Binary Swan

This post underwent a dramatic change after reading the comments section of The Brainy Gamer’s post about ODST. A selection of comments claimed that ODST should or could not be discussed because it is simply a shooter, a mindless action game. It was also the held view that any attempt to do so was just pseudo-intellectuals trying to grasp for something that wasn’t there in order to justify their ‘obvious’ games-are-art viewpoint. However I feel that games like ODST need to be discussed not because it might be considered art but because of it’s possible cultural significance. Halo has always had something to say about empowerment and agency given its firm place within the action genre and it is the popularity of the series coupled with these ideas that makes me want to discuss ODST. I am not trying to justify the game as a piece of art but I do feel that it is important to discuss because alot of people will play the game. Alot of people will be exposed to it’s contents.

ODST is not a fundamental departure from the established gameplay elements of the Halo series. You are a silent hero like Master Chief and the gameplay style of the Halo series has only had slight tweaks to weapons, jump height and the health system, all justifiable in the context of being an ODST rather than a genetically engineered supersoldier. This allows for the transfer of player skill essential to keeping a large fanbase happy with a new release. I came to the game thinking that being The Rookie might lead to a game that played alot differently and present an alternate experience of player empowerment and heroism compare to previous Halo games. I have come out of my first week with ODST realizing that this is indeed the case but not for the reasons I expected.

The game places much emphasis on the fact that you are The Rookie and yet you spend alot of time being other ODST’s or in the case of the audio logs, experiencing a story that already come to a conclusion without you. Looking at the narrative as a whole The Rookie has little impact on how things turn out. His journey is represented by loneliness and inaction much of the time. However if the player is an ODST in a broad sense, so as to include the experiences of his squadmates, then you can identify with alot more action but not that much more impact. With the exception of ONI Alpha site mission the ODST squadmates spend their time trying to survive. The flashback missions consist of action as a means to either survive, rescue other ODST’s or flee. This is all done with an incredible amount of violence and success in combat situations but ultimately it never gets close to the suggestion that “you might just win this war”. Indeed it might be incredibly empowering to charge through an area with a Scropion tank, but this is undermined by the hopeless motivation and context for these actions.

The audio logs in ODST form an ancillary storyline to the campaign, offering clues about the city itself as well as following the story of a New Mombasan (good enough?) civilian in the hours after the Covenant attack. These logs are incredibly well written and privilege the experience of a civilian in wartime, noted by some as being missing at times from action games. I am aware that for the most part this storyline will remained incomplete for many players because they are a collectible. However even listening to the first few logs the player gains an insight into the chaos that erupted with the arrival of the Covenant. I found myself listening to the audio logs as I was walking around, hearing ethereal brutes killing civilians, turning to dodge gunfire that existed only in the record of the past It gave me a profound sense of futility. The audio logs remind the player that whatever they might achieve, much has already been lost. Civilians are gone from this city and The Rookie could do nothing about it.

ODST in form and content appears to have all the elements that define the Halo series but I feel it does much to undermine the moments of empowerment experienced during gameplay. The narrative of ODST is one of loneliness and ineffectual actions, and of a character who must endure the dystopian end to New Mombasa through records rather than actual experience. This game might not be art, and Firefight might be the better game on this disc, but even there you will die many many times. You will fail and only a score, not victory, will give you a sense of achievement. I did not feel like an empowered Master Chief-like character at the end of ODST, I might have acted like one but ultimately I just felt lucky to get out of there alive.