Halo Wars: Stuff

It's been a while since I posted about this game and even longer since it came out. Being a large-scale strategy game, there was plenty of opportunity to see a lot more of the Halo universe, despite it being set 20 years prior to the first game. Let's start with...

Characters

Captain James Gregory Cutter
Species: Human
Allegiance: UNSC
Homeworld: Reach



Captain of the Spirit of Fire and leader of the missions in the game. A recognised leader he chose the modified colony ship as his command, using it to set up bases and deliver ground units to conflicts. He bravely led the crew into unknown territories, battling the Covenant and worse...

Sergeant John Forge
Species: Human
Allegiance: UNSC
Homeworld: Earth





A charismatic leader, Forge had as many demotions as promotions in his career, though he usually had his reasons for his behaviour. Nevertheless his men would follow him anywhere and he was the leading officer on the ground for the Spirit of Fire's forces. He bravely battled the Covenant, working alongside Spartans and earning their respect.

Professor Ellen Anders
Species: Human
Allegiance: UNSC
Homeworld: Arcadia




A leading expert in xenobiology, Anders was recruited by the UNSC to study the Covenant and deployed to the Spirit of Fire as they headed to recaptured Harvest. She discovered a Forerunner relic, and after activating it, realised the Covenant would be headed to Arcadia and instructed the Spirit of Fire to follow. While there she provided support to UNSC forces, directing them to take down an advanced Covenant shield, but after the battle she was captured, prompting the UNSC to follow deep into unknown space...

Serina
Species: AI
Allegiance: UNSC
Homeworld: Spirit of Fire




Serina is the 'smart' AI of the Spirit of Fire directing the ship through slipspace and managing the operations of the ground forces providing real-time updates. She has a sarcastic personality, frequently quipping jokes even in high tension situations.

Spartan Red Team
Jerome-092 / Douglas-042/ Alice-130




These Spartans, along with Omega team, were stationed on Arcadia and fought to buy time for the civillian evacuation there. After the UNSC offensive they joined the Spirit of Fire to the forerunner world and lead the fight against the Covenant Honour Guard forces.

Ripa 'Moramee
Species: Sangheili
Allegiance: Covenant
Homeworld: Sanghelios




Once disgraced for leading a failed rebellion, Moramee was made an Arbiter to redeem himself and served the Prophet of Mercy, investigating Forerunner relics and invading Human territory. He led the Covenant forces on Harvest and Arcadia then took Ellen Anders to a Forerunner world to capture the secret weapon hidden within. When the Spirit of Fire followed, he evacuated the Prophet and stayed to fight the Humans.

Hmmm...running out of space - as we're doing characters I'll finish off with infantry units then come back for vehicles etc.

UNSC

Hellbringers







A deadly close quarters unit, Hellbringers are equipped with back-mounted flamethrowers dealing immense damage to infantry. Particularly effective against Flood units they deployed in pairs to cause maximum damage. They could modify their weapons to include napalm for a longer burn, and also use flashbang grenades to further disorient foes.

The Covenant had a few units that were modified version of existing infantry, such as suicide grunts which charged in and detonated their methane packs for a large explosion. But on an unnamed Forerunner world, the UNSC also had to contend with...

The Flood

Thrasher form
Species: Flood
Allegiance: Flood
Homeworld: Unidentified Forerunner Construct



The Flood fought with large animal-like creatures like the thrasher. About the size of an elephant it would charge in an begin physically assaulting anything in range, doing immense damage even to armored vehicles by jumping on them and 'thrashing' them with large claws and tentacles.

Units also had to contend with clouds of flood spores emitting from various flood growths and fauna, if an infantry unit wandered into a cloud it would be quickly transformed into a flood monstrosity.

There are plenty of vehicles etc. to look at so I'll leave those for another post that I'll do soon(ish!)

Doctor Who: New series, new species part 28

Who has very nearly reached it's conclusion here in the UK so we'd better get caught up on what's been happening on the new aliens front. We seem to have a lot of returning species this series, but there are one or two new faces getting in here and there.

