tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55736013912601688872024-03-07T04:09:45.487-05:00Official UNSCDF BlogThis is the official blog of the Halo fansite, UNSCDF. Here you will find all of the Staff's daily ramblings, complaints, praises and more. Enjoy!Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-53134817813536391612007-12-26T17:19:00.000-05:002007-12-26T18:32:20.858-05:00Hard Core.With the recent playlist update, Bungie introduced (or rather, re-introduced, from Halo 2) the new Team Hardcore playlist.<br /><br />Now, people ranging from devout fans of MLG to regular joes who like to use the Battle Rifle can enjoy this new "hard core" gametype. While regular Slayer is thrown into the mix every once in a while, you'll usually encounter either Flag, Bomb, or Oddball gametypes. And that's not a bad thing. In my recent play sessions I've found that the objective gametypes are the most fun to play with this playlist. Regular Slayer can get boring relatively quickly on the select few maps Hardcore offers. Or maybe that's just me.<br /><br />Since its initial outing, Bungie's updated the playlist again, adding in Team Oddball to the mix. Which is, on Guardian at least, insanely fun. Makes Guardian feel just a little more like Lockout.<br /><br />So, <strong><em>I</em></strong> love the playlist, but what are others reactions to it? Well, generally people aren't too happy. Bungie had setup a thread on their forum requesting people give suggestions as to what should go into the playlist. Most of which appear to have been more or less, ignored. This has angered some, while others are angry because of the playlist itself. To them, the two main problems with the playlist are either: it's not like the Halo 2 Hardcore playlist or, it's not like Major League Gaming's current Halo 3 settings. Either way, the majority of people out there aren't happy with the new list.<br /><br />That being said they've failed to realize that this thing is definitely a work-in-progress. Heck, in less than a week Bungie added in Team Oddball (and probably something else, that's just all I've noticed). So some of the changes these people want made into the game may come to pass anyway. So their comments like, "bungie sux", "ima break my hallo 3 disc an go play COD4" come across as arrogant and childish. It's barely been a freakin' week yet people!<br /><br />So my message to those bashing the new playlist is: either lighten up and deal with it while waiting for it to evolve, or GO PLAY WITH MLG SETTINGS YOURSELF. <br /><br />/end semi-rantMajor Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-37952483328923911932007-12-02T13:22:00.000-05:002007-12-02T13:29:55.920-05:00We need your HELP, If anyone's still reading that is.<span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">(<span style="font-size:85%;">This post was originally an email I sent to the staff today, but per recommendation, I'm letting any fans we still have see it as well. Post your thoughts in the Comments and let us know what YOU think of the situation.)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">Let's just get started with it. The site, in its current state, is a bust.</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;"><br />Although there's no way for me (or anyone, outside of CK) to check, there are other ways to tell. Tell what, you ask? - that no one's visiting the site. Heck, the staff aren't really on too often. And I know what our problem is. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">We've found a "niche", just like Wu said in our interview with him. But, there's a problem. Our "niche", is too "nichey". A small segment of the Halo crowd is interested in story. An even smaller segment actively visits the Halo Story Page on HBO. And an even smaller segment visits anything outside of that. We've gotten good responses from HBO forum members in regards to our articles.. but again, that's an extremely small segment. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">We have nobody on the forum (staff or otherwise), we have no emails from "fans", and we sure as hell ain't one of the Halo sites people visit daily like HBO is. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">We hit it pretty big last year after the FF Contest, but with that fame we had a problem. We couldn't figure out how to keep the momentum going. We got a large amount of new members on the forum, had daily emails from people, and generally were relatively popular. But we had no way to "feed" them. Part of the problem was CK still being considered the "Administrator"; nobody wanted to act without his "consul", but when he never responded, we just let our ideas die. So, we went in to a state of non-activity, saying we were "recovering from the contest". </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">And that's where we got hurt the most. We had nothing from the end of October to the end of December - when our big ""Holiday, Send-2006-Out-With-A-Bang-And-Not-A-Whimper" article bonanza finally hit. Too bad hardly anyone had stuck around to see it after near two months of inactivity. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">We had a HUGE opportunity to get some people back this year, which was in our then-secret Frankie interview. HBO would've covered it, Planet Halo would've covered it, etc. But Frank didn't delivered the goods. So we did what we always do - sit, and wait for him to reply. By that time, anyone who was still visiting.. stopped visiting. To them, we clearly didn't have our game up anymore; only a handful of articles, couple interviews, but massive problems with the site with our page rearranging, combined with our lack of fulfilling promises. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">That Frankie interview could've put us back on the map for some, while also bringing in a lot of newcomers to the site as a whole. But he forgot. Or something. And now here we are, truly dead in the eyes of anyone who went to that one site called UNSC-something. So, what to do?<br /><br />I think it's clear we that we have only a few options we could go forward with: </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">1) Totally ditch the current site format, and go with something a little more "popular" to the "Halo crowd" (which would be the grammatically inaccurate XBL Halo crowd, no doubt).<br />2) Heavily promote the site.<br />3) Mix in some newer content with the old.<br />4) Leave. Everyone either quits or goes to another site.<br />5) Get something "Big" to happen again. Contest? Major Interview? We'd need something big. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">This has been bugging me, and that's why there's no WU and no comic on Friday. So.. any response to the situation would be appreciated. We need something, because right now I feel I'm just posting news and updates for Google Bots. </span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">Post a Comment if you still visit the site! Anonymous comments are ALLOWED!</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000000;">~MS</span>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-28856923743203640552007-09-04T15:01:00.000-05:002007-09-04T15:25:56.345-05:00"The Wait is KILLING ME!", a Guide to Easing the Wait Until Halo 3Halo 3 is just three short weeks away, and to many it may as well be three <em>years</em> away. So, to those of you who have uttered the phrase above, here are 5 easy ways to help stave off your hunger for Halo 3.<br /><div align="center"><span style="color:#3333ff;">____________________________________________</span></div><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;"><strong>1)</strong></span> Don't think about it! Go about your daily life without thinking about the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds until launch. Putting it at the back of your mind will allow you to both A) Focus on "real" work, and B) Stop you from going crazy.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;"><strong>2)</strong></span> Play the other two! So you can't play Halo 3 yet - who cares! If you have the previous two Halo games, there's nothing better than sitting back and enjoying the past while you wait for the future. Hate Halo 2? Pop in Halo 1 and try some of <a href="http://freespace.virgin.net/bad.cyborg/index.html"><span style="color:#3333ff;">this stuff</span></a> after you've beaten the campaign for a little more to do.