Whew, I’ve been busy today. Finally got to take photos of my McFarlane Halo Anniversary Wave 2 figures, two box sets, and two Mega Bloks Drop Pod sets. I’ve got to edit the photos and finish writing the reviews. Expect those to roll out tomorrow.
As a preview, let’s just say McF needs to check China on their Quality Control (or lack thereof). But not all is ill with the McFarlane stuff. The Mega Bloks sets a excellent.
I’m going to stay away from Halo CE and Halo 2 maps as Reach covered some of the them already and personally I’d prefer to see some of the best Halo 3 maps come back.
So with that here is my wishlist for remade maps in Halo 4.
Valhalla – This by far is my most wanted map. Some say it was a partial remake of Blood Gulch. True or not, I find it to be a far superior map. The larger hill in the middle, plus the man cannons really changed it from being like Blood Gulch to being it’s own map. I had tons of fun on this map with gaming friends over the years. I real this one particular game we were down an abysmal 30 points and I rallied the guys to come back and we won by almost 10 points. That game was what I consider the unifying game in my gaming group. We proved to ourselves that through perseverance and good team work that you can overcome many obstacles, even a seemingly insurmountable deficit.
Standoff – My favorite vehicle map. I had many games were I’d drive someone to a perfection. Heavies on this map were exciting with the gauss hog. Beyond this though, I was known as an expert infiltrator for objective matches and could plant bombs or steal flags with ease.
The Pit – I consider this the most balanced map in all of Halo. It also looks like a training facility. The rush for rockets, snipe and overshields were at times epic. One math I recall fondly was one in which I was on a turret and was being shot at by a brute shot. I managed to shoot all of those shots down AND kill the opponent. Epic indeed.
Rat’s Nest was another one of my favorite vehicle maps. Though tight quarters for driving and even tighter turns, I found it quite fun to mow down opponents with either the turret or by running them over as a driver. This is another map where I had an epic standoff. IIRC, it was a 6v6 game and my team was down 3 people (randoms who quit). We three decided to hold our ground near the front cliff so we could be close to rockets, full well knowing we cold be flanked by warthogs rushing in. To counter that one of the guys had the grave hammer and swung mightily and managed to knock a couple off the cliff. We were outgunned and out manned yet we ended up winning in a close final.
Honorable Mentions would have to include for me:
Avalanche – another epic vehicle map and great for BTB
Blackout (yes a remake of Lockout) – I preferred this darker map and felt the slight adjustments to the layout felt better when gaming on it. Infection on this map was just plain awesome.
Construct – Oh I just HATED this map at first. Once I got the callout down, my team and I just rolled over the competition. In fact one of my gaming buds became either 2nd or 4th overall in flamethrower kills on that map.
Ghost Town – an asymmetrical map that just didn’t get enough respect. This map called for a lot more tactics than others with just a run and gun style. Objective games were very competitive and Infection games a blast.
Orbital – This map was confusing at first with it’s switchback and multilevel. However I think it was a masterpiece. It definitely was a map for gamers who like close quarter kills, but with sniping and rockets on the map, the gameplay was always on the move.
Sandtrap – It was epic for the Elephants and I’ve love to see those come back. Vehicle and sniping were great here. But best of all was stealing the other team’s Elephant in objective games and destroying them in minutes because they charged us while not protecting their mobile base.
Sandbox – By far the best forge map in Halo 3. With the improvements to forge that Reach brought and yet more improvements that Halo 4 will bring, this map would become beyond epic.
If you have a wishlist or opinion on the maps I listed, please feel free to chime in with a response. I’d love to hear what other maps people want to see remade in Halo 4.
While I’m not so much a fan of the chopper, this set I’m very much looking forward to. For me the draw is the Brute Chieftain. It’s an awesome figure and quite large for a minifig. The helmet sports semi-soft plastic near the top to keep from breaking off as well as for child safety. Something I applaud Mega for thinking about. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a prototype of the Chieftain while at Toy Fair this year, and again can speak from first-hand that it’s an amazing figure.
Here’s the product shot followed by my prototype Cheiftain.
This set will retail for around $12 depending on store. The Chieftain is awesome, the gravity hammer is excellent, and the chopper completes the set nicely.
Here are four new sets slated for release later this year. While Fall is the release season, typically fall releases show up in mid-summer.
First up is one of the smaller packs. This should retail for about $5US. It includes the Air Assault spartan with what appears to be a Commando helmet or possibly the same helmet that came in the AA turret vs Rocket hog set from last year. With some extra weapons and YEAH! a BR, this set is worth the $5.
Next we have a gold Ascetic Elite set. Again a $5 set. It also comes with the standard Elite Minor helmet. Besides the Ascetic Elite, the real draw for me here is the Plasma Rifle. That weapon has only recently been introduced into the line, so the more I can get of it the better. The Needle Rifle is also a nice addition.
Up next is Cobalt Blue UNSC Armory set. Comes with the standard Mk V Spartan, CQB Spartan and the arms and helmet for the scout armor, as well as a Marine. This set should ring in around $11-12US. A good set, but the lack of a full fourth figure is a little disconcerting. About a year to a year and a half ago we used to get sets of four figures for $10. With the price raised by a dollar or two and half a figure missing or more, I just feel I’m missing something. The extra weapons are nice, and the armory stand is cool for extra pieces. However, for the money, I’d rather have a complete fourth figure.
Lastly we have a Silver Covenant Armory set. While I love the new style of grunts, since there are only two of them and one complete elite (standard), plus arms and helmet of an ascetic, I’m again feeling like something is missing. I understand the idea is to mix and match armor. I’l refer to my comments above about the extra money for less product. Also, I’m perplexed by the color choice here. When it comes to Covenant forces, I’d much prefer in-game colors, rather than “skittle” colors. Grunts come is typically orange, green, red, and purple armor colors. I’d like to see those before we get these odd color sets. Hopefully Mega will address that. As a note to Mega, I as well as others WILL buy more of the in-game colors to army build, rather than the off-color sets. The one thing to note with this particular set is the inclusion of the Focus Rifle. While it looks to be unpainted, it’s still a very welcomed addition to the Halo weapons line.
Again, look for these to come out mid-summer.