Twelve years have passed since the Troopers met their demise; the news has been all but confirmed. Well, these days, anything with Halo in it can sometimes enter the realm of midnight fever-dreams, but never this one-haha. 343 Industries just picked Halo: New Blood, Matt Forbeck’s tome about Alpha-Nine (that’s Buck’s squad, if you haven’t been counting), as audiobook of the month. Go with the smug smooth-jazz gesture for added flavor.
So what exactly? The official Halo blog and Discord host a flurry of discussions regarding the audiobook chronicling the post-Halo 3: ODST antics of our very own orbital-drop shock troopers. We all know any time there’s a story about Nathan Fillion’s Buck, it’s always a hit. The audiobook is somehow published by Simon & Schuster Audio, who feel ODSTs have to be a different kind of cool when being narrated.
Here is where it goes a little sideways. Gamers wasted little time reading between the lines. Well, actually, lines of tweets. Some saw it almost as a teaser to something bigger, possibly an ODST-themed update for Halo Infinite or-ahem-a crossover with Helldivers 2. Yes, indeed. Another player bellowed with all-caps: “IM READY TO KICK ASS IN HELLDIVERS WITH ODSTS.” And that’s pretty much my sentiment too.
Not everyone was vibing, though. A few replies took shots at 343’s priorities, with one user sarcastically suggesting that if 343 put “half the effort into the games as they commit into forcing Halo to be a multimedia franchise,” Infinite’s updates would have been done years ago. Ouch. Others just wanted to know if new armor was dropping on the 26th. Priorities, people.
Then discuss the extended Halo universe. Some said the books had always been just ancillary—nice in the eyes of hardcore fans but not something anyone had to pick their nose over. The others retorted that book lore, like in First Strike, actually laid down key elements before they appeared in-game (for instance: the Brutes). It heated. Like “forgot to mute the group chat” heated.
In contrast, the Spanish-speaking gaming community is airing its gripes on punishing quitters and AFK players more strictly in Infinite. One tweet reads in translation: “They should do something about those who abandon matches and go AFK, more than half leave, and half of those who stay don’t even play.” Preach.
So what’s the takeaway? Whether it’s dropping into audiobooks, memes, or (fingers crossed) some other game collabs, ODSTs of Halo still have iconic status. And while the community debates which direction the franchise is going, one thing is for sure: whenever Alpha-Nine shows up, everybody listens. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be over here listening to New Blood and pretending we’re dropping feet-first into hell. Again.
