Monthly Archives: June 2013

Late night Podcast and Halo 5 reveal! (Spoilers Inside)

Posted on by

I did a Podcast with Podtacular last night that last more than 3 1/2 hours (on air, then another hour after). Finished this about 3:30 am EST… I’ll have the link to that Podcast when Dust from Podtacular gets it up on the net.

What I’m about to say may spoil you Halo 5 experience. So if you don’t want to know anything about Halo 5 stop reading this particular article now….

 

 

 

Okay, with that out of the way, I eluded to this yesterday in an article…Mendicant Bias is the Forerunner mech/construct that is seen in the E3 trailer.

Now, how do I know this? Well, it took a bit of detective work and a little bit of luck. Immediately after watching the trailer, while having another window open for my browser, I noticed someone in my feed mention Mendicant Bias regarding the terminals form Halo 3. Immediate I knew there was something there and went to work. Looking back at the terminals, relistening to Halo: Rebirth (a audio log you can unlock by using the code that comes with Halo Silentium) I came upon the nugget of information that tells of trial of Mendicant Bias after his defeat by Offensive Bias. Mendicant Bias is kept alive by the “Iso” Didact due to his knowledge of the Flood. However, he’s buried in a desert on Installation 00 (the Ark). He is only allowed to think of “Atonement.”

That desert is the very same one we see Master Chief walking in, in the trailer. At first you might have thought the Forerunner construct was a War Sphinx. I did too…But then “re-finding” this story, it was easy to figure out that this wasn’t the case. Now maybe (for whatever reason) Mendicant is encased in a War Sphinx carcass.

Think about this for a moment. Master Chief defeats the (Ur)Didact in Halo 4. He needs a new enemy, one that is worse than the Didact. Who better than Mendicant Bias.

However, there IS the possibility that Mendicant Bias ISN’T the enemy after all. Rather, it’s very possible the (Ur)Didact, that’s the one we faced in Halo 4, survived and is planning once again for his revenge against humanity. Gaining more knowledge of Forerunner tech (as eluded to from Spartan Ops in Halo 4), we learn of the location of Mendicant Bias and as Chief we pay him a visit. This to reactivate him in order to finally destroy the UrDidact.

So he will be a powerful villain or ally. Either way, this opens up a fantastic story to be told within the campaign of Halo 5!

Want to listen to the Audio log from Silentium? Here you go! (I’ll warn you in advance that the reading can be dry and plodding at some point)

So there you have it folks, a more complete breakdown of the trailer and who we can expect to see in Halo 5.

 

Halo 5 trailer discussion/breakdown.

Posted on by

Okay, so the trailer was shown about an hour ago as of this writing.

Now I’m going to talk a little bit about what we saw in that trailer. What some of it means and what some of it may mean.

Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.16.10 PM
A mysterious figure, looking rather Jedi-esque.Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.16.26 PM
He continues his march…Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.16.43 PM
What is this strange world? Now by looking at the jagged rocks protruding out of the ground, one might argue this is Reach after it’s been glassed. Hmm, could be. It was home to Master Chief for several years before he began his in-the-field Spartan career. I won’t rule this out yet, but given what’s seen later in the trailer, it’s likely different…or is it?Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.17.13 PM
Our hero ascends over a sand dune.Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.18.37 PM
What is this? The ground gives way…Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.18.45 PM
Creating a crater…what could it be?Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.19.03 PM
It starts to emerge from the newly formed hole in the ground.Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.19.32 PM
Judging from this shot it’s massive compared to our hero.Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.19.42 PM
Is this a fabled Forerunner War Sphinx?Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.20.01 PM
In our first true glimpse that this is Master Chief, we see his right forearm clutching a dog tag chain.Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.20.11 PM
Attached to that chain is Cortana’s chip. I literally gasped when I saw this. Wow, powerful imagery (well for this Halo fan anyway).Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.20.25 PM
The Forerunner construct continues to rise.Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.20.33 PM
It’s wings spanned out, you can see it in it’s full glory.Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.20.57 PM
Now here is where things get interesting. Chief is looking at this Forerunner construct…Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.21.14 PM
Could this be Cortana contained within the presumed War Sphinx? Could it just be that Chief is holding on to the last vestiges of memory of his closest companion?Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.21.22 PM
Note the cracked visor. Hmm, very intriguing. What could have caused that???Screen shot 2013-06-10 at 2.22.52 PMFinally we know for certain it’s Halo! (As if the image of Chief didn’t already tell you that).

This has been confirmed as Halo 5 by several 343 employees. Coming Spring 2014. Wow, that is SOON!

So now my mind starts to race. Is this why Halo 4 wasn’t completely ready? Makes sense if they were also working on Halo 5 at the same time. Will Chief have to face up against an EVIL Cortana as many (including myself) have surmised? That War Sphinx, or whatever it is, is somewhat telling.

