Master Chief like you’ve never seen nor heard him before!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClqRnxQQp5Q
Heh, liked it. Entertaining.
Author Archives: Sal
I still believe in Halo, do you?
A good friend of mine has been using the hashtag of #IBelieveIn343 So the question is, do YOU?
I sure do. In fact, I’m confident that Halo will be with us for many more years to come that I’m expanding HFFL’s presence and reach on the net by creating a gaming group, forum, Ricochet league, a new web series (“MaC” Rounds for which I’ve been developing for a few months) and one other thing I’m not yet ready to announce.
Unfortunately over the past several months until recently we’ve seen heavy drop offs in Halo’s play population, Halo pro-players cheating to get ahead, Halo pro-players essentially ditching Halo for the more lucrative COD, and long time Halo related sites become more all encompassing game sites instead of Halo centric. Just those things alone would have you thinking Halo is on it’s way out. NOT ME!
I seek to broaden HFFL’s potential by adding these new features so that Halo fans can have a place that they know will forever remain HALO centric. I of course will continue to speak my mind about what I believe needs correcting in Halo games, but I will NOT do it in a hurtful, bashing manner. Rather I look to promote healthy civil criticism, that will be forwarded to 343, in an effort to help the franchise and Halo’s community at large.
I feel now is the time for me/HFFL to step up to the challenge of becoming bigger and broader, offering more to the Halo community and providing a place for those who love Halo who may not as yet chosen a site to be associated with.
I know that just within the past week I’ve said I didn’t look to make the blog into a business and that isn’t the goal here with all of these expansions. However, if it does turn into that, I’m receptive to it and ready to move forward with it. That is going to depend greatly on you my dear readers, fans, friends, and friends yet to be.
I still believe in Halo!
-Sal
Hmm, let’s bump that up to four shall we?
Yesterday I mentioned there would be two expansions to HaloFanForLife.com (HFFL). In just that short time, I’ve added another two more expansions that are being worked out.
Of these newer two, I’m looking to created a HFFL forum. I tried one through wordpress a few months ago, but didn’t like the interface. So now I’m going to look at other sources.
The big question though is, would YOU want HFFL to have a forum? If so, would you use it? How often do you think you’d post?
The second of the newer batch of two other expansions is… a Ricochet League. The name of this NEW Halo league is:
Halo Ricochet League (HRL) for short. Yes, “HuRL.” Not as in throwing up, but as in hurling the ball to a teammate or to the goal to score!
The logo for this new league is being finalized and I should have it ready to view by the time the Champions bundle comes out. Rules and other details for the league will follow soon after. I need to get knee deep into the settings for Ricochet and see what might need to change for this league play if anything. (Hoping to play on the developer’s settings)
On that note, I’ll need PLENTY of play testers to play Ricochet with me. So for next Friday, Halo Fan Friday League will be ALL Ricochet! If you’ll have the Champions Bundle pack by then and want to join me for some Ricochet fun, send me a message via XBOX Live @ HaloFanForLife1
Whew, some really great things are coming for HFFL.
• Gaming Group
• Forums
• Halo Ricochet League
• As yet unrevealed project (to be revealed after the blog’s Halo 4 LAN Party on Sept 14. For info on that go here!)
So if whether you’re looking to get into a gaming group, post in a Halo forum, of get into a Ricochet League, HFFL will be your “one-stop-shop” for that all!
-Sal
Some exciting expansions to HFFL coming soon.
I’m not quite ready to talk about all the details, of what the title refers to. However, I will say there are two areas of expansion I’ve been mulling over for some time, for HFFL.
One of the two I will mention now. A HFFL gaming group. I’ve been involved with gaming groups before, one for more than 3 years. Now that I’ve been having consistently playing in groups of people who are friends and/or fans of HFFL, I’d like to put it out there for you folks. I have proposed this before, but there wasn’t much reception to it then. However, now that my nightly gaming is filled with fellow players, I want to try this again.
Would you be interested in being part of the HFFL community in a more official way?
I haven’t worked out all the details yet of what being a member in my gaming group would mean, though I do have a few guidelines I know I’d want to include. So here they are (and this is just a general set of guidelines for now. Should there be some real interest, we can revisit these laster to solidify them into the HFFL gaming group “rules.”
