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Here's something we haven't seen for a while, fresh, juicy, and satisfying Halo 3 news and screenshots ... oh joy! The guys at IGN secretly made their way over to Bungie Studios to learn more, see more, and get a feel for what we'll be playing in September. Among the things they got to experience were the three recently announced multiplayer maps Epitaph, Last Resort and Shrine, which was shown in video form. Epitaph sounds claustrophobic, intense, and should allow for great close quarters combat with a dash of vertigo. Last Resort is Zanzibar on crack (the good kind of crack) coming back bigger, more wide open, and wearing a prettier dress. We love you Zanz ... erm, Last Resort! And then there is Shrine which is being called the desert map that is big, really big. It involves a lot of vehicle combat and should make for some intense Brute Chopper battles. Overall, those maps sound and look Splenda sweet.
Also, IGN got to see a glimpse of the new armor permutations that will supposedly be unlocked during campaign for use in multiplayer. Though, details are still very vague. Most intriguing is that the saved film option will allow for sharing more than films. Not only will you be able to save and upload video, but Bungie will allow players to upload and share custom settings or gametypes so others can download and try out your latest custom gametype. If taking screenshots is more your thing, Bungie has you covered by allowing you to take shots and upload them to Bungie.net for all to view.
Need more Halo 3 goodness? Well, IGN posted a bunch of new Halo 3 renders, screenshots, and aerial views of the new maps. We recommend the graphical comparison of Zanzibar and Last Resort, this shot, this, this and this. Yeah, it's like we died and went to Halo 3 media heaven! Give everything a look over and tell us what you think.
In the most really Bungie Weekly update, Frankie started off to talk about a vehicle based gametype in Halo 3. Apparently it had everyone suited up with Rockets, a bunch of vehicles, and the "greatest Halo experience ever experienced." Frankie went on to say that Halo 1 fans would really have a bunch of fun with it. To us, this means one of two things: They're either bringing back Rally and Racing gametypes, or they're making an official version of "Warthog Jousting". Rockets, infinite Ammo, Indestructible vehicles, and increased health would definitely do the trick, based on the options seen in the Beta's custom matches. The update also touches on them knuckling down for the retail build, and polishing and tweaking the game. A good read, and that gametype sounds like it could make Randy Glass proud.
So, how do you take a tabletop game and turn it into something that the average Halofan will enjoy? Bungie.net has an article up explaining just that. Lukems took some time to sit down with Mike Elliott, senior game designer for Wizkids, to discuss the upcoming Halo ActionClix. Easily the most interesting aspect of this new Clix series is that Wizkids didn't just take the old rules and apply them to Halo branded miniatures. Instead, Wizkids took some of Halo's core gameplay elements and melded them with the Clix game. First and foremost, Halo ActionClix has players set up respawn points and games are played to a certain number of kills. When a character is killed, it respawns, unlike other Clix games in which that character is simply removed from play. You can also choose to switch that character with another of the same point value. You know what, you'd better just read the article if you're interested. If we keep talking about this, you'll discover what nerds we really all.
(Psst! Does anyone want to trade a Master Chief for my Arbiter? Hello? Anybody?)
Our beloved Halo 3 ARG Iris is in a lull right now as no new info has been released, no new puzzles have surfaced, and no new contacts have been made for days. It's what ARG members refer to as an in-game lull. No, it doesn't mean Iris has been mysteriously canceled or that it sucks, because this is quite the normal occurrence in most ARGs. You see, these games go in cycles, sometimes there's a huge amount of info and work to be done while other times there's really nothing happening ... right now we're experiencing the latter. If you remember, Halo 2's ilovebees extravaganza started off rather slow with only an update once every week or so until things really got juicy and payphones started ringing. So, we just wanted to tell you that Iris is not dead, we just have to be patient, and hopefully more fun will be had when new servers are unlocked. But we agree with you, waiting stinks.
Somehow, someone is selling a Halo 3 Legendary Edition Spartan helmet on eBay months before the game releases. Seller kira_sendo supposedly purchased the helmet from a Microsoft employee who received the helmet via his connections within' the company. And we believe the story, because the listing looks legit enough. But look at that pricetag! Currently, the bidding is up to $166 which doesn't include the game, just the plastic Spartan helmet. We've heard plenty of grumblings about the Legendary Edition's pricetag before, but this takes the whole expensive helmet argument to a new level. No thanks, we'll pass on this and wait until September.
Over the weekend, David at MyArcadePlanet tossed around the idea that the Halo 3 beta actually hurt the game and killed off much of its hype. He feels that the beta was both a fun and entertaining experience, but his hands on time with the game released much of the built up Halo 3 excitement within' him. His personal stash of Halo 3 hype is gone.
And we can agree with David to some extent, because Bungie is treating the Halo 3 release differently than its we're tight lipped, no one can touch our game, Halo 2 launch. So, we're sure some fans' hypometer may be running lower since they got hands on time and know what to expect, even if it was only a little taste of what's to come. But on the other side of the coin is that the beta has actually increased the hype in other fans' eyes, because they loved their time playing the beta and want to see, learn, and play more. But we can all agree that the Halo 3 beta has had some effect on those who played it, good or bad.
But what about you. Did playing the beta increase or decrease your excitement (and overall hype) for Halo 3?
Everyone knows that the Halo 3 Zune comes jam packed with exclusive Halo content and for those of us who don't own one all we want to do is take a look at the cool media. Heck, seeing the Zune exclusive Red vs Blue episode on YouTube made our day. So, we couldn't help but share with our fellow fanboys all the exclusive Halo artwork that's included on the Zune. Yup, deadlycyclone48 ripped all the backgrounds off his Halo 3 Zune and posted them on Flickr for everyone to enjoy. Go ahead, look through all the Halo artwork without needing to buy any music player. It kind of feels dirty, doesn't it?
