[360] Halo Reach: Ghosts of GFF

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

Actually GAME's free delivery (the one that says it'll take 2 days) is the one you want for pre-orders. They always send things out to get to you for release day if you pre-order and since they send stuff at the early part of the week it actually often ends up arriving on the Thursday, and every once in a while on the Wednesday. The paid-for courier option is worse because they put it with a courier who is told to get it to you on release day.

O'rly?

It's been that long since I last pre-ordered something I assumed the standard shipping would get it to me mid-week. Oh well, the only difference then is the loyalty points from GAME which I guess makes them technically cheaper but I'll stick with Amazon now, since I ordered a load of other stuff at the same time and messing about with open orders tends to confuse them.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Blood Gulch and Hologram Armor Ability (WHAT) semi-officially announced for Reach:

YouTube Video

As implied, you can apparently go way outside the map (I'm thinking it's made for Invasion maybe?):



Also apparently the name of the map is "Hemorrhage" as implied by an urk comment over at H.B.O., but this is not at all confirmed.

Also rocket warthogs confirmed from this video as well.

Also announced is a Gamestop exclusive armor variant. Bungie has confirmed that this is a "chest" variant (and not the rumored "belt" option), and also that this is the last in-game marketing piece, i.e. there won't be any other armor exclusive things coming:



Heads up: For today ONLY in celebration of Bungie Day, they've unlocked flaming helmets for everybody! I might hop on for a bit later just for some screenshots or something.

Edit: Played one match online, luckily was Swords, as this made for good pic taking. I particularly enjoy this one:



What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Merchandising begins: McFarland's Halo Reach Series 1 announced, will be hitting in early September. Some retailers will have "advance" figures available in August, whatever the hell that means. More details and pictures will apparently be available next week.

Series 1 will offer the following:

Quote:

Single Figures

-Noble Six with Assault Rifle and Frag Grenade
-Emile with Shotgun, Kukri knife, and Frag Grenade
-Jorge with Turret
* Elite Minor with Needler and Plasma Grenade
* Grunt Ultra with Plasma Pistol and Plasma Grenades
* Spartan HAZOP custom (male) (olive/steel) with Assault Rifle and Frag Grenade
-Spartan HAZOP custom (male) (gold/steel) with DMR and Frag Grenade -- exclusive to Toys "R" Us
-Spartan HAZOP custom (male) (steel/steel) with DMR and Frag Grenade -- exclusive to GameStop
-Spartan Mark V [B] (male) (brick/steel) with DMR and Frag Grenade -- exclusive to Target

Figure 2-Packs

Spartan HAZOP

Spartan HAZOP custom (male) (brick/steel) with Assault Rifle and Frag Grenade
Spartan HAZOP custom (male) (blue/steel) with Shotgun and Frag Grenade

UNSC Troopers

* Light Trooper with Assault Rifle and Frag Grenade
* Heavy Trooper with Shotgun and Frag Grenade

Spartan and Elite Ultra

* Spartan Mark V [B] (male) (white/steel) with DMR and Frag Grenade
* Elite Ultra with dual Plasma Rifles and Plasma Grenade

Vehicles

* Ghost Rapid Assault Vehicle
* Warthog with Light Anti-Aircraft Gun

Pictures of a few that have been released. I didn't include all of the different variants of the HAZOP and the Mark V's; no idea why there's so many HAZOP variants, I guess because of the retailer exclusives. No other ones have been shown yet. I added just straight text links for all the figures in the OP and above if someone actually wants to see what they all look like.

I just realized not only are there way more armor variants than Halo 3, they can sell females variants of them as well now, fuuuuuck.

Noble 6


Emile


Jorge


Mark V - Male, Brick/Steel


HAZOP - Male, Steel/Steel


Edit: OP updated with all of this info, as well as the stuff in the previous post from yesterday, whew.

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This may not have been mentioned and have since lost the thread where it is mentioned, but can be found out pretty easily.

Essentially during the "Red Vs Blue Deja View" video, it shows part of Blood Gulch that has a large steel wall. After a minute or two another view is shown of that same location but that "Wall" is missing. Since then there has been some speculation on the Bungie.net forums that the new "Blood Gulch" level may available as an "Invasion" gamemode. I'll see if I can't piece together some images from the video or find the thread.

EDIT: I have gone through the video and compiled a few photos marked with the applicable identifiers.

Image 1: Picture of the wall.
Image 2: Picture of the wall from another angle.
Image 3: No Wall.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I RETURN

After some bizarre internet hijinks and modems and network cards frying and whatnot. I had internet at work yesterday, but GFF is blocked.

