Daily Archives: 06/14/2013

Brutes in Halo 5? A quick discussion.

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I’d LOVE to see Brutes back in Halo again. Be they enemies, whether or not with the Covies again, or even as allies.

Can you imagine being able to play as a Brute co-op campaign like you could as an elite in Halo 3? AWESOMESAUCE!

Okay, yes, I know all about the great schism. So having loyalist Brutes would likely be out. I just can’t see them working along side Elites anymore.

The too could be a rogue faction. Now that they are a space faring race again, we could see a change in their behavior to allow them to develop in the field of science. A long shot yes, but they did once attain space flight before fighting amongst themselves brought them back to a pre-industrialized age.

I can see it being plausible to have them as playable Co-op characters. Having them as allies would give your campaign team some more muscle. Imagine being able to play as a Brute Chieftan? WOW! Even if they are NPC (Non-playable characters) instead, I still would like to see them back in Halo. I wonder how 343 would alter them? Really, they are pretty decent in Reach. Halo 3 was even better, IMO. So somewhere in between would be fin with me. Just for gawd sakes don’t make them look TOO ape-ish.

As for how they would fit into the story of Halo 5? Well, considering we know there are Brutes living among humans and other former Covenant races on Human controlled worlds, while it might seem far-fetched, I think it’s in the realm of happening.

So what do you folks think? Want to see Brutes back in Halo? How do you think they would be implemented? Enemy? Ally? Playable or not?

I’d like to hear your ideas on this too!

-Sal

Halo 4 Matchmaking Update: 6.17.13

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This Monday, several updates are coming to Halo 4 Matchmaking. In Spartan Ops, we’ll be showcasing a Designer’s choice medley, SWAT will be updated with new game types and maps, the brand new game type Mini Slayer will be premiering, Team Throwdown will be updated to the most current tournament settings, and more. Check out the full details of the update below.

In SWAT, we’ve added two new Slayer game types. These game types will add new ways to rack up absurd amounts of headshots and good times. Because they are new, we will be offering them exclusively in the third voting slot and keeping an eye on the voting data to see which are most popular. The game types and settings are as follows:

Forerunner SWAT

· Starting weapon: LightRifle
· Secondary: Boltshot
· Pulse Grenades
· Infinite ammo
· No weapons on map (Standard SWAT maps)
· No Armor Abilities
· Regular map rotation

Covenant SWAT

· Starting weapon: Carbine
· Secondary: Plasma Pistol
· No grenades
· Infinite ammo
· No weapons on map (Standard SWAT maps)
· No Armor Abilities
· Regular map rotation

Mini Slayer is a brand new game type that will be added to Action Sack. This mode has only been played by 343 staff and some lucky studio visitors, and we are excited to premiere it this coming Monday. The Spartans are scaled smaller than normal, but the weapons are normal size, creating fun, hectic, and often hilarious game play. The game type will be available exclusively on the map “Rail” at launch, and the rules are as follows:

· All Spartans are mini!
· All players have the “Mobility” tactical package
· All players spawn with Assault Rifle
· Killcam disabled
· Melee disabled

Team Throwdown, our premiere competitive playlist, has been updated to Gh057ayame’s “v4” settings. These updated settings include altered weapon and power-up locations, optimized spawn points, and a new 11-game type layout that will be found in the playlist. All “TD Pro” game types have been removed from the playlist – these new settings will occupy all three voting slots come Monday.

· Abandon Team Slayer
· Adrift CTF
· Dispatch CTF
· Haven Team Slayer
· Haven Extraction
· Onyx Team Slayer
· Simplex Team Slayer
· Simplex CTF
· Skyline Team Slayer
· Skyline CTF
· Station 9 Extraction

In Big Team Slayer Pro, we are disabling the killcam and enabling motion trackers. We will continue to monitor community feedback regarding these decisions.

In Spartan Ops, we’ll be featuring a Designer’s Choice medley from 343 Industries designers Jayce Diaz and Matt Geer. The line-up for Spartan Ops Matchmaking is as follows:

· Episode 7, Chapter 2: Home Field
· Episode 8, Chapter 3: Lancer
· Episode 2, Chapter 3: Hacksaw
· Episode 9, Chapter 1: The Search for Halsey
· Episode 9, Chapter 5: The Hammer

Lastly, we’ve fixed up the Shutout version of Team Snipers to ensure that there aren’t any weapon spawns and balanced the Warthogs on Meltdown. We hope you enjoy these updates and new game modes! Be sure to hop into the War Games feedback section to share your thoughts with us. See you on the virtual battlefield!

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HFFL: Alright! Finally we are getting Forerunner and Covenant SWAT! I’m already maxed on the Carbine and less than 250 away from max on the Light Rifle…However, getting one shot headshot kills with the Boltshot and Plasma Pistol, HELLS YEAH! Time to work on those commendations boys and girls! Not to mention if you still need Pulse Grenade kills.

