The ol' Reach around

Well, I am still reluctant to lose my shit over this game, but I will admit that I picked up ODST to ensure my spot in the beta. This video adds some nice things that make me not want to strangle a child, like:

-Health (no more ambiguous bullshit red flashing screen) - I love the health pack idea, it helps define how much life you have left at all times. When Halo left health packs, and moved to the popular "increasingly red glowing screen" I wanted to mail a package of feces to Bungie. It is extremely hard to quantify your survivability with a flashing screen. Oh, 3 yellow bars of health? I know absolutely how much that is. Win.

-A workable pistol in the post Halo 1 world? - I am suspicious of this, but I am still rocking a boner nonetheless. If this thing is anywhere near the days of old (which I guess it probably won't be), it could be happy times for us all. From the brief appearances in the videos, it looks to be a rapid fire pistol much like the ones from Halo 2 and 3; but I would guess they upped the power a notch or two.

-If the pistol sucks, it appears that the single-shot rifle looks to be dominant, and I would imagine play much like the pistol of Halo 1. Well, if the pistol doesn't deliver the way I want it to, this single shot rifle will do just fine. As long as it doesn't require more than 3-4 shots to kill (on head-shots), I will be content.

-Other rifles that aren't depending on gimmicks- In my opinion, the Halo games needed more basic rifles that vary on strength and firing power. The BR and the carbine were really the only viable options after Halo 1, so toss a couple more in the pot... and people might have to choose rather than settle.

-New gametypes that might be entertaining - The video mentions a gametype with reinforcements in waves that reminds me of Battlefield, which would be great. It is curious that this game seems to be borrowing bits and pieces from other shooters to create this "masterpiece," but as long as it is fun I am alright with it. So take what you need Bungie, just leave behind the bullshit.

Things that concern me:

-The armor stuff- Hopefully these won't be game breakers and can be finely tuned during the beta process. The last thing I want to see is only one of the types being used due to its strength.

-Model types- In the past, using the elites is about as much fun as kissing your sister. You are guaranteeing more head-shots and also hearing goofy grunts. If some of these games will use offense and defense with the different races/models, I hope one side isn't a handicap simply because of the models being used, and not gamer ability.

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I won't ramble for too much, but the game appears to be intriguing at worst. If it sucks, I can drop it like I did Halo 3 at a certain point and continue playing Fifa or whatever else is out there. If you haven't grabbed ODST (note: fuck ODST, I mean solely for the Beta like me), I would suggest going HERE:. Thanks New Egg!

SC