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[voltron]

Can someone tell me if the most recent podcast was mostly about Reach, or did they do the usual (incredibly boring to me) heavy discussion about Halo 3 matchmaking/multiplayer?

 

[The Librarian]

Halo: Reach opening cinematic > Halo 3 E3 2006 trailer.

I dunno. Halo 3's trailer was all kinds of epic, especially at the end when the music picks up and the Banshees fly over head.

 

[voltron]

I dunno. Halo 3's trailer was all kinds of epic, especially at the end when the music picks up and the Banshees fly over head.

Yeah I got chills.

 

[big ander]

Can someone tell me if the most recent podcast was mostly about Reach, or did they do the usual (incredibly boring to me) heavy discussion about Halo 3 matchmaking/multiplayer?

It's actually more of a discussion of their year overall. They talk about sports, games, and movies they enjoyed in 09.
Other than that, from what I remember they just talk about how the Reach beta is coming up, how they hope everyone enjoyed the trailer, how they're working very hard to make Reach awesome, and how there is a separate team at Bungie working on something non-Halo. It's definitely worth a listen.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

I was reading this on TvTropes:

The Halo series has things get worse, then humanity makes an even more unlikely stand, but causes further worsening. First game, most of the planets of Earth's formerly vast empire have been obliterated and their military is shattered, the Covenant have crushed the only project showing any military success against them with a few hundred survivors, who through sheer heroic potency manage to wipe out the entire Covenant armada and destroy a galaxy-threatening superplague. Except they won so hard that the Covenant panicked and found Earth (now one for the few planets left) by accident and released the same superplague. Now even fewer humans manage to be in exactly the right place to destroy a good chunk of the Covenant, split its forces and ally with the best fighters, and stop them wiping out all sentient life. Except in doing so, they handed the superplague, now with added Hivemind, access to interstellar travel, meaning in a few thousand years they'll have to erase all sentient life to stop it, and pushed the Covenant into launching an invasion of Earth that kills over 99% of our surviving population (Less than a million on Earth left) and obliterates our military. But then even fewer humans than before manage to wipe out the entire Covenant militarily, kill the superplague's Hivemind, and win the war. Oh, and then it becomes an It Got Worse for the Covenant.

Is this true? There's less than a million people alive on Earth at the start of Halo 3, everyone else killed by Covies? If I had remembered that from Halo 3 I don't think ODST's invasion would have had nearly the disconnect it felt like it did.

 

[big ander]

I was reading this on TvTropes:



Is this true? There's less than a million people alive on Earth at the start of Halo 3, everyone else killed by Covies? If I had remembered that from Halo 3 I don't think ODST's invasion would have had nearly the disconnect it felt like it did.

In wondering this too. Much of that sounds like gross exaggeration.

 

[Pudding Tame]

Yeah, remember that scene where all those nukes are going off on Earth during the Halo 2 announcement trailer. That actually happened. According to the Bestiarum in the special editions of Halo 3 there are around 200 million humans left at the end of the war.

 

[Kibbles]

Yeah, remember that scene where all those nukes are going off on Earth during the Halo 2 announcement trailer. That actually happened. According to the Bestiarum in the special editions of Halo 3 there are around 200 million humans left at the end of the war.

I never got the feeling that anything other than Mombasa was attacked. No radio chatter about it or anything.

 

[Pudding Tame]

Yeah, I consider that a knock against Bungie's storytelling.

 

[Gui_PT]

If they aren't at the level of a technical demo for an old engine, I'll be severely disappointed.
My interpretation of the VGA reveal was that bungie was saying "this is what we want our fans to set as their expectations." If the entire game looks as good as that trailer, I'll be pleased.