• You must be a registered subscriber to the blog. (Twitter and Facebook followers wanting to be a part of this must register on the blog)
• You will NOT need to change your gamer tag. I do ask though that you include a line in your XBOX bio that has the link to my homepage: halofanforlife.com and maybe a sentence either before or after stating why people should visit the site. Something along the lines of “For news on all things Halo, go to halofanforlife.com.” The point being is that you are actively promoting the site by which you belong to the gaming group there of.
• You attend at least 2 HFFL community events per month. Barring that if you regularly show up to game with me but can’t make community nights, that’s fine. Just don’t sign up to be in the group, only to be inactive. I’ll set up some rules for inactivity later.
• Should you wish to change your gamertag to reflect HFFL, the cost is upon yourself. I would like that if you do change it, to have HFFL at the beginning of your tag.
• As a member of HFFL, you will conduct yourself accordingly. Keeping online cussing to a minimum. No trash talking to the opposite team. Only in rare cases might I allow it.
• No T-bagging opponents. It’s tacky and isn’t appropriate. Again though, if the other team is being a real douche, well, I may overlook this.
• Age requirement: Okay, I know I have members here who are under 18. So, I’ll say this, Halo is a “R” rated game. Anyone under 18 MUST behave themselves, NO cussing at all. I will NOT be held responsible for corrupting a minor. That is on the parents for allowing them to play a game rated higher than the child’s age. NO EXCEPTIONS to that rule.
• You must not be in another gaming group currently. If you are, then you can be a community friend of HFFL, but not a full member of the HFFL gaming group. Noone under 14, no exceptions there. If you say you are 14 and are younger, I will NOT be held responsible.
Okay, that’s enough guidelines for now. These are of course subject to change and in likelyhood will to some degree.
If you are interested in being part of a HFFL gaming group, either reply below or send me a message at sal@halofanforlife.com.
The other “expansion” will be discussed next month as I’m working out the details.
-Sal
Halo 4 Concept Art: Michael Pedro of Certain Affinity
I only just today became aware of Michael Pedro. I wish I’d have known sooner. I’d have posted this fantastic concept art. Enjoy the gallery (click to make pics bigger):
I need to see if he has more concept art. Just some amazing work!
You can go to his official gallery page here. Hopefully he’ll post more in the future.
-Sal
Halo Initiation #1 of 3 review (SPOILERS throughout)
So I picked this up today at my local comic book store. After what seemed like a long wait (it wasn’t), I finally had this in my hands to read and review it.
As much of this review is going to talk about what happens in the comic book, if you plan on getting this, then do NOT read any further. it will contain SPOILERS aplenty.
Our story starts out with a wheelchair ridden UNSC Commander who has come to speak to other high ranking UNSC officiers. Turns out this particular commander was a Spartan long ago. His name is Musa. He was a Spartan II.
He addresses the officers to let them know that with Master Chief missing and the rest of the Spartan 2’s and 3’s all but gone, he’s created a NEW batch of Spartans.
While this is an initial good set-up for the story, not enough is given to the backstory of Musa, who I hope we’ll learn about sometime in the near future.
A page or two after this reveal, we get to see “Lance Corporal” Sarah Palmer getting ready for battle by way of scrambling for her ODST gear, then dropping in on a planet in an ODST Drop Pod.
The artwork showing the pods dropping is excellent. It’s even available for free as part of the preview for this book here.
The story moves to planet-side where we see a Marine and a high ranking UNSC officer scrambling to get away from the covenant, while in a warthog.
The warthog coms under attack by a Brute Chieftan and the marine dies. The officer is carrying an important AI core and must not be caught. When all of the sudden, Palmer lands nearly on top of the chieftan.
She quickly break out of the pod and into action right away fighting of the same brute, a grunt and an elite, with several other covenant see in on the very close horizon. There isn’t a ton of dialog in this portion of the book and there really doesn’t need to be as it’s the action that pulls you in.
Needless to say Palmer wins the day, but not before being shot a couple of times by a needler. She escapes with the officer and AI core in tow, safe and secure.
Next we see Palmer in a hospital bed. She has a visitor. Something seems strangely familiar about him. ONI perhaps??? No in fact it’s Jun. Yes, THAT Jun. Noble 4 from Reach. He has indeed survived. Though now he’s wearing a suit and looks more like a beefy Professor X from X-Men, than the tanner non-caucasian Jun we know from the game. (Hopefully, he’ll be draw more accurately in the last two issues if he appear in them again.)
