The Complete Evolution of Halo's ODSTs

the halo series is one of the most expansive science fiction properties out there with enough history detail and stories to allow for anyone to find some small nugget of the sci-fi universe to latch onto in the past we looked at halos grunts halos marines even halos elites and in today's evolution video we're going to be going through the development history of halo's professional daredevils the men and women who jump feet first into hell and crawl out of that inferno with their heads held high the orbital drop shock troopers of the unsc if you enjoy these kinds of videos and want to see more consider hitting the subscribe button and sharing the video around and in the comments let me know your favorite incarnation of the odsts during the development of the first halo the story and greater halo universe were one of the final things to actually come together during development which is what makes it so fascinating how coherently the final game story actually fit together and how the halo universe made it over the finish line with only minor symptoms of its hurriedly assembled story this cave is not a natural formation someone built it so it must lead somewhere during the production of the game a prequel novel titled the fall of reach was penned by author eric nyland with the assistance of eric troutman which gave the players avatar the master chief a definitive origin story the fall of reach set the stage for the game that readers would get their hands on when it launched the following month briefly this book mentions the 105th the orbital drop shock troopers odsts not much was explored about them beyond their notoriety within the unsc and the clear distinction from your everyday marine there were those in bungie that largely disowned the book and even fought with eric troutman about its release hugely disagreeing with the choice to give the player character an origin story or even that the halo universe was being explored in ways that didn't interest bungie as a studio despite this the halo universe continued to get explored with the novelization of halo 1 releasing in 2003 called halo the flood which retroactively incorporated odsts into the events of the first game eric troutman recalled that during the development of halo 2 he proposed the idea of bungie properly introducing the odsts to mainstream halo audiences lifting them from the pages of the books and rendering them in 3d graphics he was met with quite a bit of resistance folks at bungie questioned the point of odsts feeling like they were a pointless inclusion and part of microsoft's halo not bungie's halo eventually eric troutman won and it was a victory that did pay off because the introduction of the odsts into the halo game series was one of the game's standout [Music] all right elements fill up some black bags boys you make a nice big target mate the odsts of halo 2 come in unique black swat style armor with plenty of pouches bags of ammo and armored plating to complement the incredibly unique motorcycle-like helmet they all wore on their heads the goal for the helmets was to give them something a bit rounded but due to the strict poly counts the final design ended up with something decidedly more angular sharp and edgy despite the lack of detail it's a design that stuck with fans many of which have distinct memories of landing on the surface of delta halo and being greeted not by a marine but by something quite a bit more professional-looking odsts share the same ai as the marines same animations even many of the same voice actors but their presence was very much strong their black uniforms contrasting against the greenery of delta halo they accompanied the player for a few brief missions but their introduction stuck out with gamers so much that bungie would continue to use them and flesh them out in the years following halo 2's release [Music] bungie was resistant to the idea of odsts but by adding them to halo 2 they opened the doors to a wider halo universe and it was a move that was a net positive for the franchise more could be done though when microsoft released the successor to the original xbox the xbox 360 halo was able to push itself further with more ai polygons and production value thanks to the increased horsepower of the new console it was a new era for halo and the hell jumpers would be dropping onto the battlefields of the new console generation in 2007's halo 3 the odsts took on a decidedly more concept art accurate appearance giving their unique helmets the curves and angles that the low poly count of halo 2 just didn't allow for things such as their shoulder pads leg armor and other areas received additional detail drawing from the same geometric shapes and angles of their drop pods establishing a bit of design continuity between the troopers and their drop pods odst accompanied the player during campaign missions set on the forerunner megastructure the ark they fought with the same animations ai pathfinding and mechanical quirks of their marine brothers providing a fun little oh cool it's odst's moment in the campaign the multiplayer for halo 3 even let players unlock the helmet of an odst for their spartan avatars in online matchmaking interestingly though this isn't where the story of halo 3's odsd's end more so it was just a prologue to something greater because a small team inside of bungie got to work on crafting a side story in the halo universe one that would shift the player away from the usual spartan and elite perspective and put them in the armored boots of the odsts for the first time halo 3 odst was built on halo 3's game engine and told a rain-drenched noir-inspired story about a squad of odsts trapped in the alien-occupied city of new mambasa due to the more intimate story being told each member of the odst squad sported more personalized armor that reflected their personalities their faces were molded off of their vocal performers many of which who came from the sci-fi classic firefly bags of ammo radio equipment packs of supplies and more decorated the bodies of the halo 3 odst models and in a rather classy move by bungie odsts were now all given fingerless gloves and equipped to a specialized weapon such as the new silenced smg silenced pistol and a tactical visor to assist in low light conditions players spent most of the game's campaign in the boots of a new member to the squad called only the rookie the rookie was your standard silent