Monthly Archives: September 2012

Forward Unto Dawn video: “LECTURE”

Posted on by

Check out the vid here.

Text from Halowaypoint.com

THE CADETS AT CORBULO ACADEMY GET A HARD LESSON ABOUT WHY THEY FIGHT THE INSURRECTIONISTS.

In 2526, the Insurrectionists believe that the people of one planet owe nothing to the people of another planet or even Earth—a philosophy which is violently contested by the UNSC. General Black, the leader of Corbulo Academy of Military Science, makes sure his students understand why.

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is a live-action digital series that takes you back to the beginning of the human and Covenant war and leading into the events of Halo 4. It will unfold through a series of five episodes, and will be initially distributed worldwide by Machinima, debuting on its new channel, Machinima Prime, as well as here on Halo Waypoint, on Oct. 5, 2012.

-By the way, the officer is wearing REAL LIFE medals. How do I know? I earned some of those while in the U.S.Navy.

Here are some that I can readily identify:

Liberation of Kuwait
National Defense
World War II Occupation (no, I didn’t receive this one, I’m not that old…)

For those that may be wondering, here are the medals I received while in the U.S. Navy (these are a little faded/worn from age):

They are (going from top to bottom, left to right)

Top: Navy unit Commedation
2nd row: Meritorious Unit Commendation (star denotes second award); Good Conduct; National Defense
3rd row:  Southwest Asia Service (each star denotes another award of it-so I got this 3 times); Humanitarian Service; Sea Service
Bottom Row: Overseas Service; Coast Guard Special Operations Service (for an Op in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Saudi Arabian Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait

My “Liberation of Kuwait” medal looks different than the one in the video as it is actually a Saudi Arabian medal given for the Liberation of Kuwait.

-Sal

McFarlane Halo 4 series 2 pics.

Posted on by

Thanks to Todd McFarlane via a Twitter post and “Viking Spawn” on the halo2552.com forums for the links and pics.

As most of you know, I’m a prolific collector of all things Halo with a concentration on Halo toys by McFarlane and Mega Bloks.

Here are the latest offerings by McFarlane.

Cortana:
Ah, the most lovely AI gets a new figures this time with articulation and a new color scheme to reflect her look in Halo 4.

The toy comes with a new base for her to stand on. No word on if this one lights up like the previous McFarlane one did. It does however come with a nifty new Master Chief Micro ops figure as well as an alternate hand attached to a display screen.

Say what you will about the articulation. I’m happy to get another figure of her. The added hand with attached display is a nice complement to the figure, as is the micro ops Master Chief.

Crawler:
The “Didact Dog” as I have dubbed it gets the action figure treatment.

I’m really glad this was made and hope that McFarlane makes the other variants of this cyborg creature, specifically the Alpha Crawler.

As you can see this figure is loaded with articulation. I can just imagine the custom figures that will come from this toy.

Spartan:
This is the Blue Soldier version of a Halo 4 Spartan. I love the design of the helmet and am glad McFarlane made it. It comes with a DMR.

The detail of the sculpt and weathering of the armor with paint apps really helps to make this figure excel. Once again, I’m drawn to that helmet. It just looks BAD ASS. 343 did a great job designing it and McFarlane did a fantastic job sculpting it for it’s action figure!

Watcher:
The crafty little protector of the Promethean Knights gets it’s own figure.

Okay, while I have to say the sculpt looks great, I am a little disappointed. In the pics from McFarlane, it does not show the Watcher’s rear circular “wings” deployed. It IS shown like this on the back packaging of the halo 4 series 1 figures. I hope that they do indeed unfold. If not, that’s one of my disappointments with this figure.

The other I’m sure you can guess…Yep, that gawd aweful display stand. Um, hello, why not a simple sturdy pin in a base, such as the one that came with the Guilty Spark/Sentinel figures?

Okay, so some would say the pin is intrusive. Okay, but what about that big ass clear “cup” that the Watcher has? I think that’s a LOT more intrusive. Make a clear pin thick enough to hold the weight of the Watcher and a display stand to mount is on. Yeah, this leaves a small hole on the underside of the figure. However, that could EASILY be resolved by including a small “plug” to fill it with, should you decide to display it in flight hanging from a ceiling for instance, without the aid of a display stand. Honestly…would it have been that hard, instead of that horrible stand that comes with the figure at present?

I’m looking forward to getting this entire wave. I’ll just have to modify the Crawler to my own liking.

-Sal

destructoid.com gets a day with Halo 4 / 343.

