THE CITY

In addition to seeing the Rookie’s first few minutes of landfall, we also get to catch glimpses of his travels across the rest of the city, and it’s in these brief shots that much is teased.

In the above screenshot, which appears to have been taken in front of a New Mombasa Transit Authority station, we can see that Mombasa, while retaining its feel from Halo 2, has been altered greatly. The city’s changes in elevation are immediately obvious, causing the streets to ramp up and down, and the walkways to be lined by railings and shifted with staircases. Not only will these environments make for dynamic battle areas, but they’ll also be more fun to traverse, compared to Halo 2’s flat streets and empty sidewalks.

The city overall appears to be much more diverse and interesting in an urban sense; as opposed to being itself intersticed by parks and canals, this time around it appears to hold its own from an architectural and design standpoint. We can see parking garages, walkways, alleys and more.

Looking up, the skybox for the nighttime city is, simply put, stunning. The skeleton of the space tether remains barely in place, with a massive fire burning at its base, and lightning from the storm arcs down its frame. Also seen here is a piece of the tether which has fallen and landed on top of a building. It can be assumed that this tether, which was miles high, has nearly completely broken apart, and pieces of it now litter the city. These will likely be used in interesting ways to enhance the largely metropolitan feel of the city – much like how they provided a stark contrast to the rolling hills of Tsavo Highway.

The Brutes with their shields flaring are possibly patrols or guards that these ODSTs are attempting to bypass without engaging. It’s likely that Brutes will be found in similar locations throughout the city – manning blockades, patrolling streets, and just causing general mayhem for the UNSC troops moving through the city.

Also in this shot, the street appears to break off into two completely different directions, which falls in line with what we’ve heard about the Hub city being truly “open-world.” You can see open spaces in the buildings on the left, a walkway above the ODSTs’ heads, and the street inclining up and continuing on in the background of the screenshot – all of these things again imply that fighting and traveling throughout the city will be very engaging.

Another item of note in the above screenshot is the location marker in the HUD. It reads “624.0 m,” which is probably the distance to the next piece of evidence the Rookie needs to collect. For reference, from one corner of the multiplayer map Avalanche to the other corner is a distance of about half of the number we see given here in the ODST’s HUD. And that isn’t the size of the city – it’s just the distance to the closest beacon from the ODST’s current position.

Either UNSC soldiers or fleeing citizens have scribbled writing onto walls throughout the city. This particular writing is obviously attempting to inspire UNSC soldiers walking by… Reach was the UNSC’s military stronghold, which was destroyed in a massive space battle – a battle that ended with the planet being glassed.

Some of the other graffitti on the walls includes phrases like, “You could be next!” and “Hell on Earth,” the latter referencing a comment made by Staten during the development of Halo 2: “The handful of Marines who survived the assault call this place hell on Earth… we call it Zanzibar.”

In addition to graffitti, signs calling for citizens to join the UNSC can also be found; these were also seen in Halo 2.

Apparently, the Rookie will at some point be interacting with terminals belonging to the Superintendent. It remains to be seen whether these terminals will play a crucial role in the game’s plot or if they tell a secondary story, much like the terminals did in Halo 3. Considering that the Rookie’s HUD updates to say “SUPERINTENDENT ONLINE” after activating the terminal, the possibility exists that he’s in the process of restoring the Super to a higher state of functionality- we do know that the infrastruture AI was damaged in the Covenant assault on the city.

THE OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

Our other major glimpse into the campaign of ODST comes when we visit Dutch and Mickey, who are attempting to set charges to blow up a bridge when they are assaulted by Covenant forces. (It is also during this same sequence that we see another Marine besides one of the main characters interacting with the Super; apparently, the AI plays a significant role in helping not only the Rookie but the rest of the UNSC forces, as well.)

What’s important about this sequence with these two heavy-weapons soldiers is the context of the situation – they’re attempting to blow up a bridge to prevent the Covenant from assaulting them. Typically, Halo’s gameplay has always progressed in the opposite direction – we assault a Covenant position. Obviously, the ODST pair are attempting to protect someone or something. Possibly just their own position, until they can be reinforced… or perhaps something more?

Let’s take a closer look at the exchange we mentioned earlier between the Marine and the Superintendent:

“C’mon Super, unlock the keypad!”

“KEEP IT CLEAN; RESPECT PUBLIC PROPERTY.”

“If you don’t let us trigger those charges, in about five minutes your data center is going to be crawling with Covenant!”

“…BRIDGE TOLL ACCEPTED. HAVE A PLEASANT TRIP.” [Cutscene, Halo 3: ODST]

Besides the obvious humor of the situation, it’s now apparent that the ODSTs are protecting some sort of important building… but what sort of building? Fortunately, we have a very obvious clue that tells us exactly what it is:

The symbol on the right, with a bit of text underneath it, signifies that this building belongs to the Office of Naval Intelligence – or ONI, for short. In other words, this building is owned by the elite intelligence gathering sector of the UNSC – if ONI can even be considered to be part of the UNSC (many don’t feel that they are). It’s very likely that never before have the Covenant come so close to an ONI facility; in space, ONI meetings take place on highly-stealthed vessels whose locations change constantly and are known to only a few at a time. Even the Chief himself has spent a limited amount of time onboard such ships.

Even the shape and location of the building seems to imply something secretive about it… it appears to be a solid-faced cube sitting in the middle of a small body of water, surrounded on all sides by walls. Obviously, this place is important.

And it just so happens that we now know someone who might be interested in protecting such a building.

In fact, from the beginning, DARE seems to have had her sights set on this place. Remember the hologram that the soldiers were studying before the drop – and the sudden change in trajectory on their way down?

And so it seems very possible that DARE’s purpose, at least in part, for recruiting the team and dropping to Earth during the middle of the invasion has something to do with this ONI center. Perhaps someone inside needs to be protected? Or possibly an item that needs to be kept secure? Whenever we’ve heard about ONI in the past, it’s always been in very serious matters (there’s even evidence that ONI has known about the Forerunners for some time – even before the first Halo was discovered by the Chief!). Regardless of the building’s purpose here, or what DARE’s mission is regarding it, one thing can be known for certain – this Office of Naval Intelligence structure is very, very valuable.

Which causes a previously unremarkable image to now imply startling possibilities…

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