Kinect Gold Subscriber Preview Night - Toronto

Set to change the way we play, Kinect launches for the Xbox 360 this coming Thurs. Nov. 4th. This past Tuesday, Xbox Canada held a preview event in downtown Toronto where Xbox LIVE Gold members could come by, try out Kinect, and compete for awesome prize packs!

The Gold Subscriber Preview Night was my first experience with Kinect, and like many of you I've read both good and bad about the new technology from various media sources. Personally, I wasn't expecting too much going in besides a gimmicky new peripheral for my console, and I'm happy to say that Kinect was much more impressive than I first suspected.

The venue is a rented location right across from the Eaton Centre at 207 Yonge Street (and you can actually still go there now for about another month to play whenever you like, no RSVP or Gold membership required!) and the ground floor has several booths set up with consoles, Kinect sensors, and Kinect games for the general public to try. The Gold Subscriber Preview Night was held on the second level, and after signing in at the front desk, I was permitted to walk upstairs and take in the relaxed setup that Xbox Canada provided.

With IKEA couches and Kinect themed decorations everywhere, as well as free snacks and drinks for all ages, the Preview Night not only encouraged guests to interact with the half-dozen booths set up with Kinect, but to also relax and socialize with the wonderful Canadian community members who could attend. The basic design of the venue was very well done, as Kinect is all about the social experience of getting off the couch and playing with friends and the location's layout certainly encouraged this!

Promotional staff were walking around the entire floor helping people learn about Kinect, answering questions, and of course, regulating the competitions for some sweet prize packs! The prize packs were of high quality, consisting of copies of Crackdown 2, Halo: Reach, Fable III, Xbox 360 Fable III Limited Edition Controllers, etc. I'm not talking individually either, I mean all of these things were part of one prize pack and were awarded several times throughout the night! Talk about promotion!

Now one very important thing to note about Kinect at this event is that the games were still beta versions as Microsoft is developing the hardware and software right up until launch, so while most of the launch titles were present they didn't have all their features, and for Kinect itself, facial and voice recognition was not used.

Having said that, I was quite surprised by how well the technology actually worked. All one had to do was simply approach a booth and stand a few feet back from the sensor, wave to assume control, and begin playing! I watched many people play Kinect Adventures!, and the ease at which people could control their raft and move their Avatar to collect coins around the game levels was most impressive. Regrettably I didn't get to try Kinect Adventures! myself, but I did experience several other titles.

First up was Kinect Sports where I tried for a prize pack. Bowling was the game being played when I tried, and the promo staff set the ground rules of requiring multiple strikes to continue. This was my very first attempt with connect, and I did not score a strike and was disqualified, but that's alright. Next up was Kinect Joy Ride, where Jeff, Xbox Canada's product manager, took me through how to play the game.

Like most Kinect titles, once the sensor is tracking you the cursor simply moves with your hand-guided motions. Stop the cursor over an option and a circle draws around it in a clockwise direction. This gives you a few seconds to move the cursor or, once the circle is complete, to select that option. For Kinect Joy Ride itself, once you're in-game you simply position your hands like you're holding a steering wheel and turn that wheel to drive your vehicle. Bring your hands close to your chest and you begin charging a Turbo Boost, and once you've built enough charge, thrust your hands forward to really launch your vehicle!

Personally, I found the sensor could be a little too sensitive while steering, and one promo staff member pointed out that while playing, I had also been moving my body and not just the "steering wheel," which in this case throws the sensor off a bit. It's something apparently a lot of new players have trouble with in Kinect Joy Ride, but once you get past that the game handles very smoothly. If you actually get some air time you can even spin around to cause your vehicle to spin!

The next and final game I tried was Kinectimals, in which I got to play and interact with a lion cub. I was able to throw Frisbees or Mexican hats at targets to score points, and the cub would run out and fetch used Frisbees for me. What was pretty cool was that leaning your body would actually tilt the camera angle, allowing you another way to adjust your aim. If you threw too fast though, the sensor might not properly track you, but if you used fluid, steady hand motions, you could often hit targets rather easily.

When I was done, the next person who stepped up for Kinectimals was a child. He was about 5 years old and being me, I spent some time helping him, assisting a promo staff member in instructing him on how to play the game. Sometimes he'd move too close and fall outside of the sensor's field of view, or he'd move too fast and not be tracked properly, but he was having a great time. He actually played a game with the cub itself, teaching it tricks by standing up, rolling around on the floor, or doing hand motions. The child was having a great time, laughing and telling his mom about everything he was doing, and this above any other experience that night really showed me Kinect's potential: that anyone, of any age, really can just jump right into a Kinect game and even if they aren't doing things quite right, they can still have a wonderful and entertaining experience.

Visually, I was quite impressed with the various game's graphics. While not Unreal Engine quality, they certainly looked very nice, and textures were crisp, fluid, and detailed, as were the various character animations, particularly that of the cub from Kinectimals. The environments of Kinect Adventures! also looked very well done.

I must confess I was certainly impressed with my Kinect experience. I only got to spend about 30 minutes overall trying out the various above games, but the tech was quite easy to use. I'm still not 100% sold on it though, as I think the motion tracking tech could be improved to be a little less or a little more sensitive depending on the title, but the potential is certainly there in spades. At this point, the target audience for Kinect is different than my personal style of gaming. After a long day at the office, do I want to come home and jump around my living room annoying my neighbours, or do I want to sit on my butt, drink and beer, and play some Halo: Reach?

If you guessed the latter then you've been paying attention, but that's certainly not to say Kinect won't be a great accessory to parties and casual living room gaming environments. Kinect is certainly something I will be keeping a close eye on in the months to come, and depending on how Microsoft improves and supports Kinect post-launch and if more mature or innovative games are made available that suit my tastes better, we'll, my neighbours just might be telling me to stop banging around after all.

Halo Wars Leaderboard Reset Coming, No New Posters for Official Forums

Wow. Halo Waypoint finally updated the Halo Wars website with some actual news. Not that they weren't updating it with unactual news before, they just weren't updating it for the last 7 months period.

Way to roll out those "big plans for Halo Wars" guys! But I digest...

The Halo Wars leaderboards will be reset due to popular demand this coming Fri. Nov. 5th. Your rank, of course, will be unaffected.

You can check out the main page of the official site for the good word.

Some disturbing news though. I just saw that if you register on the official site, you can not post on the official forums! That's right, the official Halo Wars forums no longer allows new members to post as of October 27th, and posters are instead encouraged to go to the official Xbox Forums. Not that there's a problem with the Xbox Forums, but seriously, talk about killing community growth...

Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack Trailer

Last week, Bungie released the trailer for their upcoming Halo: Reach map pack, the Noble Map Pack.




The Noble Map Pack releases over Xbox LIVE Marketplace on Tues. Nov. 30th for 800 Microsoft Points.

Personally, I just don't understood the concept of paying money for small collections of multiplayer maps, and I'll happily pass.

Diablo III - Demon Hunter Class Revealed

The fifth and final player class for Diablo III has been revealed: The Demon Hunter. Her cloaked look and Fan of Knives ability actually reminds me of the Warden from Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, but you know, I guess there's only so many skills and abilities they can create.

