I am seriously dependent on the internet, and will make no attempt to deny that. If I’m on my computer (and if I’m home, the chance that my laptop is next to me is just about 100%), then at the very minimum I’ll have Internet Explorer and Live Messenger open. Yet, despite being online just about all of the time, I’ve always had an aversion to jumping on the bandwagon of the latest internet phenomena. Specifically, Facebook and myspace were two things that I resisted for years, always coming up with an excuse not to sign up even though it seemed like everyone else on the planet had succumbed to them. I don’t really know why I was so opposed to joining such sites; they just had zero appeal to me. I finally gave in and joined Facebook early last year and quickly realized that it wasn’t the evil entity that I had convinced myself that it was. I look back now and wonder why I didn’t sign up sooner; it’s become one of my staple sites and is open on a tab in IE more often than not (I signed up at myspace at about the same time, but still have no love for it. I probably check it once or twice a month, if that).

The Facebook success story has done nothing to alleviate my suspicion of new internet trends however, and I still find myself avoiding the newest fads (a word I’m reluctant to use, since more often than not they end up staying around). Twitter was one of the big ones that I stayed away from; I simply didn’t understand the appeal of it. Microblogging seemed pointless to me, since my blogs are usually about the size of term papers, and the conversations that people had over Twitter seemed like they could just as easily be done over IM, or txt, or any one of a number of other mediums. But despite its apparent pointlessness, I noticed more and more friends signing up for it and using it regularly. I eventually found myself checking my friends’ feeds several times a day, but still refused to actually sign up. Given Twitter’s undeniable popularity I figured someone out there had to be using the name Thesomeone already, so the other night for shits and giggles I went looking for such a feed. When I realized the name wasn’t taken I decided to grab it, but still told myself that I wouldn’t actually use it. My famous lack of willpower never fails though, and within hours I found myself adding friends to follow and posting updates, mostly about how I didn’t want to be posting updates. We’ll see if it becomes something that I use regularly, but so far I’ll admit it’s not as shitty as I had assumed it to be.

Given my surrender to Twitter, I found it absolutely hilarious that it was the subject of today’s Penny Arcade. Unlike Gabe, I promise not to tweet while carrying out any bodily functions.

I don’t normally post about new marketplace content (excluding Halo 3 DLC), but I think it would be nothing short of a crime if I didn’t do my duty to help spread the word of what could be the most awesome thing to hit the Video Marketplace yet. Oh yes, seasons one and two of Voltron: Defender of the Universe have hit the marketplace and are just waiting for you to absorb its awesomeness.

I’ll admit that I got into the show only relatively recently, back when it was aired on Adult Swim, but I’ve been in awe of its greatness since the first episode that I’ve seen. With its horrible dubbing, questionable voice acting, and repeated use of the same scenes over multiple episodes, the show’s enormous production values were apparent from the start. Voltron is more than just an achievement in animation and sound though; the show is an absolute blast to watch. It’s fucking hilarious (albeit often unintentionally), and rarely will I watch an episode without laughing out loud more than once. I doubt there is any other show out there that features ingenious space mice, fascist space monsters, and Swedish space explorers getting mauled by possibly rabid cats, just to name a few things that make Voltron great. Not to mention, any civilization that has giant robot lions, laser weapons, and space travel, but still seems to employ a feudal political system and widespread use of swords and horses is nothing short of incredible and deserves, no, needs to have a TV show. It’s also a great piece of nostalgia, and even though I didn’t start watching it until recently it still brings back memories of every childhood TV show that I ever watched. It truly is the quintessential 1980s cartoon.

Now, I haven’t downloaded any Voltron since I already have all of the available episodes on DVD (I have the coolest best friend ever), but there’s nothing stopping everyone else from grabbing the greatness. If you’ve never seen the show, go get the first episode for free. If you don’t enjoy it, then I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that you don’t know good television.

Ah, the Legendary Map Pack. Halo DLC always has a lot of hype (Halo anything always has a lot of hype), but the content of this particular map pack put the expectations at an all-time high. And unlike the Heroic Map Pack, which really did absolutely nothing to catch my interest when it released, the Legendary pack had me just as intrigued as everyone else. Like thousands of other fans I waited for the pack to hit the marketplace, intending to download it as soon as it hit, and I would have too if I hadn’t fallen asleep with my laptop on my stomach (which, as it turns out, gets hot) as I was trying to control the seemingly endless number of countdown and anticipation threads on the forums. I woke up eventually though, played the maps, and can now give you my impressions of stuff you probably already know. So read on, or don’t, because this thing was really nothing more than excuse to take more screenshots...

When Blackout was announced, Halo 2 fans rejoiced. Despite Guardian being a spiritual successor to Lockout (and that was enough for me, but I’m not as fanatical about Lockout as many other fans) and having many common characteristics, the fanbase cried for a direct remake of Halo 2’s most popular map. Bungie, being the noble developer that they are, obliged, and as such got the fans to cease their constant whining polite requesting.  

Taking place at a remote polar outpost adjacent to an ice shelf, Blackout is the first multiplayer map in the franchise to take place at night (does that not surprise anyone else?). The setting is actually a very cool idea and a nice adaptation from Lockout, and the auroras in the sky are especially impressive. There was some confusion going in over whether or not Blackout took place on a drilling platform or a weather station, since Bungie seemed to refer to the two interchangeably. The presence of ice core samples on the map seem to indicate that the station is in fact both, so story nuts (including myself) can now put away the pitchforks that they get out every time a story discrepancy pops up.

Blackout has been advertised as a straight-up remake of Lockout with very few alterations, and that’s exactly what it is. So as expected, it feels extremely similar to its predecessor. The default weapon spawns are nearly identical to that of Lockout, and people seem to try and control the exact same places as before, using the exact same tactics. Almost immediately into my first game on the map I told my team “yeah, this is Halo 2,” and still hold to that statement. Blackout is pure nostalgia, plain and simple, and there is no other map out there that makes Halo 3 feel so much like Halo 2. Assault Rifle spawns change the dynamic slightly, but still not enough that there are any real changes in tactics or gameplay from that of Lockout. Those who long for the days of Halo 2 and the thousands of Lockout die-hards out there are never going to get bored of the map. 

You'll find yourself using the exact same tactics again in Blackout. Break out the Halo 2 guide...

Still, despite being a direct and faithful remake, there are still some subtle changes that have been throwing me off in the matches that I’ve played. Ramps are a bit wider than they were before, and the area on top of BR tower seems considerably larger. Some doorways have also been moved ever so slightly to the left or right, which has been causing me to back up into walls when I think I’m leaving the room and has cost me my life on more than one occasion. I’m sure I’ll adjust to it rather quickly, but for now it’s proving to be a slight irritation (perhaps the more amusing thing is I still instinctively know Lockout so well, despite not having touched it since Halo 3 came out). These very minor changes still pale in comparison to the number of things that are identical to Blackout’s previous incarnation though. For all intents and purposes, Blackout is Lockout.  

Sidewinder, the classic horseshoe-shaped map from Halo, is probably one of the only maps in the Halo series that could rival Lockout in terms of sheer popularity, demand, and nostalgic memories. Fans have been demanding a remake for years, and Bungie has heard their cries. However, rather than a straight-up remake like Blackout, Avalanche is a “reimagination” of Sidewinder. Avalanche is very clearly a descendent of Sidewinder, and rivals it in terms of fun and engaging gameplay, but fans who wanted an exact remake of their beloved classic are going to be disappointed, at least until they get used to the changes (and there are a lot of them).  

The first change many players will notice is that the bases are completely different than that of Sidewinder’s. Instead of being somewhat narrow but extending deep into the mountainside, Avalanche’s bases are shallow and run along the map’s edge. There is a safe zone inside where players can spawn, but the entire second floor is positioned along the base’s facade and leaves very little room for people to maneuver, exposing them to any hostiles that may be outside. The tunnel system that contained the overshield and active camouflage in Sidewinder has also been completely removed, denying players that shortcut between the bases. This is actually a good change though, since it forces players to put more emphasis on vehicular combat, which should be the focus of large maps such as Avalanche. The tunnel closer to the map’s bend is still there, and has been expanded to include mancannons, allowing players to get to the center of the map on foot quicker than before, which should lead to an interesting dynamic between vehicles and infantry. There are additional mancannons at the base, leading to the base, and along the map’s far walls, which probably creates the single-biggest gameplay change from Sidewinder. They allow both infantry to quickly reach the center, and are great for getting vehicles places quicker as well. I’ve noticed more and more people piling in Warthogs and Mongi and just clogging the enemy base full of vehicle wreckage after going through the mancannon positioned there.    

Perhaps the most disappointing change for me is the lack of slippery ice on Avalanche. Sidewinder’s ice was very slick, and a Warthog could very easily lose traction on it, making for some hilarious moments when playing otherwise serious matches. My friends and I would often just grab Warthogs and attempt to crash into each other or do tricks on the ice; it was a very simple aspect of the map that never ceased to amuse us. However, the ice patches in Avalanche feel no different than the snow, and are there purely as an aesthetic element, doing nothing to alter the gameplay. It’s not a huge deal, but having slippery ice would have been a nice touch and connection to Sidewinder.

The Scorpion makes it triumphant return to matchmaking, and now sport very cool camo (pun intended? I'll never tell)

Thankfully, most of these design changes do not hurt the flow of the map. On the contrary, Avalanche is nothing but fun to play. The horseshoe-shape gives each team enough protection at the start of the game and the size of the map helps put an emphasis on vehicles without making it overly difficult to traverse on foot. I’ll admit that I have not been too thrilled with Halo 3’s selection of large maps (with Valhalla being an exception), but Avalanche truly is well-designed, and I find myself actually going into DLC Objective voluntarily in order to play it. We’ll see what happens in the long run, but initial impressions leave me very pleased and for the first time in a very long time not shuddering at the thought of objective big team games.

