Halo 4: Playing as a Promethean Knight

I didn’t mod this. I’m just reposting it here.

Ever want to play as a Promethean? Well, this fellow has figured out a hack to do as such. I don’t know how, nor do I want to know as mods like this are bankable offenses. But it’s still pretty cool to watch!

So how about it? If given the chance to do so in-game without modding, would you play as a Promethean Knight? I know I would. I think it would be a lot of fun!

-Sal

Halo 4 Matchmaking Update: Team Objective!!!

This is a reblog from Halo Waypoint:

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HFFL: Before I paste the info, let me say that I for one am EXCITED that Objective is back! I think that 343 should have NEVER gotten rid of the playlist to begin with. It’s one playlist I lived in for much of my matchmaking career in both Halo 3 and Halo Reach. Okay, now for the info.

Team Objective is back and more objective-y than ever! Replacing Squad DLC, Team Objective will contain 4v4 ball holding, hill capturing and goal scoring action on a wide variety of maps. Staples such as Haven, Adrift and Ragnarok will be available including some Forge fan favorites. Voting for Team Objective has been simplified and is as follows: Continue reading

Halo 4 FFA and 4v4 Iron Gaming Tournament results from RTX!

Iron Gaming logo

Vas Avi wins the 4v4 Tournament going 6 games to 2 against Nighthawks in a best of 11 games.  was clearly the MVP of the tourney winning both the FFA and 4v4 tournament (being on Vas Avi’s team. Congrats to  for putting on a good tournament.

Vas Avi wins $10k for the 4v4 tourney, while  wins $5k for taking the top spot in the FFA tourney.

Vas Avi logo

You can check out Vas Avi’s website HERE.

-Sal

Halo 4 campaign screens and hijinks.

Last Friday, after the epic day of Halo 5 Guardians news, I sat down to play the whole Halo 4 campaign straight through with friends, MixMaker117, Dijabouti, and SESpider.

“Mix” recording it all using Elgato and took some screens from the vid. Here are some of those screens, followed by a short vid with some fails and hijinks. As always, click pics to make bigger. Enjoy!

H4 Cryptum hole
This is the space below the Didact’s Cryptum, when you first encounter him.

H4 Infinity Jungle
The lush jungles of Requiem. I really love the look and feel of this. I think 343 did an amazing job here.

H4 Stalactites
Then we have these stalactites. Great detail!

H4 Mantis v CoviesAboard the UNSC Infinity’s out deck, taking on the Covenant. I really enjoy this part of that mission. Blasting Covenant foot soldiers, Phantoms and Banshees out of the sky!

H4 On the EdgeI’m on the left here, with Dij next to me and Spider next to him. BTW, all screens were taken by Mix.

H4 Punching LaskyThat Lasky can sure take a punch!!

H4 About to get blown upIt’s about to get “blow’d up!” LOL

H4 4rnr liftHere is one of several Forerunner lifts. It’s beautiful in it’s lighting and detail. Another place were 343 really did a great job of design.

H4 Infinity edgeI showed the fellas this peak by which to see the UNSC Infinity better. So we stopped and took a picture before blowing up more stuff. I’m in the middle here.

H4 Johnson Easter EggDid you know Sgt. Johnson is in Halo 4? At the beginning of the mission “Shutdown” kill all of the UNSC personnel. At that point, Johnson will appear with Shotgun in hand, trying to blast you away. He’s quite good at it too! We lured him up the ramp to the awaiting Pelican. Then someone killed him… Alas, Johnson dies in just about every Halo game, LOL.

H4 Cortana ummmUm, Cortana, that’s not a normal field inspection.

H4 Halo RingEven though we do not get to visit a Halo ring, it’s still nice to see it form afar in the campaign.

H4 The ComposerFlying in with our Broadswords to take down the shields! I’m SO glad that space (flying) missions were included in Halo. Starting with the Sabre in Reach and now the Broadsword in Halo 4. I hope those continue in Halo 5 Guardians. (And from what I suspect, they will and even more so.)

H4 Didact bubbleThe evil Didact readying the Composer. Or is he waving “Hi” to us?

H4 Chief sucking his thumbWaaaa, I don’t wanna fight the Didact, says Chief while sucking his thumb! (Alternate LASO ending!! not

H4 Use the Force DidactUse the Force, Didact! Honestly, when the hell did the Didact get force powers? Likely he’s just manipulating the metal within Chief’s armor.

And now for the hijinks vid:

I’ll be making another Halo 3 campaign run soon with the fellows. Expect screens and vid then too.

-Sal

Halo 4 Matchmaking Update: Dominion

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Every two weeks we update Halo 4 Matchmaking with exciting new game types, playlist changes and more. You can see what we have planned in the months ahead by looking at the Matchmaking Playlist Calendar below.  Beyond that, you can get details on what’s now available in today’s Halo 4 Matchmaking Update.