The Demon Hunter appears to be an all female class, and she wields crossbows, often dual-wielding, to devastate the hordes of the burning hells. You can check out her page on the official site here, including some great amour-progression concept art, and her reveal trailer here or below.



I'm really liking the backstory and character set up, as she seems to be a rather interesting twist on the Amazon from Diablo II (the previous ranged combatant). I'm not impressed, however, with the reveal trailer; at least the narrative part of it.

I tend to prefer my fiction to be dark, gritty, and grounded in a measure of reality to enhance suspension of disbelief. The narrative aspects of this trailer are far too over the top for my liking; no real sense of danger and very, well, anime-influenced.

She can also continually fire while dual-wielding her crossbows without reloading.

Regardless, she looks like an awesome class, and I'll likely be using either her or the Monk for my first character.

Diablo III PVP System Revealed

Blizzard Entertainment has revealed their PVP settings for their upcoming hack and slash action RPG, Diablo III. For those too young to remember, Battle.net launched with Diablo back in 1996 (crushing paid-to-play services, might I add, until gamers allowed such silly things to come back. I'm looking at you, Xbox LIVE.), and allowed players to journey together into the dungeons of Tristram to face off against the Lord of Terror himself.

Unless some jerk decided to back-stab you instead. They kill you unexpectedly, and all your items and Gold were theirs, just like that. Infuriating, let me tell you.

As I recall in Diablo II (it's been nearly a decade, so bear with me as I rack the ol' brain), you could actually specify whether your character was able to take place in PvP matches or not. This was awesome as it allowed safety for those players who didn't want their gaming experience ruined by some sleazy online jerk.

In Diablo III, however, it looks like Blizzard Entertainment is going to officialize PvP by having actual arenas scattered throughout the world of Sanctuary where players and their friends can square off in different ways.

Personally, I think this is an exceptional idea. It allows PvP to become an optional yet organized function of the game. Those who want to Quest and loot can do that, those who want to PvP have the proper places to do that, and of course players can partake in both in their proper places.

For full details, step right this way.

The Social Network Review

Like most people, I have a Facebook profile. I signed up back in January 2007 and used it as an extra means of communication between friends and colleagues, to chat with them as an alternative to email, to plan various events, and yes, to check if that random cute girl was listed as "single." With the way online culture was (and still is) rapidly evolving, a social networking site the likes of Facebook simply made sense. One thing I never bothered looking into, however, was the origin of the site.

Now, about three and a half years after signing up, The Social Network has been released to theatres. Directed by David Fincher, The Social Network dramatically tells the tale of how the most successful social networking site in the world came to be.

It's 2003 and Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) has just broken up with his girlfriend (Rooney Mara). Pissed off and getting just a little drunk, he hacks into several Harvard databases and creates a site called FaceMash where students can go and rate between different girls as to which is hotter. The site is a success and crashes Harvard's servers, all in the same night, and while this generated a great deal of on-campus notoriety for Zuckerberg, it brought him to the attention of the Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer) and their friend and business partner Divya (Max Minghella). They enlist Zuckerberg's aid in creating a Harvard dating site, which Zuckerberg agrees to but continually delays, creating his own site on the side with help from his best friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield).

As Thefacebook launches and instantly becomes successful on campus, the boys look to grow the site, and interestingly enough Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the inventor of Napster, becomes involved as an adviser and ultimately plays a role in forcing Saverin out.

The Winklevoss twins accuse Zuckerberg of theft of intellectual property and Saverin sues for damages, and Fincher uses these lawsuits as the means for telling the story of The Social Network. Multiple lawsuits are contrasted with the telling of the sites origins and Zuckerberg's interactions with everyone involved.

The Social Network is based on the book The Accidental Billionaires and the real Zuckerberg, nor anyone from Facebook itself, were consulted. With that in mind, I've taken the drama presented in the film with a grain of salt as, let's face it, it's a movie and movies are meant to entertain. Zuckerberg is portrayed as a completely insensitive jerk who uses, and to a degree, is used during the creation and success of Facebook. Having never looked into the site's history before, I admit I found it rather interesting that the guy who made Napster was involved, but I must admit that I found the film very powerful in the portrayal of the dynamics of the people and the way that business screwed them all. Loyalties are divided, friendships ruined, and so much of the problems faced are petty and juvenile and I found myself easily empathizing with this (thanks corporate world!).

Without question I found the acting in the film very, very strong. Given the culture and people I typically associate with, Zuckerberg was very identifiable for me, an easy character to understand and to a certain measure, relate to. Same goes for Saverin, and I felt quite sorry for him and what he went through. The cast overall did an excellent job fleshing out the dramatic humanity of the characters, and The Social Network is the single most character driven film I recall watching this year.

Without hesitation I can easily recommend The Social Network, as given its content it's a film that just about anyone can enjoy. And for me, here and now in October 2010, I barely use Facebook anymore and haven't used it extensively for several months. Why? Because I find that instead of accessorizing the social process it began to replace it, which I don't agree with, and the irony of the greatest social networking site in the world destroying the friendship of it's original founders was not lost on me.

Mass Effect 2: Overlord (Xbox 360) Review

Also on sale as part of Xbox LIVE's Deal of the Week is the Mass Effect 2 DLC "Overlord." Offering four new assignments, a new star system, two new Achievements, and the M-44 Hammerhead (added if players didn't already download the free "Firewalker Pack"), this DLC has a fair bit on offer.

Once installed, players will receive a message from the Illusive Man at their private terminal informing them that a Cerberus research station has gone silent and should be investigated. Upon arrival, players enter a facility where a battle has clearly been fought, bodies and destruction littered everywhere. After a brief bit of exploration, players are contacted by Chief Scientist Archer, possibly the only survivor in the facility, who explains that an experimental VI has gone berserk and is trying to use the station's satellite to get off world.

This VI is rather unique as it can take control of almost any electronic devise, including the Geth that appear to already be on this world (thankfully Legion seems immune). It's up to Shepard and crew to prevent the VI from escaping and to stop the compromised Geth and Mechs through a total of four Cerberus facilities.

The fifth area featured is a beautifully detailed exterior area in which players travel in the Hammerhead, moving from facility to facility. Along the way players can explore the map looking for six Data Packets, collections of research that Cerberus can later use to analyze what went wrong.

I'm not perfectly sure if the controlled Geth and Mechs are tougher than their traditional counterparts, but I must confess I found they hit harder than I remembered. I also want to congratulate BioWare for adding in a great horror element that was lacking from the core game. While this VI is no S.H.O.D.A.N., traveling through the empty halls of the Cerberus facilities with bodies everywhere and having the VI just pop up and scream at you, well, let's just say I literally jumped the first few times.

With aspects like this, I found that "Overlord" provided a nice change to the Mass Effect 2 feel, giving it a more survival-themed element that created a great experience. I also found the DLC's story very well written, ultimately coming together with strong morality and a very sad human element. Honestly, I felt really sorry by the DLC's conclusion. The music, which I also believed to be new, was also a great touch.

