HaloFanForLife Forward Unto Dawn contest…

Okay folks, I’ve got an easy contest in the works. Stay tuned later for the specifics of the contest.

You MUST be a registered subscriber of the BLOG (not Twitter or Facebook) to win.

The prize will be a Halo McFarlane Master Chief (as seen in Forward Unto Dawn)

Here’s a pic from the McFarlane site:

Yes, I know it says from “The Package” which was an episode in the Halo Legends cartoon. However, it is the same armor as seen in Forward Unto Dawn.

Shipping will be free to those in the lower 48 states. If the winner is outside of this area, the will need to pay for shipping. (Sorry folks, I’m a bit crunched so I need to ask that of you) If the winner chooses not accept the prize on that condition, then I may award the prize to the second person who answers the contest question correct. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Again, look for the contest question later today…

-Sal (HFFL)

McFarlane Halo Master Chief Vs. Hunter resin statue (limited to 500)!

Forward-Unto-Dawn-Resin-Statue.html

Okay folks, want to own what is surely to become a holy grail of Halo collecting? This resin statue is up for sale at the link above for $225. You won’t get charged right now for it. (But will about a week before shipping which should be around the first week of December)

Only 500 total will be made. So this is VERY limited.

This isn’t plastic. It’s SOLID. The resin statue is a whopping 14lbs. Shipping is free. (Thank goodness as a 14lbs anything would cost a lot in shipping-I guess they took that into account when pricing the statue.)

If you do get it, shoot some pics my way, PLEASE. I’ll feature them on the blog. I unfortunately won’t be able to afford this beauty. Super SADFACE… 🙁

-Sal (HFFL)

Mountain Dew Cryo Tube!

Check it out!

 

Considering the Dew XP promo going on, this would be cool to have…

(Sadly it’s just a Photoshop pic that I did…)

-Sal

primagames.com’s Halo 4 Tips: Improving Your Play

Halo 4 Tips: Improving Your Play

primagames.com

Text from Prima:

No help when you’ve got the flag? Don’t be afraid to defend yourself. Further improve your multiplayer experience in War Games with these additional tactics and tips straight from the Major League Gaming Pros!

1. Jumping: 
This is very important when you’re entering fights or disengaging from them. Use rocks, crates, and other scenery to reach higher ground. This can help in all types of objective games to cut off routes, complete shortcuts, or run in a flag faster so you can score.

2. Capturing the Flag: 
If you’re holding power weapons and you’re by the enemy flag, then it is better to provide supporting fire, guard the flag, and let a teammate without such a great weapon run with the flag. You can’t drop the flag once you walk over it, so having rockets or a sniper rifle is useless. Instead, it’s simply smarter to slay and chaperone a teammate once they take the flag.

3. Oddball: If you’re in trouble during Oddball matches, and you know you’re about to be taken down while holding the ball, look out for any teammates near your position and throw them the ball. It is much better to keep it out of the other team’s hands.

4. King of the Hill:
It is wise to sometimes simply skip a hill if it will be changing soon and set up for the next one, or you may risk rushing aimlessly to a hill that’s too well defended and dying over and over again.

Try to control a point that’s close to where the next hill moves to, and set up there. Now when the hill moves, you’re in the location already and your opposition is likely to be farther away at the previous hill’s position and also in a weakened state. This allows you to accrue time easily and relatively safely.

When playing properly on a team, there should be only one player in the hill so the remaining teammates can cover the other angles to help keep the hill dweller alive. The only time two teammates should be on a hill is toward the end of a game when you need to keep the hill at all costs for the points. So, if one teammate dies in the hill, there’s a second to keep the time continuous.

5. Rushing: Never try to randomly run flags or rush an objective by charging in without help from your teammates.

6. Ordnance Discretion: 

When calling in Ordnance Drops it’s important to remember a few things. First, don’t always call in a drop as soon as you get one. Instead, wait for your current provisions to run dry, especially if they’re doing the trick (which they likely are, as you just got an option for a drop!) Second, call in drops inside enclosed areas. If you do it in the open, the drop will be deployed from above the map and will be loud and noticeable. Instead, head to an interior or a location with an overhang and the ordnance will discretely materialize instead of dropping. And finally, don’t always select a power weapon which is often a player’s first reaction. If you’ve got a sweet weapon, selecting a power-up can sometimes make it even sweeter. There’s nothing quite like using a SAW to cut down a handful of enemies only to be rewarded by an Overshield, allowing you to cut down the same enemies all over again almost immediately after.

