Keep It Clean

Bungie just released the above teaser footage for their new game(?). The video is called Keep It Clean and is obviously related to Halo 3. The teaser doesn't show much, rather like most teasers, but it does show Flood, multiple drop pods (probably Flood-infested) and shots of a futuristic city.

I have two theories about what it could be.

1. This is in the future, after Halo 3, mankind has rebuilt, and the flood somehow come to our planet and this is the story of some gutsy marines keeping the parasite at bay without the aid of Spartan 117.

2. My second theory, and the one I hope is right, is that this story is going to take place on a Forerunner world and chronicles the attack of the Flood that caused chaos for them before they left. I would love to play as a character called Mendicant!

Anyways, sorry (to all three of my readers!) I have been absent for a bit. Work got pretty intense and is looking to remain so for at least another two weeks or so.

Monday to Wednesday are public holidays however, and I am planning to take as much advantage of them as possible, so maybe I will make a couple more posts during the next couple of days.

Halo 3 All-nighter

I just had my first Halo 3 all-nighter. It was quite an impromptu affair. Last Friday was my friend's birthday and we were all too tired (and BROKE!) to go to a bar or club so we decided to play a bit of Halo 3.

I had just finished the campaign on Heroic and was in the mood for some fragging. So, we got another one of my friend's involved and the birthday boy's cousin in order to have a full set of four. I also had an extra copy of Halo 3 (long story, don't ask) lying around, so I decided that we could try 4-player co-op first.

After messing about with the router for a while, we were able to set up a game and we started on Legendary. We were just beginning to get into a groove, me and my friend's cousin (from now on known as El Cij) made a very nice team, when suddenly the game seemed to freeze and we heard loud groans from the next room. My friend's power box had given up the ghost. Apparently, because his 360 is an NTSC one, the guys he bought it from had supplied him with a custom power box that automatically stepped down the voltage so that it would work here without the need for an external step down adapter. It would come back on in an hour or so, but he couldn't guarantee it would last any longer.

We then began discussing how this was actually his second power box. The one he had used previously had been blown by a power surge in their house (oh the perils of not having a stabiliser!).

We then decided to make some coffee, get a bottle of white wine and settle in to some Slayer. El Cij went to bed about 1am and left the three of us to play. We decided to use the opportunity to put in some practice on the levels and learn the new weapon dynamics before we have the halo gaming day where we will hopefully have up to 16 guys and 4 consoles. Most of the people we are inviting have played and owned Halo 3 since last year. We didn't want to go into that with absolutely no preparation at all!

It went pretty well actually. We came across this really cool combination of shotguns and graviton hammer. That made for some really enjoyable games. Maybe by the 1st of October we will be able to put up a fight.

Oh, did I say that the multiplayer is really, really good and better than Halo 2's? Well, it is. And the Spartan Laser is sexy.

Finishing the Fight

 

I finally got my mitts on Halo 3! Yes, yes, I know this is probably old news for most people with 360s, but it is still quite an achievement for me, and getting it was almost as interesting as playing the game itself.

Basically, I went to every department store and electronics shop on the Island in Lagos asking about it, and like I detailed in an earlier post, most people don't even seem to stock 360 games, let alone having Halo 3. I was about to give up and look to the internet and my hit or miss credit card to help me get it when I went to the NuMetro Media store in the Palms shopping mall. By this time, I had given up on getting Halo 3 in any of these stores and was just looking for a control pad (they didn't have any by the way) when one of their sales reps came up to me and asked what I was looking for. I told him that I was looking for an xbox 360 pad. He looked thoughtful for a second or two and then told me to wait for him. He looked like he was going to the back of the store and so I just said in passing that if they also happened to have a hidden copy of Halo 3 somewhere in there, I would want to get that as well.

He then asked me whether I wanted a PAL or NTSC one and I told him either. He went away and left me with my hopes actually raised and when he came back with both his hands empty I was disappointed. He then told me to come back at 1pm. I looked at my watch and saw that the time was 12.30pm, so I told him this and said that I would just wait. He then told me to give him my number and that he would call me when the stuff was there. So I did so, asking him when he thought they would be available, and he said the next day.

And so, I left.

I went back about the same time the next day (Saturday) and I saw him. He told me that they still weren't there, but that he would definitely call me once they were available. So, I went back home again, getting ready to attempt the internet purchase option. On Sunday morning I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognise and it was the guy from the store! He told me that he had the goods and that I could pick them up that day. Thinking that all I would have to do is drive down to the store and go get them, he then confused me by asking where I lived. I answered automatically and told him that I lived near the mall at Lekki Phase One then he told me that he could bring it to me. At this point it dawned on me that when he told me that they would be getting the Halo 3 and the control pad soon, he was talking about himself and his side-business (or PP - Private Practice as they say). Well, Halo is Halo and so I got in my car and met him at the entrance to the estate. I parked on the side of the road and he got into the car with a black polyethene bag. I thought for a moment at how this must look like such a shady deal being executed. Anyways, he brought out the Halo (which looked to me almost like it had been hastily re-shrink wrapped by Alaba boys), paid him N13,500 ($114) with a big sigh and drove off. I had already picked up a game pad from another store and did not have enough money to buy one more. I am planning to pick up two more pads from a store near my office. They are offering them for about N6,000-N8,000 ($50-$67) which is still a damn sight better than the N10,500 they are asking for in the department stores.

Anyways, long story short, I got my game, and I have been playing for two days now on Heroic. Africa has been glassed and I am on my way to kick the ass of the people who made it necessary. The Flood. The game looks really nice, and I prefer its visual aesthetic to Gears of War which I also finished recently. Halo's art design is a bit subtle in that it appears to be really just generic space marine tosh, but on closer inspection, there really is a lot of work and artistry put into it. And at least I can tell the difference between a Brute, Elite, Grunt, and marine at a glance unlike in Gears of War where everybody looks like they are on the same steroid regime.

The game is also quite nice too so far. :-)