I've encountered two odd but minor bugs with "Overlord" that you should be aware of. The first, during the conclusion of the first Cerberus base, had Shepard randomly get locked into facing and firing in a certain direction. No matter which way I walked or moved, he continued to face a specific direction (which was comical since I wasn't in combat), and the issue resolved itself when I touched a stairwell. Another little quirk is with the Mass Effect 2 icon on my Xbox 360's HDD, under System Settings>Memory>Games. Installing Mass Effect 2: Overlord changes the core Mass Effect 2 icon in this part of my console to the Batarian face of the Mass Effect: Bring Down the Sky DLC! While having no effect other than cosmetic, it's an odd little bug.

On Normal difficulty, Mass Effect 2: Overlord took me about three and a half hours, and I must admit, I'm very, very impressed with this DLC add-on. Strongly written with great gameplay, a cool System Shock 2-ish end sequence that I will not spoil, and a survival horror feel unique to the game, this is one premium add-on that I can recommend in good faith.

Mass Effect 2: Kasumi - Stolen Memory (Xbox 360) Review

Mass Effect 2: Kasumi - Stolen Memory was the first premium DLC to be released for the game, and with it being part of this week's Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week, I decided to bite to see if BioWare could turn out a decent add-on.

Very similar to the previous free DLC, "Zaeed - The Price of Revenge," this premium add-on introduces the twelfth and final member to Shepard's crew. Kasumi Goto, an exceptional Japanese thief, has been contracted by Cerberus to assist Shepard for a large sum. Once the DLC is downloaded and installed, players can travel to the Citadel to recruit Kasumi's services.

Just like with Zaeed, you will be able to recruit her right from your disembarkment point, and the way you go about doing it is rather quite amusing. Suffice it to say, recruitment is guaranteed and the real additional content, aside from the character of Kasumi herself of course, comes in the form of her loyalty mission; accessible at any point after you recruit her.

This loyalty mission is a rather unique departure from the rest of the Mass Effect 2 norm. A wealthy criminal named Donovan Hock, who has a rather interesting Scottish accent, has stolen something very precious to Kasumi, and her and Shepard aim to take it back. The unique twist of this mission? You get to go to a party!

Shepard and Kasumi travel to Hock's mansion as he's hosting a rather lavish party, and Shepard gets to wear a dashing suit or dress, depending on the player's gender, to blend in with the crowd as he/she tries to gain access to Hock's vault.

Without giving too much away, Kasumi's loyalty mission is well designed, visually appealing, and adds some nice changes of pace to the gameplay, but it's quite short. I didn't rush, took my time exploring, and I completed the DLC on Normal difficulty in about two hours.

Kasumi herself is an interesting character. She uses Submachine Guns and Pistols, and her abilities include a Shadow Strike (a cloaked attack), Overload, Master Thief, and once her loyalty is gained, Flashbang Grenade. She's essentially a tech specialist, and your only squad mate focusing on stealth, making her handy if you already have a strong combat or biotic character in your current squad.

The greatest disappointment with Kasumi herself, like with Zaeed, is the lack of a true conversation wheel. On the Normandy, she resides in the previously inaccessible Port Observation deck, and clicking on her will have her comment on various things, but there's no way for Shepard to properly converse with her outside of her recruitment and loyalty mission. Very sad, as she actually has some interesting things to say and takes note of the details of your crew.

When all is said and done, I did enjoy "Kasumi - Stolen Memory" and I really liked Kasumi Goto herself. She's a strong addition to Shepard's crew, but honestly, I can't see any reason why this DLC wasn't released for free via the Cerberus Network (save for EA and BioWare wanting to make a profit). Due to its short length, I find it hard to recommend at full asking price, as there are certainly enough crew members for Shepard to choose from. Kasumi is a fun diversion, but far from an essential experience, and here's hoping that Kasumi has a full and proper role in Mass Effect 3.

Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack Announced

The first official map pack for Halo: Reach has been announced and will be released on Tues. Nov. 30 for 800 Microsoft Points.

The Noble Map Pack contains three new multiplayer maps: Anchor 9, Tempest, and Breakpoint.

You can check out full details as well as several screenshots via Bungie's announcement here.

I Am a Monument to All Your Sins

That's right boys and girls, two days ago I completed Halo: Reach's Campaign for the third time, a solo Legendary Difficulty run. This of course netted me the coveted "Monument to All Your Sins" Achievement, which according to Bungie's Weekly Update, just over 5% of the Halo: Reach player base (online aware) has thus far earned. Apparently that means I'm part of an elite club. Yay!

It was challenging though, make no mistake about that, but it was easier (relatively speaking) than I thought it would be. Overall, each Chapter took me between one to two hours, and a lot of patience, persistence, and profanities saw me through. For those of you presently or planning to attempt a solo Legendary run, here's some tips you may find helpful:

- Patience is key. Do not rush and take your time lining up your shots and picking off your enemies. You are fragile, they are not.

- At almost all times, you should be carrying a precision weapon (DMR, Needle Rifle, Pistol) and a Plasma Pistol. Headshots are your lifeline on Legendary, and even the new and improved Elites still go down with the classic overcharged Plasma Pistol/headshot combo. With a Needle Rifle, even if you miss their head, so long as their Shields are down three Needles will result in a Supercombine and one dead Elite.

- Hunters are scary. No really, this is the first Halo game in which these walking tanks have actually terrified me. Tough, fast, and dealing a lot of damage, hopefully you can swap out your Plasma Pistol for a stronger weapon before encountering them. This would be a Rocket Launcher, Spartan Laser, or Fuel Rod Canon. You'll either want Hologram or Sprint as your Armour Ability. The use of Hologram is obvious, and Sprint is the _only_ way you're avoiding them in close quarters when they charge. Thankfully in this battle, Chapter III as I recall, there's Shotguns right there, which work well with Frag Grenades. In Chapter IV there is a battle with four Hunters. Stay back, take precision shots (there's DMR ammo in the area), and let Jun take a beating. He's invulnerable and can't be knocked unconscious like all your Spartan AI allies, and you'll likely be pissed off with his pathetic AI by this point anyway.

- Brutes are a lot like their Halo 2 original appearance, which means they're actually tough. You'll want to fight them in a similar fashion as well. Two to three headshots will result in a kill (look for when you knock their Helmet off), or better yet, use a Needler. A few seconds of sustained fire and a Supercombine equals an instant kill. With a Needler, even Brute Chieftains will _not_ touch you! Towards the end of Chapter X, you face a lot of Brutes with no Needlers around. DMR for headshots and an Assault Rifle plus a final melee kill are your best bet so long as you keep _mobile_! Let a pack come at you and you'll die here a lot.

- Melee weapons are a bad idea. Elite and Brutes melee so hard and their accuracy and damage are so great, you're not going to land any Energy Sword kills. In one spot the Gravity Hammer helped me, but stick to distance combat. Long distance. You'll still be able to pull of some great Assassinations though, and in Chapter X, a quick Melee can drop a Brute if you've sunk in enough Assault Rifle fire.

