Halo Stuff

Well this is just q quick post to share with you some Halo news and some of what I've been up to Halo wise as well.

You may well have seen the new revealed box art for the game above me. It's exciting to see a more official cover for the game, which in some ways still doesn't seem real. Well I've gleaned a few snippets of new things featured in this game, which are...

Spartan Ops - A replacement for Firefight mode these are co-operative missions which will be released as free DLC with new cutscenes following the lives of the Spartan IVs (above) who dwell on the new ship UNSC Infinity. I don't know much more than that but it looks like this game definitely packs vaslue for money and is linking story more with co-op as the standard multiplayer fits in with the battle training regimes of the new generation of Spartans

Forward Unto Dawn

This announcement is very exciting, a new live-action series for Halo, intending to bring new fans into the genre, this follows the life of a young UNSC cadet, his meetings with the Master Chief and his career through the human-covenant war up to the new era of Halo. Looks good

Oh and there's a new animated web series on Halo Waypoint at the moment but I haven't had time to check it out properly - anyway, more about what I've been up to now.

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

I bought this as it links in with 'Glasslands' a current Halo book, which is a pre-cursor to Halo 4. The book details the recruitment of the Spartan-IIIs, now famous due to Noble Team's exploits on Reach and the abduction of Kurt-051 to train them. It also details the final days of the Covenant as the Elites and Brutes fall on each other, which made it confusing for me as the Elites are still attacking the humans!! The Spartans while training on the hidden world of Onyx encounter a dangerous Foreruner threat that gets Dr Halsey, acting out of selfish interest to protect 'her' Spartans and uncover more data, and a horde of Covenant running to a foe capable of destroying them both!

Well worth a read, especially as it leads into the new game via Glasslands.

Halo: Cryptum

I bought this, well because it's cool! Details on the Forerunners have been scarce until these books detailing their final days have come out and I could not resist getting my hands on them. I initially found the Forerunner society and history bewildering but got sucked into a compelling story of betrayals and intrigue. Most interesting to me was that humans were once almost as powerful as the Forerunners and were allied with the San'Shyuum (prophets), more than that they were able to defeat the Flood on their own. With the help of two humans a young rebellious Forerunner awakens the Didact a powerful warrior, who causes a shift in the power of the Forerunners, but it may be too late - the Flood is returning...

Again, well worth reading!


So that's it for now - if I get any more Halo books I'll be sure to let you know about them!

Star Wars: Agent of the Empire - Iron Eclipse

You're going to be getting a few of these in the near future as I catch up on my general backlog, but then I am cutting down on my overall comics consumption so enjoy them while they last!!

Agent of the Empire is a new series following the adventures of Jahan Cross and agent for Imperial Intelligence rooting out corruption and deceit with a selection of handy gadgets and contacts in his hourneys around the galaxy - this story sees him following a lead into the independent Corporate Sector to uncover a plot that threatens the entire galaxy.

New Characters

Jahan Cross
Species: Human
Sex: Male
Occupation: Imperial Intelligence Agent








Jahan Cross joined the Empire as soon as he was able, after seeing the devastation caused by the Clone Wars and the corruption of the Old Republic he believe the Empire would give stability and peace to the galaxy. As an intelligence agent he rooted out corruption among senior Imperial officials among other assignments.

Armand Isard

 Species: Human
Sex: Male
Occupation: Head of Imperial Intelligence






OK well not exactly a new character but for me it was the first visual appearance of this character, the father of legendary New Republic era villain Ysanne Isard. He is the head of Imperial Intelligence and therefore Cross's boss.

Iaco Stark

 Species: Human (Cyborg)
Sex: Male
Occupation: Criminal








Stark was once famous for causing the 'Stark Hyperspace War' in which a nanovirus caused Republic warships to malfunction and crash. After hiding away in the Corporate Sector he fused his body with a droid and created another virus that could turn all droids to his command, with the ability to turn the millions of mechanical servants of the galaxy to his power Stark planned to take on the galaxy one more time...

New Droids

IN-GA 44

"Inga" was a Human Replics droid modified for combat and subterfuge and assigned to agent Cross. Inga lacked the usual synthskin coverings of HRDs and instead masqueraded as a protocol or assistant droid but was fully capable of nusing her retractable blasters at any given opportunity.

