Posts on Current Forum | Archived Posts
|
|
|
||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
| Frequently Asked Forum Questions | |
|||
|
||||
|
|
|||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| Search Older Posts on This Forum: Posts on Current Forum | Archived Posts | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| Re: The ODST Narrative Structure and what went wro | |
| Posted By: Leviathan <levihoff@yahoo.com> | Date: 4/11/10 7:36 p.m. |
In Response To: The ODST Narrative Structure and what went wrong (Cody Miller) : The film noir influence is likewise questionable, and it’s obvious Bungie : just wanted the style without the substance. Noir has nothing to do with : any of the story or thematic elements in ODST. Noir is pessimistic about : humanity. Noir is pessimistic about authority and government. Noir is : pessimistic about women. Noir celebrates vice. The Halo story is about : absolutely none of these things. Noir is also historically rooted in the : prohibition and World War 2, and it’s essentially impossible to make a : true noir film now due to the change in the historical climate. Films like : Chinatown are not considered noir, but neo-noir, recognizing the true noir : is a product of a specific point in history. Yes, ODST's story and (for the most part) characters aren't very noir, but the atmosphere is very noir, I would say. It might not be the exact same pessimism that you spoke of, but the atmosphere of the deserted nightime city really did take good advantage of that noir (and Blade Runner-noir) pessimism. And whatever amount of noir influence, it did give us an actual saxophone in a video game, so I can't complain! ~~~ I do definitely agree that the pacing of ODST's story was strange and while I had a helluva lot of fun with those (what you call the first act) regrouping levels, I was definitely wondering "...when's the story going to start exactly?" I definitely enjoyed the story when it did kick into gear though. If they had begun the story elements of Dare and Virgil earlier, I believe we would have had more chances of interesting character interaction and more insight into the Halo universe. We didn't really learn anything new about the Haloverse in ODST and it was definitely a good chance to do so. Although, the designers did seem to want to tell a story about human characters struggling within the already pre-established setting... But if that was the case, then they defintely needed to really embrace and develop those characters. Put them into situations that would really challenge their character, like Buck deciding to turn back and search for Dare, that was a compelling, character-driven motive... But that was about it in the game! Another example of potential: I loved Buck being pissed off at the beginning of ODST. We need more characters pissed off at each other at times in a Halo game. Not everyone gets along with each other, especially in such a high-pressure situation as keeping the human race alive!
| |
|
| Replies: |
The HBO Forum Archive is maintained with WebBBS 4.33. |