it ended up being my second favorite behind Reach. Great game and great times. LASO or GTFO 😎
Halo 3: ODST is really good and is my second favorite entry in the series behind Reach, but I still would have really liked to see Halo's take on the Battle of Stalingrad. I want to fight a battle like the one portrayed in Halo 3 Believe. Just desperate holding the line amid mud, blood, fire, and screaming. I would rather 343i not even try though, so I guess I'll just have to wait for a modder to do it.
one thing i noticed in the cutscenes is that the cop with the faceplate was with the team up until the Brute Chieftan that wrecked Romeo came in. The moment he appeared, he hammers the cop away.
I enjoyed Halo 3 ODST but I think it was a lot of the character writing that held it back from really shining in my eyes. Buck is the exception; his character is written fantastic. Romeo is an annoying asshole but I give him partially a pass because that's kind of the point of Romeo, he's supposed to be a dickhead. Mickey is enjoyable but he's just a little too dorky for me, he straight up says "son of a gun" in one part of the game and he's just a little too Looney Tunes in my opinion. Dutch is fine overall although he's a little on the nose with some of his dialogue and interactions. The Rookie...never speaks nor shows his face so that's kind of a no brainer. Dare is the worst though. I hated Dare so much while playing the game and felt she was a stuck up bitch who endangered everyone's lives for no reason and thought Buck was always just gonna save her.
the doors in Kikowani and elsewhere are not padding, they are to support the game loading/deloading sections to run better on the Xbox360. This is probably my 2nd favorite Halo game, it's THAT good.
I can definitely get behind this list for the reasons and rationals given, but it's interesting that its almost entirely mirrored to what i would have chosen. Coastal Highway and NMPD HQ are my least played missions and while still good, usually only came during longer sessions. If i was short on time or just looking for fun, Uplift Reserve and Kizingo Blvd always end up first pick. I think i just enjoy being able to play what you know and love Halo for, but finally set in a decent hman city setting
Watching this vid did make me realize one distinct part of ONI Alpha Site compared to any other Halo level: it’s the only level in all of the series I can think of with a really dedicated turret section. Not the greatest encounter in the series’ history, but a neat curiosity.
playing coastal highway on LASO and beating it twice; once solo and once in a 4-player co-op lobby; has made me loathe the mission, as it’s the most difficult in the entire game for LASO and the checkpoints are finicky Great mission otherwise, but it’s an extreme difficulty jump between every other mission and coastal highway
This game perfectly showed the human perspective in my opinion of the Human Covenant war. It also shows who ODST’s are: those the UNSC send in when they can’t or won’t send in Spartans.
I remember my cousin warning me that odst would be much more of a challenge compared to the other games when I first picked it up. Saying the obvious "your not a spartan anymore." Yet I found the majority of sections either on par with halo 3 or much easier due to the health pack system. Even more so when I started a laso playthrough and found odst to be far far far easier, absolutely snuffing out the blackeye skull. Idk how long it took me to finish 3 on laso but I finished odst on laso in less then 48 hours
i've replayed NMPD HQ tens of times because on MCC its the easiest level in all halo to get over 20k score for the weekly challenge that requires it, and i gotta say, while it did get repetitive playing it twice every 2 weeks, it never got frustrating, that speaks to how good that level is, im not even big into sniping, but the slow crawl threw sniper jackals and entrenched turrets and brute ambushes makes for a tense if straight forward first half with just enough flexibility to not fall into the halo 2 trap of just everything being solved with precision weapons, and as you said, that final encounter (which you get a whole lot of score from btw, back when you could get score from rally points i'd just replay that section on legendary lmao) not only makes full use of halo 3's anti vehicle sandbox, which not even halo 3 itself ever did, but it keeps you on your toes with the mix of infantry that drops, forcing you to change your weapons constantly. the most notable detail i noticed is that at random, while you are walking on the beam, a banshee can destroy one or both missle pod turrets, and it radically changes how you play that encounter, you are basically forced ration your pods and lasers in one side and get unorthodox with the rockets and machine gun turrets to deal with the onslaught of banshees.
The Rookie. After unlocking the weapon caches. Is a combination of peak player freedom in the level presented.💜 I love Halo 2 dearly but nothing comes close to personally being a constant pain the ass to never ending waves of covenant.
I think my absolute favourite mission is Uplift Reserve because of how much it reminds me of Tasovo Highway from Halo 3, but that's just my personal opinion.
I always enjoy the mission where it's Buck and Romeo going to the crashed Pelican and then you stand your ground before the Brute Chieftan dropps in XD
@@BenPlaysGames 10 years before I was planning to get it for my xbox 360, but when I went to the game store me and my brother always buy another games instead of the game we came for lol. my mom said we can only buy 2 games so we always thought "welp we'll get it next time I guess" until eventually the xbox got broken and now I regret not buying it.
@@BenPlaysGames the memory card got broken aswell. also this is completely irrelevant but I miss all the progress we made inside Terraria and Minecraft, there wasn't even Wall Of Flesh or Enchantment Table in them
I'd put tayari plaza, bland as it is, over uplift reserve, and I mean that exactly as mean as it sounds. Uplift reserve is an awful, bland mission. Edit: Let me explain. I find it incredibly bland gameplay wise. It's basically one linear vehicle section, where the ending tends to bug out for me, and it's overly reliant on tanks and turrets to keep you in line. I also, and I know this is sAcRiLeGiOuS, find Dutch to be, kind of obnoxious as a character.
Contrary to a lot of people, I've actually gone back and played the Mombasa Streets campaign Playlist probably a dozen times on MCC. The free roam and semi-tactical gameplay is easy my favorite part
Completely agree Crunch, mission's a banger. When I finally do my list ranking every Halo mission (once I've done lists for 2, 4 and 5), it will definitely be pretty close to the top!
Thanks Michael, and me too. As I get older and find myself with less and less free time, I've come to value games that are short, snappy and don't outstay their welcome a whole lot more. I don't want every game to be super short, but being able to sit down and play a solid Halo campaign in a single afternoon is pretty great.