Wasn't that a problem with Halo 2 and 3?
They make these trailers and say "This is what our game is going to look like". And then the comparison to the final result is rather disappointing

 

[ToyMachine228]

Finished the first two stories Evolutions. Both good so far, but very different from the other types of Halo stories that exist. In some good ways, and some bad. Frankie's short is up next...OH MAN! Reading the second short made me actually WANT to see Brutes in Reach, but completely re-done. They should have actual modeled fur, not a two-dimensional shit brown coat. They could probably also benefit from being a little taller, not animating like monkies, and having more abilities at their disposal.

 

[∀ Narayan]

You think the anger over English speaking Covenant was bad? Imagine how bad the uber-geek reaction against Bungie would be because they didn't come up with three separate working alien languages.

Honestly, given how long some of the Arbiter-centric cut scenes were in Halo 2, I find hard to believe people would actually want to sit through this for any reasonable amount of time.

ARBITER: Wort-wort wort wort wort wort-wort wort wort-wort-wort-wort?

TARTARUS: Rawr rawr growl rawr growl.

ARBITER: Wort-wort.

TRUTTH: OhhhhhhohhhhhhohhhhAhhhhhhhAhhhhhhAhhhhhhahhhhhh.

ARBITER: WOOOOORT!!!!!!!!!!!!

And remeber how much plot/objective in-gameplay dialog there is too. All Covenant, all the time, would not have worked.

My opinion on this is that Bungie should have kept the focus of Halo 2 on Master Chief.

 

[ToyMachine228]

My opinion on this is that Bungie should have kept the focus of Halo 2 on Master Chief.

This has always been a strange opinion for me. I undoubtedly do enjoy the looks into the Covenant when well done. Many of the novels give some great insight into the Covenant. In Halo 2 and 3 however, I felt that the insight did little other than make the Covenant less intimidating. In Combat Evolved, the Covenant seemed like an unstoppable alien race all devoted to the Great Journey. It was like they were an unstoppable force...Here to destroy humanity. Then, as the story goes on, we see all their flaws, discontent among the races, and all of the sudden, the Covenant aren't very intimidating anymore. They are dumb. They're religious psychos, following a prophecy that their leaders know to be false, they saw dumb sounding things like "I think I found my dinnah!" and "That was my best friend" in battle. To me, the direction the Covenant went after Combat Evolved made them completely less intimidating enemies in both a conceptual capacity, and in the actual gameplay as well. But like I stated in the beginning, when done right, certain insights into the Covenant hierarchy are cool. Personally, I'm excited about this Forerunner trilogy that's coming up.

 

[∀ Narayan]

This has always been a strange opinion for me. I undoubtedly do enjoy the looks into the Covenant when well done. Many of the novels give some great insight into the Covenant. In Halo 2 and 3 however, I felt that the insight did little other than make the Covenant less intimidating. In Combat Evolved, the Covenant seemed like an unstoppable alien race all devoted to the Great Journey. It was like they were an unstoppable force...Here to destroy humanity. Then, as the story goes on, we see all their flaws, discontent among the races, and all of the sudden, the Covenant aren't very intimidating anymore. They are dumb. They're religious psychos, following a prophecy that their leaders know to be false, they saw dumb sounding things like "I think I found my dinnah!" and "That was my best friend" in battle. To me, the direction the Covenant went after Combat Evolved made them completely less intimidating enemies in both a conceptual capacity, and in the actual gameplay as well. But like I stated in the beginning, when done right, certain insights into the Covenant hierarchy are cool. Personally, I'm excited about this Forerunner trilogy that's coming up.

Please explain.

 

[big ander]

Please explain.

There's a trilogy of Forerunner books coming. I thought I remembered reading that the first one comes in 2010.

 

[ToyMachine228]

Please explain.

Yeah, sorry. There's a Forerunner trilogy of novels coming out as mentioned by Frankie in the intro to Halo: Evolutions.

 

[∀ Narayan]

Yeah, sorry. There's a Forerunner trilogy of novels coming out as mentioned by Frankie in the intro to Halo: Evolutions.

Ah. That sounds interesting! Any word on who will be writing this trilogy?

 

[The Librarian]

Ah. That sounds interesting! Any word on who will be writing this trilogy?

