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Halo |OT9| One Final Effort Is All That Remains

K

Karl2177

Member
Steelyuhas said:
Fixed that for you.
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Ehhh, yes and no. I would mix a bit of Reach/3 elements into it. Having not played 4, I can't quite say it, but there isn't a perfect sandbox in a Halo game yet. I would argue that Halo 2/3 have some of the best sandboxes, but to me there's still something lacking in that field.
 
N

NobleGundam

Banned
lilty said:
Halo book question: I've only read The Fall of Reach and I really enjoyed it. What other novels would you guys recommend? Are there any must reads in the series?
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After finishing Fall of Reach I skipped "The Flood" than chosed "First Strike" and "Ghosts of Onyx" are a really good read imo. Have to finish "The Cole Protocol" before suggestion but its a pretty interesting read.
Edit: Member? Cool, but quite early than I had expected it to be on the 5th.
 
T

thezerofire

Banned
thinking about trying out the remix contest. Don't know how well I'll do or even how successful I'll be in making anything but I'm going to give it a shot
 
G

GrimBrother One

Member
Novel wise, I believe the closest fictionally-chronological order would be:

Halo: Cryptum
Halo: Primordium
Halo: Silentium
Halo: Contact Harvest
Halsey's Journal (I count it)
Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Cole Protocol
Halo: The Flood
Halo: First Strike
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
Halo: Glasslands
Halo: The Thursday War
Halo: Evolutions (Anthology that spans a very wide time in the universe)

Then there are the graphic novels:

The Halo Graphic Novel (again, more of an anthology)
Halo Wars: Genesis
Halo: Helljumper
Halo: Fall of Reach - Bootcamp
Halo: Fall of Reach - Covenant
Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion
Halo: Bloodline
Halo: Uprising

Again, that's to the best of my knowledge the closest fictionally-chronological order.
 
T

ThatsMytrunks

Member
I read all the cliffnotes for both of the Forerunner books last night (and a ton of the stubs on Halopedia), and holy hell what a cool story. It went in a much different direction than I expected, and it really does give you an idea of what might happen in Halo 4.

I'm pumped.
 
O

Oozer3993

Member
senador said:
How do Glasslands and Thursday War compare to The Forerunner Saga books? Many of you are making the former out to not be worth it? I'm not looking for big reveals, but is the story entertaining and interesting?
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I could only take about 15 pages of Cryptum before tossing it aside and swearing off any subsequent entries in the Forerunner Saga. Way too dry and way too fantasy-ish for my tastes. I liked, but didn't love, Glasslands, and I am loving Thursday War so far (about 320 pages in).

DeadNames said:
Is TTW worth it? I see constant bitching about it here, and was wondering if it's really that bad.
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I'm loving it. It's got a little bit of everything. Some illumination on the Sangheili, a touch of Forerunner revelation, and a savory amount of UNSC/ONI military/spook action.
 
U

User 73706

Banned
Sai-kun said:
This is such a tease :<

MoLcR.png


I want a turntable like that! But the prizes don't list anything of the kind :(
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They forgot to mention it's an avatar prop. Or your Spartan uses it in the Infinity which is a simulation anyway. shyamalantwist.jpg
 
Y

YourExWife

Member
So totally off-topic, but it's 12-5 in the bottom of the 8th, A's leading the Rangers. We're taking the division!

oh...um...Haylo fore!
 
G

GrimBrother One

Member
YourExWife said:
So totally off-topic, but it's 12-5 in the bottom of the 8th, A's leading the Rangers. We're taking the division!

oh...um...Haylo fore!
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Lol. Congrats, man. Despite the best pitching staff in baseball and ending the season on a crazy tear, my Rays just missed out. No excuse really.

Oh well, at least Boston sucks, which should make any good and wholesome human being feel better about their day. ;-)

Good luck in the postseason.

Go Bucs, Bama, and Master Chief.
 
T

The Librarian

Banned
lilty said:
Halo book question: I've only read The Fall of Reach and I really enjoyed it. What other novels would you guys recommend? Are there any must reads in the series?
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I'll go over the books you haven't read.

I love:
1. First Strike &#8211; A bunch of great characters on an epic adventure. The chemistry between Admiral Whitcomb, Polanski, Johnson, Chief, Cortana, Fred, Kelly, Linda, Will, Haverson, and Locklear is great, and the book only lets up on the action when it's trying to set up for something more spectacular. I like it more than The Fall of Reach.
2. Ghosts of Onyx &#8211; A continuation of First Strike. If you don't count Dietz's The Flood, I'd call it the last "original" book because it was the last one written by Nylund. Great at keeping up that Halo mystery we all know and love, and solidly paced with a spectacular final space and ground battle. Great read.
3. Contact Harvest &#8211; I love it primarily for Truth's and Tartarus' rise to power, and the chemistry between Lighter than Some and Dadab (Sif and Mack too), and Sgt. Johnson, and the revelations into the Covenant's reasoning for starting the war with humanity. Warning: Bad sex scene at the end.
4. Evolutions &#8211; A collections of short stories, some good and some bad, but the good ones are fantastic and make the whole book worthwhile. "The Impossible life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole" and "The Mona Lisa" &#8211; read these ASAP.

Books that have good things and bad things about them:
1. Cryptum &#8211; Ghaleon is better at describing the problems of the book than I am.
2. Primordium &#8211; Similar problems to Cryptum, and it has about one hundred of nothing happening.

Okay:
1. Glasslands. I'll have to re-read it to formulate my thoughts on this more, but I came away thinking it was okay. I though it beat the reader over the head too much about the bad things Halsey did, and some of it was done in a laughable way: "You're as bad as Stalin" or some such...yeah, no.

