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

Should the Didact return? And other possible campaign stories going forward.

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Considering how the Halo 4 campaign played out, the UR Didact (which is the one we saw in the campaign) is dead. And really, I don’t want 343 to pull a switcheroo here and say he’s alive. Not from that fall and not from what he fell in to.

Now the Bornstellar Didact, yet, he should be in the next one. Considering he is the Didact reborn in a sense, he could be trouble. However, there could also be conflict within himself. That being his former Bornstellar persona fighting with his new Didact persona. In this respect WE could play AS the Didact in Halo 5. Similar to how we played as the Arbiter in Halo 2. This would be a nice way to give homage to Halo 2’s campaign but with a new-ish enemy.

Then in Halo 6, the Bornstellar Didact becomes a friendly, again much in the same way as the Arbiter did. Both he and Master Chief are paired up and you go up against the flood who have survived, possibly even a climatic battle with the gravemind itself. As for the other two multiplayer characters? Well, the Arbiter needs to make a return and then either Jul M’dama or another Spartan. Maybe Palmer or Thorne (who is being seen as Chief’s possible replacement now).

In that climatic battle, both the Bornstellar Didact and Master Chief are killed off, thus ending the saga of Chief and giving way to the rise of another Spartan, again possibly Thorne. Let’s not forget that by this time, Thorne will have had plenty of experience and won’t be the same recruit Spartan we see him as in Halo 4’s Spartan Ops.

-Sal

Map Pass/DLC reduced price. Would it be fair or not?

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I bought the map pass. Would I mind if it or the respective map packs were reduced in price? Not now. It’s been a few months since the first one. I say reduce them. Get MORE people playing, rather than watching the population dwindle each day. It’s greed that drives the prices to not be reduced. Nevermind that by reducing them they’ll make at least SOME money AND get some population back…

I’m content with knowing that by buying the season pass I got them for a reduced price from the get go and got to play them immediately as son as they became available without waiting (other than the download). Those of us who bought the pass are well ahead of the curve of those who haven’t bought the pass/map packs yet.

Heck an influx of gamers into these map packs now would be great. Those maps would be played more, those of us who have them would likely be able to farm kills (since we have that advanced knowledge of map layout), etc.

Honestly, how much does M$ think they can milk this? IMHO, I think that there should be a standardized sale on any DLC (not just Halo. 3 months after DLC is released it goes on sale for 75% of cost. At 6 months it’s down to 50%. At a year 33%. That’s the lowest it would ever go then.

Having a structure such as this would allow those who don’t mind waiting, to do so knowing when to expect the sale price to come down. For those of us who have to have it immediately, we pay full price. Again though we have the advantage vs those who haven’t played on the DLC when it gets reduced. Also, for those “first-adopters” (people who pay full price), an extra “reward” could be given for purchasing at full price. In the case of Halo 4 a weapon skin or armor. In general, avatar items.

-Sal

Random Ordnance drops in Halo 4. Fair or not? A discussion.

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Ordnance should be tiered. Plain and simple…

The more kills you get, the better your ordnance gets. Those poorly skilled players who get lucky and get a rocket launcher, wouldn’t anymore. Well, not until they killed a lot of people with lesser weapons.

Being good in Halo 4 doesn’t have much “reward,” especially when you can be killed by someone who got their first ordnance drop and it was an incineration cannon. That person who got the “InCin” then goes on to get a lucky killing spree due to a weapon the really didn’t deserve to get. Which in turn gives than yet another weapon drop…

Really???

The way I see ordnance dropping is that, for every 5 kills you get, (or a combo of kills/assists) you get a new drop. Each successive drop (for 5 kills/assists) is BETTER than the previous. It’s a reward for being BETTER than your opponents and a way to vanquish them quicker. Teams of unskilled players should NOT have a chance to beat skilled players with random drops that give them weapons that even skilled players can’t defend against.

This is one reason why when given the option, I ask my team to vote for NON-Infinity game types.

There really needs to be a CLASSIC playlist that is devoid of Infinity settings. (and ordnance altogether) Bring back TIMED weapons as specific areas on a map. Allow those teams of dedicated and/or skilled players to win because they have knowledge of those weapons spawning and have the skill to hold that area until those weapons spawn.

‘Nuff said.

Why are ODSTs not in Halo 4? A discussion.

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Here’s a basic story line that gives us reasons why ODSTs aren’t present in Halo 4.

First, they ARE still around. Read the Kilo-5 novels (Glasslands/The Thursday War). These happen just prior to Halo 4.

Since the Infinity is home to a disproportionate amount of Spartans (albeit Spartan IVs), there is no need for ODSTs. As has been said, there are many who were previously ODSTs who are now Spartan IVs. Palmer is one of those. Spartans aboard the Infinity can perform the tasks of ODSTs easily.

