I'm pressing on with this postage, even though my tiny attention span has now been fully filled with Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The idea behind this was to do a 'Stuff' type post scattered live over the course of my play - 'course that failed as I ended up bombing through the campaign once I'd stopped being distracted by Weekly Challenges - so anyway, I'm determined to catalogue all the new stuff, to save on a pointless post following this several months down the line.
Armour
Grenadier seemed fitting, both as a tribute to Jorge but fitting also to the mission as we were about to retake Sword Base armed with as many explosives as we could carry. I picked up as many armour pieces with a [G] in them and went to war.
New Stuff
Auntie Dot
Dot is a 'Dumb' AI assigned to Noble Team. Unlike Cortana she cannot have independent thought and improvise strategies on the fly, but she can process vast amounts of info at the same time and make accurate guesses and inform strategies. Unlike other AIs she doesn't have a human avatar, rather this series of interlaced Diamonds which can create different patterns depending on expression (similar to ODSTs Smiley-faced Superintendent, which I'll get round to reviewing!!). Dot assisted Noble all through the Reach campaign.
Dr. Catherine Halsey
If you're a Halo fan then this lady's nothing new to you, but then neither is anything in this post so I may as well carry on writing! Dr Halsey has featured heavily in wider Halo lore as creator of the Spartan-II program and their famous armour. She has even made a few visual appearances in Halo Legends, but this was her first appearance in game and it really was great to see her in action. Her data on the Forerunners, compiled by her highly experimental AI unlock the ability find and destory Halo and end the war at the hands of John-117. It was also very cool to read her Diary and have her perspective on the project and even confirm a few rumours, such as her being Miranda Keyes' mother.
Wolf-Spider
These nifty turrets defended the Forerunner base. They pop out of a shielded casing and automatically target and eliminate enemies in proximity. After taking damage they retreat to recharge and require manual reactivation. It is Noble Six's job to keep these turrets firing, in a mode similar to multiplayer's 'defend the generator' mode.
(I don't seem to be able to find a picture at the moment, so I'll try and get one in Theater mode in the game and upload it soon)
Data Storage Unit
This unit contains the UNSCs most important weapon - Cortana. I've been replaying Halo 1 and it's clear how essential she is, without her knowledge and abilities Halo would have fired and all life in the galaxy would be dead. Cortana was able to split her programming in two, with one half working on studying Forerunner technology with the other stationed on the Pillar of Autumn. Noble Six takes the package and prepares to deliver it to Captain Keyes.
Type-38 'Tyrant' Anti-Aircraft Cannon
These bad boys crop up in the campaign quite often too, usually as priority targets. These powerful cannons are capable of keeping even UNSC frigates at bay and it is your job as a Spartan, to take them down. Usual method is to beat your way past all the infantry guaring it, lob a grenade into the middle and then run away to watch the pretty lights as it blows up Scarab-style!!
ok, that's probably enough, but I'll quickly cover an armour ability too if I may.
Drop Shield
Very similar to the Bubble Shield of Halo 3. This piece of equipment is a prototype carried by UNSC forces. Unlike the Bubble Shield this version does take damage and will eventually deactivate after enough of a pounding. The Drop Shield does buy you time to hela yourself without having to find a medpack, which is it's key advantage over Armour Lock. I use it most for my favourite game of 'keep the NPCs alive' - which adds to the tension of the game I think.
Campaign
That was a lot of new stuff so I'll keep this one brief (I've covered most of it already). Noble Team is assigned to Sword Base to destroy it in case any vital intel falls into Covenant hands. However once they get there they get mysterious directions from an unknown source. Once in the base they find an underground transport that takes them to Halsey's lab. They defend it until all the key data can be downloaded into Cortana before taking her from Halsey ready to get her offworld. Jun takes Dr Halsey to CASTLE base and that's the last we see of him, so who knows maybe he got clear of Reach in time? Seeing as he's alive I haven't decided whether to get his voice for Firefight!!
More soon - and they'll probably get longer!!
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