Update 1: It looks like this linked set doesn't include all the Halo backgrounds included on the Zune. But don't worry, NitroFrost came to the rescue and posted the completely complete set. Go check 'em out.
Wizkids has unveiled the official Halo ActionClixwebsite, where you can learn all there is to know about the collectible miniatures game. Well, actually, you can't learn everything. Right now there is only a basic description of ActionClix in general and a blurb about the new Halo ActionClix. We assume that once the various units and vehicles are revealed, you'll be able to learn about them at the official site. In the meantime, there are forums for the obsessed Halo and tabletop gaming fans everywhere. There is one tasty bit of new info, though: it looks like you can get your hands on pre-release figures at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con and Gen Con Indy. These conventions roll out in July and August respectively, so if you've just got to get some HaloClix before September, you'd best start making travel plans.
Wednesday's Penny Arcade shows Tycho's heavyinterest in the current Halo 3 ARG, Iris. His news post goes into detail about how he was an avid follower of I Love Bees back in 2004, and this time 'round appears to be no different. That being said, Gabe's little gem of wisdom does ring true when you look at the grand scheme of things, though we're not complaining. What are you thinking of this ARG so far? Is it up to I Love Bees high standard of depth, interactivity, and attention to detail? Or is it perhaps too early to make that assessment?
The Halo 3 ARG, Iris, is finally starting to get interesting. Yes, we've moved beyond mock websites and the requisite countdown clocks. Now we actually have something concrete ... sort of. The IP address revealed at Halo3.com/comic (206.16.223.65) now displays one of the "servers" pictured on Halo3.com. Incidentally, Halo3.com shows that the server is unlocked as well, though clicking it produces no results. On the IP address, the floating "server" (or whatever it is) rotates. Clicking on it allows you to rotate it manually and click on certain hidden symbols, which prompt you to download certain documents (including the image above). Additionally, a symbol on the front of the object causes it to unfold and display a movie which contains cryptic messages spliced with strange footage (and a few snippets from previous Halo games).
Right now, we're not certain what it all means. Hopefully, Iris will develop into a more concrete experience in the coming weeks. Check out some of the various new documents after the break, including the video.
Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn and self-named McFarlane Toys, recently sat down with the boys at Bungie to discuss the creation of the new line of Halo toys. While we don't get any new pictures of the upcoming toys (we want a shot of the light-up Cortana ... now), we do get to hear Todd's impressions of Bungie, as well as the philosophy behind creating great toys. Thankfully, McFarlane notes that the most important aspect of toy creation is authenticity. With the Halo toys, the goal is to strike a balance between detail and cost. Obviously, they want the toys to appeal to die-hard Halo fans, but they don't want to price them outside the range of the mass market (which is one of the reasons the figures are relatively small). Finally, McFarlane says that the Halo universe presents McFarlane Toys with a chance to "do all of the things we're good at," namely aliens and badass superheroes. Hit the "read" link for the full interview.
The guys over at Achievement Junkie dug up news that professionally done Halo 3 weapon replicas will be available this September. The replicas are being cast by Master Replicas (who've previously created Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean merchandise) and will come in two delicious flavors; the Carbine and the Battle Rifle. Both replicas are preorderable over at Gamestop for $19.99 each, but no other details are available. Though, Achievement Junkie seems to have unearthed pictures of the replicas, but we can't be sure if they are prototypes and we certainly can't tell their scale. But if these bad boys are decently sized and the craftsmanship is there, we'll definitely put down $20 so our Master Chief helmet doesn't feel so alone.
Last night, while searching for some cheap Microsoft points on eBay, we stumbled across an Xbox 360 Elite that looked very familiar. Up for auction is a custom airbrushed Elite console featuring the same Halo 3 artwork as the one Bungie autographed for charity and sold for for $20,000+. And from what we can tell, the airbrushed artwork looks spot on. If you're interested, the Halo 3 inspired Elite auction ends in about one day and is currently sitting at around $620 Canadian. We think that we can all agree that airbrushing never looked so good.
Our once namelessHalo 3 ARG has flowered into a beautiful "Iris". Yup, that's the official name attached to our ARG per a Microsoft spokesperson who spoke with Eurogamer.
"'Iris' is a spiral campaign designed to take gamers on an incredible journey through the Halo Universe. Led by an 'unknown' hand, users will discover bits of previously unknown information about the Halos, the Flood, the Forerunners, and the true origins behind the Halo trilogy."
Sounds fun doesn't it? That description alone makes us want to play and learn more. So ... that's about it for ARG news. Wait, you want to know more? You want the dish on what has been happening with AdjuntantReflex and SOTA? Well, we're push-over bloggers and you sound sincere enough. Complete recap of what has happened in the Iris ARG (since our last update) is posted after the break. Enjoy.
Badass. We got the Halo 3 Achievements list from the workhorses over at Xbox 360 Achievements. Man, does it have some interesting morsels. First off, 9 missions in the campaign? Check. One Skull to be found per mission each mission? Retroactive Achievements for beating the game on Normal, Heroic and Legendary? Triple Check, though will co-op count? We hope so. Three Achievements based on the ranking system that aren't out of reach for players? Check. Fun kill based Achievements for ranked multiplayer worth 5 GS a piece? Check. Accessing Terminals in the campaign whilst referencing Bungie's first FPS franchise, and some score based "meta-game" in each mission of the campaign? Double Check. One of the best damn Achievement lists on an Xbox 360 FPS game?Checktacular.
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