Eknodine










These were interesting as they were a part of a dream, yet a real species plausible enough to confuse the Doctor. They were your bog standard Who villain, quick bit of CGI layered over something otherwise harmless to create thrills, but with the dual plot and that fact they might not be real it worked out well. If they'd stood on their own they'd be rubbish but as part of a larger plot they served their part well I felt. It's just a pity that the final reveal was so dreary, some conveniently psychic seeds or something projecting the Doctor's dark side.

The Eknodine were a race of creatures that had the ability to dwell within a human host, only exposing themselves through extending their eye-stalk out of the host's mouth to communicate or see. Their process of inhabiting have long life and strength to the host. To defend themselves they could emit a deadly gas powerful enough to disintegrate a life form. In the Doctor's dream their world had been destroyed and they took revenge on Earth, what happened in reality is unclear.

More Who soon.

SF at the Movies June '10

I'm shocked that I've kept forgetting about this one, but yet am still in the confines of June, I'm doing well.

And there is....nothing!!! In what I think is the first time ever there are no SF movies around as far as I can see not even a dubious thriller or naff kids flick - tell you what I'll compensate with a load of movies from the great event of the year - E3!!!

We kicked off with a cinematic trailer for The Force Unleashed II, set in the clone labs of Kamino it shows the Apprentice fighting some new enemy types and also sheds some light (or maybe darkness) on what happens after the epic end to the first game.

Video Games | The Force Unleashed II | E3 2010: Exclusive Betrayal Cinematic Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

We also had a new cinematic trailer for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood continuing the story of Ezio from the second game, not the leader of a larger group of Assassins. The trailer doesn't show any of the SF stuff, but that tends to be sealed up until the game release anyway but it's worth a watch.

Video Games | Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | E3 2010: Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

There was also a demo of the multiplayer which features a modified version of the Animus for training Templars and allows players to compete in what seems like an elaborate version of the College game 'assassins' where you are assigned a target and have to track them down and kill them, but there are also people tracking you down too.

We also got some more infro on Halo:Reach, with an in-game trailer of some Campaign action - I won't say anything until you've watched it.

Video Games | Halo: Reach | E3 2010: Campaign Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

SPACE COMBAT!!!!! I cannot wait for this!! There was also a demo vid of 'Firefight' from ODST which has carried over into this game- with more customization and air strike opportunities, it looks like a heck of a ride.

There's so much that I haven't even got around to seeing some of what I'm gonna post - Star Wars: The Old Republic has a new cinematic trailer and ther's been a ton of new videos and info, including the fact that Each player gets their own starship - cool!

Video Games | Star Wars: The Old Republic | E3 2010: Hope of Alderaan Cinematic Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

That's enough for now i think, but for more on these games, brand new releases, Kinect and the new Xbox head over to Gametrailers.com where I get all my info!!

Bounty from the Beta

Not long ago thousands of players stormed Xbox Live to do one thing: Beta test Halo: Reach. We'd been teased with information about the game, learning that the characters are largely Spartan-IIIs a group relatively unknown compared to Master Chief's Spartan-IIs. We've seen a new vehicle type, a stack of new weapons, but for the first time players got to get inside the game, testing out the multiplayer modes for the new game.

Due to a catastrophic Xbox failure I couldn't do much and only had a few days to play. While I was out enjoying the fun I was also eagle eyed and tried to spot any story content, particularly while playing Invasion a 6v6 mission.














The Spartan-IIIs on the planet Reach defend a key target...














...from the deadly Sangheili (Elites) who attack using deadly weapons such as the Needle Rifle shown here.













Their battlefield is a decommissioned UNSC Frigate, which is being scrapped...














...along with a number of other UNSC vessels to damaged or old to be of service.














The frigate is the UNSC Commonwealth, a frigate that once carried John-117 through a battle in his early days as a Spartan soldier against the Covenant.













