My interest in Odyssey stems from my overall affection for Horizons. Separate the on-foot stuff from Elite core, and then Odyssey becomes much less inspiring IMO. There are WAY better shooters that have been around a long time now. I would argue the original Mass Effect 2 and 3 on my PS3 are much better than Odyssey at the moment (again, looking at Odyssey as a separate entity rather than expanding Horizons gameplay).
Disclaimer - this argument is based on screenshots, videos, and reviews of others.
The on foot derping around in settlements reminds me very much of a stripped down version of Cyberpunk 2077, where there are these large structures with interconnected systems which you can approach and exploit in a bunch of situationally contingent ways. It’s a lot simpler and more self-contained than the systems in Cyberpunk, but the overall “feel” of carrying out an operation in a settlement really reminds me of those random warehouses and strip mall side missions you would stumble across in Cyberpunk.
The NPC bullet sponges plus largely illegible stealth mechanics and lots of high jumping around NPCs who just stand there on the ground hucking grenades at you is also probably why it feels so similar.
Compare this to Mass Effect 2, where really all you ever do is move mostly linearly from room to room, triggering unavoidable setpiece battles in closed off arenas from which you can neither circumvent nor retreat, with an emphasis on squad positioning and synergies of cooldown powers to literally mow down everything while gradually advancing forward from one piece of cover to the next. It’s a narrow in focus and frequently frenetically engaging, but its “push forward into the unknown against all resistance” structure is such a different thing from the “here is your target: get in, do the thing, get out, and report back” setup that Odyssey uses.
I never felt like the weapons in ME2 had a lot of visual or tactile oomph, and most of the time you were quick-switching between different damage types to whittle down shields vs armor vs health, so there
is some similarity to EDO in that regard, I guess.
Depending on what you are into, this could be thought of as either a good review or a bad review. Personally, I like it quite a bit so far,
for what it is. The problem is that this is pretty much the whole Odyssey update. The big difference between ME2 and EDO’s shooting gameplay is that Mass Effect had a whole huge amazing roleplaying adventure game built around it, full of character interactions, unique locations, and specific stakes and purpose to everything you do. EDO meanwhile is a continually regenerating randomized todo list mission-creator with no purpose or meaning behind it, and absolutely NOTHING else.
