http://blogs.halowaypoint.com/post/2013/02/13/Fan-made-Halo-4-Spartan-Ops-Graphic-Novel-Part-6.aspx
As always, much love and thanks to BS Angel for posting a link back to the blog as well as the first page in the comic book.
-Sal
Author Archives: Sal
Spartan Ops Episode 10 trailer!
Oh my. I hope this isn’t the end of Spartan Ops. That would be extremely disappointing.
Toy Review: McFarlane Halo Blue Team
I’ve been wanting to see other named Spartan IIs come to the McFarlane Halo line for some time. Other than Master Chief and Jorge there hasn’t been any. Until NOW!
Blue team brings us Master Chief, as well as his squad mates Fred-104 and Kelly-087.
Now on with the review.
The box has a nice window to see all the figures and accessories. On one side you get details about each spartan, while on the other side, a graphic of the spartan with their weapons. The back shows the team again as well as the next series of McFarlane Halo figures and Micro Ops sets.
I just posted pics of these the other day. The box shows Lasky, while Waypoint didn’t. I’m still trying to get absolute, confirmation on Lasky. I hope he’s in this wave. I really like that character.
Someone else reported that the Micro Ops line was cancelled. As far as I know, it hasn’t. In fact the box shows the next wave of Micro Ops. Man, I hope like heck these DO come out. I LOVE the scale of these!
So here is what you get inside the box. The three figs, a Spartan Laser, 2 knives, Assault Rifle, Energy Sword, Shotgun, and 2 Plasma Rifles. That’s a decent mix of weapons and accurate to what was in the cartoon episode.
A quick height comparison reveals that Fred and John are the same height while Kelly is shorter.
Other than paint application, the only two differences between Fred and John are their helmets and shoulder armor. Good use of the same mold, while making them look different.
Oh, forgot to mention one leg has an extra hole. Not sure why though.
Kelly’s figure gets a brand new sculpt. Receding visor and high heels! Just what a female spartan always wanted, LOL. McFarlane did a great job here making her cartoon accurate. Shame the cartoon itself played into a stereo type with the heel thing. Still, this figure is striking and easily differentiated from the other two.
Finally here’s a graphic of the articulation of the figures. Each has the same articulation as the other two in the box.
McFarlane really did a wonderful job here with these figures. I highly recommend getting this boxed set, which retails for around $32-35. That’s a GREAT price considering an individual figure costs around $12-14 each. So you actually SAVE money with this boxed set.
This set gets a 9.5 out of 10 medals from me. Only reason it didn’t get the full 10 is that the knives aren’t so easily held nor stored on the figures. But that’s a minor nitpick. GO GET THIS BOXED SET!!!
-Sal
The Nextbox (successor to the XBOX)
http://kotaku.com/5982986/we-know-all-about-the-next-xbox-from-someone-who-says-theyve-got-one
Thanks to my bud Drax for posting this on Twitter. Normally I only post Halo related content here. However, this information on the next Microsoft gaming console is potentially huge for the future of Halo.
If this info is to be believed then here are some interesting spec of the “Nextbox.”
• 500GB hard drive built in.
• Built-in Kinect
• Game swapping (actually being able to switch between games by “pausing” your current game and switching to another)
Here’s a flow chart of the tech specs:
The one thing not given in the article is the cost. With all of these improvements, larger HD, built in Kinect, this could become expensive. The 360 already cost $300+. Will this console be $500? Yikes…
-Sal
Spartan Ops Episode 4 Podtacular Podcast.
Once again I team up with POD Dust Storm of Podtacular to bring you our complete evaluation of a Spartan Ops episode and it’s related missions. This time it’s Episode 4.
Coming in at over one hour and 36 minutes you’ll find out some good stuff about the video and missons.
You can listen here or download the podcast
here
.
Enjoy and please feel free to leave some feedback by replying to this article.
-Sal
McFarlane Halo 4 series 2 pics and info.
Rumor has it this series has been delayed until September. I have confirmation of this from BBTS.com, the online retailer I normally get my McFarlane figures from.
Regardless, it’s still nice to see better detailed pics of them. Waypoint released these on their site yesterday.
Bad Idea, Good Idea CTF
Here’s a vid I helped my bud POD Dust Storm with.
Um, I don’t know what was going on at the end….(maybe, LOL)
-Sal
Spartan Ops Episode 9!