- Of the game's several Armour Abilities, you'll want Sprint or Drop Shield. Sprint lets you get to cover, advance or retreat very, very quickly which is a life saver. Drop Shield won't do much for you as a damage sponge, but it _is_ a portable Medkit. Use it to keep yourself at full health; works wonders so long as you're playing smart and keeping your distance. Hologram is useful against Hunters, and there's some sections you need the Jetpack to advance. Active Camouflage is a must at the end of Chapter VII, where you need to activate some AA defences to end the Chapter. You do _not_ have to kill all the Brutes, which is time consuming and challenging. Simply use Active Camo, sneak into the control room past the Chieftains and press the button. Mission complete. Armour Lock is absolutely useless on Legendary and you shouldn't touch it. Period.

- When driving a Warthog, give a Trooper ally a powerful weapon, like the Concussion Rifle or Rocket Launcher, which will help a lot when they ride shotgun. Revenants are also great vehicles to commandeer. Ghosts are a pain to fight and worthless to pilot, so don't bother with them.

- Very important, _use_ your AI Spartan allies! While you can't swap weapons with them (sadly), Carter, Kat, and Jorge not only are great damage sponges/distractions, they actually excel at killing enemies! Let them advance to draw fire and start thinning out numbers while you find a good sniping spot. Jun and Emile though, they're useless twits and I wish I could kill them myself. Emile has a Shotgun and loves to hang back doing nothing. Idiot. Guess he can't see through his scratched helmet...

- Turn on the Grunt Birthday Party Skull. Not only is it amusing to hear the pop, cheers, and watch the confetti fly when you land headshots on the little bastards, they actually give a slight explosion which can help.

- For "Tank Beats Everything," you _must_ bring the tank nearly as far as it'll go in the level to unlock the Achievement; you can not leave it behind or even just a bit back. I found this out the hard way. You can get out and pick enemies off with your DMR (which I strongly advise), but make sure you bring that tank to the finish!

Hopefully the above tips help you out on your Legendary run. Keep a level head, think outside the box, and play _smart_. Do this, and you'll hopefully be able to unlock one of the hardest Halo: Reach Achievements there is to earn.

Good luck!

Xbox 360 Halo: Reach Wireless Controller

If you've been following along, you know that I recently sold my Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, which was the one that came with my original Xbox 360 Pro console in December 2006. While I have an Xbox 360 Controller (wired) and have been using that since, you always want to have two Controllers on hand for when guests come over, and the wired model is perfect for that since you don't have to worry about battery power.

So this past Saturday I used $50.00 Best Buy gift card that work got me for my birthday and purchased the Xbox 360 Halo: Reach Wireless Controller.

First and foremost, thank you Microsoft for _finally_ doing away with the annoying and hazardous clam shell packaging with your current re-branding to the Xbox 360 S console and associated hardware. The Xbox 360 Halo: Reach Wireless Controller is wonderfully packaged, easy to remove, and no scissors, cut hands, and profanities are required to open her up!

On to the Controller itself, it looks very, very slick. Sporting a silver colour with custom Halo: Reach themed artwork, the Controller is quite literally the most cosmetically pleasing Xbox 360 Controller I've ever seen. The Thumbsticks and D-Pad are a slick black colour like the new branded Xbox 360 Wirless Controllers, and the Guide button is chrome instead of the traditional dull silver. The Triggers, Bumpers and corresponding top plate, as well as the battery case and underside are also the same slick black colour. Because the Controller is Silver as its primary colour, my white Chatpad doesn't contrast sharply with it either, which is a big plus!

In addition to coming with two AA batteries, the Xbox 360 Halo: Reach Wireless Controller also comes with a downloadable token for a Banshee Prop for your Xbox 360 Avatar. Similar to the UNSC Falcon Prop that game with the Halo: Reach Limited and Legendary Editions, the Banshee Prop has your Avatar summon the Xbox 360 Halo: Reach Wireless Controller and use it to control and fly around a model Covenant Banshee for several seconds. The Banshee is actually larger than the UNSC Falcon model, and in my opinion, looks nicer.

Performance wise, the Xbox 360 Halo: Reach Wireless Controller functions just like any other Xbox 360 Wirless Controller and to clarify, it does _not_ feature the upcoming revised D-Pad.

If you're looking for a new Wireless Controller for your Xbox 360 console and you're not waiting for the model with the new D-Pad, I'd highly recommend the Xbox 360 Halo: Reach Wireless Controller simply because of how great it looks. Best Buy is selling it for $59.99, the same as any other Wireless Controller, so you're not being marked up on the custom artwork, which is quite the fair deal.

Forerunner Trilogy's First Entry Title and Cover Art Revealed

This past weekend, Tor Books revealed the title and cover art of the first book in Greg Bear's Forerunner trilogy: Halo: Cryptum.

Coming January 2011, this will definitely be a first day purchase for me (unless it's a hardcover title, then I'll need to wait). So much of the Halo franchise revolves around what the Forerunners left behind, yet we know so little about them and we've never even been privileged to see a Forerunner until Halo: Legends, and there they were in full armour!

It will be very interesting to read what kind of a picture Greg Bear paints for this ancient race, and of course, how they ultimately deal with and fail to contain the Flood.

You can check out the full press release below.

TOR BOOKS ANNOUNCES TITLE, COVER ART OF FIRST NOVEL IN SCIENCE FICTION LEGEND GREG BEAR’S HALO FORERUNNER SAGA!

HALO: CRYPTUM

Science fiction legend GREG BEAR to publish first in a new Halo^® trilogy set in the time of the Forerunners.

Coming January 2011!

New York, NY - Friday October 8, 2010 - Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC—the largest publisher of science fiction in the world—is pleased to reveal the title, cover art, and release month of Halo: Cryptum, the first in a trilogy of novels by Hugo and Nebula award-winning author Greg Bear in the New York Times bestselling “Halo^®” series based on the hugely successful “Halo” video games franchise for the Xbox 360. Halo: Cryptum will be published in January 2011. An unabridged audio book edition will publish simultaneously with the new novel.

Halo: Cryptum will begin the first deep exploration into the time of the Forerunners, the creators and builders of the Halos. Almost nothing is known for sure about this ancient race. Worshipped by the Covenant as gods, their engineering relics pepper the galaxy, and their connection to humanity remains unanswered. Devoted fans of both the books and games will finally get to delve deep into the era of these enigmatic beings, and discover for themselves the epic story behind one of the great mysteries of the “Halo” universe: the complete disappearance of the Forerunners from existence.

"The enigma of the Forerunners is really at the heart of the drama and mystery of the Halo universe," says Frank O'Connor, Franchise Development Director for 343 Industries. "In all the games and the books so far we've only scratched the surface of the terrible events that engulfed the Forerunners and the Galaxy they protected 100,000 years ago, and we're very lucky to have a writer with Greg's experience and creativity to help us finally shed some light on why the Halos are really here."

An icon in the science fiction community, Greg Bear has penned such critically celebrated international bestsellers as Eon and The Forge of God. His work has covered such heavy themes as galactic conflict, artificial universes, consciousness and cultural practices, and accelerated evolution. Bear’s talent for taut narratives, intellectually rigorous themes, and realistic, appealing characters make him the most qualified author writing today to extend this blockbuster franchise.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Halo is one of the quintessential science fiction offerings of our time,” says Tor senior editor Eric Raab. “What Greg Bear has done with the deep lore of this extremely epic and complex story will definitely emphasize to science fiction fans just how amazing this universe really is. It powerfully lives beyond the games.”

