Author Archives: Sal

About Sal

I’ve got tons of experience with Halo gaming and collecting. I feel I have something to offer to the greater Halo fan community. Posts along the way will be about tips and tricks in the games as well as collecting and many more Halo related things. I’ll also repost interesting articles from the official site, Halowaypoint.com, or from fellow Halo fan sites. As I continue this blog, I hope to help gamers who want advice on the games, as well as any collectors with regards to where to find collectibles as well as deals, coupons and so on. You can also follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/HaloFanForLife or Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/halofanforlife11. Welcome to my blog and I hope you’ll come back again and again. -Sal

The Master Chief Collection menus and in-game screenshots explained.

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Before I get start, I need to gov e a shout out to IGN. I pulled the following screens from their video footage of their interview with Frank O’Conner and Dan Ayoub of 343.(So blame IGN for the crappy resolution, LOL)

Okay, lets get this ball a rollin’

This is the start up screen. The circular bands around the logo rotate around it.Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.17.13 AM
This next image below shows the main page of the UI (user interface).  The menu bar at the top from left to right reads: Campaigns/Multiplayer/Playlists/Extras.These will be explained further down.Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.19.12 AM
So here you see that Halo 2 Anniversary was selected from the Campaigns menu. To the right of Master Chief are the missions. They are all unlocked (form all 4 campaigns) from the start. This means you do not need to play through each campaign to get to certain missions. Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.20.30 AM
There are more missions when you click as far to the right in the mission select area from the image below. Note the arrow next to the highlighted mission indicating as such. Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.20.58 AMBelow we see that you can choose what settings you want, level of difficulty you want to play on and use any skulls you have unlocked.Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.21.04 AM
In the multiplayer section you see that you can select Find Game, Custom Game, or Spartan Ops. Obviously Spartan Ops is Halo 4 only.Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.22.17 AMWhen you select Find Game, it takes you to the playlist selection. For instance below you see that Big Rumble is selected. It tells you team size, minimum player count and max party size, max local players. But there VERY cool new thing is to the right of that it shows you which of the four games this playlist is attached to. In this case ALL four are available for Big Rumble. This means that you may see of the three choices to vote on a map from CE Anniversary, Halo2 Anniversary, Halo 3 or Halo 4.Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.22.49 AM
Now the image below shows that Rumble Pit is available for maps in Halo 2 Anniversary and Halo 4. BTW, these may change later on and are not yet locked in stone. Player feedback, choices and such will help dictate to 343 if they need to add another games maps to the playlist or take a games maps out of a playlist.Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.23.17 AM
Here you see the Extras tab selected. Blur trailer is that of Blur, the company who did the Halo 2 Anniversary skins. Terminals are self explanatory. Good thing is we do NOT have to exit to Waypoint to see these now! Halo Nightfall is the ‘digital series’. Now I’m not sure if that launches from the disc or not, but from the interview it seems like it does. And finally the Halo 5 BETA. This will not be available at launch of HMCC, but rather a month later. Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.26.05 AM
Below we see that Cairo Station is being loaded up to play. Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.26.33 AMThis is an example of the new graphics. Much more contrast!Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.26.44 AMIn the image below you can see at near left center a skull. Yep, that’s one of the ones for you to find in Halo 2 Anniversary.Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.27.11 AMDual wielding is BACK! Well, it’s in Halo 2 Anniversary anyway. (And Halo 3)Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 10.27.44 AM

There will be more things revealed by 343 in the coming months regarding Halo the Master Chief Collection. For instance they’ve remade 6 classic maps from Halo 2. One of which was shown during the Microsoft presentation. That being Ascension.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this slice of the HMCC’s (Halo Master Chief Collection) menus and a few of the campaign newly skinned graphics.

If you’ve got any thoughts on these, let me know by replying below!

-Sal

 

Halo 5 Guardians E3 2014 trailer screenshot breakdown.

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Halo5-Logo-onLight-RGB-Final

Okay, I’ve had a little time to get some screenshots from the trailer to break it down a little for you good folks.

The sequence opens with this shot of an arena in space.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.46.26 PM
The lights come on.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.46.30 PM
The scoring screens light up. Will that happen in the game???Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.46.36 PM
Below we see one of the Red’s gloves. Does that look armored to you? Partially. Seems more like a leather glove though.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.46.50 PM
So below we see one of the Blue’s reloading his weapon.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.47.11 PM
Not the emblem on his chest as seen below highlighted by a red circle. I wonder if this is an emblem you can pick?
Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.47.11 PM v2

The AR is back. You can tell by the ammo count on it. Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.47.32 PM

Note below that the same emblem seen on the chest is also on the helmet.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.47.38 PM
You can see it in the red circle on the right. Also note the number ‘8’ on his helmet.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.47.38 PM v2
An emblem on the Red’s helmet.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.48.00 PM
And a number ‘5’ as well. Recurring theme here.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.48.00 PM v2

Now at this point, I’m thinking this is just a base set of armor, much like the Warrior armor of Halo 4’s promotional trailers. This armor looks a lot like the Recruit armor of Halo 4.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.48.06 PM
Reds going to match up against Blues.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.48.15 PM
Again note the number ‘2’. Now on the shoulder. So are these uniform throughout? Will every Red team be 1-4 and Blue team 5-8? Or are those also emblems that we can choose? Curious.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.48.15 PM v2

The next few pics show the Reds being thrust into the arena via lifts.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.48.21 PMScreen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.48.26 PMScreen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.48.30 PMScreen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.48.37 PMWill that be how we enter each map? Or is this just special for the trailer???