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Dominion Light

Today, Dominion is making a lean and mean return to Halo 4 Matchmaking as Dominion Light, which features 4 vs. 4 gameplay. The updated game type will feature a faster pace, modified scoring, smaller resupply drops balanced for smaller teams, and a new custom map list.

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Team Ninja Assassins

Ninja Assassins is back in Matchmaking!

-Sal

 

Halo 4 DLC free (without achievements)?

So I was perusing Halo Waypoint’s forum and came upon a thread asking for the DLC in Halo 4 to be free. If you all didn’t know, Microsoft has a policy against giving DLC away free that is attached to achievements. However, the forum poster below came up with a pretty nifty idea. My thoughts after his response.
MZealous;2899401 wrote:

At this point I couldn’t care less about the fact I payed money and others didn’t. Just remove the ability to gain achievements through the DLC (until purchased) and release the DLC to all making it a requirement for necessary playlists. I’m even starting to dislike Haven now I’ve played it so much. I’ve probably played more games on Haven than I have played game in total on Reach…We may even see a population spike.
Now THAT’s a novel idea. It might actually work. Essentially, everyone can play. For those that really want to go for the achievements, they pay a modest “fee” to unlock the opportunity to get them. As for what that fee is, since the DLC has been out over a year now, make it $1-2. Then make all the DLC mandatory (free), with achievements accessible for that fee.
I’ve paid for all of them. I really wouldn’t mind if they were made free. At this point, it can’t hurt anything and as said, might actually give a bump up in population.
What do you folks think? Want to see free DLC, if the achievements weren’t attached? Would you then pay that modest fee to unlock the ability to get them?
Hit that reply button and let me hear from you!
-Sal

Heavies and Multi-team LIVE!

Just in case you didn’t play Halo 4 yesterday or have read it here prior, Heavies is now a permanent playlist and Multi-team is the playlist for the 2-week rotational playlist.

Both are LIVE! So go get those vehicle kills! And have fun in the chaos and mayhem that is multi-team!

-Sal

To like or not to like Sarah Palmer, that is the question…

I came upon a thread on Halo Waypoint’s forums that was discussing the merits of Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer as she is being portrayed in the comic book, Halo Escalation.

The discussion goes on for 9 pages, so I’ll save you that. I came in on it when the discussion turned toward her making the decision that would allow for the Human/Elite/Brute delegation to escape, yet having to sacrifice Demarco and other Spartans as a result of that decision. What follows is my reply from that point:

I think it was a waste to kill off DeMarco. However, given that it seems 343 wants Thorne to take over after Chief, it makes sense.

As for Palmer, she’s the Spartan IV’s commander because she is one of the first and has the most experience as a Spartan IV.

Recall the lines she says to the Spartan VIs who had just come onto the Infinity. It seems most of the Spartans on the Infinity are pretty new at being Spartans, with a few other having actual experience.

So in that respect, 343 defaults to Palmer as their leader.

Now, regarding her outbursts, female chauvinism, etc., THIS is why Halsey did NOT want to use adults. They come with “baggage”. Decades of real world experience follows you, no matter what. Taking the Spartan IIs as 6 year old kids, they have had little experience. This allows for them to be “brainwashed” into being the perfect (or as close to it as possible) solider. They follow orders, they work as a team, they do not belittle each other and for the most part keep their emotions in check.

Having adults become Spartan IVs smacks all against what Halsey’s Spartan program was trying to accomplish. Otherwise, Halsey could have just searched for and recruited the best of the UNSC into service as Spartans.

This all said, I do like the direction that Palmer is going in Escalation. I would really like to see her have a proper novel. One that really fleshes out her origin. Initiation tried to do that, but had to hurry through it due to page count of the comic itself.

What I’d like to see written in a novel is how she came to be in the UNSC in the first place, how/why she became an ODST and any specific events that might have made her a hardass. From there, tell the story of Initiation, but much more fleshed out.

Should she become Chief’s new sidekick? No. She’s already a leader of Spartans. If she became Chief’s sidekick, that would be a demotion of sorts. We also have to consider, is Chief ready to have another person in his life, so soon after Cortana’s death? Going by the Halo XBOX One trailer, I’d say no.

/end my reply on Halo Waypoint

So to pose the question again… To like or not to like Sarah Palmer?

At this point, I’m still on the fence, but now leaning much toward liking the character. I’d have preferred her character to have been sorted out through the games, rather than comic books or a novel, but we can’t go back now. So telling her story in a novel would be a decent way to let we Halo fans get to know her better.

If you want to have a read of all the NINE pages (and massive walls of text), feel free to go the the thread on Waypoint HERE.