Update timey:

-Comic-con exclusive Halo Reach figure revealed, a blue/steel variant of Noble "7" seen here. All of the other Series 1 figures have been revealed as well, and can be found here. The Elite Ultra looks pretty neat.

-Bungie has clarified that the Gamestop-exclusive pre-order armor will never show in your Armory or count against your Armory completion % if you don't have it. Additionally, some armor will be available exclusive through Halo Waypoint based on Achivement progression from Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo: Reach. These items also will not count towards your Armory completion %, only items that you can purchase in-game with Credits that are available to everyone count towards the %. Also more hints that it will take a while to unlock everything in the Armory:

Quote:

It’s worth mentioning that there are definitely items in the Armory that are going to take weeks, months and probably even longer to acquire. Some of those things we’re going to show you on Day 1 – some of them you won’t be able to see until you’ve reached specific ranks and made certain purchases. And some of those things won’t even be available until the Community’s collective might has been harnessed.

-Achievement time; picture of all of the Achievement icons for Halo: Reach:



-There are a total of 49 Achievements, the split works to:

Campaign - 23
Firefight - 7
Multiplayer - 4
Training - 6
Player Experience - 9

-Icons seem to indicate that Campaign has ten levels, which seems to fall in-line with the previous games. On the same note, appear to be score-based Firefight achievements returning as well.
-Each Campaign mission will have it's own "special" Achievement, like If They Came to Hear Me Beg below.
-The Achievement specific details they've released so far:

* A Monument to All Your Sins (LOL)– Complete each Campaign Mission on Legendary – alone.
* Banshees, Fast and Low – Hijack a Banshee during the Reach Campaign.
* Yes, Sensei – Earn a First Strike Medal in a Matchmaking game.
* A New Challenger – Complete all of the Daily Challenges in a given day.
* Make It Rain – Purchase an item from the Armory that requires the rank of Lt. Colonel.
*If They Came to Hear Me Beg – Perform an Assassination against an Elite to survive a fall that would’ve been fatal.

-A couple of new medal specifics discussed:

*Rejection - Armor Lock and survive damage that would normally be fatal.
*Protector - Save a teammate by killing his foe.
*Showstopper - Kill an opponent while they are performing an Assassination.

-Halo: Reach Legendary box holy shit:



From urk regarding the the Legendary packaging:

Quote:

Also obscene: the amount of time spent making sure the initial unboxing experience is stellar. We wanted it to feel something like the iPhone when you opened it, with everything in it's own sculpted compartment, safe, sound, and ultra sexy.

As far as anyone knows, the regular game is packed inside the Limited Edition, which is then itself packed inside the Legendary Edition. Yo dawg I heard you like Halo something something.

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So can you use armor abilities while carrying flags now Daravon? All over that Legendary Edition.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I hope they're going to up the score needed to win in ctf games then because stopping flag carriers with jetpacks/sprint/armour lock is going to be that much harder. A decent boost from a jetpack with the flag and even if you get sniped out of the air the momentum would likely carry the flag across the rest of most maps.

Rocket Hogs look awesome though.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The video was done in a custom game; they've been very clear that you can set up things like being able to use AA's or "flag bounce" as Custom Game options if you choose, but they will not be in matchmaking. I thought that had been posted at some point in the thread, maybe not :X

How ya doing, buddy?

Fucking massive update, full Armory options revealed and more. I couldn't even bring myself to do this last night because it was too much and I was too tired. From yesterday's BWU:

-Audio is completely done and mastered for the game, and a large portion of the team is just doing playtesting. How long does it take two members of the team to complete the first level on Legendary with ALL the skulls turned on? Apparently over 5 hours:



-Confirmation that the Hologram AA works by pointing your reticule at a location and triggering it. The effect will last 10 seconds, or until the hologram is "killed." The Hologram will also use mancannons, which is awesome. Apparently Sage has a trick where he will trigger the Hologram at his feet so it stands still, then he runs in a straight line to fool opponents, which is awesome. In Campaign Hologram will fool Covenant; a specific example given is using it from behind a corner to distract two Hunters, then slipping behind them while they're going for your Hologram and getting their weakspots.

-Also confirmation from the Blood Gulch-remake reveal trailer that it was done through a custom game, which is the only reason why he could pick up the flag and fly. However the super stiff animation he had while carrying the flag with the Jetpack was a bug and has been fixed.

-Falcon is playable in Multiplayer (I can't remember if this had already been confirmed or not)

-Full Armory options revealed:


-All Armory options that will be available Day 1 that are visible immediately; What this means is that you won't be able see everything right away, presumably until you are of a high enough rank to purchase it, or at least be close to that rank. Also please note in the full image linked below the pic, there are characters and other assorted things shown; the characters are likely Firefight Voice unlocks. The weird icon things are probably Armor Effects; if I can seriously set up birthday party every time I die, that is fucking awesome.