protagonist never speaking so that the player could better insert themselves into the role as they explored the darkened streets of the doomed african city halo 3 odst was a powerful game for the odsts fully embracing them as a part of the halo universe turning them into a marketing icon for the series with plenty of merch toys and of course a cult following within the larger halo community but this notoriety extended beyond the halo community the live-action trailer was titled the life and it was heralded as one of the greatest video game trailers of all time winning multiple awards for its cinematography direction and it became something of a case study in live-action game marketing it's still referenced and looked back upon fondly to this day and it's easy to see why the odsts were on top of the world but it wasn't just the unique curved helmet or acclaimed video game trailer that the odsts became known for thanks to the musical talent of marty o'donnell and michael salvatore the odsds even received something of a musical identity their own fanfare [Music] this progression of notes would permeate the soundtrack of the game raising the arm hairs of many gamers and become an anthem for the hell jumpers look up the soundtrack of odst on youtube and you'll find compilations that range from soft and relaxing newer jazz energizing and inspiring pieces of music with the game's action themes that rack up views in the millions but in most of these pieces of music you'll always find this progression of notes at this point the odsts were bigger than they'd ever been and while they never quite reached the same heights in the future their march into that future bore some rather interesting fruits and interpretations at the end of the 2000s bungie released their final game in the halo series halo reach it served as a prequel to the first halo game tying up bungie's run on the series in a nice circle and served as not just an excellent halo package but is a celebration of bungie's long run on the series with plenty of content on day one reviving forgotten gameplay mechanics and of course delivering plenty of fan service in both multiplayer and campaign odsts make their final appearance in a mainline halo campaign here in halo reach sporting armor and gear quite similar to their halo 3 odst appearance minus the rather classy fingerless gloves unfortunately but retaining the smooth tire poly helmets with long chins when the player's character noble 6 makes their way to the city of new alexandria a squad of odsts are encountered who are referred to as the bullfrogs armed with jetpacks they tease the spartan as they jump across the battle torn rooftops a cute nod to the rivalry between the two unsc groups it was a memorable npc encounter that even ushered in some cheeky nods to the odst soundtrack in the game's score but the biggest homage to the trooper's cult classic halo title was when the player briefly assisted characters from halo 3 odst as they evacuated the doomed world phantom's got one of my squads i need to take it out and evac and the best part of this sequence when doing this one of odst's most iconic pieces of music breaks through the audio mixing foreshadowing buck's future in the similarly doomed new mombasa city odst armor can also be obtained for the player's personal spartan complete this time with gear for the shoulder chest etc letting the player represent their favorite corner of the halo universe through their physical appearance after the release of halo reach dlc added to the base game's map pool in both firefight and matchmaking one map pack in particular added a new firefight map set in a campaign environment from the first halo game this marks to date the only firefight map in halo that has friendly ai a squad of odsts who will fight with the player till their last breath halo reach was a good buy for bungie but it was also the start of something new their destiny lay elsewhere and what they left fans with was a satisfying send-off to a legendary series of games stories and music the hell jumpers would continue to persist as the series marched into the future jumping feet first into whatever awaited them in 2012 new developer 343 industries released the first successor to the bungie halo titles in the form of halo 4. it kicked off an era they called the reclaimer saga which featured a completely different artistic style tone for the music and story as well as gameplay sensibilities and design the odsts made no appearance in halo 4 instead having their presence handed off to paid dlc armor for the player's online spartans like most things in halo 4. the redesigned odsd armor was quite different from those found in previous games possibly due to graphical constraints the actual detail on the models themselves in halo 4 are quite toned down compared to halo reach relying more on texture work to imply detail that isn't there the helmet itself is quite rounded most of the detail in proportion sanded off until it was something like a fishbowl rather than an odst helmet outside of this for the most part the odsts were nowhere to be found now in the lead up to halo 5 odsts received a surprisingly large amount of spotlight the miniseries halo nightfall followed a group of operatives outfitted in specialized nightfall armor that was clearly built off of the odst zone armor [Music] now this nightfall armor was also available for those playing the halo 5 beta but you probably noticed it doesn't look much like the suit that mike coulter was wearing in the miniseries this model of the nightfall armor was done by josh harvey and as he explained on twitter this model was ultimately cut for what we see in the final game which features a lot more greeble and weird sticky audi bits which is typical of a lot of reclaimer saga armors he personally kind of prefers the more compact streamlined design that he came up with and i see where he comes from i prefer it too it wasn't just the nightfall armor that players would don however because in the game's campaign the survivor of reach and new mombasa himself edward buck became a spartan and stepped into the boots of a new set of armor the hell jumper spartan armor it's an armor that merges design cues from halo 3 with the more busy reclaimer saga spartan designs and this armor could also be found in the game's loot boxes for use when personalizing your own online spartan now let's back up for a second you probably got some questions how did