Spartan vs. Scorpio III : Unexpected Visitors

     The window-washer gazed disapprovingly at what he thought to be a BASE jumper, hurdling down the building he was scrubbing.
     "Bloody stuntmen," he commented in his British accent, "They always get the attention. They leap from buildings and get the girls while I stand here on this suspended platform and wipe the pigeon c**p off the glass."
     He chanced another look at the man. Suddenly, his disapproval turned to concern.
     "Pull the ripcord, you bloody loon! I don't want brain matter on the clean windows!"
     As the grumpy Brit realized there was no ripcord to pull, concern became raw horror.
     "Oh c**p." 
     The impact split one of the high tension cables holding the platform against the building. The platform was just enough to slow the Spartan to the point where he could grasp something. He quickly clenched the second cable in his armored hands and put his feet together. When he stopped sliding, he caught his breath, and clambered up to the teetering platform. 
     The British repairman spewed all the vulgar language he knew at the Chief.
     "Are you insane?! Why would you exit a building hundreds of stories above the pavement with no parachute?" The repairman gasped for air. "You almost killed me."
     The Chief ignored the nagging custodian and sought a foothold on the railing of the listing platform. He salvaged a wrench from a secured toolbox. 
     "What do you suppose your gonna do with that?" the Brit asked, dumbfounded at the sight of the Spartan. 
     The armor-clad warrior hefted the wrench back and struck the glass hard, busting it in.
     "Oh great! What is wrong with you? I just cleaned that blasted window!"
     John discarded the wrench through the window and lifted the repairman, placing him inside the full, but silent conference room. Nothing more was said. 

     Rico watched, with a new-found respect for the Chief. As the warrior dangled from his parachute, a group of phosphorescent plasma bolts danced past his side. A squadron of reconnaissance banshees was engaging the Panauan  Air Force. A G-9 Eclipse fighter streaked toward Rico. He cut away from his chute and landed atop the jet. It rolled, smacking him with its wing. An unconscious Scorpio flew like a ragdoll toward a harbor.


     Time passes as John and Rico engage the advancing Covenant in two separate locations, unaware of each other's condition. Suddenly, the two find each other on the battlefield. The UNSC had made an alliance with the Panauan military and the faction groups in the local area. 


     The Chief edged his way toward an overpass strut. He clambered down the side and took cover behind the support. Across the freeway, he noticed Scorpio had had the same idea. 
     Rico took a chance and hollered across the street.
     "Enemy of my enemy?"
     The Spartan held up a thumb, indicating a temporary truce. 
     During the week of separation, the two warriors were able to get new equipment and medical treatment. They had plenty of weapons and ammo. 


     The two discussed a battle plan. They would commandeer Covenant Ghosts and make their way to a UNSC controlled area housing a harbor and an airport. They would then make their way to a Covenant Headquarters at the Panauan Commercial Airport. The rest of the details were worked out with UNSC cartographers.


TO BE CONTINUED...

Spartan vs. Scorpio: The Battle Continues

In the previous post, Master Chief and Rico Rodriguez fiercely argued their influence in the war on the Covenant in Panau. They did not trust each other and leapt from the building, ending the chapter. Now the Chief and Cortana search above a civilian city in a stolen banshee for their foe.


