"Report a la bug. (That's French for bug report)." Halo 3 Linkorama.

November 28, 2007 11:55 AM

Halo 3: Easter eggs, including the excellent Red Vs Blue in-game dialog easter egg; the RvB Halo 3 beta initiation; 3D images and how-to (dig out your glasses); achievements, ranks, armor, skulls, and campaign scoring explained; Bungie's favorites (videos, pics, maps, game variants to download to your 360)... and that grenade stick.
posted by nthdegx (22 comments total)

Copyright at the end says "1985-2001". Am I really this late to the party that I've never played a 22 year old franchise?
posted by DU at 12:09 PM on November 28, 2007

That's probably generic MS copyright statement.
posted by Mister_A at 12:22 PM on November 28, 2007

I thought this was amusing.
MASTRCEEF
posted by JBennett at 12:54 PM on November 28, 2007

I didn't know this until just the other day, but there's a list of Mefi XBox Live accounts on the wiki, FYI.
posted by LordSludge at 12:59 PM on November 28, 2007

I really appreciate all of the extra features they packed into this game. I haven't seen a lot of creative achievements out of the limited amount of 360 games I have been exposed to, and a lot of them in Halo 3 require you to replay significant portions of the game with new goals in mind.

Campaign Scoring is my favorite achievement related feature, because it reminds me a lot of arcade shmups and pinball games - you don't win by dicking around and going through the motions, you have to chain combos together and be on point and focused on the next sequence of events otherwise you have no chance for glory. To most people this probably sounds about as appealing as pounding sand, but it is quite rewarding when you find a recipe for success.

Due to my lack of exposure to the Halo series (passed on the original xbox and 1/2) it was also a great opportunity for me to learn quite a few things about certain weapon mechanics, specifically the energy pistol and the "noob combo" referenced in the campaign scoring article. I actually played through the entire game on Heroic without ever realizing what the fuck the energy pistol was supposed to do, turns out it was the most coveted firearm when I was replaying for the meta-game achievements.

I can't think of any modern* FPS game where I've effectively played through the campaign more than once, let alone half a dozen times through various bouts of single and cooperative play.

*anything after Quake
posted by prostyle at 1:25 PM on November 28, 2007

One of my coworkers made a page with video of the grenade stick, as well as a number of other Halo 3 Epic Moments. Have fun! (Lots of helpful reference pages, too, in case you're the last person on your block unable to find the IWHBYD Skull, for example.)
posted by rednikki at 1:27 PM on November 28, 2007

I didn't know this until just the other day, but there's a list of Mefi XBox Live accounts on the wiki, FYI.

How does one get added to said Wiki?

That is, if I can play too.
posted by Dr-Baa at 1:45 PM on November 28, 2007

Click the 'edit' link on the right of the page, and add yourself.
posted by chrismear at 1:58 PM on November 28, 2007

Looks like adding yourself to the wiki requires having a wiki account. Or finding someone who has one willing to add those of us who request it. (my gamertag is "PMS GibGirl", though I'm changing it to remove the PMS sometime soon as I'm not really active with the clan anymore)

And now, some other amazing Halo 3 action:

I thought that grenade missed..., suicidal sniper, a traffic cone's revenge, where'd that fusion core come from?
posted by evilangela at 2:01 PM on November 28, 2007

I learned long ago I dislike playing FPSs, no matter how well crafted, but I like looking at the stills I've seen of Halo -- the designs of the armor, weps and equipment fascinated me. I'd probably watch a movie based on the game -- which would surely wind up on the SciFi Channel here in the States.
posted by pax digita at 2:03 PM on November 28, 2007

All I wanted from Halo 3 was for them to turn the Covenant Carbine into an exact replica of the Halo 1 pistol, with extra green tracers.
posted by OldReliable at 2:07 PM on November 28, 2007

"One of my coworkers made a page with video of the grenade stick"

It's a different stick!
posted by nthdegx at 2:14 PM on November 28, 2007

All I wanted from Halo 3 was for them to turn the Covenant Carbine into an exact replica of the Halo 1 pistol, with extra green tracers.