Ghost Town probably had (and among the masses, still has) the least amount of hype surrounding it. While Blackout and Avalanche brought back some of the most beloved maps in the Halo series, Ghost Town came off as another generic new asymmetrical map, with nothing really distinguishing it from the rest of the crowd. However, after having the chance to play it, my impressions have changed considerably, and it may very well be my favorite Halo 3 DLC map thus far. In terms of the story, the map takes place in a remote water pump station in the jungles outside Voi, where meltwater from Kilimanjaro is purified and then distributed throughout Africa. Like most of the structures seen in campaign’s Sierra 117, the buildings of Ghost Town are run down and being reclaimed by nature. Simply put, this aesthetic is awesome, and looks even better than the stuff in the campaign. Exposed rebar, trees and vines growing out of shattered concrete, debris being consumed by vegetation and earth, all of it creates a great synthesis of artificiality and the natural.

Ghost Town's environment is one of the best in the game. Nature kicked our ass.

However, as cool as the environment is, that’s not what makes Ghost Town my favorite map in the pack. The map is just about perfect for slayer matches, with plenty of nooks and crannies to hide in for close combat and just as many areas for those who are mid-to-long range players. The screenshots make the map come off as mid-sized, but in actuality you can get from one end of Ghost Town to the other in a matter of seconds. It’s the map’s complexity, number of hiding spots, and multiple levels that make it feel so big. Because of these aspects, the map plays very much like Halo 2’s Turf, and being a huge fan of Turf, this feeling is very welcome to me. Also like Turf, Ghost Town lends itself well to certain objective gametypes, such as one-flag CTF and assault, despite coming off as mainly a slayer map. It’s versatility like this that many other maps lack, and having a new map that can work so well in different gametypes is always a good thing. The only bummer is the lack of a Warthog on the map. There are a couple of Mongi scattered around, but a Warthog could still work in the same capacity that it did on Turf (i.e.: crashing into everyone and everything, with hilarity ensuing). Still, I say there should be Warthogs on every map, so this might not be the most valid of complaints. There’s not much more to say; Ghost Town excels in just about every aspect, and is the sleeper hit of the map pack.

All in all, the Legendary Map Pack is superior to the Heroic Map Pack (which I never did write my impressions of, since the pack had already been out for a decent amount of time by the time I got around to downloading it) in just about every way. While the Heroic maps didn’t add too much that was new to matchmaking (Foundry was a very cool concept, but does not work well in regular games), the Legendary maps should please both fans that want a return to Halo and Halo 2’s classic maps, and those fans who want a taste of fresh content. It adds a phenomenal new slayer map, and supplies a very much needed large map that is actually fun to play (sorry Rat’s Nest, we still like you as a friend). There are also cool new forge options that I didn’t even get into here, but will please video and screenshot aficionados, and people who just want to be a little trippy when playing. If you’re a Halo fan and are getting tired of the same old maps, you should seriously give the Legendary Map Pack a try.

In order to ensure that only the best blog entries are posted here there is a rigorous approval process and extensive bureaucracy in place, which unfortunately results in many of the lesser-entries not making the cut and the blog not being updated all that frequently. Actually, that was a total lie, but it sounds cooler than the truth, which is that I’m just lazy and never get around to finishing or posting most of the entries that I start to write. You didn’t actually believe that whole thing about the approval process, did you? I mean, most of the stuff that gets posted here is barely readable. Anyway, like I was saying, most of the stuff that I start to write never gets posted, and a lot of it just ends up sitting on my computer until I come across it again and delete it. A lot of those entries are not really time-sensitive, so I don’t see any harm in posting them now, even though the two following blog thingies are a few weeks old at this point. Wait, there is harm in posting them? Well, I’m doing it anyway...

Want Citizenship? Buy me a Pint.

So, it may shock some of you to hear that I occasionally look up random stuff on the internet. I know, I know, the tubes are supposed to be used for serious purposes such as online banking or relentless advertising and I should really take my crazy escapades elsewhere, but sometimes when in a procrastination-induced state I can’t help myself. I had one of these random spurts the other night while I was talking to Chloe, and we somehow got on the subject of citizenship tests and over the course of the night took sample US, Canadian and British citizenship tests that can be found online. I thought that the US test was the most straightforward, with all of the questions focused on American political history or governmental structure. The Canadian test included a number of similar concept questions to the US test, but also had a few questions about indigenous people in Canada and even included one question about what should constitute a good environmental policy. It’s almost like Canada doesn’t want to pollute as much as other countries. I know, crazy right?

We did well on both the US and Canadian tests (and I’m sure that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that one of us is American and the other is Canadian), and then decided to take our chances and try out a British citizenship test, figuring that put together we could equal the brainpower of one barely competent individual. Now, the previous two tests were very politically and policy-oriented, but if I didn’t know better I would say the UK test was not to become a citizen but a bartender. Apparently, over there it is not important for potential citizens to know the basic functions of government, but it is absolutely essential to know what to do if you ever spill some poor guy’s drink and get in a bar fight. The origin of Santa Claus (or Father Christmas, as our British friends apparently call him) is also information that is indispensible if you live on the other side of the pond. Needless to say, it became apparent after taking the test that neither of us are ready to apply for British citizenship. Maybe someday in the future we’ll have the courage to brave the (apparent) land of bar fights and roaming holiday figures.

Tampons, Estrogen, and Halo

Some of you may know that I am slightly obsessive about Wikipedia. It’s not that it’s amazing; it’s that it’s so amazing that it makes almost every other site on the tubes obsolete. I spend an obscene amount of time looking up random stuff that has little to no relevance to anything (see Mermaid problem) but is nevertheless hilariously entertaining to read. Rarely do I actually look these kind of things up from the get-go, instead coming across them randomly during my Wikipedia vagabonding. Chloe keeps telling me that I need to keep a record of my surfing so we can see just how big of a tangent I can get on when looking up a topic on Wikipedia, but I’ve always been too lazy. Last night however during my nightly searching she came up with the related theory that Halo is always only six or less clicks away from any given topic on Wikipedia. To test out this six degrees of Halo separation we decided to look up some topics that had no relevance to Halo or video games, starting with fudge. Sure enough, the difference between fudge and Halo was only five articles. We tried other random articles and got equally-effective results. Most of the time the key was to find a link in the initial article to the United States or another geographical topic, since from there you can quickly get to the article for Kirkland, Washington, which in turn links to Halo (Kirkland being the location of Bungie). Is it a cheap way of doing it? Perhaps, but it works.

Eventually, we tried out estrogen’s connection to Halo, and were shocked to find that it could be connected in only four steps. Next up on the list were tampons, which was still only five steps. I won’t post the exact process of getting from those topics to Halo, but if you want to you can try it for yourself, and I guarantee it works. Chloe used these results to argue that girls are truer gamers than guys, since testosterone was six clicks away. She must be right, since this was a foolproof empirical study.  

I began to think of more disturbing or disgusting articles to continue to test the separation theory, but Chloe’s evil eye and the funny feeling that I was about to be smacked compelled me to move on. Nevertheless, it was an interesting experiment. 

You may have noticed that this blog is slowly drifting away from strictly gaming-related topics to a cornucopia of random crap that one could call ‘uninteresting’ at best, but that’s the way it goes. What can I say? I'm expanding my horizons.

Although my academic concentrations may technically be in history and political science, I understand the futility of such subjects and as such devote much of my free time to the much more useful and fascinating emerging field of shenaniganology. What? You haven’t heard of shenaniganology? Don’t worry, not many people have. To put it simply, it’s the study of shenanigans and shenanigan theory. So many people out their declare shenanigans willy-nilly, and have no concept of what shenanigans truly are. Shenaniganology has emerged in recent years as a result of this gross misunderstanding of shenanigans. The subject has made great strides in gaining mainstream acceptance, but there is definitely a long way to go before shenaniganology can emerge from the underground of academia. With any luck Exploring Shenanigans, a textbook-style book that I am currently authoring, will help with that emergence.

The book itself is a product of playing Halo 2 on Xbox Live for so long. Other gamers would constantly declare shenanigans on someone or something, even if no obvious shenanigans took place, and I would cringe every time that I heard the word used in such an incorrect context. Eventually, I lost faith in other peoples’ ability to correctly identify shenanigans, and decided that they only way to correct their misguided ways was to educate them, and a book seemed like the best way to do that. As the study of shenaniganology is still young and support is limited it was difficult to get the book past its conceptual stages, but with steadfast endurance and devotion the team has pushed forward. Featuring contributions from some of the biggest names in the field including Chloe Brown, a pioneer in shenanigan etymology, Exploring Shenanigans promises to be one of the foremost books in studying shenanigan theory.

The book was originally just based around giving a comprehensive definition of what shenanigans are, but realizing the full potential that the book could have in bringing shenaniganology to the mainstream, the content was greatly expanded upon. Now, in addition to a basic definition of shenanigans, Exploring Shenanigans covers the history of shenanigans, shenanigan etymology, shenanigan politics and the process of declaring shenanigans, and the quest for attaining unshenaniganableness.

In an effort to continually improve the quality of Exploring Shenanigans, drafts of the book have already been previewed to some top media representatives in order to gain valuable feedback. Some of the responses that were gathered from anonymous reviewers are as follows:

“I don’t even know what to say.”

