Halo

I "Believe" this is getting out of hand

mike — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:16:40 GMT

This is on the verge of taking it too far. It's beginning to get funny.

Halo 3: Done

mike — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 03:50:15 GMT

Don't read on if you don't want spoilers.

I finished the game today. Story-wise, I don't know what to think. I wasn't really satisfied or convinced that everything got wrapped up in this game. At the end of the game, Cortana and Lord Hood acknowledge closure to the war with the Covenant and the fight against the Flood. It seems strange that just because the Prophet of Truth was killed that the Covenant is no more. I mean, all the Brutes left fighting didn't decide to just leave the fight, did they? What about all those Grunts and Jackals? And how is it that the Flood are gone just because they were destroyed on the Ark and on the new Halo ring? The Flood on those structures got there by way of High Charity. I find it hard to believe that there were no other Flood left anywhere else.

Arguably, because Truth was killed, the Covenant has no leader or voice left to carry on their delusional beliefs and give direction. And the Covenant supposedly glassed the area of Earth that the Flood occupied. Thus, my two gripes are possibly refuted. But it just felt like Bungie asked me to take a few leaps (or small jumps) of faith on some of the story elements. Suddenly the Covenant and Flood were "dead" and I felt like the Master Chief only solved a part of those problems.

As for the "mini cliffhanger" ending, who knows. I got the impression from this article that Bungie doesn't intend to focus on Halo again. That's just the conclusion I drew from that article, but others may feel differently. Aside from Halo Wars, if Bungie or Microsoft decides to use the Halo universe in a game story in the future, I doubt it could ever be as big as the Halo trilogy, and I hope they don't expect it to be. There shouldn't be a Halo 4: people are going to be bored with the same, continuing storyline, and do we really need another makeover of Halo multiplayer (ok, the multiplayer angle is a little off-topic). I'd be fine with another game that continue's the Master Chief's story, but I'd rather not see it under the Halo name.

So what is that blue light shining over the horizon of that dark planet at the end of Halo 3 (in the Legendary ending)? What is that dark planet? My only idea is that it's related to the "planet" Onyx in the Ghosts of Onyx novel, or that it's something else Forerunner-related. Which actually brings up another point - at the end of Ghosts of Onyx, Halsey and other Spartans were transported to another world of safety... did they end up at the Ark before it was destroyed? If so, did they get off of the Ark before it was destroyed? I sense a few additional Halo novels in the works....

What about other elements of Halo 3 besides the story? It was a blast to play. The environments were awesome and the battles were excellent. I actually enjoyed fighting those damn Brute packs. In H2, it was a grindfest to get through the damn game. In H3, it was more like "hell yeah" when you saw 8 Brutes waiting for you - and one of them had a BFH.

You know what I really missed though? Fighting against Elites. It was such a staple in H1 and H2. The n00b combo wasn't an effective tool this time around against the main enemy class.

Next, I'll be digging around Bnet and HBO to learn a little more about the story. Maybe some of the gaps that left me a little unsatisfied will be filled. And maybe some light will be shed on the ending...

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Go Fishing in Halo 3

mike — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:28:42 GMT

Pick up high explosives at your local bait shop first.

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Halo 3 Multiplayer Tips - halo3basics.com

mike — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:08:05 GMT

You know it had to be done!

www.halo3basics.com

The site is a compilation of basic strategies and tactics you can employ in Halo 3 multiplayer to get better at the game.

Now that Halo 3 through XBox live supports "saved films", I hope to include some video examples on the site some day in the future.

For those of you looking closely, Halo3Basics.com looks very similar to the old Halo2Basics.com (which no longer exists). This is true, and in fact much of the content base from Halo2Basics was used for Halo3Basics. Thanks to those who helped provide content suggestions for Halo2Basics.com - your credit is given on the new site (although I haven't finalized the list of folks who have helped out - please be patient).

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Halo 3 Pre-Launch Party

mike — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:02:05 GMT

Last night was a Halo 3 pre-launch party at the Microsoft office in Bloomington. Jason invited me, and he also allowed me to bring along one other person, so I invited Raymond to come too. There were six consoles going all at once, each with 4-person games going on. There were more people than there were controllers (maybe 75 people?), but folks were really good about getting up after a game and letting other people play. They handed out some gifts (t-shirts, hats, posters) and provided food and drinkies.

