Forward Unto Dawn, Episode 5: Review Part 4, Roadkill

We left off with chief and the cadets rolling on after narrowly missing a sticky grenade.

What the…..look out!

A bug in the windshield this is not. Lasky hits a Jackal with the Hog. Okay, now I’m SO glad we got to see the Jackals closer up. The Jackals in the series look like the Halo 4 style, not the classic trilogy. I’m fine with that. I suspect 343 wants we viewers to get a little used to the new look before the game, so they dropped them in here. I actually don’t mind the look too much. They do look more fierce and almost dinosaur like. I know some  have compared them to mini Godzillas from one of the recent movies. Hell, I did. But I meant it more as a cool thing, not a detraction as others have.

Anyway…

In the next sequence we see Master Chief act quickly and tend to Sully with some medical foam. Sadly, Chyler’s been hit and needs medical attention. Unfortunately, Chief used up all the foam on Sully.

Okay, so I called it did I not? Last week I said Chyler had to die and yep, looks like she’s on the way to doing just that. I mean, she’s got this huge needle sticking out of her abdomen, there’s no life saving foam, they’re in the middle of a war zone.

If you read the article where I speculated on this, I mentioned along the lines that this was a necessary plot line. Chyler dying forces Lasky to become a military man for life. He has noone left that he loves. His relationship with his mother is not that of mother and son, but more Officer to Enlisted. Not much love there.

Orenski notices that the enemy forces seem to be withdrawing. Chief states that their now being “hunted.” Now if you watched the previews for this episode last week, you know what this means. If not you were/are for one hell of a surprise…

Next review of Episode 5: Part 5, The Hunted.

Forward Unto Dawn, Episode 5: Review Part 3, Fear the Pink Mist

The action starts to heat up as Master Chief and the cadets come under fire from roadside Jackal raining needles upon them.

You can see how this could be perilous. Driving fast on a narrow road, in the dark, with enemies shooting at you from both sides. Yeah, DANGEROUS.

Yes folks, even in the 26th century you must FASTEN SAFETY BELT…

Above is a good showcasing of Chief and Orenski fighting back. Guns blazing! Again, good to see a female character that holds her own in battle.

Not to be outdone, Chyler takes down two Jackals in quick order. It’s at this time Chief says to burst your shots, don’t spray and pray. A funny line in an somewhat awkward place. However, for we FPS gamers, we can all relate to the phrase.

Again, it’s good to see strong female characters and that both Orenski and Silva are indeed good shots as said in the pervious episode.

Next review of Episode 5: Part 4, Roadkill

Forward Unto Dawn, Episode 5: Review Part 2, FASTER!

This scene opens up with Lasky driving down a very dark road in a Warthog with his fellow surviving cadets and Master Chief at the machine gun turret.

Lasky is looking a bit unsure of himself here. Granted we haven’t seen his skills at driving a Warthog before. Wheelman he is not, LOL.

Just before the point of the pic above, Master Chief tells Lasky to go faster as they only have a few minutes to make it to the Pelican drop. Loving the graphics on the Hog’s dashboard. Simple and very understandable. This could have been cut out of the project, but it’s a nice touch of detail. This is something that resounds through the whole series, is the sense of attention to detail.

A sticky grenade is through from the forest edge onto the dirt road narrowly missing the warthog.

It was close to be sure, but Lasky swerved just in time. The explosions aren’t too bad here. Definitely not over the top like Michael Bay (for which I’m VERY happy about). Pyrotechnics on a small scale can be hard to do. It can be extremely difficult to scale fire down or up. (Same goes for water too) In  the pic above, I think just the right amount of explosion was used. (Now if only Halo Reach played this way….grr, I hated being stuck on a hog only to die and the hog come through nearly unscathed…)

Next review of Episode 5: Part 3, Fear the Pink Mist.

Forward Unto Dawn, Episode 5: Review Part 1 Awakening

Once again a new episode. And unfortunately for we fans, the final full new episode of Forward Unto Dawn. As always it stars out with Cortana aboard the drifting Forward Unto Dawn.

She’s on red alert form being scanned.

She’s still talking to herself, now mocking herself for having to wake up Master Chief when needed. It’s interesting that the Rampancy has flowed over into being resentful of Master Chief. We got this vividly in the last episode. Now it’s there just more subtle.

She starts to dematerialize herself from her orb form. This is something new that we haven’t seen before. It’s quite well done.

She condenses her form to a very small ball then bam like the big bang she explodes, but what comes of it is the familiar form of Cortana that we all know and love. Well 343’s version, which I think is very stunning.

This final shot of the opening scene is fantastic. If we are treated to graphics nearly as good as this in the game, then we’re in for something very special. To note, the face of this version of Cortana was taken directly from Mackenzie Mason ” @mackenziemason .” I asked her about this. She said that 343 captured her face. So what you see there is Mackenzie. The the body is not hers though she says stating the proportions are different.

Of all the opening scenes of the series, I’d say this is my favorite. While part 4 was good, and had a nice Halo ring reference, seeing Cortana in her human form just can’t be topped, in my book.

Next review of Episode 5: Part 2, FASTER!

Mountain Dew/Doritos XP code #1

Okay folks, up for grabs is the first Dew/Doritos code:

Okay, is someone trying to tell me I’m old….AARP being part of the code, LOL

If you got it, please let me know either here or on Twitter.

-Sal

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