Along with this new trilogy, Tor Books has also recently announced a “Halo” novel series that will take fans into the post-“Halo 3” universe to be penned by Karen Traviss. Earlier this year saw the release of the new editions of earlier “Halo” novels written by Eric Nylund and William C. Dietz.

“Halo” has emerged from the videogame world as a global entertainment phenomenon. To date, more than 34 million copies of “Halo” games have been sold worldwide, driving more than 3.3 billion hours of game play by people connected to Xbox LIVE. In 2007, the “Halo 3” launch broke all previous sales records for a videogame launch and also became the biggest day-one entertainment launch in history. In September, the “Halo” video game franchise made history once again when “Halo: Reach” generated more than $200 million in sales in the United States and Europe in the first 24 hours of its release, making it the largest U.S. entertainment launch of the year.With a fully fleshed-out universe of heroes, villains and epic scenarios in place, the novels will continue to expand the “Halo” universe and offer a grander view of the places and characters fans have learned about from the games.

About Tor Books

Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, is a New York-based publisher of hardcover and softcover books, founded in 1980 and committed (although not limited) to SF and fantasy literature. Between an extensive hardcover and trade-softcover line, an Orb backlist program, and a stronghold in mass-market paperback, Tor annually publishes what is arguably the largest and most diverse line of science fiction and fantasy ever produced by a single English-language publisher. Books from Tor have won every major award in the SF and fantasy fields, and for the last twenty-two years in a row the company has been named Best Publisher in the Locus Poll, the largest consumer poll in SF.

Fallout 3: Broken Steel (Xbox 360) Review

Fallout 3: Broken Steel is the last of Fallout 3's DLC that I've played through, and it's a rather different offering than the four other add-ons. Whereas the previous additions were Quests with new enemies, items, and Perks available as soon as the player leaves Vault 101, Fallout 3: Broken Steel continues the game's main Quest line. This means that in order to experience the new Quests you have to finish "Take it Back" first. Of course, anyone who's completed Fallout 3 knows that once you complete the main Quest line, you kind of die, making a continuation rather tricky.

For those players who begin Fallout 3: Broken Steel with an existing save, your character will wake up in the Citadel recovering from severe radiation poisoning two weeks after the Brotherhood of Steel took Project Purity back from the Enclave. In a nutshell, you survived somehow. For those players who install the DLC and then play through the game, you can still sacrifice your character in "Take it Back" and have the game continue into the DLC rather unbelievably, or you can actually send certain Followers, like Fawkes or RL-3 who're immune to radiation, in to activate the Purifier. If you take this route, both yourself and Sentinel Lyons are knocked unconscious in a resulting explosion, and this path makes much more sense when you awaken two weeks later.

Though dealt a serious blow with the loss of Eden, Autumn, and the Purifier, the Enclave is far from defeated and the Brotherhood of Steel could use your aid once again to go on the offensive, and yes, Liberty Prime is back to kick butt giant robot style! Since you're once again alive in this free roaming world, you can help the Brotherhood take the fight to the Enclave remnants scattered across the Wasteland or you can strike out to keep working on other side Quests you didn't finish.

Fallout 3: Broken Steel adds three new main Quests and three new side Quests, and while the main Quests are all focused on ending the Enclave's reign once and for all (and these Quests take place in both familiar and new locations), the side quests all revolve around Project Purity and the sudden availability of clean water for all. Well, it would be for all if the shipments the Brotherhood are sending out were actually getting to their destinations. In addition to the normal Trade Caravans that you're familiar with, the Brotherhood is sending Water Caravans out to the settlements of the wastes, and not only is it a logistical challenge, but of course things are going wrong with the shipments. That's where you come in as you get to participate in three non-linked side Quests, all of which are interesting but rather simple and predictable.

In terms of the quality of the Quests, both main and side, they're alright but nothing that I was overly impressed with. The first of the main Quests was definitely my favourite and the large battle in the finale is rather cool, but overall the new Quests featured in Fallout 3: Broken Steel feel more like Bethesda's trying to force the story further when it simply isn't required. Sure, it opens the game up so it no longer "finishes" and there's new high level weapons and enemies to use and fight respectively (many of which are quite well done), but it honestly felt like more of the same and I really had to grind through the last few Quests.

One gripe players had with Fallout 3 was the Level cap at 20, which many gamers hit before they were even finished the core game. This took away from further reward and character building later on, and Fallout 3: Broken Steel addresses this by raising the Level cap to 30 and adding a host of new perks to boot. The great part is the Level cap is raised right from the get-go, you don't actually have to start the new Quests to gain access. In fact, with the character I used, who started the main Quest and all the DLC from scratch, he had already reached Level 30 by the time the "Broken Steel" Quests began.

While this sounds good in theory, Bethesda didn't seem to pay much attention in balancing to the new Level cap. By the time you hit Level 30, you will have maxed out nearly every S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Stat and Skill, meaning you can do pretty much anything. You're so powerful, in fact, that new and supposedly imposing enemies, like the Super Mutant Overlord or the dreaded Feral Ghoul Reaver are push-overs. Granted, these enemies begin appearing as you're reaching Level 20 and are hard then, but it doesn't take too long to go from 20 to 30 and with powerful new weapons like the Tri-Beam Laser Rile or the Heavy Incinerator, they're a cakewalk. So much for careful character building and Skill specialization.

Regrettably, Fallout 3: Broken Steel introduces a host of new bugs as well. I encountered my first Enclave Soldier in a random encounter in the Wastes around Level 6 or 8, and this was before I had advanced the main Quest to the point where the Enclave were supposed to start appearing. Three Dog also started talking about how Project Purity was liberated and that clean water was flowing for all even before I had advanced the story far enough to reveal that Project Purity existed. I also noticed a sharp increase in texture flickering game-wide after installing the DLC and by the time I was wrapping up the last of Fallout 3: Broken Steel's Quests, I was having some rather unpleasant frame rate drops in random areas. Sloppy.

I can't complain about playtime, however, and fully exploring all of what Fallout 3: Broken Steel has to offer took me about 11 hours, which is solid. That's about a grand total of 186 hours I've spent in the Capital Wasteland and beyond spread between three characters, so I do need to thank Bethesda for putting together such an immersive and detailed world to explore. Having said that, however, I personally didn't find Fallout 3: Broken Steel to be anything invigorating, and the unbalanced raising of the Level cap actually hurts the game by allowing the player to experience pretty much every Skill no matter how they play.

If you are looking to continue your character or simply looking for more Fallout 3 to tide you over until Fallout: New Vegas launches, you can certainly give Fallout 3: Broken Steel a whirl, but there are more innovative DLC add-ons available for the game that will leave a much more positive impression with you. Really, when it comes down to it, Fallout 3: Broken Steel is simply more of the same, and I can't help but wonder if it would have been more polished had it been included in the retail package and original development cycle instead of being released as an add-on about half a year after launch.

Original Xbox 360 Wirless Controller and Rechargable Battery Pack Sold

For about a year now, I've noticed that the Right Stick on my Xbox 360 Wireless Controller would no longer centre properly, and when left at rest it would actually be drifting slightly to the top left. As you can imagine, this has made precision aiming a tad difficult, so I've finally decided to sell the old girl.