-Sal

Halo 4 Exclusive Soundtrack T-shirt and Special Edition Bundle!

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This is being sold on Amazon (not sure if elsewhere though).

Here’s the text blurb describing what comes with the bundle:

HALO 4 – LIMITED EDITION BOXSET and T-SHIRT. The Special Edition box is available in a limited quantity, each exclusively numbered and contains the following:
• original Soundtrack CD includes 15 Tracks
• a bonus remix CD with remixes by: DJ Skee & THX, Gui Boratto, Sander Van Doorn & Julian Jordan, Apocalyptica, Caspa and more
• 180 Gram, 12″ Master Chief picture disk vinyl of remixes
• a making of Halo 4 Music DVD and Book features behind the scenes photos and; footage from the Abbey Road sessions
• Neil Davidge’s production and composition notes
• a 12″X12″ Halo 4 Art Print
• an exclusive Art print of Master Chief signed by Neil Davidge!
• PLUS for the first 5000 special edition box sales only, a Halo 4 Avatar download code!

The T-shirt is an exclusive design and only available through this set.

HFFL: I’d love to get this. I already have the music, but all that other stuff sounds great! It’s a decent bundle. If you haven’t yet bought the music, then this is absolutely the way to go! Get yourself some additional cool Halo swag! For $34.99, it’s worth it, IMO.

You can buy it HERE!

-Sal

Squad DLC in Halo 4 = AWESOME!

Last night I played a bunch of Squad DLC games with several friends of mine. It was a blast! Not only did we enjoy playing on those DLC maps that we paid for and seem to not come up much in regular matchmaking, but we played some good game types as well.

I highly suggest if you have the DLC maps to make use of this playlist while it’s still up. You’ve got about 10 days left remaining for it. While I hope it would stick around as a permanent playlist, unless we can get more people playing in it, it’s not likely to happen.

So I implore you if you do, PLEASE again, go play some games in it! Believe me, you’ll have fun too!

-Sal

Halo 4 new temporary game type: Medal Madness

This game type just went live yesterday. If you haven’t had a chance to play it yet, I definitely recommend it.

2-25_medalmadness_1920x749I played a couple matches of this last night and had fun.

The first game I went +13. The second game only +3. Still, it was fun both games.

If you haven’t heard about the game and what it entails, then let me be of assistance.

There are 1 minute rounds. You don’t know what the next round is going to be as it’s random. Rounds are ongoing with no stoppage in between, unlike say Grifball. Each round gives you a different medal to get. The team that scores the most of that medal in that given round gets a point. Game ends when a team reaches seven points first.

In the first game, rounds switched between Rockets/Fuel Rod kills, to Supercombine kills with the Needler, to Double Kills (using a BR with no radar, to Melees, to Hail Marys and so on. It can be quite fast paced and a bit frenetic. That’s actually part of the fun of it. It’s kind of a mix of Fiesta with different weapons, and objective where you have to get certain medals. If you’re NOT one for this type of gameplay, I’d still say give it a shot. The rest of you, jump in before the gametype leaves the rotational playlist in two weeks from now.

I hope that Medal Madness returns to the playlists as a game type within Action Sack. It’s PERFECT for that playlist!

-Sal

 

VwS Cryptic wins the Gamers for Giving 2014 Halo 4 charity tournament!

A BIG congrats to VwS Cryptic on their win.

Cryptic-Sargoth GFG14 WIN

I’m happy for them and in particular Casey “SARGOTH” Current. He’s a member of the team, as well as the fellow who won my Halo 4 FFA tournament at my LAN last year. And, I’m happy to call him a friend.

Need proof of that you say? Sure ’nuff. Here’s my LAN recap.

And a couple of pics from it (Plenty more pics at the link above):

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Yeah, that’s me the big fella, wearing the blue UNSC t-shirt, next to SARGOTH. And yes, that’s Eric “Gho57ayame” Hewitt, new 343 employee, sitting next to him.

-Sal

 

New Flood game type? CAVEAT (It’s a modded game type)

My friend Addicted Cha0s tweeted the link to the following video regarding a new modded Flood game type called “Plague”.

This looks to be a lot of fun. As Flood you can choose to be any of three different kinds of flood. Small and fast, normal, or big and slow but powerful.

As Spartans you can heal each other from infection.

Wow, this just sounds amazing!

The only issue is that it’s modded. So PLEASE be aware of that should you download the maps/gametype. XBOX policy says no modding. This could leave yourselves vulnerable to banning. While I’d love to hear an official “okay” from 343 on this, they really can’t. Yes, I know Frank O’Conner stated ok on modded gametypes. That however was an impromptu saying as a convention and he even said he needed to be careful about this.

Now if this made it into the official Flood playlist in Halo 4, you bet I’d be playing it.

-Sal