“A book about shenanigans? Are you high or just stupid?”

“If it were my call I’d recommend you for psychiatric evaluation.”

“It’s definitely a book. I’ll give you that much.”

“Stop bothering me, I’m having lunch with Hugh Downs!”

“I wouldn’t recommend this book as toilet paper.”

It looks like we’ve got a lot of support! Progress on Exploring Shenanigans is coming along on schedule and has the tentative release date of April 6, 2032, so be sure to mark your calendars!  

As a special bonus, check out this exclusive sneak peak at one of the early pages of the book. Enjoy!

*This blog entry is based on inside jokes and probably makes no sense to you. Sorry.

Yeah, I know I haven’t written a blog entry in a while. I was perfectly content with writing random crap that had no content or point, but some anonymous jerk, known only by the pseudonym Killer Pink, informed me that blogs are supposed to actually be relevant to something. I was understandably shocked at this revelation, but faced with mounting peer pressure I decided to relent and take a break from the blogging. I hope the masses of readers weren’t disappointed (yeah, all three of you). They couldn’t keep me down forever though, and now I’m back with a vengeance... wait, wrong speech. Just read on for the modest story of one man’s triumph over the apparent crappiness of a Halo 3 gametype. I hear Tony Danza is starring in the TV movie about it:

When I played Grifball for the first time, my first thought was something along the lines of “Who in their right mind would play this? This is awful.”

To give some background, though I love Halo and like to play it frequently, I’m also very selective in my multiplayer gaming. I very much prefer matchmaking over customs, I absolutely loathe skirmish gametypes, and I find games with a large number of players to be extremely frustrating. I can tolerate all of the above to a limited extent, but when playing them for more than a few minutes at a time I get noticeably frustrated. If you’ve ever played Big Team with me and noticed that I’m not talking as much as I would in Social or Team Slayer, it’s probably because I’ve muted myself and am swearing and yelling at the TV. If you’ve ever invited me to a custom or Big Team game and I’ve either ignored it or join and subsequently drop out after a game or two, know that it’s nothing personal; I simply can’t tolerate those gametypes and playlists. I barely even play the Heroic DLC playlist due to its player size, despite the fact that the new maps that I paid for are neglected otherwise.

I used to play customs frequently in Halo 2, but over time I’ve developed an aversion to them. Most customs are either outrageous and ridiculous gametypes (which I understand many people enjoy, but I like to play serious gametypes most of the time), or games that could just as easily be played in matchmaking.  Big Team games tend to have much more lag than smaller games, and after playing on a horrible connection for years I’ve grown to have somewhat of a short fuse when it comes to connection issues. Big Team games also tend to have little coordination, and people just run around, either unwilling or unable to communicate with their team. Skirmish games suffer from the same coordination problems and quite frankly simply aren’t my cup of tea. I will be the first to admit that I am a Slayer enthusiast (and team-based Slayer at that), and honestly I would very much prefer to play nothing but Doubles, Team (or Social) Slayer, and SWAT (and I’m not holding my breath of it coming back in H3 anytime soon). Occasionally I will spend a night in Big Team and actually enjoy it, but those nights are far outnumbered by the instances when I’m struggling to keep myself from getting aggravated.

So when I first played Grifball, a quirky, skirmish, custom game, I thought that it was just about the epitome of bad gametypes. I simply didn’t enjoy it, and was really surprised that certain friends would voluntarily play it. It also didn’t help that the game was based around melee weapons, and while I praise most of Halo’s gameplay, the melee system has always been one point that I have harbored serious criticisms for.

Yet, for whatever reason, I played Grifball a few more times over the next few weeks, and shockingly enough, it began to grow on me. If nothing else, I at first used it as practice for the Gravity Hammer, which I used to completely fail at using. I don’t claim to be an expert now, but it’s amazing how much you can improve with the weapon after only a few Grifball games. Even stranger though, I began to enjoy the game itself. It’s definitely still quirky and not something I would traditionally play, but it’s actually pretty fun to run around trying to defend the ball carrier while wailing on people with giant hammers. It’s like you’re playing a sport, only without any of the athleticism, and that’s kinda cool. After playing a few quick games the other night part of me actually wanted to play more, leading me to think that the apocalypse was at hand for wanting to play gametypes that I had long believed to be the embodiment of pure evil. I still don’t know why I enjoy it, since I still hate traditional skirmish gametypes and customs, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t completely suck (I considered pitching that to them as Grifball’s slogan, but apparently “It doesn’t completely suck” isn’t the best way to try and promote something. Go figure.)   

I still have no intention of joining a team or anything, since I’ve never been one to join organized clans or teams, but if I can find enjoyment in a game like Grifball, then I guess anything is possible. It can really change one’s perception of reality. Now excuse me as I look up at the sky in a dramatic way, it’s a necessary shot for the Grifball TV movie.

We’re less than two weeks away from Halo 3’s release, and you know what that means right? Yeah, the Halo 3 marketing campaign is in full swing. Microsoft is really going all-out this time, and clearly wants to break that record of $125mil made in one day that they achieved on November 9, 2004. With Halo plastered on everything from Slurpee cups to 360 controllers to Pontiac cars, it seems like they have a real shot. Yet, in-between the IMAX events and Game Fuel consumption Microsoft and Bungie have concocted a very unique advertising campaign that has gamers throughout the internet tubes talking. I’m talking of course about the Believe campaign.

Unlike most advertising campaigns, which focus on showing off game footage and new features, the Believe campaign focuses on the themes that are present in Halo 3’s story. In fact, there is absolutely no gameplay shown in the TV spots. Instead, the spots focus on a very large diorama of an epic battle in East Africa between the Covenant and the UNSC. In the commercials, various scenes depicted in the diorama are shown while classical music plays in the background, ending with the camera panning up at the Master Chief, seemingly defeated and being held up by a Brute chieftain. A plasma grenade in the Chief’s hand then begins to activate, and the figure suddenly animates, looking up at the screen. The commercials end by telling the viewers to “believe.”  

The diorama is the star of the TV spots, and rightfully so. At 1200 square feet and more than 12 feet tall, it is larger than some apartments. It depicts the “Battle for New Mombasa” (though the setting doesn’t seem very urban to me), and does a superb job of visualizing the struggle between humanity and the Covenant. I’m a fan of diorama-building, and made a few military-themed dioramas when I was younger, the biggest of which was about two feet by four feet (the scale was smaller than that of the Halo 3 diorama though). I was really proud of myself at the time, but it is absolutely nothing compared to the excellent work that has been done on the Believe diorama. The detail is absolutely unbelievable, and the scale and size of it is truly impressive. Bungie has discussed the possibility of it going on tour to various launch parties and other events, and I think it would be awesome to have a chance to see it.

Still, the Believe campaign is about more than a diorama, however cool it may be. The TV spots and the making-of and “Museum” shorts that supplement them really drive home the brutality of the war that you fight in the games. The scenes really convey the feelings of sacrifice, hope, and bravery that are such central themes in the Halo series. The way the marines talk about the Chief, and the way he is depicted as seemingly sacrificing himself really give the impression that he is somewhat of a savior for humanity. Bungie is obviously preparing us for the story in the soon-to-be-released Halo 3. However, the recent commercials are only the end of the campaign, not the beginning.

The Believe campaign actually began quite subtly in late July, with Halo 3 advertisements disguised as pamphlets were handed out at Projekt Revolution events. The pamphlets advertised a fictional musical event honoring the Master Chief titled “Believe”, which was set to be played by the UNSC Symphony Orchestra on September 25, 2556. The pamphlet carried the tagline “freedom is always worth fighting for,” and with the exception of small logos for Halo 3 and Bungie and the ESRB rating at the bottom of the pamphlet, the ad was presented in an in-universe style, to make it seem like it really was a UNSC publication.

Almost simultaneously to the Projekt Revolution pamphlet, a new full-page Halo 3 ad began circulating in magazines. The ad had a calm tone, showing an image of the Master Chief walking along a deserted street on Earth, assault rifle at the ready. Towards the top of the page was a picture of a military medal and next to it some text telling of Master Chief’s many commendations and victories on many planets. It explained how the Chief is the embodiment of courage and hope, inspiring humanity. It then told us to “believe.” The ad also carried the tagline “A hero need not speak. When he is gone, the world will speak for him.”

Unsurprisingly, these ads caused a bit of a stir, most notably on the halo.bungie.org forums. A number of users immediately assumed that the advertisements meant that the Chief was going to die, and that conclusion frustrated a few members who were not interested in hearing spoilers. It didn’t help that around this time Marty O’Donnell had gone to the HBO forums and told people to start avoiding everything if they didn’t want to be spoiled. Frankie assured everyone that the marketing guys who were making the ads did not have access to the game’s full plot and the ads were not hinting at anything, but many people remained skeptical. After the release of the TV spots, the paranoia of the ads containing game spoilers grew even more. Logically, Bungie wouldn’t let the marketing people just make stuff up, right? The ads had to be rooted in the story of the game. Bungie continues to insist that the marketing folks are not releasing any game spoilers, but due to the consistency of all of the ads foretelling the possible demise of the Chief, it seems like a lot of people are not buying Bungie’s explanation (in Bungie’s defense Halo 2’s advertising campaign gave the impression that we would be fighting on Earth for the whole game, and that was hardly representative of what the actual game was). I guess we’ll all find out how literal the ads should be taken when the game comes out in a couple of weeks.