Jun talks with Palmer about the mission and then drops the bomb on her, asking her if she want to be recruited as a Spartan.
The comic book is fairly short at 28 pages. I’d like to know more about this Musa and of course how Jun survived. With this being only a 3 part series, I was hoping for some more action, more backstory and more overall comic book. At a price of $3.99 before tax, I expected more pages. Maybe I’m so far removed from comic books now though that 28 pages are the norm for the price. It just seems a bit short to me is all.
The artwork is good. The page with Master Chief on it is my favorite of this book (as seen above). The panel layout is nice and flows easily so you won’t get lost. The text bubbles and text effects are well done.
My two main gripes for the artwork is that Jun doesn’t look like Jun from Reach. Since this comic takes place within a couple of years at most after the events of Reach, Jun shouldn’t look as aged as he is in the book. As well, they totally missed the mark on what Palmer looks like, with exception to the cover art.
All in all, it’s a good book. Not great, but good. Is it worth picking up? Yes, if you’re into more story. In fact you will get a code will allow you to view it online so you won’t have to worry about losing/tearing your physical comic book.
This was a good start to the series. Again though, since it’s only a 3-book story arc, I really hope book 2 is much better. More action please! More story! MORE PAGES!
-Sal
Reading this today, review to follow!
As I posted in the wee hours this morning, Halo Initiation is out. I was able to get my hands on a copy as seen above. Just got home and will read this a couple of times then write a review after.
I’m just excited that Halo is back in comic book form!!!
-Sal
The Halo Bulletin 8.14.13
We start off with the Matchmaking Playlist Update. There will be updates on both Monday AND Tuesday. Monday will be current playlist updates and the Armor Mod Update. Tuesday will bring us the Champions Bundle DLC content and playlist.
Halo 4 Armor Mod Update (text taken directly from Halo Waypoint):
Next Monday, we will release two additional armor mods free of charge for you to enjoy, and we’ll be using a Title Update to deliver them. These will be released one day before the Champions Bundle launches on Tuesday, and you’ll immediately be able to incorporate these new Support Upgrades into your Loadouts and dominate.
- Recharge: New Support Upgrade available to all players
Recharge decreases the time it takes for your shields to recharge. - Survivor: New Support Upgrade available to all players
Survivor ejects you out of a vehicle if it’s about to explode.
We hope you enjoy using these complimentary Support Upgrades in your Loadouts starting next Monday. As a reminder, the Champions Bundle will include a sneak peek of the Resistor Tactical Package, which allows players to retain full mobility despite taking fire for a few short moments. This armor mod will eventually be made available to all players in Halo 4 Matchmaking free of charge.
Before we dive into how the Champions Bundle will be showcased in Halo 4 Matchmaking, we’ve got some other changes that are coming in Monday’s update. For starters, the Global Championship online qualifier will be coming to a close, and the Rumble Pit playlist will return as the premiere FFA offering. Based on community feedback, we’ve also made some changes. Rumble Pit will have a total of 15 new voting options including new Slayer game types, new objective game types (King of the Hill and Oddball) and Regicide, which is being consolidated and will now exclusively be available in the Rumble Pit playlist.
HFFL: Dang, this sucks regarding the news for Regicide for me. I STILL need to max out those commendations so I can get the Kingslayer emblem so I can finally start filming on my MaC Rounds web series. Looks like I’ll be heading into Rumble Pit now. Oh for joy… <–sarcasm alert
The following Slayer and objective game types from the Halo 4 Global Championship playlist will be added to the Rumble Pit offerings:
Haven Oddball
Skyline Rumble BRs
Simplex Rumble BRs
Abandon King of the Hill
Landfall King of the Hill
While the above game types will add variety to the playlist, a Slayer game type will always be present in the first voting slot. As always, we want to know your thoughts on these game types and what else you’d like to see in Rumble Pit. Head over to the Rumble Pit Feedback Thread next week to join the conversation.