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;"><strong>3)</strong></span> Get off of the Internet! Obviously when it comes to a Halo game, the internet is not a great place to be when nearing launch. Leaks plagued Halo 2 three years ago, and now threaten Halo 3. And with the risk of Halo 3 <em>itself </em>getting leaked (being that it's gone gold and is now out in the wild to manufacturers' hands), staying away from possible spoilers and coverage of the game is a good idea. Even if you intentionally avoid leaks.. just gaming websites' coverage (or even Bungie.net teases) of the game leading to launch can be maddening. <strong>Especially</strong> if it's a "<em>hands on report</em>" - jerks.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">4)</span></strong> Don't count the days! Counting the days until release can just make the time until launch seem that much longer. If you really have to count anything at all, try either counting just the weeks until launch. Or if you're a day person, just count the school/work days and leave out weekends and/or holidays. Those always fly by anyway.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">5)</span></strong> Work on a website! Ok, so this one is pretty much the exact opposite of number 3, but it sure works! This doesn't have to mean doing admin work on a site like ours; this could also apply to fan content. Wallpapers, artwork, fan-fiction, machinima, etc. All take a tremendous amount of time and work - time and work that distract you from the release of Halo 3. Definitely better than going cold turkey if you're a fanatic like much of the staff on the site are, and in the end you're actually accomplishing something others can enjoy!<br /><div align="center"><span style="color:#3333ff;">____________________________________________<br /></span></div><div align="center"><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><span style="color:#3333ff;"></span></div><div align="left">Doing some or all of the above tactics can help ease the painful wait until Halo 3, and make the few weeks left until launch just fly by. Or, you can ignore all of our suggestions and twiddle your thumbs until release and count every second that goes by just because that's one second closer to Halo 3. Sorry, but I'm just gonna stick to the above!<br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">If you have a time-passer/suggestion you'd like to see added, leave it in the comments!<br /></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">~MS </div>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-13741910042927832992007-07-20T18:48:00.000-05:002007-07-20T18:53:49.757-05:00The Great Halo 3 DebateHalo 3's development has been controversial in many ways. Not because of some "Hot Food Nipple" sort of situation, but more because of some changes Bungie has made to the game that could be considered as "odd". New controls, somewhat "weak" graphics, the addition of points in the game; all have been pretty controversial moves, with people siding on both sides of the fence on each topic.<br /><br />This Blog entry is here to give the perspective of someone on both the positive and negative side of the game that is Halo 3. LoneRanger's the uppity "everything will turn out fine guys, yay!" guy, while I play the grouchy uncle.<br /><br />Enjoy, and don't forget to post your thoughts on Halo 3's development in the comments!<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Campaign</span></strong><br /><br /><strong>Concerns:</strong><br /><br />Halo 2. For many, its campaign was a huge letdown due to many unwanted, and possibly unneeded additions. Boss battles, forcing players to play as another character (heresy!), and the tight ride-the-rails linearity of the game are just a few examples of what people disliked about the game.<br /><br />Halo: Combat Evolved, on the other hand, was just the opposite. Vast levels with branching paths, the feeling that you're a lone warrior saving the human race from total annihalation, and the awesome twist about midway through with the addition of the Flood (hope I didn't spoil it for anyone). Halo 2, in almost every way, doesn't live up to the pedigree Halo 1 set.<br /><br />That leads us to Halo 3. From what I've seen so far of the game, it's a mix of both. We've seen both the vast open landscapes of Halo: CE, and the tight city streets and alley ways that made up the very first parts of Halo 2. Along with.. a Jungle? It's obvious Bungie is incorporating settings that appeal to both fans of Halo 2's Metropolis as well as Halo 1's Assault on the Control Room alike, while also throwing in some new environments to sift through.<br /><br />Although, the question still remains, <em>will it be fun to play</em>?<br /><br />In short, I believe it will up the fun factor slightly from Halo 2, but won't be anywhere near what Halo: Combat Evolved presented. Halo 2 was fun, don't get me wrong, but it didn't make you feel when you were playing it. In Halo: CE, with vast vistas you explore, "quiet" immersive moments, and the feeling of discovery as you tredge through the Guilty Spark swamp are not going to be replicated in Halo 3. Sure, Bungie's trying to get that with having huge outdoor environments, but I just can't help but think that the feeling it will radiate is nothing more than Halo 2.5. Vast? Yes. Emotion-inducing? More than likely not.<br /><br />That isn't to say it won't be fun to play. The game is bound to be fun and immersive. But will it be the same fun and immersive feeling that kept you playing Halo: CE years after its release (especially this guy [link to Bad Cyborg])? I'm thinking no. Not to rain on Bungie's parade or anything. I'm just trying to keep my expectations for the game ultra-low to best capitalize on the wow-factor when I first play it. Unless it sucks, of course.<br /><br />I just don't see Bungie giving us the same kind of feeling we got with Halo: CE with Halo 3. They're trying to bring back some of the vets by saying, "Hey, there's as many characters on screen as Halo 1", or "Hey, look, the old pistol is back *kinda*, and look, it's the AR!". Those things are fine, and definitely a step up from Halo 2, but having them just for the sake of making it look like the original? Not cool.<br /><br />Thoughts?<br /><br /><strong>Un-Cerns:</strong><br /><br />To start off on slightly agreeable terms, I agree with the boss battles comment and the lack of open level design. However, I loved the inclusion of the Arbiter. He had a great story, and definitely added a new edge to the storyline.<br /><br />That doesn't stop me from believing his part was poorly executed. The philosophy of "you're not the only saviour" (Personified by the final level) was an excellent point to get across, but his role suffered doubly from Halo 2's plague: linear level design.<br /><br />I'm willing to concede that part of this was due to the fact that they basically had to rework the game 10 months before launch, but it seems to me that the simple logic behind the decision was flawed.<br /><br />Bungie seems to have taken a look at games like Call of Duty and said "Wow! We can convey so much through scripted sequences!" The problem is that Halo acts as an anti-Call of Duty. The original's wide open environments and sense of mystery embodied what the Xbox could do, and what Bungie wanted to see from future shooters.<br /><br />There was certainly flawed logic that came with the already-mentiond sequel, but I've got a feeling they'll redeem themselves with Halo 3. Why? They're bringing that mystery back. Watch the announcement trailer and listen to the questions that instantly flow through your mind. Watch the E3 trailer, or even the commercial, and listen to those questions.<br />I never got that feeling from Halo 2.<br /><br />More than simple gameplay, I think that the feeling is what made the original game so great, and what made Halo 2 so... not as great.<br /><br />To bow down to your topic though, I do think we'll see a return to the original format. The scene that closed out the E3 2007 trailer sold me on, not only the feeling, but the scale of the enviornment.<br /><br />To hit the final piece, I seriously disagree with the idea that Bungie is posing. They have good reasons to make those weapons the way they are (In some cases, the way they aren't). It all seems natural again.<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Multiplayer</span></strong><br /><br /><strong>Concerns:</strong><br /><br />I've played the Beta, and know what to expect with Halo 3 multiplayer. And let me just say this. It is by far the most fun I have ever had playing with others, in a game.