This is the Controller that came with my original console in December 2006, and I sold it today to EB Games for $20.00. That's actually a good bit more than I expected, so I'm quite happy.

I also sold my first Rechargeable Battery Pack, purchased in January 2007, for $2.25. Considering it only lasts about 5 hours at best and I replaced it and haven't touched it for well over a year, I'm content.

For now, I'll use my Xbox 360 Controller (wired), and this long weekend coming, I'll pick up the Xbox 360 Halo: Reach Wireless Controller.

Gears of War 3 Delayed

Epic Games' upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive third person shooter, Gears of War 3, has been delayed from its Spring 2011 release to Fall 2011.

The reason? Purely business. It looks like Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios want Gears of War 3 to be the killer app for next year's holidays, and that's why it's being pushed.

That's somewhat disappointing, but not the end of the world. Hopefully Epic Games uses the time productively to refine the game's content, specifically its network code.

I'm looking at you, Gears of War 2!

You can read the official announcement right here.

Halo: Reach Completed for the Second Time

Earlier today, I completed my second playthrough of Halo: Reach, my first go on Heroic Difficulty. Overall, a very solid and enjoyable experience. Except for the checkpoint-only save system. Why console developers rely on this archaic frustration of a save system is beyond me.

Anyway, I was very impressed with the enemy AI, as just like in previous titles, it ramps up on the harder settings. The Elites in Halo: Reach are thus far the toughest non-uber powered enemies in a shooter I've ever faced. What I'm less impressed with though is the ridiculous durability of some enemies. The higher level Elites, for example, can survive a direct hit from a Spartan Laser.

This is the weapon that can blow up tanks! How does that make sense? Surprisingly, the Shotgun is ridiculously effective against them at close range, which is a nice change of pace since that weapon has stunk since Halo 3. Halo: Reach tends to keep most battles at a further distance than the previous games in the franchise though, so the Designated Marksman Rifle, Needle Rifle, and Magnum where still my fallbacks.

What I'm really not impressed with is the friendly AI. Really, they're dumb as -BLAM- and near useless. Admittedly they do kill things, but it takes them a long time, and they'll often just hang back doing nothing while you do all the work. I'm not even just talking about the soldiers, I'm also referring to your fellow Spartans. Emile has a Shotgun, for example, so you'd think he'd rush in to take on enemies up close. Right. He usually hangs out in the back. Or maybe he's making googly faces at the Brutes behind his custom scratched EVA helmet. Sorry Emile, that's not helping.

I'm happy to say that I didn't mind the story at all this time, since I've reconciled a lot of the retcon thanks to Halsey's journal included with my Limited Edition of the game.

I also had a good time earning "If They Came to Hear Me Beg." It took me 27 attempts over the span of about 10 minutes. In two of those attempts, I landed right on the Elite, killing both of us. In one of those two attempts, a Grunt panicked after the Elite and I died and suicided itself on our corpses. In another attempt, I Meleed the Elite (the Assassination didn't kick in for some reason), killed him, and survived the fall.

Did I mention I really, really hate checkpoint-only save systems? Seriously, there were several points in Halo: Reach in which the game just didn't want to checkpoint at all, causing me to have to repeat 10 minutes of various battles over and over again. My total playtime this game was probably close to 12 hours. A few of those hours were thanks to the -BLAM- checkpoint save system.

In fact, I got so frustrated at one point, that I punched my Controller. Not once, not twice, but thrice! And kudos to the crafty engineers at Microsoft, it still works flawlessly!

One interesting thing though is, with the exception of a few sections, I actually found the game easier on Heroic than I did on Normal. The parts that I found really challenging:

- The very end of Chapter VI, as I didn't equip myself with the best weapons prior to the final battle.
- The very end of Chapter VII, which is where I abused my Controller three times in a row.
- Most of Chapter X, especially the beginning, after the caves, a middle section (I'm now officially scared of Hunters), and the next-to-very-end battle. The earlier sections were hard due to, again, the checkpoint save system not wanting to kick in, causing me to repeat 10 minutes of play over and over again. I learned to take deep breaths though and not hurt my Controller anymore.

Next up is Legendary, and we'll see if I can go through it solo. Or if I molest my Controller again. My poor, poor Controller.

BioShock: Infinite Gameplay Video

Irrational Games has released the full Gameplay video for BioShock: Infinite, and you can view it below.



Very cinematic, but undoubtedly with a BioShock feel. Note that the video does use a good bit of scripted sequences and has a faster pace than what will be overall represented in-game. We're being told that BioShock: Infinite will feature a pace very similar to the original game, which is a great thing.

Gears of War: Anvil Gate Review

Hoffman. For those of you who've played Gears of War 2 with me, you know that I always play as Victor Hoffman though you may not know why. Honestly, it's all because of Karen Traviss. Over the last few years, she's taken the sparse story of the Gears of War franchise and injected it with actual plot, detail, and most importantly of all, character.

Her third and latest offering in the series is Gears of War: Anvil Gate, and like her previous two books, it follows the structure of telling things from the present day and flashing back to key and contrasting moments from a situation in the past.

The Coalition of Ordered Governments has retreated to an island stronghold far from the mainland, and there they've set up the last bastion of civilized humanity. The Locust Horde is seemingly defeated, and in either case, the COG is now beyond their reach. The original settlers of this island, citizens of the COG who have held it in trust since before the original Hammer of Dawn strike, allow the refugees from Jacinto to reorganize the island and make it their home, but the island is also inhabited by Stranded gangs, lawless humans who want the island for themselves. While fighting the rag tag band of Stranded another old enemy appears, though this time offering peace. The Gorasani, one of the Independent countries whom the COG was once at war with, seeks protection from the COG in exchange for imulsion, fuel, but can they really be trusted?

In each novel, Traviss picks a few characters to truly focus on, to really flesh out and develop in ways that just weren't possible in the games, and this time around, the chosen are Hoffman and Baird.

Hoffman is a character that Traviss has developed greatly before, but now she goes that extra step. The siege of Anvil Gate is something that was mentioned previously but never elaborated on, and now we get to read about that difficult siege during the Pendulum Wars and what Hoffman and his Gears and Pesang troops had to do to survive there. I personally find Hoffman to be a very strong, morale, and pragmatic character whom I admire, and it fascinates me to see what makes the man tick. The things he's done and the burdens he carries are ones that Traviss expands on in each novel, peeling away layer after layer of this intriguing character. Thatnks to Traviss, Hoffman has my respect and is my favourite character in the Gears of War universe.

Back to the present day, of course the other members of Delta squad are all present. Marcus is his usual sullen self, Dom is still struggling with but starting to come to grips with the loose of his wife, and Cole is as optimistic and the team player that he always was. Baird though, he's the Delta focus of this novel. Traviss really gets into his head, explains his thinking, his reasoning, and his general genius, and provides more insight as to why he's a cocky smart mouthed jerk to any and all. Baird's character isn't revolutionary, I found much of him predictable (mainly due to her past novels), but it's certainly nice to read.