View full picture (with more pieces than shown above) HERE.

-As previously mentioned, you will be able to unlock avatar awards by playing Halo: Reach:



-Noble 6 Helmet for your Avatar will be available to lucky attendees at Comic-Con, PAX, and GamesCom (LAME):



-The remaining 3 (of the 4) Multiplayer-specific Achievements detailed:

Quote:

Be My Wingman, Anytime – Let a teammate spawn on you 5 times in an Invasion Matchmaking game.

Skunked – Win a game of Invasion in the first phase.

What’s a Killing Spree? – Earn a Killing Spree in multiplayer Matchmaking.

-2 more Campaign Achievements:

Quote:

I Need a Weapon – Complete the 4th mission on Normal or Harder.

Your Heresy Will Stay Your Feet – Kill the Elite Zealot before he can escape during the 5th mission.

-Hints that next Thursday will be huge, and there will be screens and direct video next week as well.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by SailorDaravon

-Falcon is playable in Multiplayer (I can't remember if this had already been confirmed or not)

Also confirmed you can lock in the altitude you're at by pressing RB, which is awesome.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Is that the EVA helmet? Fuck yes. I don't give a fuck if it puts me at some kind of headshot disadvantage.

FELIPE NO

Holy shit I'm glad I booked a week off work for this. Game looks more awesome with each update.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

The armory picture also only shows the basic model for e.g. helmets. Just like the beta, there'll be little cameras and stuff you can buy to customize them further.

Daravon, you have a gaming PC now, right? Download Alien Swarm today.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I sincerely doubt anyone but me cares, but for some reason that defies description, Toys R Us is selling the Comic-con exclusive Noble 7 figure online if you're interested: Exclusive San Diego Comic Con 2010 Halo: Reach 5 inch Action Figure - Noble 7 - McFarlane Toys - Toys "R" Us

Came out to $23.87 shipped for me, and that's about half of what most people are already charging for them on ebay (cheapest I could find was $30 shipped, and most were $40+)

Additional Spam:
Big updates and news coming tonight; Bungie will be making a "special announcement" (which coincides with their hint last week about today being huge) at their event at Comic-con tonight that starts at 6pm PDT. G4 will be liveblogging the event here.

Additionally, Bungie will have "related media and assets" on bungie.net for whatever they're showing tonight promptly at 7pm PDT when the event is over. Media got to play the game recently, and although all of the Campaign stuff that was played is embargo'd until later next month, the embargo on the multiplayer and other stuff will be up as of this event since that's apparently what they're showing here. So there will likely be info available on this on other sites as soon as the event starts as well.

We know that the Blood Gulch remake will be there based on that reveal trailer, most speculation is that Forge 2.0 will be formally shown for the first time using that map. There is also a lot of scuttlebutt that there is some sort of new game mode they'll be unveiling that is completely new.


In related news:

-Square-Enix is doing a Halo: Reach Play-Arts line. For those not familiar, the Play-Arts series has been running for several years, and are basically very high quality large figures that sort of straddle the line between action figures and models. At the very least they're definetely more of something you would display on a shelf, and the two I have (both were gifts) are both really high quality. There will be (at least) 2 series; the first will be shipping this "Fall" around the game's release that will include Noble Six, Emile, and Jun. Series 2 will hit early 2011 and will include Carter, Kat, and Jorge. No more specifics available at this time, although if you can bear to watch it there's some footage of them here via a 343 interview with two S-E guys, but honestly they were so annoying I couldn't be bothered. To save you the trouble, this is what they look like:



-Halo: Reach 360 controller image leaked. I know, you're shocked. Apparently will carry a $59.99 price tag, which I think is $10 more than standard? It actually looks decent and I am a whore (and actually only have one controller per Xbox), so I will probably actually buy this.



-Along the same shocking lines, apparently there is also a $399 Halo: Reach Xbox 360 S(lim) coming the same day as the game. Only a tiny image where you can't see shit was leaked so I won't bother posting it, but it's worth noting that the system is silver (instead of black), and will apparently have some sort of Halo: Reach art on it. No further details leaked yet, this will probably be formally shown tonight.

-Greg Bear is apparently writing the first in a trilogy of Forerunner books, the first of which will be out this year. I'm not sure if this is confirmed or not yet.

-A follow-up (specifically said to not be a sequel) to Ghost of Onyx is coming from Karen Traviss and is due out next year.