Some people have been bashing the ads, claiming they are boring, do nothing to get people interested in the game and need to feature more action and gameplay. Those who like the ads have been coming back with the argument that the ads are mature and intellectual, and not meant for the kids who just want action. Personally, I think there are probably more intellectual things out there than setting a video of a diorama flythrough to Chopin, but that’s just me. The ad isn’t meant for geniuses, but it’s not dull or boring either; it’s simply a unique new marketing campaign and I commend Microsoft and Bungie for thinking outside of the box and doing something that no other video game has done before. They could have easily aired a simple commercial containing 30 seconds of gameplay, or hell, even aired a commercial that just said “Halo 3 is coming. Go buy it.” and it undoubtedly would have been a success and pulled in more sales. With the Believe ads though, they are trying something new and innovative and are really stirring up conversation in the gaming community, and I think that’s exactly what they were going for. In that respect, the advertising campaign is already a success.  

However, as cool as I think the ads are, they didn’t really get me hyped to actually play the game. The Halo 2 TV spots, which featured the gameplay and footage that you would expect from a video game commercial, got me a lot more excited by comparison. However, I think this has less to do with the content of the ads, and more of the circumstances surrounding the game. With Halo 2, little footage or information had been released, and the fanbase was essentially in the dark about what to expect. Seeing a few seconds of new footage was huge. With Halo 3, we’ve been shown a lot more. It also doesn’t help that I’ve already played both multiplayer and campaign from Halo 3, and know exactly what to expect at this point. 

With a history of intriguing ARGs, awesome promotional tie-ins, and well-made trailers, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Bungie and Microsoft have come up with a marketing campaign like this for Halo 3. The promotion surrounding the Halo series is almost as interesting as the game itself, and the Believe campaign proves that. What will those guys think of next?

I’ve been asked to go to a number of gaming events, both public and invitation-only, over the last few years. Yet I always seem to come up with an excuse to miss them. This year, I finally decided that I needed to make it out to an event. It wouldn’t kill me to chuck my other responsibilities aside for a week and have some fun. Enter PAX 2007…

Be warned, this write-up doesn’t focus on games at all; it focuses on the people I saw and the shenanigans that I got into, because in the end PAX for me is more about hanging out with good friends and interacting with the community, not about playing games (though I still did plenty of that). So, if you want a bunch of previews, you should probably not read this blog. Hell, you probably shouldn’t read this blog anyway. Also, as usual, this entry is far longer and more detailed than it needs to be. Yeah, moving on…

I headed out to Seattle on Thursday afternoon, though I never really expected to make it there. By this point it has become well known among my group of friends that I am awful at Mario games on the DS, and tend to get frustrated rather easily. We were all convinced that while I was playing on the plane I was going to make a stupid mistake, cause some big scene, and in all likelihood get arrested. Yet much to everyone’s amazement (and perhaps disappointment), I was able to play Mario without a single aggro outburst, and arrived in Seattle without incident.

I was met at the airport by Andrew, Mercedes, Talli, and Sara. Talli quickly left to go hang with some cooler people, and the remaining four of us decided to hit every grocery store in the Puget Sound area on a hunt for alcohol, ice, and other essentials (it would seem that there is no such thing as a liquor store that is open at night in Seattle). During our adventure we (and by ‘we’ I mean Sara) polluted some kids’ minds at Fatburger and forever shattered the innocence of the Fred Meyer supermarket chain. I’ll never look at a turkey baster the same way again.

After a few hours of driving and going to random stores we got to Eric’s house and exchanged greetings with everyone who was already there. Beating the odds, I was not murdered by certain Canadians, possibly because I paid the money I owed for my less-than-stellar Warthog driving. We spent most of the night talking about random things and throwing gummi Diddy Kongs at each other, a fun game for all ages. Later in the night Chloe and Mercedes went out for a walk, and expert navigators that they are, got lost. I went outside to try and help them find their way back, realizing that Eric’s neighborhood would be hard for even Magellan to map out. Attempting to give directions over the phone, the two eventually found their way back (on a side note, Chloe wasn’t wearing shoes or socks during this several-hour walk. She’s smart). Everyone then started to pass out in preparation for the next day’s events.

On Friday we all mounted up and headed to PAX, but first it was decided that we needed to go to yet more grocery stores, including one store that was literally right next to Bungie. Talk about a tease. We eventually made our way to the convention center, and marveled at the epic gathering of nerds, dorks, and geeks from all corners of the world. I was attacked by Chloe and forced to wear a princess crown that showed that I was “Gamerchix-approved.” Andrew, Eric, and a number of other guys suffered the same fate. A group of us spent a few hours on the exhibition floor, but we eventually got a hankering for some Halo action and went to the free play area to play some Halo 2. We played on Xboxes with copies of the game that were completely untouched by autoupdates and patches, so Mercedes, Andrew, and I decided to have some fun and do a bunch of glitches that are harder to pull off with current versions of H2. We started to gather quite a crowd, with one person even asking if what we were doing was allowed (don’t worry, it was). Unfortunately, our fun was cut short by a power surge which killed most of the TVs and consoles that were in the room, so we decided to call it a day.

That night Andrew, Mercedes, and I went down to Gameworks where a bunch of MVPs and other community members were gathering (although I had no idea at the time, apparently the gathering was Trixie’s ‘FreedomFest’). Instead of playing games though, it seemed that the bar was the gathering place for everyone.  At one point a drunken Feelz Good attempted to pass off his rather large bar tab on Andrew and Sara, but they bounced it right back to him. Sometime after midnight we realized that we hadn’t had a real meal in about twelve hours, and the bar was out of food, so Chloe, Merc, and I set off to find a McDonalds that was said to be right down the street. It wasn’t. We somehow ended up walking into a not-so-great part of town, and encountered a number of interesting (read: crazy) people. After passing a few questionable establishments and getting at least one vile comment from a random dude who I hope for his sake was drunk, we came to the conclusion that McDonalds didn’t exist and found a Subway instead.

Instead of driving for 45 minutes back to Eric’s house, Andrew, Merc, and I decided to crash with Chloe and Sara at Sara’s hotel for the night. The hotel room was amazing, but nevertheless only had one bed. The solution? The four others slept in the bed while I built a fort out of blankets and pillows and slept in there. It seemed like the most mature thing to do. We all then passed out as the Disney Channel played on the TV and inappropriate jokes circulated among the five of us. Have I mentioned the maturity?

Chloe and Sara were forced to wake up early on Saturday and head down to the show, but the remaining three of us slept in and by the time we all woke up the day’s event was half over and we had been sleeping for nearly twelve hours. But at least our sleep deprivation was cured eh? Before we left the hotel I scribbled a note identifying my great fort, and much to my amazement, when we came back later we discovered that housekeeping had left the fort alone. They probably thought I was five, but oh well.

The three of us met Bob for lunch in the convention center, where he informed us of his control scheme in Halo 3 (if you know Bob, you’ll immediately know what scheme is his when you look at the options in the game). We joked around for a bit, I nearly knocked over the table we were eating at, and then we headed upstairs to the event. Having already seen the floor, I spent much of the day hanging out with Chloe and Sara at the Gamerchix booth and entertaining myself by playing with the Vision Camera that gamerscoreblog had set up. The booth had nametags laid out that attendees could take and write their gamertag on, and I was impressed with how many tags I recognized, either through the Xbox.com forums or other community sites. It’s always interesting to meet forum and community regulars who you know of but have never really talked to. Perhaps most amusingly, several of the people who came up to the booth I distinctly remember banning from the forums at one point or another. Needless to say, I didn’t talk to them too much.  

Heading back to Eric’s for his annual PAX party that evening, we made the effort to cram six people into Andrew’s craptastic PT Cruiser: Myself, Andrew, Chloe, Mercedes, Sara, and Rip. Amazingly, we all somehow managed to get seat belts on (though at one point a passing cop still gave us a nasty look), despite the fact that it took forever for all of us to get in. We decided to stop at McDonalds on the way back, but instead of doing the logical thing and going through the drive thru, we made the choice to go in. Yet right after we got out of the clown car we changed our minds again and decided to go to the drive thru, forcing us to spend another eternity getting back in the vehicle. When giving our order, the drive thru attendant gave us a weird look. What, you’ve never seen four people stuffed into the back seat of a PT Cruiser before?

Eric’s party was a lot of fun, with drunkenness abundant (as expected). The Colin-lympics were held, and as expected Andrew took home the gold. Andrew’s drink consisting of vodka and Halo 3 Game Fuel, which he termed the Acescrew, was a huge hit, with Max going so far as to declare it the official drink of Halo 3. Eric and Mercedes got really aggro at the Seahawks game that Eric had put on, Tammy was going around biting people, I got a balloon celebrating my apparent 16th birthday, Fatty Chubs got his ass kicked in GH2, we watched the Spartans kill a bunch of Persians in nice HD, and we learned that the giraffe is in another castle. The low point of the night? Chloe stealing my bag of Skittles so they could be used as poker chips. That was just pure evil.

Sunday at the show was somewhat slow, as we had done just about everything by that point. Most of the people crashing at Eric’s didn’t even go, and Chloe got sick and went home early. Andrew, Merc, and I went to the show with Sara, since she was doing booth duty, but the three of us decided to stay for some reason (seriously guys, why were we there?) We watched the Mass Effect demo approximately 15,764 times, mingled with the same people repeatedly, and ran into KP and his posse a couple of times. At the end of the day we saw Gabe and Tycho duke it out 1v1 on Halo 3’s recently-revealed Guardian map, which I have to admit was cool but over way too quickly. We then set off to drop off Sara at the airport, driving aimlessly for a while before stopping at Denny’s for some food. Wow, what an experience it was. The people sitting in the booth behind us were freaks to say the least, and I’m not going to even repeat a lot of what they said. Listening in on their psycho conversation provided quite a bit of amusement, with their best part being them saying you should never meet anyone you talk to online, to which the four of us erupted in laughter. We continued to make jerks of ourselves (though I think Andrew won with a certain comment about zoos and albino children. I don’t think I need to elaborate), with Mercedes leaving a big tip to “make up for us being asses.” We dropped Sara off at SeaTac, which apparently was right next to Denny’s the entire time (and we had no idea), and headed back to Eric’s. Chloe and I then caught up on all the Inuyasha that we had been missing, which caused everyone else in the house to instantly pass out. They obviously don’t know good TV.