Now as for a possible reason why they aren’t in the game…

343 wants us to focus on being Spartans, NOT ODSTs. This is one main reason why there is no choice for ODST armor in the game. Yes, the recruit helmet is similar to an ODST helmet and for good reason. It’s kind of the “transition” helmet from being an ODST to being a full on Spartan.

Again, this isn’t to say that ODSTs no longer exist in the Halo-verse as of Halo 4. They just aren’t in the same places that the campaign/Spartan Ops take place.

Personally, I’d love to see another ODST game.

In fact, this could happen with a very interesting story line. Palmer could be one of the stars of this game as could BUCK!

It was said of Buck that, “If he were any better, he’d be a Spartan.” Well, here’s that opportunity. Now that the processes for creating a Spartan from a fully grown adult are now possible within the Halo-verse, it’s quite plausible for Buck to become a Spartan.

So imagine a story where you can play as either Buck or Palmer (and possibly two other not yet named UNSC characters) who start out as ODSTs. Along the way, they are recruited to become Spartan IVs. You’re first few missions are those of them being ODSTs, then the transition to them being Spartans. This could go along quite well with Palmer’s Origin comic book by Darkhorse, coming out soon.

HALOIN-1-FC-FNL660

There are MANY fans of Buck/Nathan Fillion who would LOVE to have him back and active in the franchise again. I’m pretty sure, Nathan would love that too…

An open letter to my readers.

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First I want to apologize for not posting as much lately.

Secondly, I need to ask you folks to say a prayer and/or with me luck. I’ve been unemployed now for 25 months. This has caused a GREAT strain on me. I find myself now in the position of possibly losing my home in two months.

I’ve already gone through unemployment, my 401K, savings, and tax refunds. I’m tapped. Over these last two year+ I’ve learned how to live with less. Now is the time that I may be forced to live without a home.

I’m in advertising by trade and have been a production artist, pre-press technician, graphic designer and art director. As a person in his mid 40s with 15+ years of experience, it’s become increasingly hard to find work. I’ve applied to well over 100 jobs over the course of my unemployment. I believe that I’m not able to find work so easily in part due to the economy. It’s a business’s job market now. They can afford to wait for the right candidate that won’t cost them so much. They can afford to take those with little to no experience and pay half as much as they would for me (someone who could start right out of the gate with practically no training needed).

During this time, I’ve applied TWICE for a position with 343 (yes, THAT 343). I was told by the recruiter the first time I applied that the position was down to me and one other. Now I don’t know if that was true or not and couldn’t get confirmation of this beyond the recruiter.

The second time I applied, it was through a different recruiter. Once again as the first time, I waited weeks which turned into months to hear back about the position, only to have the recruiter stop actively trying to fill the position.

I can’t fault 343 here. Though I do wonder what the heck is going on. I received an e-mail from Frank O’Conner himself. So he is fully aware of my blog. As well, BS Angel used to regularly post article from my blog, specifically the comic books I did of both Forward unto Dawn and Spartan Ops. Those have stopped now and the SpOps ones were not all posted. I found that strange.

Anyway, back to what’s going on with me. The stress level I have now (and I suffer already from anxiety and depression) is at an all time high. I KNOW that were I to find suitable work, that stress would likely be eradicated and I could get back on track with life and the blog.

I mentioned suitable work as I have a few slight disabilities that prevent me from taking just any old job to tide me over until I find a better one. The two most important here are Sleep Apnea and Spondylosis. The first disallowing me from being able to drive for long periods at a time since I can be prone to falling asleep without warning. The second is a condition I’ve had since before my military days that I had to get a waver for. This means I have a bad back and can’t stand for long periods of time, which in turn alienates me from MANY employment opportunities. So while I’d love to be able to take even a crappy job just to be able to pay the bills, with my medical issues, I’m not able to.

So where does this put me? Well, as I stated above, I’ve been out of work for 25 months, money has run dry, I’m limited in employment I’m able to perform and now run the risk of losing my home.

With all this, my attention has not been on the blog as much as it used to be. I hope and ask that you kind readers understand from the above why that is.

HFFL is paid for, for another 15 months, so I’m not worried about losing the site. That’s not the issue. It’s a matter of losing my home that is the biggest source of pain, angst, worry, stress, and anxiety that I face.

For the past 4 months, anything that I’ve posted regarding Halo toy review (with one or two exceptions) my wife has paid for. While I appreciate that, we can’t afford for her to do that any longer. I have been lucky enough that through my contacts with Mega Bloks and McFarlane to have received some free stuff, for which I promptly review here on HFFL. IN the mean time though, I am ashamed for having to ask my wife to pay for toys, especially when we’re in the financial state we’re in.

With all this said, why am I telling you readers?