They also organized a Slayer tournament, and somehow I managed to get 3rd place. I don't know how many people in total played in the tournament - maybe 40? I'm sure I wasn't the 3rd-best player. I just got lucky with the Gravity Hammer in the 2nd round :) There were a lot of "kids" there last night (children of Microsoft employees, etc), and after the first two rounds there were a couple of dads who came up to me and said "Hey! You beat my kid!". All in good fun of course. It was fun.

Thoughts on the game? Well, Halo 3 multiplayer is still Halo multiplayer. But there are enough new goodies baked in to the game now that will keep players interested for a long time. New maps, vehicles, weapons and creative use of items like the bubble shields and trip mines keep the game fresh. I didn't get a chance to play around with Forge or saved films, but I didn't expect to in such a large group of attendees.

The best map? I only played a handful: High Ground, Snowbound, Epitaph, Last Resort, Isolation, and one that I think was called "Narrows". For Slayer, I thought Epitaph was great. Kind of a small/medium size with the hammer in the middle and rocket goodness hidden high up.

The beast weapon? There is no best weapon, but I'm an immediate fan of the dual-wielded Spikers for some reason. I just can't get the hang of the Spartan Laser. Otherwise, if you can find the assault rifle in combination with the battle rifle and a supply of grenades, you can win any game.

Here's to the new (and last) era of the Halo games!

UPDATE:Jason just posted a few pictures: http://jasonbock.net/JB/Default.aspx?...

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XBox and Halo 3 Woes

mike — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 18:19:29 GMT

I have fallen victim to the 33% failure rate of the XBox 360. Last night my games kept freezing, and I saw the red ring of death once. This morning I was on the phone with XBox 360 support, and the red ring re-appeared and the games kept freezing while we were troubleshooting.

Most importantly, through troubleshooting, we ruled out the game(s) and hard drive as the problem. The console by itself is busted. Now I can't even get the "boot up" screen to show up (although the audio works).

The good news: I'm covered under the warranty and Microsoft will pay the bill for everything, including shipping to a repair center.

The bad news: it takes 3-4 weeks to get your console back. Not good timing for the September 25th Halo 3 release date. It's too close to call. I may very well be without a console when the game releases.

Flickr Tags: xbox broken halo

New Halo 3 Screenies

mike — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:45:56 GMT

Some new screenshots from Halo 3 are available over at EW.com: EW.com: First Look: Halo 3.

Seems that every gaming publication now has an article titled "First Look: Halo 3". Heh. Anyway, these new screenies show off a little bit of the Elephant vehicle, the map "Shrine", and 4-player campaign co-op (with mention of campaign multiplayer scoring). Included in the series of screenies are some older ones too that were available on b.net a while back.

The Elephant and Forge in Halo 3

mike — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 21:06:18 GMT

I haven't really kept up with pre-launch Halo 3 news lately, and today I came across two nuggets of H3 goodness:

1. The Elephant. I don't know any specifics at all, other than a) it is a vehicle and 2) you can fit 16 players + some small vehicles in it.

The Elephant

2. Forge. There will be a map "editor" called Forge. You can't actually design levels with it, but you can highly customize weapons, vehicles, and items within the maps. e.g. create a giant pile of fusion cores or something.

I found both of these pieces of information in this article.

Halo 3 Beta Impressions

mike — Sun, 20 May 2007 14:33:29 GMT

I've played about a dozen games of the Halo 3 Beta (sorry basement - you'll just have to wait a few more days for painting to start up again), and this is what I think so far.

First, I think Bungie realized they had a hit with the Zanzibar map in Halo 2. Zanzibar had big spaces and small spaces, a unique layout, and lots of interesting features. Two out of the three Beta maps (Valhalla and High Ground) have the offense/defense setup, and both of them have complex and fun terrain. Valhalla is cool because the terrain is natural (it's set in an open area at the foot of some mountains). It's a big open space with all kinds of boulders, slopes, and valleys to use to your advantage. High Ground is also pretty large - and it's kind of like a canyon with a lot of man-made structures built in to it. There is no shortage of interesting features on High Ground. Lots of open space for long-distance battles and lots of interior spaces for close combat.