Monday was a lazy day. PAX was over and most people were gone, so the remaining stragglers and I spent most of the day watching such quality programs as Thundercats and Star Blazers that Eric had on DVD. Star Blazers was good, but Eric, it’s still no Voltron. We also watched Grandma’s Boy, which I had never seen but always wanted to watch. The number of gamer stereotypes in that movie (both true and false) is amazing, and was a perfect way to close a gaming event. I also played a bit of Guitar Hero II, which I had never played and never intended to play. I’ve never had an interest in such games, but it was actually a lot of fun, especially when playing it in the company of friends. I’m still not going to buy it, but I do have the urge to play it again. Thanks for that Chloe…  

We got up on Tuesday and went out for breakfast, where I was put to shame by discovering that Mercedes could eat more than me (wait, why am I repeating that here?). We then went to the airport, I said my goodbyes, and then struggled to keep myself from puking at the thought that I might have to go another year before seeing everyone again. I barely made my plane to Phoenix, but found out that it hardly mattered as my flight to Flagstaff had been cancelled. I got a boarding pass for the next flight, but it kept getting delayed. Luckily, I had my laptop with me and free wi-fi in the terminal so I was able to hop on messenger and talk to Chloe, Tammy, Matt, and Dustin to keep myself from dying of boredom. Thanks for entertaining me guys, I appreciate it.  

The flight finally went through and I got home around 1 am, a good eight hours or so later than I should have, to find my roommate, certainly not a night owl, already dead asleep. Is it time to go back to Seattle yet? 

It’s already been more than a month since my last entry? Wow, this one-blog entry a month promise that I made myself is really starting to get difficult to keep up. I honestly don’t have too much to say right now and no games or events stick out in my mind as particularly interesting, but I feel the need to say something, so I’ll give you guys a few random stories about what I’ve been doing lately. Wait, how is that any different from what I’ve been doing? Ahem… moving on.

As usual, I’ve been spending a lot of time on Halo 2. In the weeks following the end of the Halo 3 beta, I was playing a disgusting amount of the game (although I also played a disgusting amount of the beta, racking up nearly 900 games by the time it ended), eventually getting to the point when anytime between 9pm and 6am was time that could potentially be devoted to Halo. Since the beta ended last month, I’ve played approximately 850 games of Halo 2. Keep in mind that I’ve played 5136 games total (as of this writing) in the two and a half years since the game came out, and it becomes apparent that I’ve played a little too much these last few months. Regardless of whether or not playing that much is seen as a good or bad thing, I’ve been playing fewer games in the last week or so, instead spending much more time in pregame tondos (pre·game  ton·do n. the often-lengthy conversation that takes place in the pregame lobby of a game, usually Halo 2).

One cool thing that I did do though was play through Halo 2’s entire campaign in one sitting for the first time. I played through all of Halo 1’s campaign shortly before Halo 2 was released, and I figured I should continue the tradition as we get close to Halo 3’s release. I only played on easy because I wanted to get through it relatively quickly, though I still managed to die five times (three times from sword-wielding flood, once by an Elite, and once by an idiot Hunter who hit me with a nice burst of friendly fire). It took about four and a half hours from start to finish, only pausing the game briefly a few times to answer IMs. Most people seemed to think it was a dorky thing for me to do, but I thought it was a fun experience, and I’m thinking I should probably go through and play all of Halo 1 again too, just because I can.

Getting away from Xbox for a minute, I finally decided to take the plunge and buy a Nintendo DS. Well, more accurately, I bought one because my original Game Boy finally died and everyone was urging me to get a handheld that wasn’t nearly two decades old. I have to say, I’m quite impressed with it. The visuals are definitely a step up from Asteroids and Tetris, and it’s cool that the games are actually in color, rather than shades of green. I bought New Super Mario Bros and Mario Kart to start out, and I’ve had a pretty easy time with Mario Kart (which is surprising, considering it’s a driving game), but Mario Bros has been giving me some trouble. I suck at side-scrollers *cough*Sonic*cough*, always have, and this game is definitely no exception to the rule. I got through the basic game in a few days, but going back and finding all of the coins has proven to be difficult. On the bright side, my frustration has proven to several of my friends that I can get just as aggro as the next guy.  

Yeah, this was a mundane entry, but oh well. Hopefully I’ll have more interesting stuff to say as we gear up to Halo 3’s release.

It’s been a while since my last Random Gaming Update, but hey, that’s why they’re called ‘random’ updates, right? As you can probably guess, I’ve played almost nothing but the Halo 3 beta for the past few weeks, and as a result, that’s the focus of this entry. There are probably dozens of really cool games that I could recap here, but I can’t remember all of them, and I’m lazy (I can’t emphasize enough the laziness). So, I’m focusing on a few specific events. However, I have a video to make up for the shortness of this entry, and as we all know, videos are awesome. So read on…  

I’m once again driving the Warthog, as my banning from driving technically only applied to Halo 2 (though several people dispute that fact). As mentioned in my asininely long beta impressions post, it took me a full six seconds from the time I first got behind the wheel of the Halo 3 Hog to achieve my first crash. Since my Warthog driving skills have obviously carried over to Halo 3, one would think that I would be driving as often as I can. However, being the noble (I’m using ‘noble’ as a synonym for ‘jerk’) person that I am, I have taken the high road and surrendered the driver’s seat most of the time in order to hold true to my Halo 2 promise (and because I don’t want to get yelled at/hit by certain people and I like to get kills). That doesn’t mean I can’t be a gunner though, so I’ve been taking up that position quite a bit while some poor soul, usually Adam or Chloe, drives me around. I’ve also been driving the Mongoose a lot, and have pulled off some really cool stunts. I already mentioned in a previous entry about the wheelie that I did when coming out of the mancannon. I actually somehow did it again, this time in the center of the map on Valhalla. It wasn’t as satisfying as the first time I did it (likely because this time I didn’t almost take Chloe’s head off), but it was cool nonetheless. However, after several unfortunate ATV crashes Eric, who hasn’t witnessed any of these awesome events, has banned me from driving the Mongoose. Naturally, I won’t listen.  

A week or so ago I was playing a game of Big Team Battle with a few friends when I managed to pull off what is by far the best kill steal(s) that I have ever gotten. Everyone on the team was playing well, and after only a few minutes we had established very healthy lead. About halfway through the game we noticed that the other team was nowhere to be found, even though they hadn’t quit out of the game. I had overheard one of them say something earlier about meeting up in the tunnel, so I picked up a Spartan Laser and ran over there. It turns out that all six of them were lined up and hiding in the pipe, and as I was approaching them on one side, Eric was on the other, tossing grenades in. I managed to get my shot off before his grenades detonated, and I got all six kills with the single laser blast, scoring a killtrocity. In all, I pulled in 13 medals with that single shot. Eric didn’t even get a single assist out of it, and as one could imagine, was not happy. He has since gone on Major Nelson’s podcast and called it out as the ‘biggest kill steal in the history of first-person shooters.’ Now, I don’t know if I would go that far, but it was pretty freaking cool.

I captured the video of the full game and intended to post it, but the audio quality was less than optimal and I was having some difficulties getting the thing uploaded online. However, a Live member going by the tag Quicksilver4648 got the video on youtube. Not only does it show the incident from both my own and e’s perspectives, but it also contains the voice over from that portion of Major’s podcast. Big thanks to him for getting it online and doing such a good job with it. Now, without further adieu, watch as e’s kills are ruthlessly stolen from him:

Okay, moving right along. This is very old news at this point, and not Halo related, but I promised in my last update that I would discuss it, so here we go. I’m very pleased to announce that Crackdown has been vanquished. I previously mentioned that I was going to make one last frustrating attempt to find the remaining 19 elusive orbs, and despite all common sense and logic, I went through with the search. Over the course of two days I spent probably close to 10 hours on Crackdown, searching each and every orb location again in order to weed out the ones that I passed over. It turns out I really did a bad job of clearing Los Muertos, and most of my remaining orbs were discovered in that district after only a few hours of searching. After clearing out Los Muertos the orb hunt became more of a test of endurance than anything else, and a number of hours passed without any progress. Finally, I found the last orb, hidden in a cave in the quarry of the Volk district (incidentally, my last agility orb was also in Volk). Finally finding all 800 hidden and agility orbs was a great feeling, which I believe I expressed by repeatedly yelling at and cussing out the game. The strange thing is that afterwards I just wanted to play more Crackdown, even though prior to that point my only real motivation was knowing that I wouldn’t need to play the game anymore after collecting all of the orbs. Whatever. The DLC is out now, but I refuse to go download it. With the Halo 3 beta out, there is no way in hell I’m getting sucked back into Crackdown.

And that concludes the third installment of my Random Gaming Updates. Stay tuned to this Space for more periodic random updates about stuff you probably don’t care about.

