Ground Zero (Part III)
The conceptual drawings of the space tether are without a doubt impressive, but they bare little resemblance to what is seen during Halo 2 or even in the announcement trailer itself. This version is completely surrounded by water and its MagLev access occupies only one side, whereas Halo 2’s variant shows that the train can access two adjunct stations.
The question at this point is how do you get a single ODST, buried in the boroughs of a Covenant-infested island on one end, all the way to the other. And, what’s more, how do you do that within the concept of a hub world?
If I were to guess at this early and presumptive stage in the game, the hub world is apt to represent a significant portion of southern New Mombasa as we’ve depicted throughout this piece. Its spoke missions will more than likely take place in and around this same jurisdiction – save for at least one which will take the player to the hemorrhaging space tether. It’s definitely possible that after the events of the trailer, the Rookie is extracted and given new marching orders in another completely different area (placing the hub world elsewhere) but given the locations spelled out during the trailer and the repeated instances in weekly updates where Bungie has cited Mbaraki specifically, a hub world located in the southern sector seems the most probable.
And what can we say about this hub world? What will it entail? What will it look, feel and taste like? If our Halo 2 experience in northern New Mombasa is an accurate assessment of the city’s overall architectural flow, the layout of ODST’s hub world will likely be composed of a number of large, open areas which are segmented by underpasses, gates and the towering buildings themselves. Like Halo 2, many passageways from one area to the next may be locked down due to the Covenant invasion. This time, however, the master locksmith for the city is now working side-by-side with the player – we’ll likely see the Superintendent lifting tumblers and unlocking doorways a la Cortana and 343 Guilty Spark.
Early concepts of the hub world are breathtaking, but it remains to be seen whether designs like this act as a staging ground for their actualized layout or if this sketch is simply showcasing the elaborate potential such an environment could have.
Locked doors may also give us a hint on how Bungie intends to hem in the player within the main hub environment – what we now presume will be Mbaraki, Tanaga, Lumumba and possibly other adjacent districts. A perfunctory glance at the real estate around the ODST’s insertion point seems to imply that the hub world, as suggested in several concept images, may be bordered by water on multiple sides. In addition to this, the devastation provided by the slipspace event could also form a potential barrier, creating a scenario in which the ODST would have to be airlifted in order to travel beyond.
Without a doubt, this environment will showcase a large number of buildings, many of which will be similar to the skyscrapers and industry complexes visualized in the trailer – some which may even offer accessibility, allowing the player to pass through buildings or use them for cover. In addition to these structures, there’s a high probability that we will see elements like warehouses, parking garages, markets and occasional punctuations of verdant recreation/conservation parks (which may or may not be populated by zebras).
I’d also guess that at some point we’ll run into remnants of Mombasa’s transit complex beyond the standard fare of avenues and streets. We may interact with what’s left of the MavLev system and, if updates are to be trusted, frequently use the highway network both above ground and potentially underneath it. There’s also a possibility that beaches, docks and the immense levees (a la Halo 2’s “Outskirts”) which gird the island’s borders may play a role within the game, even if it is only that of backdrop.
New Mombasa’s highway network will be in full effect during Halo 3: ODST – weekly updates point to at least one road acting as a high speed beltway around the hub.
So if this is the physical formula we might expect from the hub, we return once again to the original question: How does the player get from this part of Mombasa to the orbital spire kilometers away?
If our speculation is accurate and the Rookie’s tale finds himself setting his jaw toward the north, there are a few possible routes…
Both the MagLev system and the highway network do roll back to the spire site, but it is unlikely that the player will make this trip terrestrially given the fact that this is a mere campaign expansion title and that efforts to render the entire island, even for a cinematic, would be something more in line with a full retail game. For this reason and due to an intriguing piece of concept art which displays embedded landing pads across Mombasa, it seems probable that the player will hitch a ride on a Pelican (or another UNSC vehicle) if and when he makes that trip – a trip which would likely lead to the culmination of the game’s narrative and the resolution of the spire’s destruction.
Above we see the fateful event from Halo 2, as the energy expulsion from the slipspace rupture consumes first the northeastern lobe of New Mombasa and then the city’s center. What scenarios might cause the Rookie to travel to the spire base are questionable if even probable at all.
In closing, if you’ve followed us this far in what might seem to be a highly-speculative and excessively-assumptive journey, I applaud you. As stated in the beginning of this piece, I have no doubt that some of the estimations made here will fall from the intended mark. Obviously Bungie cannot be expected to translate every single element of Mombasa witnessed in Halo 2, exactly as they were and without any deviation. That being said, I think that there’s still a good measure of evidence here, in part because of the trailer’s precision with regard to Halo 2’s Mombasa and in part because the weekly updates appear to buttress some of the theories we’ve afforded throughout this piece.
If you walk away from this article will one thing in mind, I’d hope that it is with new or reinforced sentiment that Bungie profoundly cares about their fiction and about the story of Halo. They care so much, in fact, that it would appear they’ve gone to considerable lengths in order to mesh the 21st century Mombasa with their evolved and probable rendition five hundred years into the future.
So, with bated breath we will wait for that first moment when we step out of the HEV onto the shattered and rain-slicked streets of tomorrow and bear witness to a side of the Halo tale only before whispered on the pages of its story bible. Until that day, feel free to check out our newly-established “The Hub” page which will act as a…hub, for all Halo 3: ODST articles. In addition to this piece, we offer a map directory which will give you access to a variety of overhead maps for supplemental use.