I’ve spent most of my time on the 360 the last couple of weeks playing Halo 3: ODST, but what I’m starting to notice is that unlike on the Halo 3: ODST release day when practically everyone online on my friends list was playing it, like no one is playing it now.
The game sold very well, but does it have legs? It’s looking like perhaps not. Almost none of my friends are playing Halo 3 multiplayer either – even with ODST containing all the multiplayer maps. It just goes to show you, maybe people are just playing through the campaign and that’s it. If you were interested in Halo 3 multiplayer, you were already playing it – seems like ODST is not going to be the catalyst.
I tried getting back into Halo 3 after playing through ODST, but it just feels different after playing ODST. Several thoughts popped through my head as I played Halo 3 online: “Battle rifle? Where’s my magnum?” “Why am I jumping so high?” “Why do my grenades have a terrible throwing arc?” “Why can I only hold 2 of each grenade type?” And finally, “Why does this guy keep tea-bagging me?” Those were all the questions I asked myself as I played Halo 3 online, and decided, it’s not worth getting back into. I’d rather get back into Call of Duty 4 to prepare for Modern Warfare 2.
I think Halo 3: ODST would really have legs if there was matchmaking for it or even simple rooms that people hosted and others could join. It’s ridiculous how we have to go through friends lists and custom gaming groups just to find players that not only want to play Firefight, but are looking to play the same Firefight maps we do. Now there’s a bunch of people on these “Firefight” friends lists I have that may want to play Firefight, but are instead playing other games because they don’t want to sit at the Halo 3 ODST menu and wait for invites all day. It’s truly annoying that I have to deal with messaging them in other games to see if they want to switch to play Firefight.
Stat tracking for Firefight matches is awesome on bungie.net, but Bungie, why did you put all this effort into stats and totally botch the multiplayer implementation of Firefight? One player drops and the match is over? I played on a level for over 3 hours and was about to get the Endure Achievement before one player dropped and it all was for nothing. And why not allow for friends to join a Firefight match that’s already started because there’s already a limited number of lives? And of course, the biggest question to boggle my mind is that even without matchmaking, why not at least provide us a way to play online by creating rooms so the public can join?! Was it that difficult to add Firefight as a selectable matchmaking mode in Halo 3′s multiplayer, but only joinable for owners of ODST? These types of questions really irked me and make me wonder how a company like Bungie can do such an awesome job with the multiplayer of Halo 3 but do such a terrible one with ODST. And maybe because of it, that’s why the game just doesn’t have legs.
Yeah, ODST seemed like a solid game at the time of purchase, but just two weeks later, I don’t find myself wanting to play the campaign disc at all. Occasionally I’ll play the multiplayer disc, because I still love Halo 3′s multiplayer, perhaps more now than ever.
I suppose it’s just another of those games that hits and passes.
Indeed, once I finish up legendary I’ll be done with the game except for Firefight. I tried to get back into Halo 3 MP, but my skills are too low now and there’s nobody to play with. I still like it, but it’s not fun to lose all the time.
I get my butt kicked pretty hard in matchmaking, but I still find enjoyment in it. Halo was the reason for me getting an xbox (and cool friends) and I still find it fun. It is when some older guys from out of town want to play Halo 2 do I realize how useful the Halo 3 skills are. The difference in aim assistance has me going on some ridiculous killing streaks.
I have to admit, a big part of my decision not to buy ODST was the absence of online matchmaking in Firefight.