Well, there may come a time in your life when you need to ask for support, be that in prayer, best wishes, money, work, etc. I’m at this crossroads. I dont’ expect anyone to give me money, and if they did, know that it would go toward my mortgage first as that is the TOP priority. I guess I just want you all to know WHY I haven’t been posting as much and again ask for your understanding and to stick with me/HFFL. While the posts may not be as frequent, I assure you that I’m not absent from the blog. I just have things that are supremely more important that I have to consider first before the blog.

I’m still here and will still be posting. You can bet that whenever things get back on track, I’ll be posting like I used to or even more.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and thanks for being a reader of HFFL.

Most respectfully, 
Sal

Halo Bulletin 5-8-13

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It used to be that I’d be excited to read the bulletin. This and last week’s bulletins buck that trend. I’m not sure if it’s because Bravo is writing them or if it’s just that I don’t really care about weapons tuning, which is nearly all this week’s bulletin is about. All the weapons being tuned I’ve either maxed out or am really close to doing so. So this doesn’t affect me so much.

However, for those of you that haven’t maxed out the weapons or are more competitive than me you might want to check in on this week’s bulletin.

Bravo discusses a friend who is also a competitive Halo player coming to 343 for a look, weapons tuning, matchmaking playlist update (a limited time Community Forge Island Playlist will be coming), and finally the now standard gallery, this one featuring the Battle Rifle.

Have a read!

-Sal

Mega Bloks Full size Promethean Knight – follow up!

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This is a follow up with some new pics to the article I posted the other day of the Mega Bloks full size Promethean Knight.

Mega Bloks posted on Facebook that, “We are putting together a giant build of a Halo Knight to be displayed at San Diego Comic Con in July.”

Here are a few new pics from that build:

Pro-headOkay technically this is a cut down version of the head shot from the other day…

Pro-swordWow! Would you look at that SWEET sword! That is a thing of BEAUTY!

Pro-ScattershotSo is this amazing Scattershot!!!

Pro-leg
Here’s part of the leg assembly. As you can see it has an inner metal core to keep it stable.  It’s going to need that too, considering the massive torso, arms, etc., that is to come.

Pro-wingHere’s just ONE of the wing assemblies.

Wow, this is going to be a HUGE set. Simply awe inspiring.
-Sal

 

 

 

 

 

Toy Review: Kai Arts Halo 4 Master Chief

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First I want to say thank goodness for tax refunds. I ordered this back in February and it finally got to me yesterday. I have the Sarah Palmer one paid for and waiting for it to arrive too, again paid for with part of the tax refund.

Okay now that that’s done, let’s get on to the review:Kai Logo

I want to be straight up here and say that initially I had no desire to collect this line. There are a few reasons.
1. Fairly expensive: In comparison to McFarlane Halo figures these are about 5X as much. On average McFarlane Halo figures cost $13-15. This Kai Arts (also referred to as Play Arts) figure was a whopping $65 (not including shipping).
2. Not a fan of the slim waistline: It’s one of the biggest reasons I didn’t go for the other figures. I don’t like it when companies choose to use their interpretation when they can easily recreate the character exactly as it is. (Mega Bloks does not count here for instance as they have to really size down their figures.)
3. Exclusivity: There aren’t many figures to this line as it is and several of them were exclusives. I really REALLY hate toy lines that do that. Exclusives to stores, fine. That may make it a little hard for some collectors, but certainly not as hard as trying to get Convention exclusives.

So then, you’re probably asking me, “Why the hell did you get this then?”

I had to really consider buying any from this line. Knowing I’d never have one of each, I had to draw the line somewhere. So I decided to get ONLY Halo 4 Campaign/Spartan Ops figures. I had seen pics of the Halo 4 Master Chief and it actually looked pretty darn good even with the slimmer waistline. Palmer I wasn’t so concerned about since she’s a female character and I can tolerate the slimmer waistline on her due to that.

So yeah, that means I had to pass on the Halo CE Master Chief, the Gold MC, and pretty much all the rest. I had thought about Noble team, but again, these figs are expensive. The waistlines on those characters really take away from them, with exception to Kat, again with her being a female character.

Okay, enough justification, let’s move on to the actual toy review…KA MC Box FrontThe box this comes in is very nice. Some great graphics and they all make sense.KA MC Box sides-backTake a look at these shots put side by side. You can see that the sides wrap around with the front to make a larger image. The back of the box depicts Master Chief in certain poses with weapons. KA MC Box opened flapWhat’s great about the box is that if you keep your stuff in the box, there is this nice flap that is velcroed on that you can open to show the figure, yet keep it minty fresh inside.