          "I see no trace of him, Chief," Cortana reported. "The trail of flaming debris ends about one click North of here."
          The banshee glided past a skyscraper with an angled summit design, one of the tallest buildings in the city. Its smooth, purple contours reflected brightly off the windows of the building.
          Suddenly, a black jet moving in the opposite direction screamed past their banshee, initiating an evasive roll to John's left side.
          "What was that?" John asked in a surprised, but still monotone, expression.
          "Standby...It's an F-33 DragonFly. Probably Scorpio."
          "Let's check it out."
          The alien aircraft performed a partial backflip and rolled over into a horizontal state, now flying in the opposite direction.
          "Where is that jet-"
          "Missile Lock!"
          The Chief dove sharply and pulled up and right at the last second, but the pursuing missile was not so quick to pull up. A tremendous explosion ripped an empty tour bus in half, and turned the intersection the missile collided with into smoldering rubble.
          Then it was John's turn. He spun around and targeted Rico's jet. A barrage of plasma bolts shredded the DragonFly's right wing, melting it to slag. The jet began a rolling nosedive toward a warehouse. Rico bailed out of his plane just seconds before it obliterated the propane storehouse. Hundreds of gas-filled canisters erupted in all directions, miraculously hurting nobody, but giving a beautiful fireworks show.
          Then, a loud metal-on-metal grinding noise emanated for a split-second from the banshee's right rear stabilizer. Rico was reeling in. He ripped the cockpit of the banshee open and grabbed the Chief. He tried to pull the pilot out, but found him surprisingly heavy.
          Scorpio had a new idea. He tethered the Chief's back to a nearby building, then watched victoriously as the Spartan was yanked out of the craft and swung toward a building. A beautiful blue glow caught his attention - a surprise from the Chief.
          "AH, C**P!"
          At the last possible second, he fell from the banshee, watching it explode into glorious blue flames. He then launched a grappling hook at the building he tethered the Chief to, in time to see him rappel through a window. He had sliced the cable with an energy sword and swung from it like a vine.
          Rico riddled the window adjacent to it with a sub-machine gun and it burst into an uncountable storm of shards. The Spartan simply stood, at some variation of parade rest, with his hands crossed behind his back.
          Just as Rico began to speak, the Chief pulled his own M7 caseless SMG and waited for what he knew Rico would do.
          As John expected, the grappling hook came to grab the weapon from his hand. He then revealed his left hand with another blue ball in it. The hook grabbed it, and loyally returned to Rico.
          "Fetch." John bluntly remarked.
          They both waited for the grenade to detonate, shredding Rico's left arm, but to their surprise, this never happened. Instead, the grenade stopped glowing, its adhesive quality repealed. It simply bounced to the floor - a dud.
          Both warriors stood, dumbfounded, for several seconds, switching their gaze from the dud grenade to each other, then back again.
          Rico broke the silence. He launched the hook again at the Spartan, who appeared off-guard. But to his surprise, it was dodged. The Chief grasped the tether, which was spinning wildly in the air, and pulled Rico, who tripped. He blasted his SMG at the sprawled Scorpio, but his foe rolled and sprung to his feet.
          With a new cable, he whipped the Master Chief, cracking his gold visor. The seven-foot mass of armor stumbled backward, but regained his balance. He deployed the energy sword, thrusting it toward Rico, grazing his left side. The Chief's enemy hollered in pain and charged him, the impact making him lose the advanced weapon. They both crashed through a window and plummeted to the Panau soil.
          Rico tried to launch a cable, but his grapple system was damaged from a hit from the energy sword he did not know about. The half-ton Spartan fell much faster than him, so he deployed a parachute when the Chief was no longer in reach.
          John was in serious trouble. His jetpack damaged from the cable Rico had shot through it earlier, he desperately searched for something to break his fall.


To be CONTINUED.

Who Would Win? Chief or Rico?

MASTER CHIEF vs. RICO RODRIGUEZ

NOTE: Videos may not appear on portable smart devices.

 

 Who Would Win? Master Chief from the Halo Series or Rico Rodriguez of the Just Cause Series?

 

 

           This would be an interesting battle. First, I will explain each character's strengths.

 

 

MASTER CHIEF

 

• John has faced countless hordes of alien threats with superhuman ability.
• John is literally a super-soldier. He can hit harder,  jump higher, and run faster than any other human.
• John has defeated the strongest alien leaders in the universe, such as the Prophet of Regret (who Master Chief literally mounted and punched to death), and the Diadact.
• Cortana can assist Chief in a variety of ways, such as computing, controlling technology, and she is a database. She can alert Chief to things he is unaware of.
• Master Chief has access to a variety of Armor Abilities to assist him in combat.
• MJOLNIR Armor and Heads Up Display.
• Moments like the following prove Chief is a boss...