I meant to actually get this entry out before the public beta came out on Wednesday, but the combination of playing so much Halo 3, constantly finding new stuff to write about, and having other obligations that required my attention kept me from posting it. So, a lot of this stuff is well known by now, and probably comes off as a lot less interesting than it would have if it was posted before the public beta was out. Nevertheless, I’m not letting this huge entry go to waste, and most of my impressions are relevant regardless of when the post goes up. Just try to ignore the parts that are written as if the public beta wasn’t out yet.  

Those of you who know me know that I am a huge Halo enthusiast. Halo: Combat Evolved was the whole reason I bought an Xbox in the first place, and Halo 2 has continued to entertain me on Live for more than two and a half years. Most of the blog entries here focus on or at the very least mention Halo. Therefore, it should be no surprise that I would have a lot to say when I finally got my hands on Halo 3. I was fortunate enough to get invited to the Friends and Family beta, and have therefore already had a few days to spend with the game. It would seem that writing about Halo is the only thing that will keep me from constantly playing Halo, so over the last couple of days I’ve been compiling my impressions of just about everything related to the beta. Weapons, vehicles, maps, equipment, features, it’s all here. This blog entry is absolutely massive, and I can understand if it is too much to read, but this is Halo 3, so I’m not holding back at all. Several people suggested that I break it up into a couple of different entries, but I figure you guys can choose to read it in different intervals if you really want. So, if you have the stomach for it, read on to see my immense Halo 3 beta analysis.  

Weapons  

While a number of old favorites from Halo and Halo 2 are returning for the third installment, most of them have been tweaked, thankfully for the better. Also appearing are a few brand new weapons, each filling a unique role in the gameplay. Notably, both the Pistol and the Energy Sword are absent from the beta, as are any obviously unrevealed weapons.  

Assault Rifle: With the inclusion of the MA5C Assault Rifle, Bungie has finally made the perfect starting weapon. It’s excellent at close-to-mid range combat, and easily solves all of the problems that there were with Halo 2’s SMG start. It boasts improved accuracy and power over the Halo 1 assault rifle, but also has a smaller clip size at 32 rounds. The MA5C gives people the power to effectively kill the enemy right off the bat without having to scramble to find a power weapon, but at the same time it’s not too overpowered. It’s just a great gun to have on hand, and may prove to be useful in nearly any situation.  

SMG: The SMG in Halo 3 acts in largely the same capacity that it did in Halo 2, filling the role of the bullet hose. It’s completely ineffective at mid-to-long range, but it is actually quite devastating in close quarters, especially when dual wielding or used in conjunction with a melee attack. While I can’t foresee the SMG being something that players scramble for each game, it may be something you want to hold on to if you are expecting a lot of close combat.  

Spiker: Early previews compared the Spiker to the shotgun, but in actuality it is much closer to the Brute equivalent of the SMG. Like the SMG, it has a large clip and high rate of fire, but it also seems to have a better range than its human counterpart. The Spiker also has one of the most effective melee attacks of any weapon in the game, and I found myself often grabbing the gun just so I could whip it out and hit people if I needed to.     

Shotgun: Many people complained about the shotgun in Halo 2, and how it was less effective than its Halo counterpart. It seems that with Halo 3, Bungie has brought back the shotgun’s awesomeness. Not only does it look similar to the Halo 1 weapon, with blue sights instead of Halo 2’s green sights, but it also has similar power and range to the Halo shotgun. At close range, the shotgun simply dominates, and no other weapon can match it. Another change is that it can only hold six shells at once, as opposed to eight in the previous games. However, that doesn’t detract from the gun, and in fact probably balances it out. The shotgun is quite possibly my favorite Halo 3 weapon, and I have been grabbing it nearly every chance I get. It’s just that awesome.  

Needler: Bungie has repeatedly said that the Needler in Halo 3 is a force to be reckoned with, and they were not bluffing. After three games, the gun has finally been perfected, and players who once laughed at the sight of a Needler are now scrambling to get their hands on one. It still functions basically the same as in the previous games, but the rate of fire has been increased and the needles do more damage and travel faster. If your aim is good enough, you can drop a player in only a couple of seconds. To balance this out, it is no longer dual wieldable, and it may be my imagination, but it seemed like the homing on the needles was turned down a bit. Still, that doesn’t detract from the Needler’s newfound awesomeness.  

Plasma Pistol: Now, this is just everyone’s favorite weapon from Halo 2, right? Most gamers will be relieved to hear that the tracking on the Plasma Pistol has been severely reduced this time around. No longer can someone just fire in the general direction of the enemy and get a hit; they actually need to take the time to aim and line up the shot properly. A direct hit will still completely drain a player’s shields though, so don’t think that just because the tracking is reduced that the weapon is harmless. An overcharged shot from the Plasma Pistol will also now instantly disable a vehicle, so watch out for that.    

Plasma Rifle: Largely unchanged from Halo 2, the Plasma Rifle still functions much like a Covenant SMG, and can still be dual wielded (and should be dual wielded for maximum effect). It seems to be more accurate this time, and has an increased rate of fire. One cool change, though having absolutely no impact on the gameplay, is the addition of a number of glowing blue lights on the rifle, which makes it look very awesome in the dark.  

Carbine: The first thing that players will notice when picking up the carbine is that it is quite a bit more powerful than it was in Halo 2. It seems to be more accurate, with all of the shots hitting right in the middle of the reticule (instead of all over the place like in H2), and it appears to take less shots to drop an enemy. It definitely rivals the Battle Rifle for domination of the mid-range battlefield, and I’ve actually heard a number of complaints that it is too overpowered this time around.  

Battle Rifle: Through there are some minor visual alterations, the Battle Rifle is largely unchanged from Halo 2. It still fires three-round bursts, holds 36 rounds, and is still very effective at taking other players down at mid-range. Thankfully, it would seem that Bungie understood that they shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken. Not too much to add here. You all know how the BR functions.  

Rocket Launcher: Redesignated the M41 from the M19, the most dramatic and noticeable change to the rocket launcher this time around is the removal of the lock-on feature. Without the ability to fire-and-forget, players have to be much more strategic with their shot placement, leading to a much more Halo 1-like feel. The splash damage has been tweaked, and the rocket seems to travel slightly slower than before, and though I have had more than a week to play around with the weapon, I have yet to get used to the changes. Out of all of the weapons brought over from H2, I think the rocket launcher may be the only instance when I prefer the Halo 2 version to the Halo 3 version.  

Spartan Laser: One of the more publicized and unique new additions to the Halo 3 arsenal, at first glance the Spartan Laser seems to fit more with Covenant weaponry than with the other human weapons. Like the Covenant weapons, the gun is energy-based, and has a non-rechargeable battery that means the weapon must be abandoned when its power source has depleted. Still, the Spartan Laser definitely looks human, and is a welcome addition to the UNSC lineup. It can only fire five shots, and has a long (about five seconds) charge-up period before the shot can be fired, but don’t let that detract you from using it. The shots are devastating, and a single one can completely destroy a vehicle and kill all of its occupants. It’s also very accurate, and if you are a good enough shot it is easy to hit a player who is halfway across the map. The key is timing, and if you can master that, you’re going to have a blast with this weapon. 

Sniper Rifle: The biggest change to the sniper rifle in Halo 3 is the removal (or at the least, severe decrease) of auto-aim. Players now have to have decent aim and skill when using the weapon and it is much more satisfying to score a headshot from across the map. There is also significant recoil, and a slight delay between shots, so you need to plan your attacks out well or the target may be able to escape. Visually, the scope (the actual scope on the gun, and not your view when looking though it) looks a lot cooler this time around, and now displays some kind of green night vision/thermal view. It’s a nice graphical touch, but does nothing for the gameplay.

Beam Rifle: Like the human sniper rifle, the Beam Rifle has just about zero auto-aim in Halo 3. However, unlike its human counterpart, the Beam Rifle does not have significant recoil and no delay between shots, making it much easier to fire off several rounds in quick succession. Overall, the weapon seems mostly unchanged from Halo 2, which is good, since it didn’t need to be changed all that much.  

Frag Grenade: There isn’t much to report on the frag; it’s still the reliable explosive that we all know and love from Halo 2. There are no significant changes to it, and it still functions and serves the same role as before. The only thing I can really add is that the explosions look and sound a lot better this time around.  

Plasma Grenade: Like the frag, the plasma grenade is basically the same thing that we saw in Halo 2. It still sticks to players and vehicles, and fulfills that job very effectively. Visually, the explosion looks a lot cooler, and really does seem like a huge discharge of energy and plasma, as opposed to a blue ball of fire like we saw in the previous games. Still, I’ve noticed less use of the plasma grenade in the beta, with players favoring the new Spike Grenade instead.   

Spike Grenade: Complementing the plasma grenade in the Covenant arsenal, the Spike Grenade adds a unique twist to an existing concept. In addition to sticking to players and vehicles like the plasma grenade, the Spike Grenade also sticks to most walls and other surfaces. The splash damage on the Spike Grenade is also much smaller and more focused than that of the other grenades, and usually a player will need to be in the direct direction of the blast to get killed.  

Turret: Now, this is one of the more unique additions to Halo 3. The UNSC stationary turrets are now more similar to the tri-barreled Light Anti-Aircraft Gun found on the back of the Warthog, as opposed to the single-barreled GPMG found in Halo 2. What makes these turrets unique though is that they can be detached from their base, and the player can run around with them. When mounted, the turret has unlimited ammo, but when detached (simply by getting on the turret then pressing B) it has a limit of 200 rounds, which can deplete quickly. After detaching the turret, the player will run around (albeit much slower than usual) in third person, only to return to first person after dropping it. It’s an interesting new concept, and while I was skeptical at first, it actually blends quite well with Halo’s other weapons and gameplay. It should also be noted that the Warthog’s turret cannot be detached; only the stationary turrets.  