New Vehicles

Well not all are new but  this series marks the first visualm appearance of vehicles used by 'Espo' security forces in the Corporate Sector

GX12 Hovervan

 










 This is a standard personnel carrier used on planets by the Espo security forces.


JX40 Jailspeeder

This vessel is used by Espo forces to transport prisoners quickly from the scene of a crime to a local detention centre. It is also used for riot control.

SX20 Patrol Airskimmer

Another patrol vehicle used by Espos it carried a pilot and a gunner rapidly to the scene of any distress. 


K-222 Aero Interceptor
 








 A atmospheric vehicle powered by powerful repulsorlifts this vehicle was designed to pursue targets and intercept them before they left the planet's atmosphere.

Ambassadorial Shuttle

 










Apparently Imperial Ambassadors get access to flashier vehicles than the usual Lambda shuttles, or maybe the corrupt Imperial Ambassador was using creds gained by getting in with the Starks. 

New Technology

Parawings

No agent is complete without his gadgets. Cross took these from Experi-Tech on Coruscant, they were designed to help TIE pilots who bail out in atmosphere.  

Map

My usual contribution - it starts from Wayland where Cross is taking out a corrupt Imperial, finding his lead that takes him to the Corporate Sector. 

Story

Jahan Cross is an Imperial Intelligence agent sent into the Corporate Sector to trace down a plot involving the Stark family. Quickly finding out that there is much more going on he is framed for murder and has to go to the bottom of the plot which involved Iaco Stark, thought dead involved in a plot to hijack the galaxy's droids in a bid for power. .

Blogga's Video Game Diary - 3/5/12

 Well I've had another chance to play Gears of War 3 with my mate, playing it the only way it truly can be played, in the dark, with the TV as the only source of light available and that only showing a dark cave full of creepy monsters about to attack you!

Diary

As I've said I've been busy, though I've made some more progress in Assassin's Creed as well, I'm focusing on getting up my Multiplayer skills to unlock more of the Templar storyline, which is quite interesting, getting some nice glimpses into Templar history and ongoing projects while I'm at it.

But on with Gears...

New Enemies

Shrieker

 









These nasty creatures are capable of flight, emit a nasty shrieking noise as their name suggests, and like many locust creatures explode on death. These beasts defend Queen Myrrah of the Horde and repeatedly harrass Delta Squad as they cross the Deadlands and other territories to investigate the secrets Dom's father left behind.

Gas Barge

These bloated beasts play a key role in Act 2. The Savage Locust are now living above ground and use the strange gaseous creatures as a way of moving troiops and equipment around the Deadlands and also as attack vehicles. The Gears hijack one of these beasts to take a shortcut across Locust territory.

Tempest

This massive beast is the mount on Queen Myrrah who leads the remaining Locust forces that aren't savage or lambent. It seems to be a huge beetle capable of carrying the Queen and protecting her with armoured legs and wings. It is also capable of igniting things with it's breath, such as the gas barge Marcus hijacked!!

Corpser

Well not a new creature really, but the addition of young Corpsers was a great gameplay moment. As the Gears treck across the Deadlands they notice the sand moving, suddenly from out of the sand a claw bursts, attacking anything near it. This is revealed to be a juvenile Corpser, many of which jump out at Delta Squad on their journey. As they enter a cave they find tiny baby corpsers abut the size of a dog, but they are soon defended by their full size mother, who they have to take out on foot!

Story

Marcus and co regroup with Anya  and other survivors from the destroyed ship. Finding Prescott mortally wounded he reveald that Marcus's father is at a hidden base called Azura, but the information he gives them is encoded. Sending Anya and Sam to secure the survivors Marcus and his team head across the Deadlands to Anvil Gate base to get more help, running into plenty of trouble along the way!!

Don't know when there'll be more Gears so enjoy it while it lasts!!

SF at the Movies - April/May '12

I'm doing a double post to give myself a bit of breathing room for the big catchup - I think most April movies are still out so it's ok to post I think!!

Battleship

  Lockout The Divide Avengers Assemble Iron Sky Men in Black III Phew! Quite a lot! More in June!!