One challenge that I haven't remembered since the first days of Halo 2 was that everything in the new maps feels very foreign. I have no idea where any weapons are that I want, and I never really know how to get from point A to point B very well. This is especially true in High Ground. While the unfamiliarity of the maps makes it challenging to do well in the games, it also keeps things fresh for the time being.

In the pregame lobby, you now have the ability to veto the auto-selected game type and map. If a majority of the matched players veto the game, then a new map and gametype will be generated for you. What's interesting is that I've never seen a game on Valhalla or High Ground vetoed. The third map, Snowbound, gets vetoed pretty often. I'd guess that at least two people veto it every time. By Halo 2 standards, Snowbound is a pretty cool map (complex terrain/paths, open/closed spaces, etc). For some reason people just don't like it. I'm curious to see what Bungie does with their Beta feedback and whether or not they do anything (or remove) with Snowbound.

There are some fun new weapons in Halo 3. I've become attached to the dual-wielded Spiker pairs. They seem to be a great close-combat weapon. With only one, they don't seem as effective, although I haven't really tried a melee attack with one yet (it has a blade on the end so I wonder if it does more damage). The Spartan Laser is a blast (pun intended). I guess I'd describe it as an insta-rocket-launcher. When it fires, it creates an explosion where it hits. There a bit of a delay though from when you start squeezing the trigger - and that balances things out and doesn't give the weapon's wielder too much of an advantage. I've also come across a grenade launcher on Valhalla. It's different from the old Brute Shot in that it has a longer range. You know - I guess I can't say for sure that it's a grenade launcher as the explosions from my shots have always been far away, so I really don't know what it's doing on the receiving end. Your chracter walks really slow and kind of limps while carrying it though - which in itself makes it cool to carry.

The new ATV (I forget the name of it) is just plain fun. You can stack a few teammates on it and zip around, or launch it off of the man cannons. It's used purely for transportation but is fun to goof around with. I've noticed that the ATV slows down when you hit it with plasma weapons (e.g. the carbine or plasma pistol). I also read somewhere that vehicles' engines are harmed by plasma. Interesting.

If you've been watching the Halo 3 vidocs or trailers then you know that there is a new "bubble shield" you can use. There is also a power drainer and a mini launch pad you can pick up. To use these items after you pick them up, you press the X button. The items are pretty rare. I've found that once I pick one up, I completely forget that I have it. It's probably because those items didn't exist in H1 or H2. The bubble shield is pretty cool and definitely adds a unique dimension to the game. If you have it, you can throw it down to protect yourself and recharge while your enemy is pursuing you. By the time they walk in to your bubble, you'll probably be re-charged and you can continue fighting. There are also these weird "force field doors" that you can walk through, but no weapon or grenade can penetrate them. Makes for very interesting battles on each side of them :)

Last, there is the concept of "films". This is the ability to save the footage of your last game you played for later. You can also download any film that another player has saved. It's a pretty cool feature - especially for viewing the videos of good players to see what they are doing after they've totlly owned you in a game. And of course, the H3 montage and compilation video makers will love this feature.

That's about it. The beta only goes for another couple of weeks, and frankly I don't know how much more I'll play it since there are only three maps to play on. They're fun, but it's getting to be the same old thing. Plus, only a few of my other "friends" have the Beta, so there aren't a lot of people really enjoying it at the same time right now.

See you online in September!

tags: halo beta videogame xbox

H3 Stats

mike — Fri, 18 May 2007 19:01:33 GMT

I just checked out my stats from the Halo 3 games I played last night, and I must say that the new features Bungie is putting into their stats pages are impressive. The two best features are:

For a single game, when you hover over your most-used weapon in the list of players (the "Breakdown" tab), a window pops up showing you ALL of the weapons that you used to kill with.
Over all games, you can view your overall kill/death ratio.

I'm not sure if this page is publicly viewable to non-Passport or non-XBox Live folks, but here is what I'm talking about: game stats

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