<br /><br />From its robust online features, to the vast array of customizeable options, to the sort-of-kind-of map editor Forge, it's goin to be a hoot. I have no real complaints about it whatsoever. I would've liked that EVA armor to be Spartan-III armor instead, making it the first novel-to-game nod we've seen in the Halo franchise thus far, but I can live without it.<br /><br />But I could do without all of the aforementioned material just for Saved Films. Seriously, this could be as fun or more fun than actually playing a game. And, better yet, me and my high-speed internet-less self can still use the feature! It'll be awesome to just sit back and use a flycam to go through a single player map as the carnage I wreaked a day, a month, or even a year ago unfolds below. The best feature to any FPS over the last five years, no doubt.<br /><br />Sure, the old pistol still isn't back, but at least we have a slower firing look alike, right? Meh. At least it looks like it :).<br /><br /><strong>Un-Cerns:</strong><br /><br />Yeah, but... you know... Hey, what about... Eh, can't argue with any of your points. Except for the fact that I'm glad the old pistol didn't make it back to the front.<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Graphics</span></strong><br /><br /><strong>Concerns:</strong><br /><br />Halo 3 is supposed to be the third and final Halo game in this story arc. So, why does it look like a Halo 2.5? Don't get me wrong, it looks next gen, just not mind-blowingly gorgeous like I and many thought it would turn out to be. Heck, even the E3 announcement trailer is looking better than what we've seen of it recently.<br /><br />I think the most beautiful thing about Halo 3 that I've seen so far is the lighting. HDR baby -- "God rays", as Frankie calls them. Textures are high resolution, but do not contain the super-high detail of a game like, say Gears of War has. We're not seeing the vast amount of repeating textures that were rampant in the previous two games (though that wasn't really a problem, in my eyes).<br /><br />Real time reflection on objects in the game is nice, but when weapon details and textures look distinctly last-gen, it's hard to point at the game as a whole and say "this is what next gen Halo is supposed to look like". Like I said, the lighting is probably the most next-gen aspect of the game, making a shot that would normally look bland suddenly look absolutely gorgeous.<br /><br />But a few lighting tricks don't make the graphics anywhere near a "ten" in my mind.<br /><br /><strong>Un-Cerns:</strong><br /><br />Halo has its own, unique art style. That art style is not something that can be easily ported over to higher technology. I believe they managed to successfully accomplish this feat.<br /><br />Coming out of the behind-closed-doors, the main reaction from those who saw it is the way the light interacts with the environment. That isn't much, but it makes you realize that Bungie isn't trying to blind us with how pretty Ground Texture #7,777 is in comparison to Ground Texture #343.<br /><br />I like the subtlety they're bringing to the next generation. I've seen far too many games that rely on gore and overdramatic lighting (I'm looking at you, Epic) to convey the experience of throwing a grenade.<br /><br />It isn't necessary, and it isn't immersive. Those kind of things kill a game for me.<br />Making an example out of what we did see, let's look at the color palette. I've yet to see a game use every color in the rainbow successfully. But when I saw that last scene in the E3 2007 trailer, I didn't care that the grass on Valhalla didn't look that much better than the grass on Blood Gulch.<br /><br />I was there, I was caring for the characters. There wasn't the distraction of red pudding strewn across the screen. Halo 3 is, seemingly, a character-driven game.<br />The art style is wrangling-in the epic environments, and making the entire thing a more intimate experience.<br /><br />That's the kind of game I want from the next-generation. It's ignorant to think that better technology makes Game X better than Game Y. I wish developers would stop thinking of that philosophy as the right one. When they do that, we'll be able to drop the term "next-gen", and start accepting the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 as consoles that have been set on the right path.<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">The "Is Bungie Handling It Right" Factor</span></strong><br /><br /><strong>Concerns:</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />What. The. Hell.<br /><br />I never thought I would utter those words in reference to a Halo game. But, I just did. And do you want to know why? One phrase. Meta-games.<br /><br />Bungie is apparently trying to make the Halo series we all know and love into nothing more than an arcade game from the 80's with the inclusion of "points" into the series. Kill a Grunt? Awesome, you get 100 points! A Brute? Oh, that's worth a few more. We first heard reference to metagames in the released Achievement list, but didn't fully understand what they were. That is, until now.<br /><br />With the EGM magazine scans, all was revealed. The game will play normally, but will evidently have rankings for the number of points you receive in a level. I still don't understand the full concept of metagames, but hearing "points" referred to in respect to a Halo game? Yeah, doesn't sit right.<br /><br />I have no idea whatsoever why Bungie would even think of putting something like this in the game, something fans have never mentioned, let alone said they wanted. All the while Bungie doesn't give us stuff we did want for the sequel. The old pistol? Nope. And I my view of bringing the pistol back wasn't even close to a "direct port" (they could've easily toned down the power of the scoped pistol for multiplayer, to balance it out more) of the original. They could've just as easily put the old pistol back in with a scope and slower firing rate than the Magnum, but they opted to put in a similar looking variant that fires super slow, doesn't have a scope, and is even weaker than Halo 2's pistol. All of this taken together, it's somewhat of a joke. So.. why even include it?<br /><br />A few other examples of my skepticism toward Bungie are with the Plasma Pistol and Banshee. Namely, they've been nerfed. Humm.. don't like the cheap aspect of the Plasma Pistol in Halo 2? Ok, we'll make it the most useless weapon in the game! Banshee overpowered? Oh, I know, we'll take out its trademark feature. Nobody needs to look down, do they? Now, the Banshee needed to be adjusted, especially since the Rocket Launcher no longer tracks in on targets as in Halo 2, but totally stripping away what makes it unique? I don't agree with that.<br /><br />As for the Plasma Pistol.. it hasn't been right since Halo 1. There's absolutely no power behind it, and there hasn't been since it was introduced six years ago. The sound of it nowadays, the transparancy of the bolts, the lack of any real damage. It all adds up to being the most useless weapon in the Halo series yet. There's really no point in picking it up anymore, even with the overcharge, now that its tracking has been reduced. It's a lost cause.<br /><br />Overall I'm very skeptical about how Bungie has handled Halo 3 thus far. I'm sure I'll love it, but I just don't think it will live up to the original. The multiplayer is seeming more like Unreal Tournament (though that's not necessarily a bad thing, do we really need giant mobile bases?), while the single player seems like it's been handed off to a third party in some respects with some of the changes we've witnessed.<br /><br />Overall I guess I'll just say.. I'm a skeptic.<br /><br /><strong>Un-Cerns:</strong><br /><br />The meta-game is simply something to do after you've demolished the game to the point where you only need a few more achievements to round out the 1000-point mark.<br /><br />I don't have a problem with it. The same kind of thing was in Human Head's video game Prey. Ultimately, it was just a distraction and actually immersed you into the world more.<br />As for the pistol, we still don't technically know how they're handling it. It's still an unknown factor at this point. They could have done anything to it.<br /><br />It is a pistol though. Gears had an amazing pistol, the bad thing is that it was as powerful as the shotgun, and could fire longer distances. The funny thing is that, it's so hard to see something move in that game, it didn't unbalance the multiplayer.<br /><br />The plasma pistol is, and always has been, a secondary weapon. In Halo 3, it's encouraged to be as much.