Of course, I’m not a mint in box kind of guy (though this one I did put back in the box for the time being). So here are some shots of the contents and the figure and weapons outside of the box.KA MC ContentsWhen you slide out the contents, you get this. It’s a clear tray over a black tray that holds the figure, weapons, and extra pair of hands in place. It’s a nice way to have them displayed inside the box.

Behind that you find what’s below. It’s a cardboard sleeve that also has a bubble glued onto it that holds the figure’s stand in place.KA MC Contents-standAs you can see by the pic (and yes, I photoshopped the hell out of the background), the directions are easy to see and follow. I have NO plans on using this stand. Though I won’t get rid of it either, as you never know… For now it’s back in the box with the figure.

But before I put it back in there, here’s the figure as promised (click to make pic bigger): KA MC Articulated viewsSorry about the high contrast/flash here.

The figure has some pretty good articulation. Ball joints abound everywhere. One thing to note is that the cod piece and hip area is actually a separate piece that sits in place. It’s moveable, but not particularly positionable. The detail on this figure is amazing as is the paint job. The only issue I really have here is that the ball joints aren’t hidden as well as they could have been. It can be distracting specifically at the shoulder area.

KA MC detail-weapons viewsIn the shot above you see how the pistol can attach to the leg. There is also a peg hole in the back for the Assault Rifle. Note the pegs sticking out of the weapons in the bottom right of the above pic. Also, this set comes with another set of hands.

The figure as it is in the package has the more open hands attached to it. This makes it easy to have Chief hold the AR. The extra hands are for holding the Plasma Pistol. Technically you could have Chief dual wield the weapons with the AR in his right hand and the Plasma Pistol in his right. I do think that a frag and/or plasma grenade should have been included with this set. Either to have chief hold in his left hand or to clip onto the left leg. Opportunity missed. Perhaps I’ll custom one…. (likely not).

Okay so there you have it.

What are my final observations on this?

It’s a good figure with superb articulation, excellent sculpting and paint application. It’s presented VERY well in the box. The slimmer waist isn’t as noticeable on this figure as it was in earlier figures from this toy line, so that is a plus in my book. The only thing that detracts from this then is the price. While I do appreciate the extra set of hands, a grenade or two would have helped give more of the appearance of worth. When you compare this to the McFarlane figure, visually it’s better, though only marginally. So again the price is the real issue here. Is it really worth $65 (plus shipping)?

Unfortunately, I have to say no. However, given the rather exclusivity of these figs and that they aren’t as easy to find at brick and mortar stores, therefore making it more of a collectible piece, the price is slightly more justified. Personally, I think the price of this line of figures should be at $35-40 and no more.

So should YOU buy it? Well that’s going to depend on a few things.
Do you mind the slimmer, somewhat out of proportion waist?
Do you mind paying 5X as much for this than say a McFarlane Halo figure?
Are you buying this to keep in package or will you have your kids play with it?

Answer those questions and I think you can come to your own conclusion. Am I happy with the purchase? Well, I don’t have buyers remorse. So that’s a good thing. Though I do think it’s priced more than it’s worth. I can only hope these figures gain value. Though, I’m not in this to resell figures later. I collect to collect.

Articulation: 9 of 10 medals
Paint Application: 9 of 10 medals
Sculpt: 8.5 of 10 medals
Accessories: 8 of 10 medals (include more please  if you’re going to ask that much for these sets)
Overall rating: 8.5 medals of 10

UPDATE

I figured since I mentioned the McFarlane figure a few times within this review that I should show a comparison shot of it and the Kai Arts figure. Click to make bigger.

Kai Arts MC-McF MCOkay, so now seeing the two side by side, you’d think I’d change my position on the cost issue. Well, partially. See, this isn’t quite 12 inches tall. I can get a fully articulated Star Wars figure from Sideshow collectibles for around $50-55 (yes more for certain characters). Anyway, those figures come LOADED with extras. Their sculpt is great as is the articulation and paint application. So adding this comparison as well and the Kai fig not having a bunch of extras, I’ll place it’s worth at $45. Better than the $35-40 I said above.

McFarlane had a 12 inch figure of Master Chief a few years back. Sadly it didn’t sell well at retail. It was VERY well priced at IIRC $30. That was much bigger than this figure and had decent sculpting, though not as great articulation.

So take all this updated info for what it’s worth to help you determine if you are considering buying this figure.

Oh! And if you do, PLEASE send me a photo. I’ll be more than happy to post it up on the blog!

-Sal

Mega Bloks HUGE Promethean Knight head!

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My friend and Vice President of Mega Brands (parent to it’s Mega Bloks division) posted the following pic on Twitter of Mega Bloks next huge build:

Promethean Knight Mega Bloks head

 

Wow, this is just the head. Imagine how big the whole knight is going to be when finished?

Personally, I’d LOVE to see just this come out as a set to buy. I’m sure it would be expensive, but wow what a set to own huh?

-Sal