Greg Bear.

 

[Walshicus]

Greg Bear.

Bears can't write...

 

[Captain Blood]

Bears can't write...

Don't underestimate bears my friend.

 

[Pudding Tame]

My opinion on this is that Bungie should have kept the focus of Halo 2 on Master Chief.

I liked the look into the Covenant that we got to see in Halo 2, however I somewhat agree with you. As much as I like the Arbiter, he Raiden'd the game.

The best way IMO to have handled him and the Covenant storyline in Halo 2 would have been to split the campaigns and have the Arbiter's unlock after you play as the Chief. But realistically given the difficulties of Halo 2's development two decent length campaigns would not have been possible.

 

[EazyB]

Don't underestimate bears my friend.

Speaks volumes about the cognitive requirements of hockey.

I liked the look into the Covenant that we got to see in Halo 2, however I somewhat agree with you. As much as I like the Arbiter, he Raiden'd the game.

Besides the Arbiter's incredibly limited ability to cloak every so often he played exactly the same as the chief. To the untrained eye his gameplay segments were no different then the chief's. Many of the levels he happened to partake in were shit but that was no fault of the character. If anything, I'd rather have had him play more differently from the chief than otherwise.

 

[Domino Theory]

I hope Bungie will do the "mystery sound" thing they did for Halo 3 back in '06 during their first ever podcast.

I'm really excited, yet anxious to hear how the weapons will sound, new and old.

 

[Plywood]

I hope Bungie will do the "mystery sound" thing they did for Halo 3 back in '06 during their first ever podcast.

I'm really excited, yet anxious to hear how the weapons will sound, new and old.

Why? So we can have twenty pages of people posting annoying ass douchey smiley?!

 

[Metroidvania]

Besides the Arbiter's incredibly limited ability to cloak every so often he played exactly the same as the chief. To the untrained eye his gameplay segments were no different then the chief's. Many of the levels he happened to partake in were shit but that was no fault of the character. If anything, I'd rather have had him play more differently from the chief than otherwise.

Exactly.

To me, the levels were designed differently enough to make you use the cloak, but its limited nature (unlike any and every other elite out there) gimped, for lack of a better term, the levels.

The people expected to play as the Chief, and playing as a "same as Chief except for one ability" Arbiter didn't help to really distinguish his segments as unique. Yes, having elites and grunts and hunters on your side was cool, but beyond that, it was identical.

 

[Kibbles]

Saw this over at H.B.O, it's the Director's Cut to the Halo 3 "Believe" Ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuXXIN65gNY

 

[OverHeat]

Saw this over at H.B.O, it's the Director's Cut to the Halo 3 "Believe" Ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuXXIN65gNY

Shit this is AWESOME

 

[rvy]

My opinion on this is that Bungie should have kept the focus of Halo 2 on Master Chief.

I think they over-reached. I get what they were trying to do, but, as much as I like the Arbiter, playing as Master Chief is much more rewarding.

I'll admit that having the Mgalekgolo and Sangheili help you out in the last levels was pretty awesome though.

 

[RSTEIN]

Shit this is AWESOME

That's a cool advert but not even close to the Halo 3 I played. I hope Reach has that atmosphere and captures the feeling of being a part of an epic war (from the Reach trailer I am optimistic).

 

[enzo_gt]

That's a cool advert but not even close to the Halo 3 I played. I hope Reach has that atmosphere and captures the feeling of being a part of an epic war (from the Reach trailer I am optimistic).

+1. Same with the Starry Night ad. Loved it to death but, the actual game is not as epic and didn't even had a similar sequence.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Finally getting around to listening to the podcast.
Great and hilarious as always.

"Bungie in the front, Marty in the back." :lol

 

[Striker]

Saw this over at H.B.O, it's the Director's Cut to the Halo 3 "Believe" Ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuXXIN65gNY

That is awesome.