Novel-only character Bernie Mataki returns, and for those unaware, she'll not only be featured in Gears of War 3 but will also be playable. We're also introduced to Sam Byrne, another female Gear in the upcoming game. Anya rounds out the trio of female Gears, and proves that she is able to hold her own in a soldier's capacity.

All of these characters and enemies need to set aside their differences and come together in the face of a new threat: The Lambent. Traviss pays key attention to politics and character dynamics between the different branches of the COG, the Indies, and Stranded, and she slowly but surly introduces the Lambent who are set to make a major appearance in the upcoming game and who's true menace is only glimpsed at in the novel's conflict.

Gears of War: Anvil Gate successfully builds what Traviss has laid down before, providing a solid and enjoyable read for any Gears fan, and crucial backstory for the next game which launches this coming Spring. While I'm sure much of these key events will be summarized or mentioned in Gears of War 3, there's nothing like reading the depth and character first hand, traits Traviss is a master of writing.

Halo: Reach Limited Edition (Xbox 360) Review

The Halo franchise is many things to different people. Some people play the games for good old multiplayer carnage, some play for the Campaign and military sci-fi story, and others play simply because they like to blow stuff up no matter what they're doing. Enter Halo: Reach, Bungie's latest, and last, addition to the franchise. For nearly a decade now, Bungie has been entertaining gamers of all tastes with the Halo franchise's versatile gameplay, fast past action, and stylish humour. So does their final entry in the franchise measure up to what's come before?

Anyone who's followed the Halo storyline knows about Reach, the UNSC's primary military world and the home of the Spartan-II project. They also know that Reach was glassed by an overwhelming Covenant force just prior to Halo: Combat Evolved and that the majority of the Spartans fell defending the world. All of this is detailed in Halo: The Fall of Reach, the prequel novel published in 2001 and re-released in 2010. Yet despite Reach's importance and many references throughout the games, we've never actually seen the planet in-game outside of a brief Halo 2 flashback. In Halo: Reach, we get to witness the fall of Reach firsthand, though not through the eyes of John-117.

Like the last few Halo titles before it, Halo: Reach incorporates a significant amount of the expanded universe into the games, something hardcore Halo universe fans will be most pleased about. The thing they may not be overjoyed with in Halo: Reach is the significant amount of retcon that Bungie has placed upon this well established back story, but I'll get into that in a moment.

Players take on the role of Spartan-B312, or Noble Six, as he's more commonly known by his call sign. Six is the newest member of Noble Team, a group of six special operations Spartans (five are Spartan-III's, making their first in-game appearance) who are currently stationed on Reach. Six reports in right as Noble Team is being tasked with a new mission: to investigate a down comm relay. It was believed the relay may have been sabotaged by insurgent forces and an army group was sent to investigate. When they were never heard from again, command decided to send in Spartans, and Noble Team encounters what the UNSC feared most: Covenant. The Covenant are on Reach, and though this seems to be an advance party, worse is sure to come.

This all takes place beginning on July 24th, 2552, over a month before Reach falls. The rest of the story progresses slowly as Noble Team is tasked with increasingly difficult missions as the Covenant battles for control of the planet, and honestly, a lot of it just doesn't make sense when put next to the established canon of the Halo universe. While the Campaign's layout and gameplay is superbly done, smacking of the high quality polish we've come to expect from Bungie, I've always been a huge fan of the franchise's story and all of these revisions really bothered me. It bugged me so much so that I found myself enjoying the Campaign less and less as the game went on. Dr. Halsey, the mind behind the Spartan-II program and Project Mjolnir, also makes her first in-game appearance, and she knows about the Spartan-III's, something she wasn't supposed to learn about until two months later. Another plot hole for me to grumble about. Admittedly though, the Campaign really picked up about halfway through, much like Halo 3's, and despite the story inconsistencies with the rest of the established canon, I started having a great time and enjoyed myself up to the end.

The other major issue I had with the game's story was with Noble Team themselves. After putting together such great and memorable characters in Halo 3: ODST, a squad that I came to care about by game's end, I'm quite surprised that Noble Team is both boring and forgettable. Half the squad's voice acting is rather poor. Carter-A259 is completely uninspiring as squad leader, and he really could take a lesson or two from Sgt. Buck. Kat-B320 seems to be a fan favourite, but I honestly couldn't understand half of what she was saying with her thick accent, and if she was talking to me over the radio, forget it, couldn't understand a thing. I tried turning subtitles on, but sadly, not everything appears to be subtitled. At least Jorge-052, the squad's heavy weapon specialist and the Spartan-II of the group, had character and personality. Noble Team lacked soul and squad cohesion, and if it wasn't for an article on the web a few months back, I wouldn't have any clue about these characters back stories, as they certainly aren't fleshed out in-game. I will say I'm also glad to hear that Six actually talks now and again, much like John-117. I was worried Bungie would have made him a mute character lead, and I'm sorry to any Valve fanboys reading this, but mute leads don't work for strong storytelling. It's the truth, deal with it.

As I mentioned though, gameplay wise, the Campaign is solid. There's a wide variety of mission types through the Campaign, from search and destroy, to vehicle confrontations, to sieges; all the Halo flare is here and in spades. Elites make their grand return to the series and being a prequel, they're enemies and very challenging ones at that. As per my tradition, my first Campaign playthrough was on Normal difficulty, and even here, the Elites were challenging. They can absorb and dish out a fair deal of punishment, and they're excellent at dodging. The other new addition to the Covenant bestiary are Skirmishers, a very agile form of Jackal that forgoes their trademark Energy Gauntlet for speed and fancy maneuvers. Skirmishers are annoying, and you'll relish placing as many head shots through them as possible.

And head shots are harder to pull of this time around. It seems that Bungie has toned down auto-aiming, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's still quite possible, don't get me wrong, but precision shooting takes a little more finesse and skill than it used to. While enemy AI has been improved to extremely impressive levels, it's honestly the best enemy AI I've seen in a shooter period, friendly AI has taken a regrettable turn in the stupid direction. Not only are friendlies still horrible drivers, they're now poor gunners as well. Fun! If I had a dollar for every time my AI gunner, be it infantryman or Spartan, blew us up in our own Rocket Warthog, well, I'd nearly be able to buy my copy of Halo: Reach all over again! Not only is the friendly AI a poor shot, but on foot, they have a tendency to go charging ahead before I was ready, triggering the next enemy encounters too soon. This gets rather frustrating at times, especially when you're exploring.

For weapons, your tried and true staples are mostly back, save they may be the Army variants since Halo: Reach features the UNSC Army instead of the Marines for the first time in-game. The Battle Rifle has been replaced by the Designated Marksman Rifle, for example, which is a single shot, 15 clip weapon that does great damage; it was my fallback weapon throughout the entire Campaign. New UNSC toys include a Grenade Launcher and the Target Locator, used to call in air strikes. Very handy when available. The Covenant gets the Plasma Repeater, their version of an Assault Rifle, the Needle Rifle replaces the Carbine, and the Concussion Rifle is a new energy-based version of the Brute Shot. The Beam Rifle has also been replaced by the Focus Rifle, which functions like a sniping Sentinel Beam from previous games. Very deadly on enemies with no nearby cover!