Get more MLG Pro strategy with the very best tactics to get you through the campaign, plus weekly updates to coincide with the release of the Spartan Ops episodic campaign missions! Purchase the Halo 4 Prima Official eGuide available for pre-order now!

Plus, when you pre-order the eGuide, you’ll not only receive 20% off but you’ll also receive BONUS behind-the-scenes content and a download code for the Cryptum Avatar T-Shirt.

I’m ready to Do(ritos) the DEW, are you?

I went to Wal*Mart tonight and found these cases there. I got the cases of Mountain Dew for $6.98 each. The Doritos were on sale. I got the after Halloween price on them and was allowed to take the whole boxes rather than having to open them up and price each bag individually.

I’ll be entering in codes all night for these. That’s 48 bags of Doritos, 48 cans of soda, plus the two extra codes on the soda cases. 98 codes!!! Woot, Double XP!!!

I suggest when buying these you try to get a whole case of Doritos. You may just get a deal on them like I did.

-Sal

Halo 4 reviews are in! (Spoiler FREE!!!)

Okay, while I’m posting the ratings and some text from the reviewer, I am also including the link to their actual review.

BEWARE. Those links MAY have spoilers. So click at your own risk.

Here we go:

360.mmgn.com: Halo 4 succeeds where most shooters fail.  It remains true to its core experience made famous over five games, but it excels in actually making us care about the characters, be them good or evil.
What Halo 4 Got Right
Great campaign and story
Memorable Halo experience, new 343i flavour
Multiplayer is still great
Spartan Ops is brilliant co-op fun
What Halo 4 Got Wrong
Some new vehicles are a chore to control
Game sometimes holds your hand

www.polygon.com 9.5/10
Halo 4 gets what made Halo: Combat Evolved special. (Positive review)

IGN.com 9.8/10
Amazingly, Halo 4 is not only a success, but a bar-raising triumph for the entire first-person shooter genre. And just how new developer 343 Industries has done it will surprise, delight, and excite you.

G4tv: 4.5/5
When gamers and games media alike turn to look back over the releases of 2012, there’s one word that you’ll see frequently associated with 343 Industries’ Halo 4: “safe.”  (Semi-negative review)

insidegamingdaily.com 10/10 with a “Gold Award”
The overall question persists: do we need another Halo trilogy? The answer to that is a surprising no, for you, the general public that’s looking for nothing more than a minor multiplayer distraction. But from one dedicated Halo fan to those looking for an evolution in story, creation, and online play, yes, we freakin’ do. It feels good to finally say after many years that Halo is back

joystiq.com 5/5
Halo 4 is Halo – a surprisingly successful, mandatory step for 343 Industries. But the game strives for more than competence, giving it a forceful march and a decadent show of strength. Our doubt and questioning of Halo’s continued existence has, in some small way, helped deliver one of the best games in the series and one of the finest shooters in years. Of course, if we want to use this tactic for the next one we’d better start now.

destructoid.com: 10/10
At its core, everything still feels like a Halo game. While there are new some new elements that change the gameplay a little, that weight of playing as a super soldier is well balanced between the sense of speed and strength in the multiplayer. 343 Industries have done a remarkable job at continuing the Halo legacy.

www2.britxbox.co.uk: 10/10
Halo 4 succeeds in every possible way. This is both the Halo you remember, and the game you’ve always wanted.

kotaku.com: (no rating given other than a “YES” to play it)
343’s take on the franchise humanized what was up until now mainly just a really fun, well-made series of games.

popcultureblog.dallasnews.com (positive review-no rating given)
343 Industries has done something amazing. They’ve put more effort into the storytelling – humanizing the Master Chief and making more connections to those books we really nerdy gamers read – changed the setting, given us new, interesting enemies to fight and fun weapons to play with …In other words, they’ve made me excited about Halo again

penny-arcade.com: (no rating given)
If you were curious about 343’s ability to pull this off, to make Halo 4 as good as Bungie’s games, here’s your answer: Halo 4 is not as good as Reach or Halo 3. It’s better.

xboxworld.com.au: 94/100
It’s on point, true to form and keeps you enthralled. Welcome back, Halo. It’s been a long, long five years.