 

 

 

 

RICO RODRIGUEZ

 

• Rico is an experienced parachutist. 
• Rico has a grappling hook launcher on his arm which he can use to tether things together, move to and latch onto objects, attach enemies to things or pull enemies to him, climb, and pull himself along on his parachute.
• Rico has a lot of experience with boarding, operating, and walk/hang/shooting from any vehicle he can find.
• Rico can swim.
• Rico has access to a Black Market.
• This video shows some crazy feats of Rico Rodriguez in gameplay.

 

 

 

SHARED SKILLS

 

• Both characters are skilled in boarding and operating vehicles, but the characters handle vehicles differently.
• Both characters have a strong ability of surviving incredible injuries and still being able to fight.
• Both characters have assassinated several enemy leaders.
• Both characters have an advantage fighting up close and personal.
• Both characters have access to a wide variety of weapons. 
• Neither of the characters quit.

 

COMBAT

 

 

A scenario unfolds between Chief and Rico.

 

The scene: Panau Islands, 2557.

 

     The beautiful Panau Islands are free from the Panay dictatorship, but they have a new problem. The Covenant Storm group who broke away from the Arbiter have taken over Panau. Master Chief and Rico have been separately eliminating the force, but they see each other as a threat.

 

     Rico swoops into the city in a large airplane. He bails out of it and deploys a parachute, sending the uninhabited plane smashing into a deserted tower. He lands atop a skyscraper.

     Master Chief drops in using an ODST insertion unit. The pod crashes down on a building near Rico's. The door hisses and pops off, breaking a window of a nearby skyscraper. The Chief steps out, wielding two Magnums.

     Rico spots the Chief and dives off the edge of his skyscraper toward the adjacent one. Deploying a parachute, he can no longer see his foe. 

     The Chief leaps from his building and peppers Rico's parachute, collapsing it. He reaches Rico and, still falling, grasps Rico by the arm. John activates his jetpack, crashing through a window with Rico.  Activating his headlamps, he began to interrogate the coughing Rico.

     "Who are you? You've been blowing up everything on these islands. I thought that was the Covenant's job."

     "I've been killing as many of these freaks as you," Rico replied, angrily. "I am Rico Rodriguez. I saved these islands from an evil dictator named Panay a couple hundred years ago. Now who, or what, are you?"

     The Chief thought for a second before replying, "That's classified."

     "How am I supposed to know you aren't one of those alien things?" Rico rebutted.

     "I've been hunting the Covenant for several years. First they attacked Harvest and Reach, then they made it to Earth after I destroyed the first Halo weapon. After Halo was activated-"
     John noticed the puzzled expression on Rico's face.

     "Look, I have a history with the 'alien things' that you know nothing of Rico. I plan on keeping it that way."

     "If you're on my side, why did you shoot at me?" Rico argued, untrustingly.

     "You jumped and deployed your parachute to escape me. With you blowing up half the area, I don't know whether you are hostile or not Rico."

     Rico got loud. "Look, Mr. Classified, I'm trying to save Panau like I did before."

     "If you are attempting to liberate Panau, why are you blowing half of it up and killing all of its residents in the process?!"

     "That's it!"

     Rico had had enough. He shot his grappling hook at the Spartan, but it was deflected by a Promethean Shield. Rico threw a grenade in the Chief's direction and leapt from the window they had shattered moments earlier. John kicked the grenade and it detonated outside of the building, shattering several more windows.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

Halo 2 Anniversary?!

Is Halo 2 Anniversary legit?

Boss Poster

Is it true that 343 will launch H2 Anniversary in late 2014? Halo 2 remastered would be tight for so many reasons.

First, it would look excellent. The new capabilities for graphics using XBOX One will give a greater image and better frames-per-second, giving much sharper quality. We have already seen this in the Halo for XBOX One trailer. The switch may or may not provide advantages, though. With the first Anniversary Edition, the original game engine was used to make the game, so they may be limited when it comes to visuals.

Second, the characters will be beast. I can't imagine what the Arbiter would look like! I hope they keep grunts looking like Halo 2 through Reach grunts and not the new Halo 4 Storm model.

SMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dual Wield would return, the trademark of Halo 2!!!!! I miss dual wield.

Halo 2 had tons of fun glitches, such as the Pelican glitch, and super-bounces. The jump height was crazy, and falling damage was gone. In Outskirts, you can wander the whole map on the rooftops.

Legendary in Halo Reach was like Heroic in Halo 2. Halo 2's Legendary difficulty was deserving of the title legendary.

Interesting Fact: Skulls actually exist in the original Halo 2.

Halo 2 had a feel to it that many Halo games could not top. It was a revolutionary game for 2004, held an epic, detailed story line, and should definitely be remastered like they did for Halo CE. I hope they keep the same gameplay engine and new/old graphics switches like the first Anniversary edition, if they decide to remake it.

Halo 2 was one of the best Halo games, and deserves to be enjoyed again on the newer systems.

Do you believe the rumor that Halo 2 Anniversary Edition is under development? There will be a poll.

The Best of Halo 2 - PART ZERO - INTRO

Halo 2 is great for several reasons:

-Gameplay (smooth play, fun, and stuff like dual-wield)
-Story (well-thought out story, great link to past events, and 2 stories that meet later in the game)
-Incredible moments (Funny, heroic, and surprising events unfold in Halo 2)
-Deleted content (It's amazing how much effort was put into Halo 2)
-Character personality (Even random marines and covenant have personalities)
-Humor (Some very funny things are said in Halo 2)

I will attempt to split these ideas into posts as I get the chance.

The Best of Halo 2 PART ONE - CAMPAIGN PART ONE

In my opinion, Halo 2 was the best of the original three Halo games, and possibly the best of Bungie's career. I will write multiple posts explaining why Halo 2 was, and still is, so great.

WARNING: CONTAINS SEVERAL SPOILERS

CAMPAIGN


Cairo Station

The campaign begins on a UNSC space installation called Cairo Station (also the name of the first level). After an armory officer informs the player of the Mk. VI armor, and a small ride with Johnson, the Chief, in body armor, walks out with Sergeant Johnson, dressed in a white uniform, into a room filled with camera drones and cheering marines. When the admiral is met, something funny happens between Chief, Johnson, and Cortana. The Admiral also awards Johnson a medal. I noticed that Johnson is currently wearing a purple heart medal, meaning that he was injured in previous combat. The Admiral has a purple heart medal as well, and a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is worth noting. The medal Miranda Keyes recieves is for her father Jacob Keyes, who was lost in a Flood attack. The beginning cutscene ends at 3:30.

The second part of the video is at the end. Cairo station was borded and Master Chief held off the Covenant forces. They get report of a bomb and eventually find it in a room full of Covenant troops, mainly elites. Watch what happens after Chief exterminates the Covies.

By the Way, the elite in the gold armor is Thel Vadam, the soon-to-be Arbiter. He is being punished for being a supposed heretic to the Covenant. The grunts can be heard screaming "heretic."

Outskirts

The mission Outskirts is one of my favorite. The beginning cutscene is great, and was originally supposed to be something different. The original opening cutscene follows.

The deleted cutscene (which I think Bungie should have used) fits in right after some familiar dialogue from the published scene.

The level outskirts is so great and so extensive, that I might make a whole post about it, so I might explain it another time.

I will get into more detail about Halo 2 when I can, and may update this post with more information.

Game Mode: Infection/Flood

Infection/Flood

Infection has been a largely loved game mode in Halo ever since its introduction in Halo 3 in 2007. It is, in my opinion, a mode that can bring hilariously fun moments, especially when the rules are tweaked.

In infection, or the new twist called flood (modeled after the franchise's parasitic outbreak from the original trilogy), the objective is simple. For the uninfected survivors, the objective is to fend off the onslaught of the infected until time expires. For the infected, the objective is to slay the survivors. 

The factor that makes the game different is that teams are not forced even. One player of the group is selected as the infected or flood. The rest of the players are uninfected. The zombie or flood is given only an energy sword  (or flood claw depending on the game) to use. In later installments, (Halo Reach and Halo 4), the infected also gets an armor ability. The uninfected get an armor ability as well, but it is usually different than those available to the infected. The survivors get a shotgun for close-ups and a magnum for long-distance head shots (an insta-kill on zombies).