-As previously mentioned, attendees get the Noble Six avatar helmet, as well as a limited edition poster:



I'll probably manage to stay up to catch the liveblog, but I'm super wiped and probably don't have it in me to update this thread tonight after the announcements, so I'll just catch everything tomorrow with the proper weekly update. Since I know everyone's deeply invested in up to the minute coverage in this thread.

...




How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by daravon

Can you please post something, anything in the Reach thread so I can make a new post and it'll bump it and be visible. They just dropped multiple huge insane fucking bombs at Comic-con and people need to see this shit, I nearly fucking fainted at seeing what Gruntopacolypse is.

daravon sucks

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

-Forge World ViDoc, grab it here: Bungie.net : Halo Reach : Multimedia . It's up on youtube as well but the quality on it's really bad for some reason.




Short version: Forge World originally started as 5 different multiplayer maps, which where then combined into one huge map. The Blood Gulch Remake (now called Hemorrhage) was one of the 5. Essentially it is one huuuuuuge world that you can Forge in. Forge itself has a bajillion more options now, as well as multiple tools to make Forging actually reasonable now, like when placing objects you can "phase" them through and basically merge them into other objects. Can also set up totally crazy shit like changing the size of teleporters so you can send vehicles through them, drop entire levels into other levels, make a Warthog the hill in a king of the hill game, etc, etc. Watch the damn video.

-Reach unboxing video, seems to be going over unboxing all the various editions, watching it now, grab it at the same link above as the ViDoc (it's the one below it). Legendary statue looks fucking awesome, way better than I thought. The console looks pretty neat, but nowhere near crazy enough for me to spend $400 on it. Something went by quickly that looks like it might come with some sort of exclusive avatar stuff (like the FFXIII console bundle did), but if that's actually true and it looks decent, I can just get that separately on ebay if need be.

-Lastly, IGN coverage of the new modes in Firefight: SDCC 10: Halo: Reach Adds Versus Firefight - Xbox 360 Preview at IGN


Firefight Versus: 2 on 2. 2 players play as Spartans, the other 2 play as Elites. For Spartans it's basically normal Firefight, for the Elites the goal is only to kill the Spartans as quickly as possible. Since the Elites have infinite lives, the tradeoff is that every time you (as a Spartan) kill one of the player-controlled Elites, you get an extra life and a huge point boost.


Gruntopacolypse: Firefight mode that works basically like the Bonus Round in ODST's Firefight, BUT ALL THE TIME. All Skulls turned on, and nothing but Grunts the entire time. I think I just fucking shit myself.

Score Attack: Not customizable at all, it's standard Firefight but the options and enemy waves are always identical, so it's set up specifically to get better score runs and to have actual leaderboards and whatnot.



Also for some reason I didn't see that one coming Skills, although God only knows what I didn't.

Also if you missed it, check 2 posts up with updates regarding the S-E Play Art Halo Reach Figures and other stuff that got merged into my previous post. What on earth is the time limit on this forum for post merging anyway, Jesus.

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Originally Posted by SailorDaravon

What on earth is the time limit on this forum for post merging anyway, Jesus.

This is a good point.

Fixed board wide.

I was speaking idiomatically.

What did you do?

Also Wired just put out this tidbit regarding the Reach console which is hilarious:

Quote:

The sounds that the machine makes are also cued to the Halo world. For instance, when you press the disc eject button, you hear the sound of the Spartan character’s energy shields charging up — music to the ears of any Halo player.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Greatly reduced double post merge threshold. It will take effect going forward.

How ya doing, buddy?

NeoGAF - View Single Post - Halo: Reach's Forge Mode Revealed

Three new multiplayer maps revealed (by accident?), including the Ivory Tower remake.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Fucking midship.

How ya doing, buddy?

Thanks for posting that Shake, only have a few minutes this morning and likely would have completely missed that on GAF. Fuuuuuck, so many updates to do tonight, and there's the BWU and other various little tidbits not posted here yet either. God damn it.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

This week's update is so fucking long I've been reading it for like 15 minutes and I'm not done. Not going to even bother trying to sum this up or update the thread tonight, will do tomorrow.

Bungie.net : Bungie Weekly Update: 07.23.10 : 7/23/2010 2:42 PM PDT

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Been hating a lot on Reach but Forge World looks great. My problem with these games is all the stat tracking. I dont have a OCD or anything but when i see my kill ratio go down or my deaths go above my kills i get weirdly anxious. Might even get this shit...

no homo

Originally Posted by Zip

I dont have a OCD or anything but when i see my kill ratio go down or my deaths go above my kills i get weirdly anxious.

Makes sense.

An arab of all people is worried about their kill death ratio. If you don't take out an average of at least 10 people when you die, Allah is not so pleased.

I was speaking idiomatically.