I think having Chief in a cloak is in fact a metaphor for his being alone and hermit like. He seems even more now a solitary man.

This was but a tease. Stay tuned to HaloFanForLife.com over the next year and beyond as I continue to bring you more great Halo content including news of Halo 5!

[UPDATE] Well, now that I poked around the Waypoint forums a little, I found out some interesting (and SPOILER) info. Dang spoilers. Let’s just say you need to read Halo: Silentium and listen to the Prologue on Halo Waypoint (unlockable through a code in the book). Two words Mendicant Bias. That is all…I’ve said enough.

-Sal

The first four OFFICIAL Halo 5 pics!

Posted on by

While the trailer was just shown at E3, I was able to get the first four OFFICIAL shots from Halo 5. These are NOT screencaps from the trailer. (I’ll have a post on those shortly).

Halo Xbox One Reveal 01  Halo Xbox One Reveal 02Halo Xbox One Reveal 03Halo Xbox One Reveal 04

 

Wow, huh?

Okay, so I’ve been joking on Twitter that Master Chief becomes a Jedi and battles Megatron…seriously though, I can’t wait for this!

-Sal

Halo Toy Custom: Mega Bloks CCS Cruiser

Posted on by

As promised, here is my custom of a Covenant CCS Battlecruiser. This was made with ONLY the pieces from the new-ish Halo 4 Wraith set. I bought this set some months ago and just decided to try it out as a custom. (No folks, I didn’t take pics along the way as I revised this many times before I came up with the completed model. Sorry but no build instructions…)

Technical specs:
Length: 50 studs
Width: 20 Studs
Height: 5 2/3 bloks

Before I go on, I do want to say that this isn’t 100% accurate. Sometimes it can be very tough to do so when limiting yourself to one set. But that’s something I strive for. I think it helps others who might want to make a custom know that this was done with only one set and what that set is. After many revisions this is what I came up with.

On with the pics:

Custom Covie Cruiser Side viewsThe side view shows much of the detail of this as well as how relatively slim top to bottom it is.

Custom Covie Cruiser Top-Bottom viewsHere the top and bottom views really show you the detailing. I’m MUCH happier with the bottom than the top. That’s due in part to having less purple parts to be able to use than the bottom which I used primarily the grey pieces for. Yes, that’s not accurate, but overall I think it still pulls off the look, considering the type and amount of pieces I had to deal with.

Custom Covie Cruiser 3-4 front viewsThis 3/4 front view top/bottom allow you to see how the “head” of the ship was constructed. I was especially happy with how the front fins came out.

Custom Covie Cruiser 3-4 rear viewsThe 3/4 back top/bottom views show more of the engine detail.

Custom Covie Cruiser zoom viewsFinally just a little bit of forced perspective to make it look like the ship is either coming at you or going away from you.

I had plenty of pieces left over. I haven’t done anything with them yet, but I’m thinking about making a display stand out of those so the ship can be elevated without having to use the ramp I have in the pictures above.

So what do you think? Like it? (Again, I know it’s not 100% accurate. So I’ll task you with making a CCS cruiser from the same set.) Believe me, it wasn’t easy at first. It took a lot of building, tearing down and rebuilding to make it work and be somewhat accurate.

-Sal

 

 

 

 

 

Now that the dust has settled (from the announcement of Spartan Assault)…

Posted on by

Halo Spartan Assault Logo

Despite my being upset at it’s only being available for Win8 devices, the game itself looks like a lot of fun. The graphics look sweet! Color is fantastic. Sounds of weapons are on par with what we have already. The story line is plausible. The price is great.

Really, my only complaint is it’s not being available for XBOX 360 (Arcade).

Being a fan of over 10 years, running a blog completed dedicated to the Halo franchise, but not being employed for the last 26 months, well…this is going to suck and I’m going to miss out on this. I’d love to be able to play the game, report on it through my blog and have yet another Halo experience.

I can see Microsoft’s reasoning for doing this. My fear is that it will backfire. Using MS’s premier ‘AAA’ title to persuade developers to make games for the Win8 as well as consumers to by Win8 devices is risky at best. If Spartan Assault doesn’t do well in sales, there will be several factors involved, some likely to be overlooked by investors/stockholders, etc.

Win8 devices such as the Phone and Tablet hold a very narrow market share. Not all of those consumers will buy Spartan Assault. With this in mind, I hope MS has a target amount of sales in mind for Spartan Assault. I’m very curious what they will consider a success for this app. I don’t think they believe it will bring in a throng of people to buy a Win8 device. Rather if they can gather whatever their “magic” number of sales is, they can use that as a selling point to developers that MS/Win8 can compete in the Smart phone/App world.