The game becomes increasingly difficult for the survivors for every kill the infected gain, because those killed by the infected become infected. The best way to prevent the tables from being turned is to cooperate with teammates and protect fellow survivors. For infected, they should attack stragglers in the beginning. 

Bulltrue

The best thing about infection or flood is the intensity and fear that the infected bring. As the number of infected rises, the level of fun follows suit. 

Now. I mentioned rule tweaking. This is a game-changer. It is fun to give the infected super speed or super-bounce jump height. I played a custom infection mode with friends and was infected. I chased them in Halo 3 on the map Sandtrap (the one with the elephant vehicles). They were in a warthog and I was bouncing after them with cheetah speed.

Being the uninfected can be fun as well. Working with teammates and getting zombie killing sprees is great. The feeling of being chased by a sword-wielding enemy in Halo is unmatched by many zombie-oriented video games.

I would like to hear about any great infection or flood memories in the replies.

The UNSC Warthog

UNSC

The Warthog

The UNSC's primary vehicle is the "Warthog." It is a highly durable and reliable form of transport for troops and a great vehicle for defending or attacking a target. The Warthog takes skill to operate, as it is easy to roll over, but a skilled driver can carry out their mission with great efficiency.

The Warthog's most basic kill, but sometimes the hardest to execute, is the splatter, in which the driver runs down a pedestrian foe.

The Warthog can be outfitted differently, allowing it to perform various roles. These variants include:

Chain-gun/Machine-gun (default)

Gauss Cannon

Multiple Launch Rocket System (guided)

Troop Transport

Warthog Base (no mounted weapon system)

The following video shows an in-depth description of the Halo 4 Warthog, featured in Forza Motorsport 4.

Warthogs have been upgraded through the franchise.

Very hilarious occurrences never would have happened without the Warthog.

This is called boarding or hijacking a warthog.
Once on Metropolis in Halo 2, I had some fun with an elite. We continued to rip each other out of a Warthog. It was really funny.

Fun Facts:

• Warthog has a functional horn that can be used to get marines into your hog.
• Warthogs have the ability to power-slide, allowing more stable turns and less flipping/rolling.
• Warthogs can survive tremendous falls.
• In Halo Reach, the driver gets an award every time the gunner kills a foe.
• Warthogs can be carried underneath a Pelican.
• The Covenant can hijack and operate the Warthog's driving, passenger seat, and mounted weapon.
• In Halo CE, the person riding shotgun actually rides in the !st Person Point of View.

Warthogs can be armored using 2 barricades. I know this is a mongoose, but the video is really good.

This is a nice warthog one from Halo 3.

The warthog is able to provide many combat roles due to its durability and adaptability. It is extremely useful, accessible, and fun to drive. Personally, I feel that the driving can be difficult to work with at some points, but I really enjoy driving warthogs.

Glitch: Halo 2 Pelican Multiple Glitch

 This is probably the craziest glitch I have ever experienced, let alone heard of. 

The mission "Metropolis" from Halo 2 (one of the best Halo games), starts off normal, but holds a large surplus of insane glitches and intentional Easter eggs. Though, out of all glitches in the mission, this is the best. It is a chain glitch - it leads to other glitches. This is the glitch:

- Two Pelicans enter the game at a point after a large firefight with some wraiths. One pelican carries a tank,          while the other carries reinforcements.

- Climb the second overpass (closer to the objective building). The pelican with the Marine reinforcements

         will hover above it.

- Wait until the Marines begin to jump out. When this happens, jump up to the cargo hold door and hit the

         X button. GLITCH HINT: Sometimes placing a warthog under you makes the jump easier to pull off.

- When in, the pelican will leave. The Marines may or may not get back on.

----- This is a glitch within a glitch: If on 2-player split-screen co-op, one player will sit normally, while the 

         other stands on the seats with his head through the grated roof, arms spread. This is not a joke. 

