They're not doing a very good job convincing us that the ODSTs still matter when the series' flagship ODST icon is turned into yet another Spartan IV.

Also, I'd been hoping they'd left that "Spartan is your rank" nonsense in Initiation. It's kind of perverse seeing career marines like Buck get stripped of their hard-earned ranks in the name of "equality" or whatever (but I like how Buck at least calls them out on the hypocrisy of that). The presence of a clear chain of command is a basic requirement for an organized military force and Spartans are supposed to be as military as they come. The "no ranks" policy also has no precedent in the S-IIs or IIIs, so where did it come from and why would anyone thing it was a good idea?