Missile Pod: Similar in concept to the detachable turret, the Missile Pod is another interesting new weapon. It’s a lot like a supped-up rocket launcher, and contains eight missiles that can be fired in rapid succession. The missiles have a homing ability, and will automatically track vehicles when the target is painted with the reticule. Like the turret, when using the missile pod the view will switch to third person, and after the eight shots are fired the weapon will have to be ditched.  

Equipment  

Recently the function of the mysterious X button was finally revealed to be ‘equipment’. Many gamers were understandably skeptical of the new feature, wondering if it would fit with Halo’s gameplay and if equipment would be a common enough find to warrant the use of the X button. Upon actually trying out the new feature, I was surprised with how perfectly it blended with Halo’s gameplay style. Deploying a Bubble Shield or Power Drainer doesn’t seem strange at all, and although it is true that equipment is relatively rare, it’s not completely elusive, and a player can typically find a piece of equipment a couple of times each game.  

Bubble Shield: Most people should be familiar with the Bubble Shield at this point, having seen it in the ESPN commercial last December or in recent leaked footage. When deployed, it creates a geodesic dome that protects the person inside from all projectiles and grenades. However, it does not stop people from entering the shield, and enemies (or allies) can easily come inside and fight it out with the shield’s occupants. Vehicles can also drive right through the shield, so players must still be aware of their surroundings; they can’t just sit inside the shield and act like they’re invincible. The shield’s generator can by destroyed if it takes enough damage, causing the bubble to collapse, but otherwise it seems like the shield lasts roughly 30 seconds or so before automatically shutting off.  

Trip Mine: This piece of equipment should be quite self-explanatory. Basically acting as a proximity mine, it will detonate when any players or vehicles, regardless of whether they are friend or foe, get within a few feet of it. It cannot be remote detonated by the player and cannot be defused (though you can detonate it by shooting it), so make sure you know what you’re doing when you deploy it. The mine can work as a good deterrent when placing it near the flag in CTF or by a territory, but it can easily be seen by the other team, and in my experience, they’ll simply shoot it and move on. Perhaps it can best be used as a last-resort weapon, dropping it when you are about to die and there are a number of enemies in the area. I should also point out that at this point the only people I’ve been able to kill with the trip mine are myself and my teammates.  

Power Drainer: The power drainer is one of the more unique pieces of equipment. It’s essentially a blue ball that when deployed creates a transparent blue sphere, and it will rapidly deplete the shields of any player, friend or foe, who happens to be nearby. It also immediately shuts down vehicles that are in or attempt to drive through the drainer’s sphere of influence. While the power drainer will deplete a player’s entire shield, it won’t actually kill them. However, at the end of the drainer’s life cycle the generator will explode, killing anyone in the immediate vicinity. Bottom line: avoid this thing when it’s deployed.  

Gravity Lift: The portable gravity lift is another piece of equipment that should be self-explanatory. When deployed, it creates a small gravity lift that players can use to propel themselves up higher than they could normally get. The lift itself is actually quite powerful, and will easily take a player up to the third story of a structure (such as the watchtower where the Spartan Laser spawns on High Ground). The device will also lift up Mongoose ATVs (I haven’t had the opportunity to try it out with any other vehicles), which should lead to some very entertaining custom games when the full version comes out this fall.  

Maps  

Three maps are included in the beta, each tailored for different types of games and players. While many other sites have already posted detailed run-downs and previews of the maps, I’m giving my impressions anyway.  

Valhalla: Named for the hall of slain warriors in Norse mythology, Valhalla is already one of my favorite maps out of all three Halo titles. It can be perhaps described as the spiritual successor of Blood Gulch/Coagulation, since the map consists of a canyon with a base at each end and a cave system on one side, but it is by no means a straight remake. It also seems to be roughly the same size as Coagulation, despite the fact that some earlier previews were saying that it is one of the biggest maps in the Halo series. The first thing I noticed when playing was that the map just looks incredible. The snow-capped peaks in the distance, the rolling hills, the lush foliage, and the gentle stream all give an ironic sense of serenity. The downed Pelican, scattered UNSC equipment, and massive Forerunner wall hugging one side of the canyon also serve as great aesthetics and add to the atmosphere. Several times I found myself backing away from the combat just so I could take in the scenery. But, apart from looking really cool, the environment also has a tactical element to it. The hills in the center of the map give cover from snipers and encourage players to hold the high ground, and ducking through the caves allows for a sneaky entrance to the enemy team’s base. Then of course there are the infamous man cannons, which are just as fun as they were made out to be. They’re excellent at quickly getting players to the middle of the map, but when using them the player is very vulnerable to snipers and other small arms. All-in-all, if you are a fan of Blood Gulch/Coagulation or outdoor combat in general, you’re going to love Valhalla.  

High Ground: Taking place at a remote UNSC outpost in East Africa, the first thing gamers will notice when playing on this map is that it is highly reminiscent of Zanzibar. Like the popular Halo 2 map, High Ground consists of a beach and a main base protected by a wall and functioning gate. Like Zanzibar, High Ground is designed to be a map suited for offense/defense games such as 1 Flag CTF. However, despite many earlier reports, High Ground is not a remake of Zanzibar; it is merely influenced by it. The map itself is not that large, and players can get from the beach to the base in only a few seconds. The base can be entered from a gap in the wall or through a bunker outside of the main gate. The bunker complex around the base is actually a lot larger than it looks from outside, and there are a number of hallways and rooms, both underground and above ground, making it easy to get lost the first few times through. The gate functions similar to the one found in Zanzibar, and once you open it, it’s opened for good. While borrowing many concepts from Zanzibar and not the most original map of the three, High Ground is still a lot of fun and unique enough that one can play it over and over and not get bored. Make sure to play some 1 Flag CTF; it’s a blast.    

Snowbound: The most original (meaning not inspired by or taking excessive elements from a previously-existing map) of the three maps, Snowbound is a circular-shaped small-to-midsized map taking place in, not surprisingly, an arctic setting. It is mostly an outdoor map, focused around two small Forerunner (according to Bungie, though they look more Covenant in origin to me) outposts, but there is also a system of tunnels underground that join the two bases. The tunnels add an entirely new dimension to the map, and really make what would otherwise be a relatively boring circular map a lot of fun. Protecting the entrance to the bases and the tunnels are shield doors, which function similarly to the bubble shield. No grenades or projectiles can pass through, but people can move freely. The doors also prevent vehicles from entering (One Ghost spawns in Snowbound). I have often found myself just staring down at another player who is on the opposite side of the door, both of us refusing to make the first move. Inside the bases, the shotgun and other close-range weapons dominate, while outside snipers and Carbines seem to own the map. This leads to a nice combination of outdoor and indoor fighting, and means that some players may commit themselves to the tunnels the entire game, and others may refuse to go inside, instead preferring the outdoor combat. Another interesting part of the map is the lack of physical walls that keep the players confined to the level. Instead, the map’s perimeter is surrounded by automated plasma turrets, which will open fire on any player who leaves the combat area. It’s a new concept to the Halo series, and makes one wonder if it will be implemented in other maps in Halo 3.   

Vehicles  

Only the Warthog, Mongoose, and Ghost make an appearance in the beta, and I don’t exactly have a whole lot to say on the vehicles at this point, but for the sake of completeness, I’ll include my impressions. 

Warthog: The Warthog in Halo 3 is largely unchanged from its Halo 2 counterpart. It obviously looks better, but it has no new functionality and handles just about the same. The biggest change is in the Hog’s strength. It seems very difficult to destroy the thing in Halo 3, and while the occupants may be killed, more often than not the vehicle itself will survive. Also, the Warthog’s turret seems far more accurate and deadly than before, and may actually prove to be a useful turret this time around, instead of just a backup if there is no Gauss Warthog available. I also feel compelled to mention that it took me a full six seconds to crash the Warthog from the time I first entered it in Halo 3. Why do people continue to doubt my awesome driving skills?   

Mongoose: Everyone was disappointed when they learned that the ATV wasn’t going to be included in Halo 2, but finally, more than four years after Bungie publically contemplated the idea of an ATV in Halo, we have the Mongoose. Was it worth the wait? I certainly think so. The Mongoose is completely unarmed, but a passenger can jump on the back and fire any weapon (regardless of whether it is normally single or dual wieldable), which can lead to some interesting scenarios. The Mongoose is fast, though not ridiculously fast, and it is very maneuverable. You can get the Mongoose nearly on its side and it will still drive (though at that point you’re almost certainly going to crash, it’s just a matter of time), and due to its size you can easily drive through some doorways and inside buildings. The Mongoose is also light enough that it will just go flying across the map if hit with enough force by a blast or another vehicle, with hilarity ensuing afterwards. If you like driving the Warthog, you’re going to love the Mongoose.  

Ghost: I haven’t had too much time with the Ghost yet, since I usually go for the shotgun on Snowbound (the only map in the beta that has the Ghost), but it seems like it is more or less the same vehicle that it was in Halo 2. Like the Warthog, it seems a bit harder to destroy (though one well-placed sticky grenade will take it out), and it also seems a lot more difficult to board. The efficiency of the plasma cannons have been decreased a bit, but to balance it out, I have noticed that it seems like it is a lot easier to get splatters. 