And inside is something both sides will fight to the death for - the frigate's navigation core, containing co-ordinates to Earth.

And that's all I managed to nab, though it looks like there's plenty of fun to be had with headhunter, a similar 'defend the generator' game and many more - but what I really can't wait for is to delve once more into the Halo universe and the tragic story of Reach.

Stuff: Star Wars- Invasion

I've been talking a lot about Star Wars: Legacy on this blog, as it is the most exciting part of the franchise where everything is brand new. But that said I think I should maybe give a little time for some of the other series' currently running on Dark Horse's line. The second story arc has started, and for now I'll take you through the first story - 'Refugees'.

Invasion takes place during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion depicted in the epic 'New Jedi Order' book series. This gives us a chance to see visually what took place in the novels. The story focuses one one family - the Galfridians who are separated by the war and take different paths through the conflict.

Caled is head of the Galfridian family and also the ruler of the world of Artorias. He was a humble man and lived happily with his family, never wearing his crown or giving orders unless he had to. While Artorias was a peaceful world, Caled was a veteran of Hoth and built a secret fortress should the world be invaded. He escaped to there as the Yuuzhan Vong invaded and formed a resistance with other survivors.


Nina is Caled's wife, and Kaye is his daughter and both were captured by the Vong. Kaye killed a Yuuzhan Vong warrior who underestimated her and gained the attention of the commander of the slaveship to which they were brought. Kaye organised a resistance, but Nina was too shut down to help. Kaye rallied the prisoners against the Vong and battled their way through the ship, killing the commander. Nina joined them when she saw an explosion on the planet's surface, realizing it was her husband, alive and well. She bonded with the ship, becoming it's pilot, and taking it to rescue others oppressed by the invaders.

Finn, Caled's son is the most interesting of all because he is one of the ...

New Jedi

Finn Galfridian
Finn is rescued by Luke Skywalker when the New Republic arrives to evacuate Artorias. Luke immediately detects the boy's force ability and takes him for training at Yavin 4, where he befriends the Solo children and learns force techniques such as telekinesis. Soon after training he is called to Rychel to help the evacuation effort, he helps rally the troops and exceeds expectations when he spares the life of a defenseless Yuuzhan Vong warrior. Later he accompanies the Solos on a mission to Nar Shaddaa and retrieves a mysterious holocron containing information on Yuuzhan Vong informants, one of whom is a confidant to his father.

Lar Le'Ung
Master Le'Ung is a Pau'an (a species debuting in Episode III) and a Jedi Master first featured in this series. He is elegant like his race, carrying a cane and wielding an ornate orange-bladed lightsaber. He encouraged Finn during the conflict, but was sadly killed because he could not detect a Yuuzhan Vong warrior sneaking up from behind.




New Ships

Well a lot of these aren't new per-se, they just haven't been visually explored before. So a lot of Vong ships make their Debut here, though they were featured in novels and maybe had a picture in a guidebook somewhere.

Slaveship

A vessel designed to carry large amounts of prisoners from a planet, it descended into low orbit then captives were herded through long tubes into the cells on board. One ship, the T'sam Pah was captured by the slaves on board.


Pythea
This was an exploration ship owned by a Wookie and a Chiss. They encountered the Yuuzhan Vong fleet and attempted to warn the planet. They were boarded but fended off the attack and retaliated by ramming the ship into the fleet, severely damaging a number of ships.


The series also features the Yorik-Vec, and the return of some ships featured in classic games used as evacuation ships including the Bulwark cruiser from Star Wars: Supremacy.

New Species

Ok there aren't really many, but there are a few making their visual debut again in this series.

This race look (and may well be) human, but are much larger in stature. Trained only in the art of war this race was still utterly eradicated by the Yuuzhan Vong. Only one survivor is known, Arbeloa, who aided Kaye in the rebellion on the slaveship, taking the head of it's commander as his prize.