It's unfortunate Bungie couldn't capture that same feeling for Halo 3's single player. In that advert, Brute Spikers appeared as a dangerous weapon. Brutes were terrifying. Banshees soared causing chaos. Basically the opposite of Halo 3's SP (Chieftans are fantastic, but no others; bring us back our Gold Elites!).

 

[Revelations]

Is this true? There's less than a million people alive on Earth at the start of Halo 3, everyone else killed by Covies? If I had remembered that from Halo 3 I don't think ODST's invasion would have had nearly the disconnect it felt like it did.

Not true. All of truth's covenant forces were concentrated in africa.

 

[Pudding Tame]

Not true. All of truth's covenant forces were concentrated in africa.

Sorry, you're not exactly right. The Covenant hit hard outside of Africa as well.

They attacked Mars where they captured Col. Ackerson.

Ackerson lied to the Covenant about a Forerunner artifact necessary to open the Ark to prevent Cleavland, where he had family, from getting glassed.

Blue team, fought the Covenant in Antarctica, Cuba, and in the ocean off the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Halo 2 announcement trailer showed North America's west coast getting blown to hell.

And Bungie's own Halo 3 bonus materiel says there are less than a quarter-billion humans left in the galaxy.

Heck, the area around the Ark was probably one of the safest places to be during the Covenant invasion.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Saw this over at H.B.O, it's the Director's Cut to the Halo 3 "Believe" Ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuXXIN65gNY

Two years later, I still hate that ad, even spiced up. Just awful.

 

[Pudding Tame]

Two years later, I still hate that ad, even spiced up. Just awful.

Why? Is it because you think it's a horrible ad, or is it because it's the first of the Halo ads that wasn't representative of what could be expected in the games?

 

[Revelations]

Sorry, you're not exactly right. The Covenant hit hard outside of Africa as well.

They attacked Mars where they captured Col. Ackerson.

Ackerson lied to the Covenant about a Forerunner artifact necessary to open the Ark to prevent Cleavland, where he had family, from getting glassed.

Blue team, fought the Covenant in Antarctica, Cuba, and in the ocean off the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Halo 2 announcement trailer showed North America's west coast getting blown to hell.

And Bungie's own Halo 3 bonus materiel says there are less than a quarter-billion humans left in the galaxy.

Heck, the area around the Ark was probably one of the safest places to be during the Covenant invasion.

I remember someone in Halo 3 and ODST saying, "covenant forces are concentrated in Africa" they landed nowhere else but Africa. I think it was Miranda Keyes that said that. or the Lady in ODST said it near the end.

(Aside from the exploits of the Graphic Novel)

 

[Pudding Tame]

I remember someone in Halo 3 and ODST saying, "covenant forces are concentrated in Africa" they landed nowhere else but Africa. I think it was Miranda Keyes that said that. or the Lady in ODST said it near the end.

(Aside from the exploits of the Graphic Novel)

ODST takes place in one day, from the time In Amber Clad left to chase Regret to the Chief's return, more than two weeks (to possibly more than a month) have passed.

What they wanted and needed was in Africa, but as was shown in First Strike, the Covenant don't have a problem glassing the parts of the planet they don't need.

 

[ToyMachine228]

Finished Frankie's story in Evolutions last night, and I have to say...Of the first three, it's definitely my favorite. Well written, well paced, and just a great little story. Thumbs up Frankie.

 

[VaLiancY]

Finished Frankie's story in Evolutions last night, and I have to say...Of the first three, it's definitely my favorite. Well written, well paced, and just a great little story. Thumbs up Frankie.

I just started to read it last night, I'm pretty early in the book and I'm really liking the second story about the Brutes. They're pretty savage.:lol

 

[luiztfc]

I didn't know there was a Halo Evoluions book! I'm going to order it right now, but I'm wondering if I should buy the paperback or the hardcover. I enjoy hardcover books, but all the others (halo books) are paperback.

 

[The Librarian]

For those of you going through Evolutions right now, my two favorites were "The Mona Lisa" and "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole."