<br /><br />Imagine that a warthog is barreling toward you. You switch to the PP, fire a round into the engine disabling it, toss a grenade into the driver's seat, and then finish off the stragglers with your Assault Rifle.<br /><br />Not every weapon has to be utterly devastating to be considered powerful. The Plasma Pistol is a situation-based purveyor of looming destruction.<br /><br />Onto your words regarding the Banshee, I've had no problems with the thing. First off, it's really freakin' pretty. Secondly, it balances itself out.<br /><br />So, you can't aim straight down. But you can perform a round-a-bout, get behind your target, and let loose the fires of dawn.<br /><br />When handled properly, the Banshee becomes a very powerful assett.<br /><br /><br /><strong>To be continued?</strong><br /><br />There's always the possibility that we will continue this argument as time goes on and more is revealed about the game. Or heck, maybe even after Halo 3's released and everybody hates it :).<br /><br />Your thoughts?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">~Major Silva</span></strong>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-52587297074168269262007-05-23T18:54:00.000-05:002007-05-23T19:09:34.036-05:00Best Halo 3 Beta Montage.. That I've Seen At LeastI love the Halo 3 Beta, you know that (and likely many of you are playing it right now). And while searching on YouTube for any new videos, I came across one of these "montage" things a few people evidently put out there every year or so (meh, who knows). Apparently someone made one using various clips from countless Halo 3 Beta games he was a part of. Now, I wouldn't be mentioning this normally, but under two circumstances I feel it should be noted.<br /><br />One, it rocks, and is probably the best song+timing+gameplay Beta montage I've seen so far. The song, entitled "<em>Phenomenon</em>" can describe both his gameplay, yes, but I took it with also describing just the huge popularity of the Halo franchise in general. The Halo games have really sprung forth just this huge frenzy of newfound love for Bungie and the Xbox consoles. It truly is a "phenomenon".<br /><br />And two, I'll use this to announce an upcoming effort of the UNSCDF to provide you with Beta coverage in the form of staff-made videos we will put up on the site (and probably have a YouTube link for you quick-and-dirty types, like me :) ). On top of that, you'll probably find some analysis on the actual Beta coming in the same section (will appear under "Features" when this is finalized). So, look for more info on that in this week's Weekly Update<br /><br />No, onto the video!<br /><br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vbjuzuPJCCo"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vbjuzuPJCCo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />For cereal.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;">~Major Silva</span>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-83004476974149708522007-05-18T18:51:00.000-05:002007-05-18T19:30:17.842-05:00Halo 3 Beta.. Wow. Just.. wow.I apologize for my less than stellar writing in this new blog post, but after playing Halo 3 for over two hours now, my heads still buzzing.<br /><br />To start off.. let me just say this is by far the most fun I have had on my 360 in the past, oh, I don't know -- EVER. Bungie, I heart you. The little time I had to wait after the Crackdown debacle greatly outweighs just how awesome this thing is. I'm not going to write up a huge post, being that I don't feel I've spent <em>that </em>much time with the game to come to any real conclusions. So, I'll just highlight a few things.<br />__________________________<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;"><strong>Likes:</strong></span><br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">--</span> The MA5C assault rifle. Seriously. It's not an overpowered spawn weapon, but it can really hold its own in a fight. Although to this date I haven't really taken Frankie's advice and fired short controlled bursts...<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">--</span> Equipment. Nearly all are useful and at the same time a joy to use. Using the Grav Lift on High Ground, for example, to toss grenades up on two bridge-campers and watching them go flying is awesome. At the same time, tossing down a Bubble Shield to save you or your friend's life can be rewarding down the line. Same for tossing a Power Drainer right before you die :).<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">-- </span>Dual Wielding! For once, I actually <em>want </em>to dual wield now. Brute Spikers are my favorite; I even tend to trade them off for an Assault Rifle. But please note that SMGs can <em>really </em>hold their own now. I actually got a double kill with a pair of them against two enemies -- with the same clip(s). One had an Assault Rifle and the other a Battle Rifle. Neither survived.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">-- </span>Melee! Like many, I was taken aback after trying to whack a guy after my magazine ran out, only to find I didn't immediately jump five feet toward him. Melee lunge = gone!<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">-- </span>Turrets. Both the actual mini-gun turret and Missle Pod "turret" are a joy to use. I've gotten a few kills with the Missle Pod on Valhalla, and at least a killing spree using the mini-gun on High Ground. Great stuff.<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Dislikes:</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">-- </span>Spartan Laser. Meh, it's more of a personal problem. Just can't seem to get any kills with the thing really. A little more practice might help, but it seems that whenever I get it, someone snipes me from across the map. Facing a Laser sniper from a ways away is also quite frustrating.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">-- </span>Snowbound. Design wise, it's a great map. But I haven't had one match I really liked on it.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">-- </span>Needler. Maybe it's the same with the Laser, but I can't seem to do anything with it. The design of the actual weapon is somewhat... weak, but I do respect the faster rate of fire. I've only gotten to handle the weapon a couple times, and died after pumping a clip into a guy to no effect. Guess I just plain suck with the thing.<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3333ff;">Favorite Moments:</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">-- </span>The aforementioned killing of two enemies with a pair of SMGs. Great to have the things be useful this time around.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">-- </span>Multiple killing sprees with dual Spikers on High Ground. Just fun to see those spikes tear through a bad guy's shields.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">-- </span>Getting not one, but two kills with the revamped Brute Shot on High Ground. Firing three shots, I killed one near the Laser nest (more specifically, the ledge out to the right of it; appears people don't notice you there often). Then, checking my radar, jumped down to nail another with three more shots.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">--</span> My first game, actually sticking someone. Not with a Plasma. Oh no. A Spike Grenade. Needless to say I have never before actually stuck someone.. with anything before. Great moment on High Ground.<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">--</span> On Valhalla, I blind threw a plasma grenade as I jumped off of the rocks near the middle of the map, toward the river. Not really thinking I would even damage the guy, lo and behold it turned out I not only damaged him, but <em>stuck him. </em>Needless to say, I saved that film :).<br /><br /><span style="color:#3333ff;">-- </span>Once on Valhalla I "rallied the team" together toward the area the Man Cannon sends you. We were red, and all four of us were at various locations near the ending location of the MC. I had two Spikers and an AR, with one plasma, two spike, and two frag grenades. On top of that, I had the mine, which I promptly placed near the end point of the MC (a little off though..). Enemy after enemy kept coming, whom I would promptly tear to shreds with my Spikers with my team mates sniping a few with the Laser and providing support. I only died twice, and actually got the last kill of the game with a sneaky tactic. Hard to fully describe, but really an amazing moment.