Posted on by

Preview: A day of Halo 4 turned me into a believer
by Jordan Devore

Jordan describes himself as a casual fan who wasn’t sure about the idea of 3 more Halo games. He is quick to point out though that he believes Halo is in good hands with 343. (Hmm, this has been a recurring feeling by many an article writer-which is GREAT to know)

It’s a good article from a casual fan. Nice to know fellow fans are getting the chance to play the game. I can’t wait for my shot at New York Comicon.

-Sal

littleenglishhaloblog scores an interview with Cortana (Jen Taylor)

Posted on by

My bud “Cowboy” over on www.littleenglishhaloblog.com scored a great opportunity to interview the voice of Cortana, Jen Taylor.

Go here to read the interview.

One of her answers made my eyebrow perk up:
…I do have a blue, spandex suit with LED attachments that I MUST wear in the recording booth.

To that I say, “Pics or it didn’t happen!” LOL.

To Cowboy I say, well done mate, well done!

-Sal

Halo 4 Campaign Hands-On: Starting Another Fight (IGN article)

Posted on by

SPOILERS in article and links.

While checking out another vid on IGN, I saw the link for this.
Article by Ryan McCaffrey.

He lets you know that the franchise is in good hands. He feels very comfortable with what he saw and PLAYED. There is a terminal you can find at the beginning of the game that is a 20-30 second recap of Halo 3’s story. (A nice way to transition to Halo 4, whether or not you’ve played Halo 3.) From there a little later he ventures OUTSIDE of the Forward Unto Dawn, paying homage to Halo 2 in this respect.

There’s a lot more to read in the article so I won’t spoil it any further. Just click on the link at the top of the article and enjoy.

-Sal

G4TV Halo 4 hands on Preview.

Posted on by

Courtesy of Alison Stroll via Twitter:

Kiki Wolfkill once again gives us info on Halo 4. Specifically the first mission called “Dawn.”

Halo 4 Hands-on Preview — Welcome Back Chief
by Jake Gaskill

The vid is a mix of just released videos part of which I’ve just reported on, so it will look familiar. Josh Holmes also speaks in a vid later on in the article.

A new game mode called Dominion is previewed. It’s a capture the base mode, similar to 3-plots in Reach, but where the longer you hold the fort, the more it builds up. (likely with more weapons to be able to protect it, like turrets or power weapons)

-Sal

A Conversation with Frank O’Conner on all things Halo 4.

Posted on by

Courtesy of giantbomb.com. <–clicky link for video interview.

Franchise Development Director Frank O’Conner speaks on Halo 4. The color Orange plays a role. Of course we now know that to be the Didact and his forces.

The vid shows footage just released of the campaign (that I linked to a few articles ago.)

Scattershot can BANK projectiles coming from it!

I have to say that the interviewer did a VERY good job. He was articulate and knowledgeable about the Halo universe.

-Sal

Covenant Weapons Sounds of Halo 4.

Posted on by

Courtesy Alison Stroll, Senior Producer on Halo 4 via Twitter.

Okay, you may have seen the previous vid. However, that one clouded up the weapon noise with music. So here is the vid sans music.

The needle rifle sounds more like a machine gun needler than it did in Reach.
The Carbine sounds POWERFUL! Lots of PUNCH to it.
The Fuel Rod has a distinct “canister” sounds to it.
Needler seems faster. Plasma pistol definitely sounds more like a pistol than something futuristic.
The Plasma Sword sounds fantastic. I hear references to the Light Saber in activation as well as in a strike. I LOVE IT!
Concussion rifle has a little bit of the canister sound, mixed with shotgun. Well, that’s how I hear it anyway.
Now the Beam rifle…OMG, that sound is awesome. Futuristic to be sure.
We’ve heard wha the Gravity hammer sounds like form recent vids on Griffball, but now we get confirmation that it’s in Multiplayer as well!

Ahh yeah!!!

-Sal

New Legendary Shield/Skull for Halo 4.

Posted on by

IGN has a preview on Halo 4  showing the NEW Legendary Shield. They (343) state that it’s Forerunner in origin.

Okay, so do you like this new shield and skull?

I like it. It of course HAS to change from being Elite to something Forerunner as the Forerunners (or at least the Prometheans and presumably the Didact) are the main enemy of Halo 4, not the Covenant.

Thanks to HaloWaypoint for the link. Screencap of shield by VaderRx.

Here’s the shield recolorized and cropped a bit.

-Sal