buck become a spartan you may ask what happened to that odst squad that endured earth's longest night during the human covenant war well a book was released titled halo new blood that detailed the lives of the squadmates after they escaped the doomed city and due to a tragedy that they experienced how it affected each of them in healthy and non-healthy ways leading buck to make the choice to become a spartan for himself if you're curious about a complete breakdown i've actually done a video on it that i'll link down below since the odsts first came to life in a spin-off book for the first halo game it's fitting that they'd have a big history beyond just the core mainline titles [Music] during the marketing cycle for halo 3 a live action short film was created called landfall that depicted combat in a war film like aesthetic many armors weapons and equipment were used in the short film and among them was of course the odsts rocking their halo 3 designs in the first ever non-bungie halo title halo wars the odsts could be summoned as a specialized unit but due to the low poly counts for the ambitious consul rts they are borderline unrecognizable a more respectable portrayal of the odsts came in the halo legends short story the babysitter halo legends is an anthology series comprised of various halo anime and the babysitter short followed a squad of odsts as they were begrudgingly forced to work alongside a silent spartan on a mission to assassinate one of the high prophets of the covenant in 2014 343 released the master chief collection which included halo 2 anniversary halo 2 anniversary was made using a mix of reused assets as well as original assets to craft something of a facelift for the aging shooter among the original assets made for the game were completely new models for the odsts and rather than reusing the halo 3 or reach helmet models the original low poly designs that gave their helmets that triangular edge were honored a new helmet was designed in the spirit of the low poly model and beyond that a rather famous animated scene for halo 2 called a day at the beach was lovingly remastered and released to the community which follows a squad of odsds as they fight off a cloak delete that stalks them following the crash of their pelican the halo 2 anniversary incarnation of the odsts were celebrated due to the artist's ability to retain the low poly spirit that gave the halo 2 odsd helmet its unique look while making it look fit for modern poly counts and thus it began a debate within the halo community about which odst helmet was superior halo 3s or halo 2 anniversaries i'll let you decide that one though during the production of halo 5 the warzone game mode originally envisioned odsts being part of the experience concept art was even drawn up for them sporting new busier looking armor to fall in line with the aesthetic of the game they were envisioned as being somewhat of an upgrade over the base marines found in warzone it's not entirely clear what that role would have served but in the final game the odsts made no appearance as units with only their redesigned drop pods existing as assets sporting new more rounded and detailed designs in 2017 343 released a sequel to the original halo wars halo wars 2. this game used the halo 2 anniversary odst in its artwork and put to use the troopers in a more prominent way than other 343 halo titles they even received their own mini dlc that had players command the odst group sunray11 as they battled banished forces under the command of two hunter brothers and finally in 2018 343 and their partner play mechanics released an official halo themed arcade cabinet halo fire team raven fire team raven lets players assume the identity of four distinct odsts who fight alongside the master chief through the events of halo combat evolve the arcade cabinet was widely praised for its production value and new perspective it gave to the first game's events but fire team raven's journey didn't end here because in 2021 343 also released their armors into the master chief collection for players to unlock and use in halo 3. this is where you're probably wondering about halo infinite and well odsts were not planned for the game's campaign during production the marines themselves in halo infinite were in a state of limbo with their inclusion not even being a guarantee due to issues with the state of the slip space engine as well as the prior narrative writer paul crocker not being a fan of marines in the story himself the odst's only representation in the game came in the form of cosmetics for the game's free to play multiplayer such as some reach themed cosmetics and a firefall odst inspired helmet that unfortunately can't be obtained anymore due to the rotating nature of the free-to-play in-game store the odst's future is uncertain countless odst spinoff projects have been pitched internally at 343 over the last decade without a green light and for the most part their representation has quieted down in recent years but when we do see the odsts next we can be guaranteed they'll be ready to accompany the player feet first into hell the odsts initially started their life battling against disinterested developers but their charisma charm and cool factor led to them earning their rightful place in the halo series their helmets black combat gear and style made them a fan favorite within the community and for good reason with their own spin-off game being over a decade old and their dlc in halo wars 2 already with a few years under its belt maybe it's time for another adventure in the helmet of an odst what's your favorite incarnation of the odsts and what would you like to see me cover next a huge thank you to the members of the channel whose names will be up on the screen right now as well as the patrons who pay 10 or more to help keep the channel keeping on and since odsts just sound like normal people i won't be doing an impression of no dst but be guaranteed you're going to hear an impression next time when we talk about halo's jackals [Music]

Channel: Late Night Gaming

Views: 195,397

Keywords: Halo, Gaming, LateNightGaming, Examining Games, Commentary, LNG, Late Night Gaming, Halo 5, Game discussion, Halo PC, MCC PC, MCC mods, Halo mods, Halo Infinite, Infinite, MCC, Master Chief Collection, Halo Infinite Banished, Halo Banished, Halo evolution

Id: p7N4z49Ae1A

Length: 20min 41sec (1241 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 01 2022