<br /><br />All I can think of for now. Hopefully I'll have more over the next week or so. Until then, post your greatest moments/likes/dislikes in the comments!<br /><br />Here's to more Beta goodness!<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;">~Major Silva</span>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-13271065569768396412007-04-21T14:33:00.000-05:002007-07-23T12:30:50.140-05:00Noteable Blog CancellationsWell, I've made some "claims" and started some "series" on here within the past few months. Now, one of those never came to fruition, and the other, well.. you'll see.<br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,102)">________________________</span><br /><br /><strong><em>"My Halo Humpday Challenge"</em></strong><br /><br /><strong>Status:</strong> <span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>Cancelled</strong> </span><br /><br />A while ago on the forum, I bragged about (and posted an excerpt of) an epic Halo 2 LAN party I had attended. And totally owned at. Well, after two months now of not finishing, let alone posting, the final product I've decided to just cancel it altogether. Written in the style of the Bungie Humpday Challenges, mine described the tale of me and friends, and me owning friends. Needless to say, writing it up was more of an impulse action. And as time went on, the impulse to finish the thing just faded away. So, it will forever be unfinished.<br /><br /><strong>What Will Come of It:</strong> I'll likely be writing up a LOT of Humpdays similar to what I started to do with this one come May. You already know what I'm talking about, so I won't even say the word :).<br /><strong><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,102)">________________________</span></strong><br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,102)"></span><strong><em>"Halo 3: What Are You Doing, Bungie?!"</em><br /></strong><br /><strong></strong><strong>Status: <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,0,0)">Possibly</span> <span style="COLOR: rgb(255,0,0)">Cancelled</span></strong><br /><br />A little longer ago, I made a post talking about how I thought Bungie was doing a horrible, and in some cases juvenile job with Halo 3. Man Cannons, changing the HUD, and introducing a slew of items deemed "unnecessary" were all targets of mine that I attributed to Bungie's lack of focus and what not. Well, here I stand before you (virtually), and admit that I... like.. Halo 3. The Beta, Weekly Updates with juicy information, the latest Vidoc -- all are factors that have come together to at least stunt my doubt and criticism toward Halo 3. I still have a few doubts, like the Bubble Shield-deploying, trip mine-dropping, deployable grav lift-deploying almighty "X" button, but other than that everything looks great to me. Especially the replay feature, which we have no seen and will experience ourselves in a little over three short weeks.<br /><br />What can I say, Bungie. You've won me over. For now.<br /><br /><br /><strong>What Will Become of It:</strong> There's no saying really. Perhaps after the game, or Beta, is released I'll have my rants about it. But as for now, it's lookin' pretty cancelled to me. Good job Bungie!<br /><br /><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,102,255)">~Major Silva</span><br /><br /><strong><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,0,0)"></span></strong>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-13954933228231402942007-02-23T20:48:00.001-05:002007-07-23T12:28:22.843-05:00My "Wow Moments"<span style="color:#000000;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5034928546095468866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisiZ38lc7ByfF7_3oaNVghlk0NNdrVXdIPLcI0LRAxzPpsa6I7169Mpj_A9HrZrulLUIApyz0GFlo___CiriBSKzNRwce_6lVCSDE4wfXXyT-roGjm6Yr_rHKUKSjQQ7t6OJSei6t3NEY/s200/wowpic.bmp" border="0" /> </span><div></div><div><span style="color:#000000;"></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">Half-Life 2. To many Halo fans in 2004, it was the enemy. Critics hailed it as the best game of that year in many categories including storytelling, graphics, and countless other fields. Online polls across the net were pitting it and the console's biggest game of the year, Halo 2 up against eachother, and we saw on many Halo sites forums numerous "Vote f0r Halo 2!!!1!" threads pop up. </span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Now, two years later much of that is all forgotten among fans of both games. Truth be told, Half-Life 2, quality wise, is my favorite game of all time. The simple fact that it makes you feel when you're entwined within the confines of the spooky Ravenholm. Or when you are gazing upon abandoned rebel outposts on Highway 17, this game truly immerses you into its world -- something game designers are still striving to do (and not necessarily succeeding) to this day. </span></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Enter Halo 2, which offers up hundreds of hours worth of fun times with friends in multiplayer, on top of the dozen or so hours (close to thirty if you're an easter egg guy) within its campaign mode. It never offered me the same feelings as playing Half-Life 2 on the Xbox did, but it always kept me entertained, which is what games are here to do. Right? </span></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br /><span style="color:#000000;">But as someone who is planning on getting into this industry someday, I can't help but be concerned about the generic quality that games seem to be striving toward. If you take away the fact that Halo 2 is part of multi-million dollar hit game, and strip it of everything that associates itself with the original Halo, including characters and names, it isn't above any other first person shooter to come out within the last few years. What I'm saying here, is most modern games focus more on dazzling you with special effects and pretty graphics, and let up on instituing these amazing moments that make you say, "Ok, what I'm playing is more than just a game." And yes, followers of the HBO forum will recognize the term I'm about to use here, I call these "wow moments". </span></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br /><span style="color:#000000;">I define "wow moments" as any event taking place during the confines of gameplay that make you feel what's happening onscreen, and take you aback. Any little event or scene of gameplay that's more movie-like than something you'd normally think would be a part of a game. These are little scenes scattered throughout the game that truly immerse you, the player, in the universe, and make you believe you're there in that universe, and not sitting staring at a computer screen or a TV. You may get it from a Strider lancing a fellow rebel soldier in Half-Life 2, or from the first scenes of Prey when you're abducted and taken on the ship. But any way you slice it, interactable or not, these little in-game events are what makes gaming great for me, and I hope, for you. </span></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br /><span style="color:#000000;">The original Halo provided me with quite a few of these moments, including scenes like your flight into, and the exploration of, the 343 Guilty Spark swamp. The swamp just had this eeriness and total mystery about it that put you through a loop if you weren't expecting what was about to happen ahead. That was one of the many instances that got me immersed into the Halo universe, though truth be told I had read Halo: The Flood long before actually playing the game. Yeah, strange. </span></span></div><div><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br />But anywho, it stayed with me until summer 2004 when I first watched the first, and only, campaign demonstration of Halo 2. To get my full feelings on that demo, <a href="http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=785017"><span style="color:#000000;">visit this thread on HBO</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="color:#000000;">, but back to the topic at hand. While watching the demo and seeing all of the little immersive events onscreen like the Longsword bombing run, the Marine giving you his SMG, the conversation between the pinned down Marine and Perez, before the Marine's cover is blown away after a humerous exchange. All of these instances clearly fit into my explanation of "</span><span style="color:#000000;">wow moments". These were things you would see in a real battlefield (if not somewhat stripped of realism seeing as how you're a 7 foot tall cyborg). From beginning to end, the demo gave me a very strong emotional impact that left me wanting to see it again and again. Truth be told, I still watch it to this day, even if it's more for research for my future career rather than "taking me back to the old days".