Trivia / Halo 3: ODST

• Actor Allusion: Three members of the squad are played by actors from Firefly, including Buck (who's voiced by Nathan Fillion), and they occasionally give a Shout-Out to the show in rare dialog.
• Creator Cameo: In a joke at his expense, developer Chris Butcher appears in an edited photo as Rookie's Girlfriend.
• Descended Creator: In addition to once again voicing all the Grunts, lead writer Joseph Staten also provides the voice for the Superintendent.
• Development Gag: The game's original subtitle, Recon, receives a few nods in The Master Chief Collection: The Season that accompanied the release of ODST was named "Recon", and the weapon set that limits you to the weapons introduced in this game is also named "Recon".
• Distanced from Current Events:
  • Sadie Endesha of "Sadie's Story" was originally going to be named Maddie, but her name was changed as a trailer including the lines "Maddie where are you" unintentionally coincided with the news of the disappearance of the child Madeleine McCann.
  • Season 3 of The Master Chief Collection (which is Halo 3: ODST themed) was originally planned to include an unlockable nameplate depicting a police lightbar, based on the role the NMPD plays in the campaign. It was cut from the final version out of sensitivity to real-world controversies surrounding policing in the wake of the George Floyd protests at the time of release in September 2020.
• Follow the Leader: "Firefight" mode is Halo's version of Gears of War's "Horde" mode, which many other shooter games have also adopted.
• In Memoriam: The ONI memorial found in ONI Alpha Site features Brian Morden among its names; he co-founded the halo.bungie.org fansite in 1999, and voiced a Marine in Halo: Combat Evolved ("The Autumn! She's been hit!"). He passed away at the age of 19 in 2003.
• Pre-Order Bonus: Preordering the game in 2009 from select retailers granted a code to unlock Sergeant Johnson for the Firefight game mode. It was Permanently Missable Content until the Master Chief Collection allowed anyone to unlock him in Season 3.
• Working Title: Halo 3: Recon. The original trailer featured that title before being changed to ODST. According to Marty O'Donnell, the switch was made because Ubisoft reneged on letting them use it; they owned the Ghost Recon licensed trademark.
• You All Look Familiar: Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, and Adam Baldwin all played generic Marines in Halo 3, with Fillion in particular playing the Recurring Extra Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds.

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