 

[Chorazin]

I didn't know there was a Halo Evoluions book! I'm going to order it right now, but I'm wondering if I should buy the paperback or the hardcover. I enjoy hardcover books, but all the others (halo books) are paperback.

So is this one. I've never seen a hard cover edition. It's trade paperback size, so almost hardcover. All the Halo books are also out on Kindle, too!

Before I got my actual Kindle, I read Evolutions (my first Halo book) on my iPhone using the Kindle app. Didn't have a single problem reading it.

For those of you going through Evolutions right now, my two favorites were "The Mona Lisa" and "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole."

Those two were amazing, Cole's being the favorite of the whole book. I also really liked the one about the two man Spartan team on the Covenant planet, their banter back and forth was really cool.

 

[luiztfc]

So is this one. I've never seen a hard cover edition. It's trade paperback size, so almost hardcover. All the Halo books are also out on Kindle, too!

Before I got my actual Kindle, I read Evolutions (my first Halo book) on my iPhone using the Kindle app. Didn't have a single problem reading it.

Thanks for the reply, but I've just bought the Hardcover edition out of curiosity (along with the hardcover first book of Song of Ice and Fire, hope it's good).

As for the digital edition, I own a Sony PRS-600 which means I can't buy kindle copies (and for the love of God, I don't want to venture on the 'stripping drm lands).

 

[Pudding Tame]

For those of you going through Evolutions right now, my two favorites were "The Mona Lisa" and "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole."

Same here, with Dirt as my #3.

 

[Major Williams]

Sorry, you're not exactly right. The Covenant hit hard outside of Africa as well.

They attacked Mars where they captured Col. Ackerson.

Ackerson lied to the Covenant about a Forerunner artifact necessary to open the Ark to prevent Cleavland, where he had family, from getting glassed.

Blue team, fought the Covenant in Antarctica, Cuba, and in the ocean off the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Halo 2 announcement trailer showed North America's west coast getting blown to hell.

And Bungie's own Halo 3 bonus materiel says there are less than a quarter-billion humans left in the galaxy.

Heck, the area around the Ark was probably one of the safest places to be during the Covenant invasion.

I like this guy - you new to the HaloGAF crowd? I haven't seen you around.

I REALLY enjoy this dialog about the story elements that Bungie has tried to accomplish and convey.

With the Forerunner novels and Origins set for release with Legends, its obvious that most of the mystery surrounding the Forerunners will go away, but I hope that they maintain the 'awe'someness and prowess that has preceded all of their relevant material thus far in the stories presented. Speaking of which, anyone else see the possible Forerunner hand in the trailer?

 

[feel]

Saw this over at H.B.O, it's the Director's Cut to the Halo 3 "Believe" Ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuXXIN65gNY

This was sweet.

edit- HA! just noticed juices trolling in the comments section :lol

 

[Pudding Tame]

I like this guy - you new to the HaloGAF crowd? I haven't seen you around.

Not really, I've been here since the boards were a part of Gaming-Age. I usually don't like to post unless I have something to add, and my schedule pretty much prevents me from taking part in the Halo-GAF gaming nights. Though I'd love to play with you guys eventually.

Those locked Endure, Deja Vu, and Firefight achievements are just sitting there. Mocking me.

 

[Tokubetsu]

I like this guy - you new to the HaloGAF crowd? I haven't seen you around.

I REALLY enjoy this dialog about the story elements that Bungie has tried to accomplish and convey.

With the Forerunner novels and Origins set for release with Legends, its obvious that most of the mystery surrounding the Forerunners will go away, but I hope that they maintain the 'awe'someness and prowess that has preceded all of their relevant material thus far in the stories presented. Speaking of which, anyone else see the possible Forerunner hand in the trailer?

Wait, what trailer is this from?

 

[Pudding Tame]

Wait, what trailer is this from?

The new Legends trailer for Origins from Studio4c, up on Waypoint now.