Reach was good technically, it was shit at everything else.

I liked it better for the noir atmosphere and music. I feel there is more comradere with Bucks team than Noble Team.

I enjoyed both games. Actually, reach is my favorite halo title.

By far the Jazzy scores by Marty, the rainy nighttime sneaking, the detective style arc... Man it was the best campaign for me. Yea, killing an endless amount of baddies, traveling across the galaxy, and saving humanity is cool, too... But man, ODST :).

It was the tone of ODST that I feel was so successful, the feeling of being an insignificant speck in the ruins of a recently destroyed city avoiding destruction at the hands of a nearly unstoppable force using the cover of night and the guidance of some yet unseen but evidently benevolent force controlling the city. It especially shone on legendary, wherein your best option often times was to avoid combat and utilize the open level design to sneak past your foes. All of this is bolstered with dynamic, sweeping orchestral cues; the 360 was too much of a piece of shit to handle the dynamic weather that had been planned for ODST, but that music did its best (and, in my opinion, totally succeeded) to give you the impression of what that weather would have been like. For instance, light jazz and piano riffs that fall gently like the rain onto your visor to the harsh, swift sounds invoking wind. Even the occasional silence was meant to not only give the impression of weather having cleared, but to instill a sense of malaise into the player; what's coming next, and what am I going to have to do to survive it? Admittedly, that again applies mostly to legendary. The plot was nothing special, but its means of conveyance through film-noire style detective work interspersed with flashbacks which show you how the pieces (literally in the case of most of the clues you found) fit together to form a coherent narrative of what your team has been up to since the mission went tits up went a long way. Contrast that with Reach, wherein we knew the conclusion the whole time and yet the game played it all straight: shock (or lack thereof given the voice acting) at the discovery of covenant on Reach, an attempt to disrupt them, a failure in that regard, and then finishing the game with a clumsy retcon and the conclusion we were expecting the entire time, all shown in standard Halo fare. The most mediocre of stories can be salvaged if told in an interesting way; while ODST took that lesson to heart, Reach failed in part because it did not. I felt no emotion during Reach until the very end. None. Bungie tried so hard to tug at my heartstrings with watching a transport ship of refugees being shot down, and my only thought was "couple hundred down, couple million to go". We'd spent the past decade with the understanding that Reach's destruction was quick, brutal, and nearly total, and I'm supposed to shed tears over the fact that I'm being shown it was evidently none of those prior descriptors? We were meant to be in pain watching people who were given absolutely no characterization being picked off for no better reason than "the game told you to care". Killing the Boss in MGS3 made me hurt. Watching the characters I had spent 4 games getting to know and care for in a fist fight to the death in MGS4 filled me with awe. Reach had none of that going for it. The ending was fantastic, the best the series has ever had, but the rest of it was filler and retcons for the sake of fulfilling a 5 game contract. My only complaint with ODST is that it had no business being 60 dollars, but again, that goes back to Bungie being desperate to break out of their contract with MS. Reach, on the other hand, was so shit that it singlehandedly turned me into a PC gamer.

IT GAVE US BUCK!

ODST Campaign < Reach Campaign Reach Multiplayer < ODST's H3 Multiplayer side disc

Two words: canon destruction.

ODST was more developed

I wouldn't consider destiny open world. You have to go to each mission separately, even if it's in the same location you're already in. Elder scrolls, now that's open world.

Reach's campaign is one of love/hate for me. Hate because of the utter garbage they pulled retconning lore for the game with massive plotholes that were just left there and never explored again. Love because despite the way it shits on fans of the lore, the game has amazing scenery, environments and above all skyboxes. I loved the characters and still hope for the day a Novel about Nobel Teams exploits since the units creation is done to flesh and give the justice the team deserves. And im not even getting in how much i loved its multiplayer.

Let's take the lore right out first. I gotta say like reach more but odst was refreshingly different at the time it came out. I've replayed odst very recently so it's fresher in my head and reach has been a few years but I can say I replayed reach campaign more so then odst. I personally gotta agree with you op. I've enjoyed all main halo titles obviously more then others ones but between these two it be reach. I think what I liked the most is the ending it was very heroic tragic death going out guns a blazing instead of yeah we did it ending. Nice thread man