</span> </span></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br /><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="color:#000000;">Then, Halo 2 shipped. And in comparison with the demo, it was absolutely nothing</span> like it. The design of the "hive city", as I like to call it, was totally stripped down to a rather boring skyline, with generic buldings and "skyscrapers" (if you could call them that) that just made you think this all could have happened closer to sixty years in the future, rather than five-hundred and fifty. The Mombasa levels, and the rest of the game, were filled with absolutely none of my "wow moments". Not once was I taken aback and found myself saying, "This is art." No bombs dropping, no A.I. controlled Warthogs squishing a Jackal formation, and certainly no sense of true conflict with bleeding Marines and medics on the battlefield tending them. That being said, the experience was fun throughout, and the art design was great as always with the Halo games. </span></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br /><span style="color:#000000;">So with the Halo series so far, we've gone from a really immersive gaming experience, to nothing really above that of its competition? The sad truth these days within the industry is that developers again seem to be looking more toward cool effects (humm.. think "pretty water" and interactable foliage) and jaw dropping graphics, rather than envoking feeling into their work. Not that awesome effects and amazing graphics are bad, it's just that Half-Life 2 has proved you can have those and a stunning campaign that really makes you think and feel. Gears of War, sadly, is yet another example of this. Awesome game, great graphics, but practically no story and no "wow moments" within. </span></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br /><span style="color:#000000;">I know I can't personally do anything to change what Bungie does with, say, Halo 3 to give it the same feeling that playing the original Halo did, but I can promise that if and when I do make it into the videogame industry, I'll do my best to institute my little moments into any projects I work on. </span></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Until that happens, I'll leave you with this question that you can leave your answer to in the Comments. What do you prefer? A game with absolutely amazing moments scattered througout an immersive and fun campaign, or a more "mindless" (kind of harsh word there..) gameplay experience of slaughtering aliens and watching cutscenes? </span></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><br /><span style="color:#000000;">So, "wow moments" or no, for <strong>you</strong>?<br /><br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color:#000000;"></span></div><div><strong><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,102,255)">~Major Silva</span></strong></div>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-81105740308412741272007-01-13T18:50:00.000-05:002007-01-21T21:37:22.650-05:00Halo 3: What are you doing Bungie? PT. 1 -- HUD2006. For many Halo fans, it was a joyous year. Announcements flew from all parts of the Halo universe. The Halo Movie was put off indefinitely (and possibly canned), Halo Wars and a Peter Jacksonian non-game, non-film Halo adaptation for the 360 was announced. Almost all of these are being handled by other companies in the industry. Except, of course, the biggest of them all, made by Bungie themselves - Halo 3.<br /><br />Fans were mesmerized, yet not as suprised as you may think, at Halo 3's announcement at the very last Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. In the Chinese Grauman's theatre, Microsoft heads Peter Moore and partyman Bill Gates himself were prepped to show off the first ever trailer for the game. At the words of, "before we walk off stage, let's show these people a little in-game footage of a game they've hopefully heard about" from Gates, the room shook violently, the ground split, and out of the cracks rose a giant Mister Chief, carrying with him his "special" smile and a glint in his eye. Because he was just about to drop the bombshell that was the Halo 3 Announcement Trailer.<br /><br /><p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfKYwd-ifRtLtEK5cSB7AchRuLXxR16axWmdMuI-7QCVLxF2iihdtU0ONaBPpGkMAB5Lty8P-_3sFN_mwaORF6z4_CfwyBRitLUEwnXFuaZVXi48CW_TH7LvWatJkCNu4l_AYvTt0lZs/s1600-h/Halo+3+Announce.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5019677226577712898" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyfKYwd-ifRtLtEK5cSB7AchRuLXxR16axWmdMuI-7QCVLxF2iihdtU0ONaBPpGkMAB5Lty8P-_3sFN_mwaORF6z4_CfwyBRitLUEwnXFuaZVXi48CW_TH7LvWatJkCNu4l_AYvTt0lZs/s320/Halo+3+Announce.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><em><span style="font-size:78%;">The Holy Grail -- The Shiny "3" Sign From the Announcement.<br /></p></span></em><br /><div align="left">Well, ok. That part wasn't true. But then again.. <em>you </em>weren't there, so how could you tell the difference then? The point is, Halo 3 was announced to stunned audiences in LA and across the world hours later when people saw the video online through providers like YouTube, or on their TVs, on stations like G4. Overall, the announcement was a huge success, garnering massive amounts of attention from everybody from industry insiders and competitors to your average Halo fan.<br /><br />Fast forward months later to October 2006, and what I'd like to call the "Humm.." month for Halo 3. Why do I call it that? One word - "leak". You know you've seen them, perhaps as far back as the month I'm referring to those foreign magazine scans and translations you scoured for online. Grainy images showing unpolished graphics and somewhat sketchy translations of the European magazine story led to some to squeal in pleasure and envy for the editors who had the chance to play Halo 3's multiplayer, while others moaned in discomfort at a few things disclosed within the magazine.<br /><br />Yeah, I'm talking about another quite possibly the strangest name of <em>anything </em>to ever (grace?) videogames. And this one's a little embarrassing to utter -- yes, we're talkin' the "Man Cannon". At first, many believed the "Man Cannon" was simply a bad translation, and Bungie wouldn't be insane enough to name <em>anything </em>in the Halo universe something so... childish. But alas, in a post on Bungie.net, one of the staff at the company unfortunately confirmed that, at this time, the "Man Cannon" is set to make it into the game, name included. For a company aparently striving for realism in this fictional, future sci-fi universe, it seems strange that Bungie would go and name one of their new, big "weapons" of the game something that will surely be mocked and/or be the subject of Man Cannon jokes years after the game is released. I can see it now: "Dude, I just pwned you using my Man Cannon!!!11!one! LOL!"<br /><br />Badly named features aside, a couple of other things were leaked in the wake of the magazine's release, and various internet stories on Halo 3. Namely, the new HUD.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5022668112953628434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4J7XIV6KeOWtlE_fxhaFzNf8y6K3mP5PdZJNQslbe5xBhWti9hFIIa6QyDqsUoqlNkKE-XyLIxK-dEFYTDF33AhSBPGD9NyjWqjh6STGd-Zdlit-BaV449zVxKx76AzsNNOSi1bvwVI4/s320/Halo+3+Screenshot+1.jpg" border="0" /></div><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Here it is. Notice the "curved" look, which had been described online previously.</em></span><br /><br />You'll notice a few things about the above image. First and foremost, the overall "curve" of the HUD. No, it's not a picture taken on a curved box TV, it's on an HD Samsung. So the only logical explanation for the curving is that it's in-game, for whatever reason. This change has been described online before, but many dismissed it; not wanting to believe Halo had taken a step more toward Metroid and other sci-fi games of the like. Another note about the new "Metroid" vibe going on is the fact that it is rumored when you die and respawn, a bright wash fills the HUD as it flickers online. It will be interesting to see how this actually looks when the game ships, but right now it's sounding more like a strange, out of place little feature.