In Spartan Ops Matchmaking, we’ll be offering a selection of Forerunner-themed missions:
Episode 1, Chapter 3: The Challenge
Episode 1, Chapter 4: Sacred
Episode 2, Chapter 5: Gagarin
Episode 5, Chapter 1: Spartan Miller
Episode 5, Chapter 2: Nothing Can Go Wrong
We’ll also be removing Crimson DLC in preparation for the Champions Bundle the following day. Speaking of…
Halo 4 Champions Bundle
This bundle releases on Aug 20 for 800 MSP.
Following text again from Halo Waypoint:
Next, let’s talk about what Matchmaking will look like come next Tuesday.
The Champions Bundle will have its own playlist in Matchmaking. It will offer a varied selection of 4 vs. 4 game types and be the only place to play the brand new game type, Ricochet for the first two weeks, and new maps Pitfall and Vertigo. The map / game type offering is as follows:
- Pitfall Infinity Slayer
- Pitfall Slayer Pro
- Pitfall Ricochet
- Pitfall Capture the Flag
- Vertigo Infinity Slayer
- Vertigo Slayer Pro
- Vertigo Extraction
- Vertigo King of the Hill
We hope you enjoy this mix of game types.
Next is the Halo 4 Global Championship.This section covers the fifth/final week of qualifiers and shows the current leaderboard as of 8.14.13 at 5:45PM.
HFFL: More invites to the finals were given out, this time to a select few Halo communities. From Halo Waypoint: “As a thank you for their dedication and contributions to the greater Halo universe, several well-known and competitive gaming communities have also received a specified amount of invites each…” Sadly, I was not included in this. While I am admittedly jealous of those sites who got the invitations, I do hope one of their folks is able to pull off the upset and win this thing. I SO want a NON-Pro player to win!
Finally as always the bulletin ends with a Screenshot Spotlight. This time the subject matter is: GREEN
If You want to read the full bulletin, go to the official Halo Waypoint website here.
-Sal
“Halo Initiation” is out on shelves for sale! (Sarah Palmer origin story)
HALO: INITIATION #1 (JOHN LIBERTO COVER)
Halo®—one of the largest video game franchises—comes to Dark Horse!
Before she was a super soldier defending humanity as part of the Spartan IV program, Sarah Palmer was an ODST—Orbital Drop Shock Trooper—carrying out the most dangerous missions behind enemy lines!
* The origin of Sarah Palmer—and the Spartan IV program!
* The Halo® franchise has sales eclipsing $3 billion over its lifetime.
* From one of the writers on Halo 4—comics veteran Brian Reed!
CREATORS
Writer:
Brian Reed
Artist:
Marco Castiello
Colorist:
Michael Atiyeh
Cover Artist:
John Liberto
Publication Date:
August 14, 2013
Price: $3.99
For MORE on the backstory of how this comic book came about, go HERE!
-Sal
HFFL LAN Event update! 8.15.13
Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of going to the gaming center where the LAN will be held. Got to talk with the owner about how I want to set up some Halo things to display. Here are a few pics of the place the LAN will be held at (It’s bigger than it looks in the pics):
As you can see there is a bathroom. As well, the owner informs me that he will have snacks for sale. Everything is $1 each with exception to 5-hour energy drinks. You of course can bring your own snacks.
In this area is where I’ll have much of my Halo display and where we’ll have the Halo Showcase portion of the LAN.
Part of the set up. The larger TV will be used to watch the FFA tourney once a person has been knocked out of it.
More of the set-up. He has a total of 16 tv/console set-ups. So no equipment is needed by attendees. Just bring yourself and whatever drinks/snacks you want for the night.
Don’t forget there will be pizza and a drink included with your paid admission to the event.
Beyond this, I also got some great news from Mega Brands, makes of Halo Mega Bloks. They will be donating prizes for the FFA tournament. As well, they will be providing additional items for door prizes to be given to each paid LAN Event attendee.
We’re still working on the logistics of what the prizes will ultimately be. That said, I now have a list of 20 people who have said they are coming to the LAN. I should add that there is NO limit to the number of people that can attend. Doutbful will hit a Fire Code violation of attendees.
So if you’re thinking about attending, you have until Aug 23, to confirm it. Send me an e-mail at sal@halofanforlife.com with your intention on coming. There is no preregistration cost to this, however I ask that if you do send an e-mail that you are coming, please show up.
As always, for complete information on the LAN, please go here!
-Sal