Equipment is also right out, and Armour Abilities are in. Instead of carrying one single-use item at a time, you now get to pick up a regenerating armour ability that you can use again and again. These abilities can range from something simple like Sprint (an ability that's long overdue to the franchise, if you ask me!), to Active Camouflage, to Drop Shield, which is a combination of Halo 3's Bubble Shield and Regenerator.

While Halo: Reach innovates the franchise with these cool new abilities, Bungie hasn't forgotten the franchise's roots, which is rather fitting for the game as it is a prequel. The number of grenade types has been reduced back to the basic Frag and Plasma Grenades, doing away with the other non-essential Grenades introduced in Halo 3. Dual-wielding is also out, and the core mechanic of guns, grenades, and melee is once again at the forefront of the gameplay. Melee attacks have also been improved with the introduction of Assassinations. Hold Melee while behind an opponent, and watch as Six dispatches them in a fancy third person animation! Careful though, as performing an Assassination leaves you vulnerable for a few crucial seconds. Your Shields recharge like always, but your Health has limited regen, and you'll need to find and use Medkits to patch yourself up fully, just like in Halo: Combat Evolved.

Brutes may be back, but in old-school tradition, their vehicles are out. Makes sense as they're not a dominate Covenant military force yet. You'll see Ghosts aplenty again, as well as Wraiths and Banshees, and the new Revenant, a cross between a Ghost and a Wraith. Very fast, very deadly. The UNSC has a new Rocket Warthog as previously mentioned, as well as a chopper, the Falcon. Not only is it used as a troop transport, but the Falcon also has a gunner on each side, making it a rather formidable aircraft. For the first time in franchise history, players also get to partake in space combat! The UNSC Sabre is a prototype fighter that players will briefly be able to use against Seraph fighters and space Banshees as they attempt to halt the Covenant fleet. A very welcome change of pace.

Of course, the Campaign isn't all that's on offer. Bungie wanted to make sure that Halo: Reach was the complete package, the best Halo title to date, and the Multiplayer component certainly lives up to this goal. Matchmaking has been refined, and the standard game types of Slayer, Oddball, Capture the Flag, etc. are all here and better than ever! The new game types that were all the rage in the beta, like the Spartan vs. Elite objective based Invasion and the skull hording free for all Headhunter are here and they're loads of fun. What I'm most pleased with, however, is that Firefight is back, and not only is the classic style available, but there are several other Firefight gametypes available as well as a full host of customizable options! You can control the number of waves, types of enemies in each wave, your health and damage and so on and so forth. Seriously, the list of customizations in Firefight is gigantic, and it's all most welcome. You know what else would make Firefight all manner of awesome? Matchmaking. You know what? They did it! None of your Friends online? Fear not! Unlike Halo 3: ODST, you can now search for a game and start popping those Grunt's skulls ASAP!

As you play through the game, both Campaign and Multiplayer, you earn Credits which increases your Multiplayer ranking. You can then spend credits on different items in the Armoury, cosmetic changes that allow you to customize the look of your Noble Six. What's even cooler is that your Noble Six is the one who appears in the Campaign, cutscenes and all! The game seemed to remember the colours I used during the beta, as my Noble Six defaulted to my Canadian Brick and White colour scheme, and that was fine by me! I didn't bother buying anything from the Armoury at first though, save for Buck's voice in Firefight. Everything in life is better if Nathan Fillion's involved.

Oh, and Forge is back to. I'm not much of a mapmaker, but I hear it's a whole lot more intuitive this time around, and there's a huge playground to drop tanks on friends in. Good stuff.

Visually, Halo: Reach is a beautiful game. While not Unreal Engine beautiful, the game is breathtaking and even features excellent looking human character models, something Bungie is not known for. Colourful locations and gorgeous backdrops all await you on Reach, and it's quite pleasant to see a Halo title pushing the Xbox 360's limits with every kind of character, weapon, and vehicle seeing a graphic makeover. Audio wise, aside from the sub-par Noble Team voice acting, Bungie has done it again. Other voice actors, sound effects, and most certainly the music all help to not only flesh out the Halo: Reach experience, but to give it energy and life that many games just can't match.

Now, I purchased the Halo: Reach Limited Edition, which is advertised as a black box recovered from Reach containing Dr. Halsey's personal Journal and some fancy Elite downloadable armour. The ONI black box, which is a bit larger than five DVD cases on top of one another, is huge! There's a handle at the top that lets you pull the box out of its exterior case, and you'll find yourself looking at your copy of Halo: Reach in a black DVD case, not green; a nice little touch. Inside is the Elite armour downloadable token, the Spartan Recon Helmet downloadable token (available with all retail copies of the game in its initial run), the manual, and of course the game itself. I couldn't help but notice the lack of a journal, however, and that's when I realized that the game's case was actually sitting in a removable tray.

Removing that tray revealed the true treasure of the Halo: Reach Limited Edition, and I simply stared in awe for well over two minutes completely dumbstruck. If you're reading this review, you no doubt own various collector's editions of something, and you know that they all contain cool items or extras from whatever game or movie they're for. What I was looking at under this tray was a black bubble wrapped package with an official ONI seal, with a handwritten note on top. It was then that I realized I was in for something very, very special. Not only was this collector's edition going to present me with cool stuff, but it was going to be done in such a way, with such care and attention to detail, that Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie wanted me to believe that I was holding a very piece of the Halo universe.

And that's what this package contains: authenticity. The handwritten note explains that this is all that remains of Halsey's documents, with a list of contents on the back. The back of the black bubble wrap has a sign-out label with instructions on it. Once I carefully pealed back the ONI logo, there it was, Halsey's journal, full of handwritten information spanning decades and sketches made by the good doctor herself, all in this hand bound, magnetic clipped book thicker than some novels! Not only that, but the journal contains newspaper clippings of specific events, photos, medical records, a Spartan-II badge, Halsey's ID card, a map of Reach, and more. It truly is such a detailed package, that a deep fan of Halo fiction like myself approached it all with a great deal of reverence, and it's clear to me now that the marketing of the Limited Edition didn't due it justice by a long shot.

The Journal and supplementary material took me about two hours to go through, there's so much substance, and I'm glad to say, much of my issues with the story and continuity are resolved here. The journal does contain spoilers, so if you have it I recommend playing the Campaign first, but I can tell you I'll be viewing my next Campaign playthrough with a different perspective. It's not perfect, but the journal really helps set a lot of the events in perspective and nicely works it into the established fiction.

And here we have it, Bungie's swan song to the Halo universe. Halo: Reach is not just an excellent addition to the franchise, but a ridiculously well polished shooter that also happens to come in the single greatest collector's edition I've ever held in my hands. The Campaign's story isn't perfect, and Noble Team leaves much to be desired, but the gameplay and soul of the franchise are present in spades and the multiplayer component and all the trimmings are visibly the culmination of ten years of hard work and dedication by one developer.

Bungie, thank you for entertaining us for so many years, thank you for raising the bar on what we should expect from a quality shooter, and thank you for Halo. One last thing: Every Halo game always has something after the credits, so make sure you stick around. This is one very unique post-credit sequence you won't want to miss, and you'll want to keep your Controller handy.