But again, if they don’t hit those numbers, it’s going to hurt not just Win8, but the Halo franchise as well. If “Halo” can’t convince consumers and developers alike to buy into Win8, then really nothing can. In doing so, Halo will look like a flop, further dissuading former fans of the franchise from coming back and keeping new potential consumers from buying Halo at all, be it Spartan Assault, Halo 4, 5, or 6.

I’m hoping for the best here, but I can also look through the fog and see what is likely to happen.

One possible outcome is that Spartan Assault will come out on the XB1 since that too will be Win8 enabled. However, this still doesn’t solve the dilemma of 360 users. Many of us won’t jump on board early. Not just due to the normal early adopter/bug issues, but due in large part to what MS has already announced about the gaming aspect of the XB1. Once again, I have to hope that E3 will shed new light on this and help to allay some fears of we gamers. Given the reports coming from a multitude of websites though, it may already be too late for the XB1. (In which case, I hope that it’s reconsidered to give us Spartan Assault to buy from the Arcade on the 360.

halo sa 32x18 rgb lo_final

-Sal

Toy Sneak Peek: Mega Bloks MICRO figure UNSC A.I. Roland

Posted on by

Earlier today Mega Bloks posted the following pic on their Facebook fan page:

MB Roland micro fig
They teased us with asking for ideas for a home for him. Of course many asked if this was a give-away. I posted my thoughts that he’d come with a signature series UNSC Infinity. If not that, then maybe the recently leaked Mammoth. If not that, then perhaps something very different like a UNSC work station with a Dr. Halsey minifig. (Which is what I’d LOVE to see made as the Mega Bloks line is severely anemic when it comes to producing named Halo characters in their toy line. (I think this might have something to do with other manufacturers having a licensing deal. That’s just a guess though.)

In any event, I look forward to seeing this micro figure come to fruition. I hope Mega also considered making a mini-fig version of him, like they did for Cortana.

-Sal

 

Toy Review: Play Arts Spartan Sarah Palmer

Posted on by

Okay first, let me state that this review should have never even happened. I had this on pre-order from back in December and completely forgot about it as I meant to cancel the pre-order some time ago. Well, lo’ and behold it came in and WHAM my bank account got nailed for it. I really can’t afford this, so it’s going to go up for sale for the price I paid w/shipping. In the meantime, I figured I might as well review it while I do have it.

So here goes:

Play Arts Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer BOXThe box is nicely done. Clean graphics that wrap around the sides. The back of the box  shows Palmer in some good action poses. The front flap opens to reveal the figure and accessories in the tray below. (Sorry no pic of that)

Play Arts Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer CONTENTSSo here’s what you get in the box. In the tray you have Palmer, an extra set of hands, a Magnum and a Railgun. Packaged behind this hidden from view is a plastic stand that you can assemble (at right).

Play Arts Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer AccessoriesHere’s a better shot of the accessories. The railgun is very nicely detailed as is the Magnum. Oh and that little piece below the magnum is a kind of “extender” to put in the hole in the back to allow for weapons to be attached there. Though you’ll see in a minute that it’s not needed for the railgun.

Play Arts Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer OrthogonalOrthogonal views of Palmer. Now, here is where I need to break some things down. The figure’s wrist joints are SMALL. Be very careful with them as I think it could be possible to break them if you’re not careful. Also, the waist armor is a separate piece that “floats” in position. It hides (somewhat) a horrible joint system in the hips. I mean horrible not in that it doesn’t work but that it’s easily seen and with that huge gaps in what should be a more solid looking figure.

Other than those two ares, the rest of the sculpt is fantastic.

The paint application overall is good, however I noticed that some of the red markings on mine look a slight bit off. Also, the silver paint feels “sticky.” (No jokes please…) Seriously it’s like there is a slight film of stickiness on this.

Play Arts Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer ACTIONThe figure is chock full of articulation as shown by the action poses here. Though again, be careful with the hands/wrist. It took me a couple of minutes to get the railgun to hold and pose right. With regards to the magnum, I suggest you have the hand OFF of the wrist joint first. Put the magnum in the hand, THEN put the hand into the wrist joint.

Play Arts Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer CLOSE-UPFinally some detail shots. Again as you can see the detail of the sculpt is fantastic. The railgun in the middle is NOT using the extension piece I mentioned earlier, though if you have other Halo Play Arts figures, you may have to use it for weapons from those figures.

All in all it is a great figure. Considering the news of the new Halo game “Spartan Assault” and Palmer being the key character in it, and if you want a little bit of the Halo virtual world brought to life so to speak, then this figure is a good start.

With McFarlane Toys and Mega Bloks not coming out with a named Sarah Palmer figure any time soon, this may be the only way for you to get her.

-Sal