Ah... you'll be wanting to put Halo 1 back in the tray then... I'm glad the pistol is actually just a pistol, myself, instead of a long range micro-rifle.

That traffic cone kill is fantastic though -- fun with physics engines!
posted by Pantengliopoli at 2:19 PM on November 28, 2007

I never played Halo cuz it looked like Doom with better special effects. Big deal. I loved RvsB tho. They made a prime time tv series about those stupid cavemen on the Geico commercials but they never made a full fledged tv series for RvsB? There's no justice in this world.

I miss RvsB. *sniff*
posted by ZachsMind at 3:21 PM on November 28, 2007

pax digita: "I learned long ago I dislike playing FPSs, no matter how well crafted, but I like looking at the stills I've seen of Halo.."

Halo 3 is purty. These YT links iz teh funz. I like watching YouTube videos of other people doing stupid things cuz it's more fun watching games like that then playing.

I reinstalled Freedom Force 2 on my machine the other day. That's more my speed, where you can freeze the action every five seconds and take fifteen minutes plotting out your next move, all the while spinning the camera around going 'ooh' and 'ahh' and 'that's cool.'
posted by ZachsMind at 3:36 PM on November 28, 2007

I never played Halo cuz it looked like Doom with better special effects

No, no, you got it all wrong.

"All Games Are Pong"

So let it be written, so let it be done.
posted by prostyle at 3:38 PM on November 28, 2007

That traffic cone kill is fantastic though -- fun with physics engines!

Bungie actually immortalized that death by adding a new kill category to the Bungie.net stats - death by debris. The image they use for it has a traffic cone.

BTW, if anyone sends me a Xbox Live FR, PLEASE include a voice message. I get so many random ones that I delete any that I don't immediately recognize if there's no voice message attached.
posted by evilangela at 3:51 PM on November 28, 2007

Bungie is also known for their obsession with physics / building a world and then creating a game in that world.

They had jumping in Marathon (pre quake days) along with rocket / grenade jumping.

Anyone who plays / played myth remembers the joy of a wight and a bunch of satchel charges.

And of course, the original Halo Jump videos with all the fun warthog launching.

*ends his I knew Bungie before they sold out line of conversation*
posted by mrzarquon at 4:25 PM on November 28, 2007

Bungie actually immortalized that death by adding a new kill category to the Bungie.net stats - death by debris. The image they use for it has a traffic cone.

I didn't know that, thanks -- I better go drop something heavy on one of my friends so I can see the stat.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 4:34 PM on November 28, 2007

Halo 3 is a very good game, but as an old PC mouse & keyboard guy, I still have problems being quick and accurate with the damned gamepad. I'm still pretty hopeless with the sniper rifle in Halo 3, and I could pull off leading headshots in America's Army (PC).

Either register an account on the wiki or metaMail me and I'll add you. I'm level 10-ish and usually play Team Slayer. Anybody feel free to add me, BTW, provided you're willing to COMMUNICATE during play. Drives me crazy when teammates won't talk -- why not just play Lone Wolf if you're feeling anti-social?
posted by LordSludge at 6:38 PM on November 28, 2007

Maybe everyone does appreciate it and I just don't ever end up in those forums, but the genius of Halo3 is the game balance. Some were quick to notice that Halo2 and Halo3 are very similar... and in many ways they are. But the key difference is the balance. Halo2 Live went through many updates that changed the weapon damage algorithms in an attempt to balance out the weapons. I predict that Halo3 will have far fewer changes - the weapons and game types in Halo3 make it much more likely that skill, tactics, and strategy are all equally important.

This is a big deal, especially since Halo really is only competing against Doom. Doom, for all it's fantasticness, never achieved this balance.
posted by ewkpates at 9:45 AM on November 29, 2007

You can't jump in Marathon. You can fall, however. And also "frog blast" which is like a nade jump.
posted by hellphish at 2:21 PM on November 29, 2007