<br /><br />Another noticeable difference is the shield bar. Unlike it's <em>Halo: Combat Evolved</em> and <em>Halo 2</em> counterparts, the shield bar in Halo 3 is now located at the top center of the heads up display, also akin to Metroid Prime. An exact reason why is not yet given, seeing as how Bungie has not talked about the HUD or even actual gameplay for that matter at the time of this article. The shield bar being moved could be attributed to many things, though. For one, the curved shield bar in Halo 2, located down on top of the motion tracker was somewhat hard to actually track how much shield energy was being depleted. A few plasma pistol shots wouldn't even lower the thing on Halo 2 easy, but somehow a single energy sword swipe from an Elite Ultra could easily kill you. But I'm getting off track here. Another possible answer for moving the shield bar is to free up a small amount of space down in that area. For what, who knows. Gameplay wise, I don't see that particular area as being dangerously obscured by the old H2 shield bar (in fact, I'd think where the shield for Halo 3 is would see more action), but perhaps <em>another </em>bar of some sort will show up there. Bubble shield recharge bar anyone?<br /><br />The final thought for this part of the 3-part (perhaps 4 -- we'll see) series analysis on the design of Halo 3 is a question I have to ask. Why would Bungie make all of these changes to the HUD, control scheme, weapons, and enemies? Is it simply because they have somewhat forgotten what Halo was about? Many gamers were left with a feeling totally different when they finished Halo 2 than when they finished Halo 1. Whether Halo 3 will continue this with changing Halo's old formula again is left to see -- but all signs are pointing to yes. In the end, does something like the Man Cannon give you the feeling you got when you first encountered the Flood on 343 Guilty Spark? And will a Spike Grenade give you the same "freakin' sweet!" moment as when you stuck a Grunt, just to watch them explode and fly 30 feet into the air? Or will these new changes and new weapons just seem like out-of-place, tacked on features to the last of a once-great franchise?<br /><br />To answer those questions, it's likely we'll just have to wait and see. Until then, <strong>keep an eye out for more entries into this Analysis within the coming weeks!<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">*This article was written between the dates of January 13th and January 21st, and also posted on the 21st. So ignore the "January 13th" post date.</span></em><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;"><br />~Major Silva</span></strong></div>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-79820326980270102652007-01-06T15:37:00.000-05:002007-01-06T15:46:37.487-05:00Gears of War Easter Egg<div align="left">Yeah, so it's totally non-Halo related, but that's what this Blog is supposed to be, isn't it? In the video below, our very own Unr3alChi3f discovers a pretty funny easter egg in Gears of War for the Xbox 360. If you own a 360 and Gears, here's a description on how to find it, provided by him:<br /><br /><em>"To get to it, get to act 5, chapter 2 and wait until the berserker comes and smashes through the 2 boxes in the back, from there you can either take care of the berserker by making him run off the train or if you are not patient, you can just run to the back and look at the cereal boxes named Gears Crunch!"<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SHMpz87emMg"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SHMpz87emMg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br /></em>Well, there you have it. Pretty pointless easter egg in that it doesn't effect gameplay, and that you have a limited time to look at the actual various boxes and stuff seeing as how you undoubtedly have a Berserker charging at you, but fun nonetheless. Good find UC!<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;"> ~Major Silva</span></strong></div>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-54690409092053669832006-12-19T16:30:00.000-05:002006-12-25T23:03:28.481-05:00First "Article" -- Ghosts of Onyx Review<span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>*Please ignore the "December 19th" date stamp. This article was actually finished and posted on the 25th - the Dec. 19 was actually when it was first started. Sorry for any confusion - this post is NEW :).</strong></span><a href="http://nikon.bungie.org/bwu/images/final_onyx_cover.jpg"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://nikon.bungie.org/bwu/images/final_onyx_cover.jpg" border="0" /></strong></span></a><strong> </strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Yes, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx has been out for nearly two months now, and I know many of you have had the pleasure to read it. Or, pain, depending on how much you liked the book.<br /><br />I myself am, quite unfortunately, more near the "pain" sector of the scale. There are some gripes about the novel that I have (and that I've found many others have had as well), and I would personally like to share them here.<br /><br />First off, let's get started with the story. <strong>Note to anyone who hasn't picked the book up yet, there will be spoilers come next, so stop reading</strong> (why haven't you read it yet?) <strong>now. </strong>Ghosts of Onyx, following a short prologue in which we are first introduced to the Spartan III's, drops you off in a familiar place. For the first, and quite sadly last time in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, we are dropped into the boots of Spartan-117, John.<br /><br />The year is 2531, and John's squad, which now includes Spartan-051, Kurt, in replacement of Sam. He plays a huge part in the rest of the book, but we'll get into that later. Right now, John's squad is sent to a planet entitled, "Victoria", in which presides a rebel base his team must take out. This is by far, next to Fred's appearance, the most engrossing scene in the entire book. The writing is superb for all of the characters in this little chapter; it's as if we were merely sent into another flashback like in Halo: First Strike. And then, sadly, it all goes downhill from here.<br /><br />After John's all-to-short part in the book, we are introduced to Kurt, who is captured leading Blue Team on a venture to a decomissioned platform in UNSC space. Their target contains a Shaw-Fujikawa drive that has a few problems with it, and they need to recover it. After being sent flying, Kurt seemingly dies as he is sent way off course into the reaches of space (heh - James, anyone?). Later, we learn he is picked up by an ONI vessle. Coinicidence? Well, no actually.<br /><br />From the start, ONI planned to take Kurt to help train future Spartans (Spartan III's in this case) to get into fighting shape. The Office of Naval Intelligence has already secured a certain CPO Mendez to help the cause, but truly in the book, he isn't used that much. Throughout the entire story, I was left wondering, "well how'd he get there?", or "he's still here?" in regard to if a character is still there. This happened with many characters within the novel, but Mendez especially since he played such an extremely small role in the book.<br /><br />In situations described later on Onyx, I was just left dumbfounded that a certain character, or four, were still there and alive. Last I knew they were some where else, doing something else. And now all of a sudden they're there with Kurt and company? Whether that's in part from Nylund's writing, or from my lack of interest (which <em>can</em> be attributed to his new writing style, which is quite obviously different than previous Halo novels).<br /><br />A few other problems with characters I had were they simply either were uninteresting, or didn't feel fresh. Kurt is a good example of this. Was he a great character? Yes. But throughout the story I just kept feeling like he was a replacement for John. Similar dialogue, manerisms, etc. were all similar in some ways to the Master Chief. Whether from the beginning this was a plan, or strictly unintentional I'll never know, but for me at least, the character of Kurt just wasn't diversified enough from previous Spartans. In the earlier books, John was the badass who could go into any situation almost, survive, and say something totally cool at the end that got your blood flowing and put a smile on your face. Kelly was always the kind of "comic relief" in the sense that she said funny things at the right times to break tension, but could always hold her own in a situation. Fred, I always felt, was that kid that always got second prize or second place in something (actually described that way in previous novels -- Eric did an amazing job in his writing showing that), and it showed. I kind of always felt Fred as looking up to John in some ways, and trying to imitate him and his actions. No matter how good or how hard he fought though, he either got himself hurt, or lost some of the Spartans under his command. Even if my assumption in Fred looking up the the Master Chief is totally wrong, the writing just always made me think so.