Well if that isn’t enough to convince you that Halo 4 is awesome…

I’ll have my review when the game comes out. But I’ll forgive you if you don’t read it as you’ll likely be knee deep into playing it too…

-Sal (HFFL)

Forward Unto Dawn (unofficial) Graphic Novel: Episode 4

Friday I brought to you my 11-part review of the fourth episode of “Forward Unto Dawn.”

I’ve taken that a step further and made a 56-page graphic novel of the fourth episode. My biggest to date. Using the 343 screenshots I took as well as typing out some the dialog, I added Photoshop effects and laid out the project in InDesign.

Feel free to download this as it’s FREE. If you repost this anywhere, PLEASE give me credit as: Designed by Sal Salerno of HaloFanForLife.com
And please link back to my original post here.

Click on the first page. When the new window loads up, click the image to get to the next page, etc…

Without further ado:

This was an intese labor of love this time around as I had to deal with illness and Hurricane Sandy knocking out power three times. I really enjoyed making this though. Again, if you have any comments, please feel free to respond here, on Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail me at: [email protected]

-Sal (HFFL)

NEW HALO 4: FORWARD UNTO DAWN LIMITED-EDITION STATUE

Text from Spawn.com:

NEW HALO 4: FORWARD UNTO DAWN LIMITED-EDITION STATUE
Statue Reveal & Pre-order On November 2nd
October 30, 2012
Copyright 2012 TMP International, Inc

McFarlane Toys has teamed up with Microsoft Studios and 343 Industries to bring you a new iconic collectable from the Halo universe.

Leading up to the highly anticipated release of Halo 4, Microsoft created the live-action digital series, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. This online epic live-action digital series delivers an exciting story of heroism and sacrifice taking fans back to the beginning of the Human-Covenant War, leading into the events of Halo 4, the biggest entertainment event of 2012.

To commemorate this riveting action story, the McFarlane Toys Collectors Club is offering the first-ever Halo resin statue exclusively on the McFarlane Toys online store. This highly detailed, hand-painted, cold-cast resin statue depicts a pivotal scene from Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn that is a MUST have for Halo fans.

The statue will be revealed by Todd McFarlane, McFarlane Toys’ creator, during the final episode of “Halo After Dawn,” airing on Machinima Prime and Halo Waypoint this Friday, November 2 at 10 am PST.

The limited-edition Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn statue stands more than 14-inches tall on a base spanning 13” wide by 7” deep. Only 500 pieces have been produced and each statue and its box are sequentially numbered. As an added bonus, each statue will include a Certificate of Authenticity hand-signed by McFarlane.

The Statue retails at $225 with FREE Shipping (Only available in US and Canada). Preordering will begin at 10:15 am PST on Friday, November 2nd.

The Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn statue is planned to ship December 2012. Customers will not be charged until the order is ready to ship.

Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of Halo history!

End Copy/paste

Thanks to my buds VaderRx and Big_Matt for posting the info.

Working hard to get the FUD ep4 graphic novel done…

I was a bit ill today, so my progress on the Forward Unto Dawn episode 4 graphic novel ground to a halt for about 12 hours. It’s late now, but I had plenty of sleep, so I am going to work on it now.

I hope to have it done late Sunday (my time-Eastern US). Though it may be early Monday instead due to the illness.

This one looks to be the biggest yet as I took 343 screenshots of the episode. While there isn’t a ton of dialogue, I do want to show the action sequences as best as possible in graphic novel form.

Please, if you’ve check out the previous episode graphic novels, let me know if you like them, or even if you don’t, of might have suggestions. All I ask is be courteous with responses and I’ll be sure to get back to you all.

Thanks,
-Sal (HFFL)