Mini Slayer huh? Funny, I’ve been playing that for MONTHS now. In fact I have no less that FOUR maps I made specifically for that gametypes. Hmm, I wonder if I can get 343 to put my maps into rotation for this gametype… I’m happy to see it coming. Now to look up that map variant!

Team Throwdown..meh, I think you all know I don’t go into this playlist. But for those that do, there are plenty of changes.

BTB Pro (Why is this even in matchmaking?) now will have disabled killcams and enables motion trackers. (Hmm, so it’s practically back to regular BTB, just without abilities)

Spartan Ops is Designers choice that week. I wonder if I can convince BS Angel to let me pick the chapters one week. That would be SO cool.

All in all some pretty good updates, especially SWAT. And I’m excited to play mini slayer (without using someone else’s modded gametype to do it).

-Sal

Halo Xbox One isn’t Halo 5, says Microsoft (Really??)

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According to an article on OXM, the Halo trailer we saw from E3 isn’t Halo 5 (well not named that way yet…)

The Master Chief cameo in Microsoft’s Xbox One conference was not Halo 5, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer has told us, but more a commitment to having the game out next year and at next year’s E3. “We haven’t named the game yet,” comments Spencer.

“If you look at Halo traditionally, whether it’s bringing monks on stage or doing a nice piece around where the story is, we usually have two E3s with the game,” he told us. “We introduce the game and then give more detail, so you can see this is a strategy that has worked for us before. 343 came up with a nice piece they wanted to show, and people who’ve finished Halo 4 know where Master Chief is with his journey. The end of that game was a difficult time for him and his relationship with Cortana, so now he’s searching.”

It’s also an opportunity for Halo guardians 343 Industries to show off the tech that it’s been working on for the new Xbox hardware – something that’s been occupying the minds of many developers in the last couple of years.

“They wanted to show some technical details. The investment with the engine on Xbox One, 60FPS, really using the cloud and dedicated servers, they’re all points we wanted people to know that we’re really investing in the franchise.” And as for it being Halo 5?

“We haven’t named the game yet. It was just purely, “Halo is coming” and we wanted to give it a date. This was just more about confirming that 343 are making a real Halo game, a first person shooter, coming in 2014.”

HFFL: Really, Phil? Cause um, you know the next game sequentially is “5,” because 5 comes after 4. Well, at least where I come from it does. I just love how MS execs try to spin and double talk. Who the frack’ cares, Phil. It IS Halo 5. Naming it otherwise at this point would just be to spite we fans. Something you folks are already doing plenty enough of already. Just admit this is a trailer for Halo 5 and move on. It’s not that big of a deal. Really, it isn’t. I promise.

Source Link: http://www.oxm.co.uk/56350/halo-xbox-one-isnt-halo-5-says-microsoft/

-Sal

Such a cute Cortana Plushy!

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Fan and fellow collector Kevin Hurd posted this on his Facebook fan page:

cortana___halo_by_kinkaku-d5h9g87Credit to DeviantArt user kinkaku for creating this.

So cute (and it looks like she’s got a little junk in the trunk. LOL)

Now if only 343 would learn to market such stuff! (Gawd, I’d really love to work for their Halo marketing team…ahem…..)

-Sal

Podcast: Halo 4 Spartan Ops Epilogue

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It’s been a long time in coming, but finally POD Dust Storm and I finally recorded our final Podcast for the first season of Spartan Ops. In this episode we talk about the final cut scene, and if there is a second season of Spartan Ops what and where could it take place.

      Listen/Download

I had SO much fun, thinking out loud and brainstorming in the episode. It was our first that we did LIVE via Twitch.tv.

While this was the last for SpOps season one, you can be sure if there is a season two, we’ll be back with more podcasts! (And I with more comic book!!!) If you haven’t seen those comic books I did for each episode, please check out these links to view each comic book:

Spartan Ops Episode 1: Departure comic book
Spartan Ops Episode 2: Artifact (comic book)
Spartan Ops Episode 3: Catherine (comic book)
Spartan Ops Episode 4 Comic Book: Didact’s Hand
Spartan Ops Episode 5 Comic Book: Memento Mori
Spartan Ops Episode 6 comic book! SCATTERED
Spartan Ops Episode 7: Invasion comic book
Spartan Ops Episode 8: Expendable Comic Book
Spartan Ops Episode 9: KEY comic book
Spartan Ops Episode 10: EXODUS comic book

or easier yet, feel free to download the whopping 160MB graphic novel (in PDF format) that includes all episodes and a little extra content not included in the individual comics.

And for everything I’ve covered on Spartan Ops, you can always go to the category section here: https://halofanforlife.com/?cat=34

I want to thank Dustin from Podtacular.com for having me on his podcast and for bringing me back each week. I had a great time recording these and I hope you good folks had fun listening to them. Dustin, thanks again man. I look forward to doing more podcasts with you, even if they aren’t Spartan ops related.

-Sal