<br /><br />With <em>Halo: Ghosts of Onyx </em>I didn't feel that way anymore. Kurt unfortunately just didn't, as I mentioned above, differ much from the other Spartans. We didn't get to know him from childhood onward. He was just there, in his thirties or fourties or whatever, training Spartan III's. I think in that sense it immediately drew me away from the character of Kurt, and made the entire novel (seeing as how most of the book focuses around this character) seem really just like another sci-fi novel. One I wouldn't normally wouldn't pick up.<br /><br />Yes, <em>Halo: Ghosts of Onyx </em>is that radically different than the other novels that it feels like a totally new IP. Unlike previous novels, you really don't get aquainted with the technology and weapons that the Spartan III's are using. That crazy new SIII armor? Yeah, it bends light. <strong>That's all we know about it. </strong>Even though Kurt picks up the armor later - stupidly picking it over the shielded Spartan II armor when fighting these super-sentinels - we never get a "glimpse inside the HUD" like with the Mark V's of previous incarnations of the series. All we know about the actual HUD, unless we just assume things, is that it is basically the same as the SII's in that it has a radio, and LED's for Spartan confirmation. No more, no less. This was also a big factor of what turned me away from the book, and made actually <em>reading </em>the thing slightly more difficult.<br /><br />Now onto a more solemn topic - Death. Eric Nylund has been criticized in the past for poor writing for death scenes. Personally, I've always felt the death of any major character is bad, so it never really bothered me in previous Halo novels, until this one. This novel is quite possibly the worst case of the "introducing characters to die" I have ever seen, as far as Halo novels go. In one case, a character you <em>really </em>get to enjoy reading about, Shane (a Spartan III recruit) is introduced at the first Spartan-III indoctrination - jumping out of a Pelican at night. After a scuffle with a fellow Spartan, he jumps out and lands safely - next to the same guy. A fight breaks out which is promptly broken up by Chief Mendez. The brief glimpse we get of Shane here, I personally enjoyed. I finally thought it would switch strictly to the Spartan III perspective for a while, to let us peer into these kids minds. But no, only eight pages later in the novel, we learn Shane has been killed, along with the kid he had fought (which said they had become "close friends". Ok, so how about letting us read that ourselves?). Yes, this and the fact that over 250+ Spartan IIIs died on that mission, and many more, does give you a sense of awe that the UNSC has stooped to this level now, but again introducing characters to die a few pages later isn't a great tactic to do so. If anything, give us a character and his friends/squadmates, let us get attached for maybe fourty plus pages, and <em>then </em>describe their deaths at overwhelming odds and the huge Spartan III casualty rates. Doing this would've had much more impact than how it actually happened.<br /><br />More death somes in the last chapter or so of the novel, in which a character all the way from the first Halo novels is killed off in a strangely out of character fashion. Ditching standard tactics, Will goes on a suicide jump to save Kurt from a Hunter's blast as I recall. Which is strange since he's only known the guy for <em>maybe </em>a day, and hasn't said a word to him (he maybe has three lines through the entire book) the whole time. In the same exact area, before Dr. Halsey, Fred, Kelly, Linda, Tom, Lucy, and a couple other SIIIs are teleported to a Dyson Sphere (which is theoretically there to protect the Forerunners from the activation of the Halos), Spartan-051 - Kurt - is killed off. Yes, even though he could have quite possibly saved himself on top of the lives of his squadmates, he goes for just saving his squadmates.<br /><br /><em>But, </em>I would like to go on record as saying that the death of Kurt is quite possibly the best death-writing Nylund has ever done within the confinds of the Halo novels. Every last thing is ironed out in gruesome detail - and Kurt seeing the ghosts of his fellow Spartans around him before passing ("Ghosts" of Onyx?) was a nice touch, and really made you feel for him, even if it was at that last second.<br /><br />Well, time to stop talking now. I've run through the book to my best ability, and given my opinions on the way. Note the book is MASSIVE, and I only covered the things I thought needed covered - which was quite unfortunately mostly bad things.<br /><br />That being said after reading <em>Halo: Ghosts of Onyx </em>for the second time, you will grow to like it more. Maybe it's just the reader making up his own opinions about what's happening, or maybe it's just you noticing the details more, the second go-around is definitely better than the first. So once you read it once, do not get aggrevated and put the book away forever - read it again and you may come across a newfound respect for it.<br /><br />So in the end, I had some problems with this latest incarnation of the Halo novel, but all in all I think it was good filler until Halo 3, and quite possibly more Halo novels come out. Any Halo fan remotely interested in the Halo Universe should pick up the first three first, then this one. As Nylund and Bungie keep saying, they're great compliments to the games.<br /><br />Heh, and from a UNSCDF standpoint, GoO gives us a couple more devices and weapons to analyze and write about! So win win all around!<br /><br /></span><strong><span style="font-size:100%;">*If you would like to argue something, post your opinions, or tell us I'm wrong, just post so in the Comments section. Hit "comments" under the post, and post your comment there. Remember, you do NOT need to be a member to post comments now, so get to posting people!<br /><br /></span><span style="color:#3366ff;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">~Major Silva</span></span></strong></span>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-27191998635751943542006-12-18T21:43:00.000-05:002006-12-25T21:53:16.041-05:00Long Time in the Making<span style="font-family:times new roman;">This blog has been on the ballot for over a month now. CK proposed it to Major Silva, who in turn told the rest of us about it. Usually, when something is already in the works and everyone wants it, it churns out of the woodwork fairly quickly. This idea had to endure some unspeakable things though. Unspeakable, because I can't speak over the Internet.<br /><br />Now passing my poor excuse for comedy, I'm going to tell you a bit about the progress on the 'Secrets' section of the site. Amazingly, I'm almost done planning out the new format.<br /><br /><span>Anyway, it's</span></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="color:#3366ff;"> </span>nice to see this blog in all of its Eric Nylund-affiliated glory.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;">~ LoneRanger 2.5</span></strong></span>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5573601391260168887.post-69938134331744840642006-12-18T17:25:00.000-05:002006-12-18T17:30:27.501-05:00Test Post For Official UNSCDF Blog<span style="font-size:85%;">This is just a test post for this blog. If we like this, then this will be where </span><a href="http://solidmercury.org/unscdf/"><span style="font-size:85%;">UNSCDF</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> staff can come and post all about their latest ideas, ramblings, and more. Note to anyone who finds this message that the blog may never come to fruition if staff members do not like it, or find problems in posting. <br /><br /> Until then, enjoy! <br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#3366ff;"> ~Major Silva</span></strong></span>Major Silvahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295043574477327326noreply@blogger.com0