Books I've only read once:
1. The Cole Protocol &#8211; I guess that means I didn't like it all that much, but I certainly don't hate it. Aside from Glasslands which I should re-read, it remains the only Halo book to date that I haven't read more than once. I remember enjoying the story threads with Truth, Miranda and Keyes. The rubble bits weren't that interesting from what I remember. I need to read it again.
 
P

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
Sif and Mack suck, Johnson was boring and brooding.

Covenant side was the only redeeming factor to Harvest.
 
T

The P of Poland

Member
People are getting the chronological order of the novels wrong, it's:
Contact Harvest
Cole Protocol (takes place in 2531)
Fall of Reach
The Flood
First Strike
Ghosts of Onyx
Glasslands
The Thursday War

All of these should definitely be read, but go into the last two forewarned that Karen Travissty is completely ignorant on the matter of Halo canon.
I also disagree with Dax that Cole Protocol isn't particularly engaging; it along with Ghosts of Onyx and First Strike are my favorite novels. I particularly liked the reveal of the Arbiter's true name.
Also, Mona Lisa is terrible.
 
C

CyReN

Member
May be bullshit, but this was posted on reddit

Played a solid 30-45 minute's worth of the multiplayer on 2 maps and 2 different game modes, Regicide and Infinity Slayer. The gun sounds are wonderful, the gameplay feels like a "cleaned up" version of Reach, and the new weapons are fantastic. The SAW ended up being my favorite of the weapon drops, while the light rifle and sticky detonator were fun too.

Regicide is a blast for sure, with the "King" stacking up a bounty based on how many kills he gets, then whenever he gets killed that bounty goes to whoever killed him. It's probably gonna end up being my new favorite game mode come November 6th...

Oh, and i made sure to ask one of the Microsoft reps that was at the event, he said that nameplates were definitely gonna make a return, so that answered my question from a few days ago, heh. All in all, what little i played only made it MUCH MORE difficult to wait for Nov. 6th!
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H

Hypertrooper

Member
Dax01 said:
Okay:
1. Glasslands. I'll have to re-read it to formulate my thoughts on this more, but I came away thinking it was okay. I though it beat the reader over the head too much about the bad things Halsey did, and some of it was done in a laughable way: "You're as bad as Stalin" or some such...yeah, no.
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I never understood this point. It was a soldier who said that. It was a hyperbole. Why do people overreact over it?
 
G

Gray Man

Banned
When I read Cryptum the second time I read it very slowly for some reason, I seemed to enjoy the book more when I did this, luckily the frustrating narrative doesn't seem so bad with the amazing world being built up, Like Ghaleon said.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
Enfinit said:
Having never read any of the Halo novels, I recently began to dive into them. I was recommended to start chronologically, and I'm interested in reading all of them, however bad. I'm currently halfway through Contact Harvest, and I'm really enjoying it. Staten's a fantastic writer.

Also, what's after Contact Harvest? Actually, what's the order chronologically (minus the Forerunner Saga, of which I'll save until the last three books) of all the novels? I read them written down, but I've long forgotten. Really looking forward to reading them all!
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Contact Harvest* - Cole Protocol* - Fall of Reach* - The Flood - First Strike - GoO - Glasslands - Thursday War

*Fall of Reach takes place concurrently with the other books, but it covers everything up to Halo. Contact Harvest sets up the war well enough and Cole Protocol is pretty self-contained, so I recommend reading them first.)
 
T

The Librarian

Banned
The P of Poland said:
Also, Mona Lisa is terrible.
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Wahat.
Hypertrooper said:
I never understood this point. It was a soldier who said that. It was a hyperbole. Why do people overreact over it?
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If you're trying to push a point in your book – in this case, that Halsey is an evil, evil woman – if you're making your case well, you shouldn't have to exaggerate or use hyperbole. It was very forced, and entirely inappropriate.
 
W

wwm0nkey

Member
Kind of random but is there a reason why the aim reticule is still not in the middle? I have no problem with it but I am just curious as to why this hasn't been changed.
 
T

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
I checked out Halo Legends Origins and almost every Halo 3 cutscene just now and I think I'm now ready for Halo 4 as far as the story is concerned. Pretty cool stuff.
 
B

blamite

Member
The P of Poland said:
Also, Mona Lisa is terrible.
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Dax01 said:
Wahat.
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I wouldn't say terrible, but it is waaaaaay longer than it needed to be. The Flood reveal is drgged out for far too long, which may make sense from the perspective of the characters, but I found it incredibly obvious what was going on and having it last as long as it did just kind of came off as annoying. The fact that it felt three times as long as some of the Evolutions stories I enjoyed more didn't help it's case either.

Also, unrelated, Halo 4 Mountainn Dew is out there. No Game Fuel yet, just regular Dew with XP codes, but I guess you could start stocking up on codes if you want?
 
T

The Librarian

Banned
blamite said:
I wouldn't say terrible, but it is waaaaaay longer than it needed to be. The Flood reveal is drgged out for far too long, which may make sense from the perspective of the characters, but I found it incredibly obvious what was going on and having it last as long as it did just kind of came off as annoying. The fact that it felt three times as long as some of the Evolutions stories I enjoyed more didn't help it's case either.
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I saw all that as excellent tension-building. I don't think the story was trying to hide the fact that the Flood was lurking in the dark.
 
T

The P of Poland

Member
blamite said:
I wouldn't say terrible, but it is waaaaaay longer than it needed to be. The Flood reveal is drgged out for far too long, which may make sense from the perspective of the characters, but I found it incredibly obvious what was going on and having it last as long as it did just kind of came off as annoying. The fact that it felt three times as long as some of the Evolutions stories I enjoyed more didn't help it's case either.
Click to expand...

It was three times as long. It takes up around 200 pages. It dominates Evolutions, and it's really not that good.
 
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