Whoo, this is a good one. Majestic is tasked by Lasky to save Halsey, while she is being hunted by Palmer. Hmm, awkward?
Me and some friends playing Spartan Ops, then this happened…
Those poor Covies got dropped off on the shelf rock and didn’t know how to get down from there.
So my firends and I had some fun with them and crouched walked in Mantises teasing them. After about a minute or so, we had enough fun and blew them away!
LOL
Good times, good times.
-Sal
A brief analysis of the Spartan IVs we interact with in Halo 4.
Let’s take a look at most of the Spartan IVs that we have seen in the game:
First the “Cons” of each, then the “Pros” of each.
Commander Sarah Palmer: She commands all of the Spartans of the Infinity, yet she makes sexist remarks like “Ladies and other Spartans.” She sized up Master Chief with a “come hither” look, smiled then said she thought he’d be taller. She seems to take every opportunity to berate her subordinates. Not a way to lead. “Eggheads” <–gawd, I’m SO tired of that phrase.
Fireteam Majestic Squad Leader, Paul DeMarco: Meathead. Clearly evidenced as per the dialogue in the first Spartan Ops vid. His and Madsen’s interaction with Thorne and Hoya cement them as nothing more than that, meatheads.
Spartan Madsen: see above. Also, what is with that goofy surprised look on his face when Thorne comes out of active camo in the Spartan Ops episode 8 video? Come on, you can’t tell me the Spartan IVs didn’t know about active camo. Who trained these yahoos?
Spartan Hoya: Seemed like a decent spartan, though he was a little insubordinate to DeMarco in the SpOps episode 1 vid. Fast forward to the vid where he races out in front of his team against DeMarco’s orders and gets his butt handed to him by a Promethean Knight.
Spartan Tedra Grant: Um….missing in action? Seriously, we haven’t had much interaction with her in the vids.
Spartan Miller: I have to think that the “best and brightest” does NOT include Miller. In fact I’d say he’s the son of some politician or wealthy civilian who wanted to make a name for themselves by having a spartan for a son. He’s a dolt. “Bad Guys” <–another phrase I’m SO tired of. Come on folks, this is a mature rated game. “Bad Guys” and “Eggheads” are childish uses of dialogue.
Finally, Spartan Gabriel Thorne: Of all the others, I’d say he has the most potential. Halsey even seems to think so, though her remarks could be taken as her playing him for a sucker. He’s already disobeyed orders, left in a huff over supposed secrets being kept from him. (That done in the presence of his direct superior as well as ship’s Captain) As well he manages to get himself sucked down to Requiem when touching the artifact, as device I’m pretty sure he didn’t have clearance to go touch by himself.
They’ve all got some serious flaws one way or another. So it’s not just Palmer.
So let’s look at the Pro side.
Palmer: Decorated veteran with a decade of military service before entering the Spartan Program.
DeMarco: Still a leader and can take being humiliated when a mission goes south (Palmer asking him about Hoya, after Hoya is hurt by the Knight)
Madsen: a skilled sniper, he also seems to know his spartan history pretty well.
Grant: Hmm, again not much to say, need more to go on from her.
Miller: Despite his dialogue, it’s clear that he takes his job seriously and is trying to be the best spartan he can be.
Thorne: I’m still thinking he’s going to be the successor to Master Chief. He’s the one who’s gotten the most face time in SpOps. He has taken out plenty of Elites and rescued Dr. Glassman. He’s a rookie Spartan IV so he’s bound to make some mistakes. I think he’s learning and will become a great Spartan.
So what does this say about Spartan IVs? Well, they are flawed. But then we knew they would be. It’s been said in the Halo novels that adults wouldn’t be good candidates for the Spartan program due to being set in their ways mentally as well as having more issues with the rigors of augmentation.
So far, I’m thinking the Spartan IVs are little more than glorified ODSTs. However, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it means they have just that much more room to improve upon themselves.
By the way, I’m not bad mouthing Spartan Ops/Spartan IVs. I think this behavior shows their human side quite well and gives them character. We can easily differentiate each Spartan IV, not just in armor config, but in their separate and defined personalities.
All this said though…I hope Palmer is killed off so that Master Chief can then become Commander of the Spartans. That’s just a more exciting story line to me than Palmer remaining in charge. Nothing too much against Palmer.
Alright folks, what are your thoughts on these Spartans? Feel free to discus any one in particular or all of them. I want to see what other people think about the Spartan IVs in Halo 4.
-Sal