"Halo 3: ODST" managed to become a fairly successful extension of "Halo 3," despite not starring Master Chief. In addition to the game's disc read error complaints, though, it caught some flack from critics for its price point and level design in some places. Bungie took that feedback on the chin, though, and explained what they would differently if given a second chance.
"We got criticized, fairly, for doing a poor job communicating what 'ODST' was, an expansion pack or a full-fledged, AAA release," the game's writer & creative director Joseph Staten told G4. "It’s impossible to know, but my gut says that if we’d never said the words 'expansion pack' we would have seen an appreciable increase in the review scores."
Staten also tackled the subject of level design in New Mombasa, which Russ pointed out in his "Halo 3: ODST" review in September.
"One of the nighttime city’s major functions was to serve as reliable pacing -- a regular change of tempo," he explained. "In this respect, it worked exactly as designed. But I think we could have done a lot to improve the layout of the city to help with navigation. Again, time willing."
As for the game's $59.99 price point, the team said the issue was out of their hands and completely decided by the publisher, but they did acknowledge mistakes early on in the game's initial presentation.
"I'm no PR expert, but it's pretty obvious the game had a series of stumbles; from the naming, to the initial E3 2008 countdown reveal failure, and finally pricing," design lead Lars Bakken said. "It would definitely be nice to have a do-over for the game introduction."
Do agree with Bungie's post-mortem reflection on "ODST"? What did you think of the game? Share your reactions in the comment section below.