General Thoughts/Comments  

Now, we can’t have a thorough analysis of the beta without taking a few minutes to talk about the graphics. Since the first alpha footage leaked, many people have been complaining about Halo 3’s graphics. To many people, anything short of Gears of War-quality visuals will mean Halo 3 is a miserable failure. So, does Halo 3 look like Gears? Simply put, no, it doesn’t. However, that doesn’t mean that Halo 3 looks bad. Bungie isn’t trying to make a gritty, realistic looking game like Gears. The game keeps in line with the graphical style introduced in Halo and Halo 2, and that art style isn’t the most realistic looking, nor does it try to be. It is certainly next-gen, but still looks like Halo, and I think that is important. One thing I really enjoy is the HDR lighting. Just go to High Ground and pay attention to the lighting when you emerge from one of the buildings. It’s actually really cool. The water is very impressive as well. The river in Valhalla actually looks like a river, and the way the water foams at certain places is an awesome effect. Halo 3 may not be the best looking game ever, but it is still impressive, and is a lot more than simply Halo 2 in HD. If the final game looked like this, I wouldn’t complain.  

The level of player customization is much improved from Halo 2, and that’s great in my opinion. As most people know by now, in Halo 3 the player’s emblem no longer appears above his head. Instead, players are identified by a three-character callsign consisting of a letter followed by two numbers. Bungie believes this will make it easier to identify and call out to other players, though I’ll admit I never had any such problem in Halo 2 (possibly because I usually played with friends and knew who used what emblem). The callsigns do give the game a more military-like feel though, and are a welcome addition to the refined HUD, which I will discuss in a minute. You still have emblems, and they still appear on your armor and next to your name in the lobby; they just don’t appear above your head in-game. Another cool thing is now in addition to choosing a primary and secondary color (both of which will be overridden in team games), players choose a third color which will always show on their armor in the form of bands on their arms and legs. It’s subtle, but still adds a nice new layer of customization. The emblem’s colors are also now independent of the armor’s colors, so you can choose to have an emblem that uses completely different colors from your armor if you wish. 

The HUD has changed significantly from Halo and Halo 2, and it’s definitely a change for the better. This time around, it’s slightly concave, and there is a very subtle outline of the visor, which gives the impression that you are actually looking out of a Spartan’s helmet. When the player first spawns, a grid-like effect splashes over the screen, followed by all of the relevant information appearing, making it seem like the Spartan’s HUD is just starting to come online. It’s another subtle but interesting effect. The shield bar has been moved from above the motion tracker to the top center of the HUD, which allows it to be easily seen without impairing the player’s view of the action. Notably, the compass that appeared below the shield in some leaked footage is now absent, though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It looked cool, but realistically, it probably wasn’t of much use. The binoculars, which consisted of a simple zoom-in when holding a weapon without a scope, have also been revamped. Now, the binoculars have an elevation gauge on the side, some binary code running along the bottom, and the Mark VI HUD’s firmware code. It’s another nice little thing that Bungie put in to help the player feel like they actually are a Spartan.  

The saved films feature is one of the coolest new things to Halo 3. Each game is automatically recorded in its entirety, and at the end of the match the player can choose whether or not to save that particular film. If it is saved, it can then be sent to friends or uploaded to a file share where other players can download and view it. The feature guarantees that no great moment has to be forgotten, and if some outrageous or really cool thing happens in a certain game, you instantly have a video of it. Right now, the feature is limited to a straight video feed from the first-person perspective, but Bungie will be adding a lot more functionality in the final game. I have found myself using the feature quite a bit, and now I’m wondering how I ever played without it. In one game, I drove the Mongoose off the mancannon in Valhalla, bounced it off a rock, nearly hit a friend, then landed it on the back two wheels and kept driving it around vertically until I ran into a wall. Unfortunately that video is gone now due to Bungie’s shenanigans, but before it was lost I uploaded it to my file share and was soon getting comments about my awesome driving, showing how fast word can spread thanks to saved films.  

Now, I know people have been complaining about this for over a week now, but I have to agree with the criticism of putting push-to-talk on the d-pad. Having PTT on the left bumper was perfect in Halo 2, and while I understand the rationale behind putting the grenade switch and dual-wielding on the bumper, I still hate that PTT has been put on the d-pad. Putting it there requires you to take a finger off of one of the thumbsticks to activate it, and when engaged in combat, even taking your finger off a thumbstick for a split-second can mean your death. At the same time, I like having dual-wielding on the bumper, and wouldn’t want to see that get mapped to the d-pad either. It’s the classic dilemma of having too many functions and not enough buttons. Unfortunately, I think I’m actually starting to get used to PTT on the d-pad, even though I really hate to say it.   

Overall, the beta has left me with a very favorable opinion of Halo 3. There are some bugs and a few gripes here and there, but for the most part it is nothing but improvements. Halo 3 takes some of the best elements from Halo and Halo 2 and puts them together to make a game that is just a whole bunch of fun to play. There are still some weapon balancing issues and the graphics are not the best ever seen, but it still doesn’t detract from the fun of the gameplay, and in the end, that’s what it’s all about. September 25 cannot come any sooner.

What? New Halo 2 maps? You can’t be serious; Halo 3 is right around the corner!  

It’s true, this morning the latest two downloadable Halo 2 maps were released on Xbox Live. Developed by Certain Affinity, the new studio founded by former Bungie employee and Halo 2 multiplayer lead Max Hoberman, the two maps are titled Tombstone and Desolation, and are remakes of the Halo classics Hang ‘em High and Derelict, respectively. I don’t want to dwell on what you already know though, so I’ll jump right into my impressions. 

Now, at the risk of being ostracized from the community, I will admit that I was never an enormous fan of Hang ‘em High. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun map; I just didn’t think it was the epitome of awesomeness that so many other Halo fans believe it to be. That said, Tombstone is an absolute blast, and I can easily foresee it becoming one of my favorite Halo 2 maps. Visually, it is obviously a huge improvement over its Halo predecessor. The setting of a UNSC munitions complex is a lot more immersive and exciting than the giant steel box that was Hang ‘em High. The complex of hallways and tunnels near red base gets perhaps the best overhaul; the addition of computer terminals and flickering lights really add to the atmosphere, in stark contrast to the barren steel halls seen in the map’s Halo counterpart. The removal of the ‘lip’ around the trench in the center of the map is a very welcomed change, and the giant crane is a nice aesthetic. The tombstones that litter the map continue to play an interesting role in the gameplay, just as they did in Hang ‘em High. At one point I was just about to get killed, but by running and swerving around the tombstones I was able to escape. I was then killed by someone else, but that’s not the point. Overall, the map has nothing but improvements, the only change that I’m a little bummed out about being the replacement of the big ramp by red base with an air lift. The ramp was a focal point of many battles in Hang ‘em High, and putting a lift there seems to have diverted attention away from that area of the map. Still, it’s nothing to cry over.  

There were complaints and worries that the map would not be fun without fall damage, since falling to one’s death played such a significant role in Hang ‘em High. However, even without the threat of falling to your demise, Tombstone is still a blast to play. The verticality (Ha! That is a word! I told you guys!) of the map plays a significant role in a player’s strategy, and several times I got killed when my friends used the catwalks above to get the jump on me. Death from above!  

Tombstone, also known as "the remake of that God-like Halo 1 map"

Desolation, the second map, is a remake of Derelict. Let’s not kid ourselves here: Derelict was never a very popular map, and when it was announced that it was being remade for Halo 2, many fans were left scratching their heads. After all, we already have a Wizard remake, and Wizard and Derelict were practically the same thing, right? Wrong. Desolation is strongly reminiscent of its Halo predecessor, and one can certainly draw comparisons between it and other arena-type maps like Warlock and Foundation, but it still maintains enough uniqueness to make it a worthy addition to Halo 2’s map lineup. The ramps lining the sides of the map will make for some very intense and claustrophobic combat, and the two (yes, two) overshield spawns become a focal point in battle. The replacement of the teleporters with gravity lifts takes a little getting used to if you are used to Derelict’s layout, but overall, I think they are an improvement, as it makes it more difficult to escape from a combat situation. As with Tombstone, there is an element of verticality to the map, and you find yourself constantly looking around to see if that red blurb on your motion tracker is on the first or second floor. Interestingly, the map feels a lot larger than Derelict, so much so that I had to ask if the dimensions were changed (as far as I know, they’re not). Still, the larger feel is a-ok in my book.  

Desolation. It's like Derelict, only good.

Despite the maps having a completely overhauled visual design, Tombstone and Desolation feel very similar to their Halo counterparts; much more so than the other Halo remakes in Halo 2. As soon as I started wandering through the narrow hallways underneath red base on Tombstone I was instantly reminded of games that I had played years ago on Hang ‘em High (though for some reason those hallways also now remind me of Marathon). Similarly, the games I played on Desolation felt very reminiscent of Halo 1 multiplayer matches, especially a certain 2v2 game that I may elaborate on in my next Random Gaming Update (whenever that is). Although a number of H2 maps are remakes from Halo, whenever I play on Elongation, Warlock, or any of those other remakes it doesn’t really remind me of Halo 1 at all. For whatever reason, these two latest maps are different. They definitely have the Halo feel, and whether that is good or bad I’ll leave to your discretion.

Many people have questioned the point in purchasing these maps, citing that the Halo 3 beta will be out in only a month. That may be true, but remember that the beta ends on June 6, and after that you’re back on Halo 2 or whatever other games you play. If you have drifted away from Halo 2 at some point over the last two years (as most of my friends have), then these maps are the perfect reason to get back into the game. In this gamer’s opinion, the content is well worth the four bucks and will give Halo 2 the final endurance it needs to keep us entertained until we finish the fight this Fall.