- The Pelican will fly for a while, leave the combat area, then start a weird upside-down barrel roll and crash.

-The player will eventually be ejected from the Pelican to find another odd circumstance - invisible walls.

-The player will wind up, either standing above water or over ground (the location varies between the water 

         and land). The Pelican spins on what seems like an axis point, rotating and rolling randomly.

----- Yet another glitch! If the player walks up to the pelican, the action text reads: "Press X to flip 

         Banshee." Banshee?!

-As if things couldn't get any weirder, the pelican can eventually splatter the player if standing near its ballistic

         spinning action.

What is this? Is the pelican ride a glitch or an Easter egg? What about the other weird occurrences? Did they animate the pelican to a point where it leaves the field of vision and just forget about deleting the pelican later? I'm going to leave a poll up; I want to hear what you think about this charade.

By the Way: I have completed this glitch numerous times. It is easy, fun, and the player barely has to do anything. It may take a few tries with the jump, so don't pout if the pelican leaves; just restart the checkpoint.

This is a well made instructional video of the glitch. Enjoy the craziness of Halo 2's Pelican glitch.

Grunts: Main Infantry

This action media is courtesy of Gruntipedia

GRUNTS

 

 

Grunts are one of the funniest things about Halo. These plump little aliens run around bellowing at the combat zone in a frenzied panic, unsure of what to do next.

 

Grunts are known as Unggoy in the Covenant language. They are very strange and, though very simple, they are not so easily understood. Grunts are normally led by an elite in a squad, as seen in the next image, but if that elite leadership is eliminated, most grunts enter a psychotic state of mind where they do one of two things. The most common is running around screaming their lungs out and flailing their arms above their heads. The less common is when a grunt or group of grunts will arm two plasma grenades and charge toward the enemy party in the same awkward manner, hoping to blast away their adversary with them. A suicide-grunt can be seen in the second image following.



Individually, grunts are barely more threat to a fully healed Spartan than a bag of flour.

But a pack of well-trained grunts with an elite at command can be a huge threat.

The grunts just have to be sure they can protect their leader to avoid chaos.

Halo Grunts have evolved on a large scale over the course of Halo's twelve years of action. The most drastic change has to be between Halo Reach and Halo 4, shown in depth in the second image.

Grunts breath methane through a gas mask shown below.

Some grunts have been known to completely break down, violently shaking with their hands over their face, hoping that if they can't see the danger, it will go away. This is the cowering stage. This could possibly be the worst position for a grunt to be in: standing in place, hands over face, out in the open, during a firefight between the UNSC and their own Covenant forces.

Some grunts have been known throughout the series to sleep on duty. This has happened in almost every game.

Some of the things grunts say hilarious things during combat situations. This video, by Cazmoldy, shows some of the things.

 

A large amount of gut-busting media has been centered around grunts. Some of the grunt- focused comedy follows.

 

 

 

 

Some really cool things have been designed around grunts.

This is a deleted scene from Halo 2 emphasizing the cowardly traits of grunts and, in turn, how this affects how other Covenant warriors view them. Watch how the grunts run when they get startled and the way the elite treats a running grunt.

 

 

The skull "Grunt Birthday Party" can be enabled, allowing confetti to erupt from a grunt upon a headshot, while a cheerful "YAY" is heard.

 

 



 

Sometimes, a grunt's backpack gets knocked off during battle, and they go flying around the map like a balloon that was released before being tied. It looks hilarious. This happens in Halo: Reach. In Halo 3, the backpack just falls off.  Look at seconds 11 and 12 to see a flying grunt who lost its backpack.

 

 

Grunts are capable of few combat roles due to their physique and combat style. They can hold only small arms, such as plasma pistols, needlers, plasma rifles, spikers, and on occasion, fuel rod cannons. They are only capable of driving ghosts, but that is about it with vehicles, except for Wraith gunning. Grunts have always been the clowns of the Halo series in a good way, and I am almost

always happy to see them plodding around.



 

For a more in depth explanation about Unggoy, visit Halo Nation. http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Unggoy