Now let’s looks at the “new” abilities shown in the trailer.

Below that looks very much like Thrust. You can tell by the blue jet streams coming from the Red’s back. That’s not new. Hmm?Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.48.55 PM

Now below a Spartan was running the did a Power Slide to come to a top. So is this Sprint or a Power Slide? If it is a power slide, it doesn’t seem much like an ability. Then again, is will give you a moment of cover if you do it right, as seen above.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.49.11 PM

The next five are a sequence of what I’m dubbing a ‘Power Slam’. Yes, those blue jets are still there, but the action used by the Red is much different. It’s not lateral but vertical.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.49.31 PMScreen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.49.34 PMScreen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.49.37 PM

Love those particle effects above. Also note how the surrounding Blues go flying from the slam.Screen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.49.41 PMScreen Shot 2014-06-09 at 7.49.43 PMGreat stuff. I can’t wait to see these talked about more by 343. I’d like a clearer definition of what these abilities are and what their names are.

What is your take on them? Let me know by replying below.

-Sal

The Spirit of Fire podcast E3 2014 edition!

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Spirit of Fire Podcast LOGO_R-sm

We recorded this shortly after the reveal of the Master Chief collection. It would have been done LIVE, but I had some technical issues. Those being I had WAY too many windows open. 4 live streams, the blog, twitter, Waypoint and more….My computer just couldn’t handle all the Halo goodness. The program I use to record crashed, so we had to record after. Unfortunately that meant that Martin one of my co-hosts wouldn’t be on as it was already about 2am his time in Australia.

However, my co-host and long-time friend Zach was with me. We talk for about 45 minutes regarding the Master Chief Collection. Here is is about 5 hours after and I’ve got SO much more to talk about. But I’ve left that to blog articles, preceding this one and forthcoming.

In the meantime, listen here:

      SoF ep 11 E3-2014

Or download and listen later here:

SoF ep 11 E3-2014

And don’t forget you can always catch us through iTunes. Search the podcast section for Spirit of Fire.

-Sal

 

Halo 2 Graphics Comparison New/Old

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Below are several pics of the NEW Graphics for Halo 2 vs the OLD (or original if you prefer).

Ascension. WOW does the new graphics make this map POP or what? Beautiful!Ascension NEWAscension OLD

Cairo Station. Definitely a lot more color to it. Not so bland and the shadows are well done.Station NEWStation OLD

Just take a look at these two. The difference is amazing! Newer model Grunts, and the extra lighting freely makes these scenes come much more to life!Station 2 NEWStation 2 OLD

How can you NOT appreciate the green glow and eerie lighting? I am SO excited for this!!!Station 3 NEWStation 3 OLD

The Arbiter looks SO BadAss! More like the Arbiter from Halo Wars. This is just amazing!Arbiter NEWArbiter OLD

Wow, now this space scene is incredible! Much more vibrant than the original version! UNSC frigate-Ring NEWUNSC frigate-Ring OLD

Sgt Johnson has NEVER looked better! This is VERY realistic! And from what was said during IGN’s exclusive interview with Frank O’Connor and Dan Ayoub, both of 343, Johnson will look like the new version throughout all of the cutscene. Not sure if that means Halo CE:A and Halo 3 as well. Man, if so..faints.Sgt Johnson NEWSgt Johnson OLD

Never been a fan of the Prophets, but this upgrade in graphics give me a whole other level of appreciation for them. Those eyes are so much more believable.Prophet NEWProphet OLD

Now look at the comparison here… Like day and night. One so RICH in color while the other so bland. Halo NEWHalo OLD

We all found Halo 2 to be fantastic when it first came out, but GAWD it looks SO much better now!!!

What do you think of these comparisons?

-Sal

So the new Spartan for Halo 5 Guardians is called…

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His name is Agent Locke. As in Marlowe Locke the character in Ridley Scott’s Halo production.

That certainly quashes lots of speculation. The fact that he’s called an Agent is something, rather than Spartan. Definitely the ONI way.

I’m still going to go with the possibility of this new ‘Spartan’ being a clone of Master Chief.

His designation number is: 00-8221-3. The ’00’ portion you’d have to think is the first batch. The 8221 COULD be the date of creation. August 2, 2521. This would make the new Spartan roughly 10 years 5 months younger than Master Chief (Who’s birthday is March 7, 2511). Which would mean he’s had the time to grow naturally, instead of being a ‘flash clone’. The ‘3’ at the end would be the specific clone number. He’s the third clone from the batch on that day.

Spartan Lock designation number WM

Yes, cloning is deemed illegal in the UNSC, but we all know ONI plays by it’s own rules…

At this point, it’s anyone’s guess.

-Sal