The Chazrach are a slave race brought by the Vong to aid them in conquering the Galaxy. They are mentioned often in the books, but this is the first time they have been seen visually. They are shorter and weaker than the Vong, but come in great number and are utterly subservient to them, making them very dangerous.


Tu-Scart and Sgauru are creatures used as siege weapons by the Vong. As well as being huge and powerful they have reflexes quick enough for them
to snatch a starfighter out of the air and can project fear, weakening the resistance of those who might attack them.



New Planets

Artorias is a key world in the story, being the home of the principal characters. It is founded on peaceful principles, similar to Alderaan and enjoyed prosperity because of this. Unfortunately this made them an easy target for the invaders. While most of the population were either enslaved or evacuated, some fighters remained and formed a resistance, sabotaging the terraforming going on on their world.

Rychel is a world we know little about other than it was unfortunate enough to be on the invasion corridor of the Yuuzhan Vong. The planet had already been subjugated when a daring rescue, led by Luke Skywalker, enabled some of the population to escape, the rest were enslaved or killed.

And this brings me to my new thing, an excuse for me to make a new Star Wars Map!!






















And that's a very rushed look at Invasion, the new arc 'Rescues' is currently hitting comic book stands as I write and the graphic novel of 'Refugees' should be on it's way soon - well worth checking out.

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 27

OK we're steaming through the new series of Who - I've delayed posting slightly, due to the possibility of a team-up with the Podcasters, but that's still in discussion so I'll bang this one out anyway.

The last three episodes were dominated by a two-parter featuring the return of the Weeping Angels, so not a tremendous amount on the new species front. Though since the Angels could move even when in stone-form, change form at will and can even talk while frozen I think you might be able to class them as a significantly changed race! Well I'll spare you the rant as they still don't fit into the 'new species' category so I'll mosy on with what we've got.

Saturnynian










While they were another in a long line of 'It's an alien' explanations that have covered up for werewolves, ghosts and even the Devil. This race actually carried it off quite well though, being in fact a fish-race with sharp teeth that sometimes show past the perception filters that give them human form- makes sense. Being fish they need water, which they can obtain by sucking moisture from people - yeah that works and they also need to convert people via biting them. The downside is they also die when exposed to sunlight - which was unexplained, unreasonable and unnecessary - do Fish do that?!

But, as the Doctor pointed out, these aren't the origin of all vampire stories - rather they create the mythos of vampires to distract from their real plan. The only problem was that their plan was bonkers and essentially contrived to give the production team a school trip to Italy. Their plan would have worked far better on a remote island, which wouldn't need sinking and they wouldn't have needed to die out, there were plenty of options, especially with the Doctor's help, cloning, searching for survivors, even that machine the Hath had. Great race, great backstory, but the plot was a bit bonkers and the desperate survivors line didn't quite fit their actions I felt.

Saturnynians were an aquatic race from Saturnyne. Once powerful they were vanquished not by enemies but by the cracks in time, which appeared in great numbers in their world. They could see through them to other planets, but could also see the Silence. Asd the cracks consumed their world they fled through the cracks to other worlds. One group landed in medieval Venice and concocted a desperate plan to save their race. But as the Doctor fought to save the humans they had captured their plan came undone and that group died out. It is unknown if there are other survivors.

Thanks for reading - more soon.

SF at the Movies - May '10

It's the start of the big summer release schedule, let's see what Sci-Fi goodness is nestling among the cinema treats this summer.

Iron Man 2
Released 03/05/10









Definitely one the 'movies of the year' - the return of Iron Man didn't dissapoint as Tony Stark comes up against the challenges of living with a machine in his chest and comes up against an inventor who can equal his creations and is also out for his blood. Tony relucantly brings Rhodie his compadre on as War Machine, his ally and become more involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury, who made a post-credits cameo in the first movie - oh and you'll want to watch the credits again this time too!

And that's pretty much it - though Geeks may enjoy Video Game adaptation Prince of Persia and comic-book movie The Losers.