Halo 4 Review 0: The Hype

So I am probably going to review the campaign of Halo 4, because I feel like it. However I will start of with a recap of everything we have been given by 343 Industries to make us excited for the game.

Forward Unto Dawn Web Series:
This was a brilliant move by 343, to create a live action web series to launch us into Halo 4. Despite the limited budget of a web series, the series used practical effects and limited CG to create a realistic world. The show took a risk by keeping the Halo action saved as a finale for the series, and instead focusing on the characters. The risk paid of, by the time The Covenant aliens start attacking we are familiar with the main cast and care for them. This was a great web series and I hope for more cool things like this in the future from Halo.

E3 Live Action/ Gameplay Trailer:
While the live action was short, it gave us a wonderful look into the world in between Halo 3 and Halo 4. We gather the UNSC is hoping to use former warships such as the Infinity to explore the universe. Basically they believed  they would somehow become a Star Trek like Federation with the war now over. The arrival of the Infinity at Requiem shatters all hopes.

This ties into the first game mission we get to witness, Chief plods through jungles. Shoots some grunts, and then fends of the new Promethean enemies. If anything this segment put to rest many fears Halo 4 gameplay would not be as good as previous Halo games.

Scanned Trailer:
Despite delving into Master Chief's past, this trailer was dull. We learned nothing really new, except that John likes his head shaven. Perhaps we were spoiled by the Forward Unto Dawn series, making Scanned a boring two minutes.

The Characters:

John-117 Master Chief Petty Officer- John seems to have gotten a new armor suit, and a bunch of new weapons. Critics like to point out that John's quiet nature hinders his characterization, and 343 has announced their plans to make him talk more. This has me kind of nervous actually, as an introvert I was able to relate to Bungie's silent heroes in previous Halo games. The moment the heroes were silent were the moments I figured they where thinking deeply on the events of the game, because those where the moments I was thinking about the game. I worry if Master Chief starts blabbing through out the game we will lose some of those moments.

Cortana- Cortana has always been an awkward character for me. Although she is the strongest character in the series, her futuristic Barbie like appearance was always bizarre. 343 did little to help this, making her more curvy. However a lot of recent Halo media implies Cortana's appearance is based of a futuristic, skin tight jump suit, like the one Dr. Halsey was wearing in Halo Legends. Plus no matter how crazy Cortana looks, her facial animation in the previews is beautiful. It really seems 343 has found some motion capture animation process which not only looks more realistic, but even begins to exit the uncanny valley. Unlike similar mo-cap processes seen in films like The Polar Express, Clu in Tron Legacy, and even Avatar, Halo 4's mo-cap seems both more life like, and less creepy.

I am also excited to see Cortana slip into rampancy, the state of madness which effects all A.I. systems after long periods of operation.

Thomas Lasky- Forward Unto Dawn pretty much sold us on this character. In the series he faced real issues and struggles. However by the end of the web series we know he has matured into an awesome alien-fighting machine. I just hope his character is as rich in Halo 4 as he was in the web series, although thanks to the web series he could be a flat character in game and we would still care for him. Plus his mo-cap animation also looks awesome.

Captain Del Rio- A jerk, all we can tell from the previews. However I do feel sorry for him seeing he signed up as captain of the Infinity probably thinking he will become a Captain Kirk like explorer, and not at the front lines of a new war.

Commander Palmer- A wise cracking woman; judging from the previews and episode 1 of Spartan Ops she is in many ways seems to be what Cortana should have been. Palmer is attractive, but not a ludicrously exaggerated blue space girl. This allows Palmer's prudish character to shine, and we get the sense the Spartan 4 program is in good hands under her leadership.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD IN THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS







Spartan Ops Episode One: Despite being available online a day before the game released, episode one is set after the campaign. This caused some mild spoilers, including the fact Lasky gets promoted to Captain (a good thing seeing Del Rio is a jerk), and the fact a city called New Phoenix was somehow destroyed during the game.

Spoilers aside we get some real cinematic nuggets, the Pelicans flying toward the Infinity are reminiscent of every time we see a shuttle fly towards the Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise. When the Pelican lands we  see a hanger a buzz with activity, not unlike Echo Base from The Empire Strike's Back. The last cool thing borrowed from other sci-fi tropes is the Spartan preparation room, full of machines which put on the bulky Mjolnir armor, not unlike Tony Stark's robot machines which put on the Iron Man suit. This showcases one of Halo's strengths, to connect to other science fiction stories, while at the same time crafting its own unique world.

Plus the cast of characters we are introduced to are great, even if very stereotypical. The Spartan team we meet in the episode seems to fit our image of a military team, they joke around with each other; yet they realize the graveness of their coming mission. One of my favorite moments was when the group started talking about Covenant refugees taking up asylum on earth, showing how the galaxy has changed post war. At the same time we find not all of the refugees are benevolent, as some sound like they are trying to start a terror campaign against humanity. Even better the group refers to the Elites by the proper name of Sanghelli, suggesting humans are interacting and learning from the few peaceful members of the Covenant.

The scenes in the Infinity showcase an advanced spaceship. To my surprise the ship A.I. for the vessel had the appearance of a World War Two aviator, a great nod to real life. I am interested to see if we learn more about the aviator A.I. in the game. We also got to see Commander Palmer's character better than we had in any previous preview.

My only gripe was how he saw no scenes involving crew member's of the Infinity being bounced about after the collision with the Covenant ship, seems odd that the Infinity just plowed through another space ship with everybody on board acting fine about it.

More Characters;

The Didact- 343 tried to keep us in the dark about the main villain, giving us some hints, but the leak of the Halo 4 source code, and now some careless reviewers has guaranteed a Didact is the villain. Questions remain however, what is his motivation? Which Didact is the villain, The Ur Didact or the Bornstellar Didact? How did he survive the activation of Halo? And why did he look so ugly in the leaked picture I saw?

The Composer- Another obscure device from the books, hinted to appear in the game.

343 Guilty Spark- Halo 3 gave us the impression the evil A.I. was dead, however in the books we learn the Forerunners had stored Spark on an equivalent to the 'Microsoft Cloud.' Spark was able to take control of a UNSC vessel after his alleged death, using it to seek for the ancient Librarian, the same Librarian who happens to be the Didact's wife... I have no clue if Spark will surface in Halo 4, although I kind of hope he does due to his 'evil C-3P0' personality.

Dr. Halsey- A fan favorite, despite only appearing outside of the books in Halo Reach and Halo Legends. She apparently shows up at the start of the story, however I have no clue what her future involvement is. Seeing her mind was cloned as the template for Cortana could lead to some interesting interactions.

Locations:

Another Halo Ring: Rumors are bouncing back and forth as to whether we will see another Halo installation in the game or not. Different reviewers confirm or deny this! If we do see another Halo it would be a great throwback to the original trilogy, yet feel like a bit like a cop out.

New Phoenix: It sounds like a futuristic Phoenix Arizona. Will we get to see it before it blows up? Is it on earth like New Mombasa in roughly the same location as modern Phoenix? Or is it on another planet, such as Mars or even a reclaimed Reach?

Spoilers End Here:





What is clear is 343 and Microsoft have played their cards well and built a good hype machine. Fans have a clear expectation of what they are going to get out of Halo 4, and we want it. I want it so much I will be rushing to Redbox sometime this week to rent the Campaign disc, to wet my appetite for Halo until I can acquire the whole game. As long as my class schedule is not to busy expect a break down of my reaction to campaign.

Halo 4 Countdown

While the rest of the nation awaits election results, I am counting down the days until Halo 4 hits store shelves. I will not buy the game at release, instead renting it long enough to muse over the campaign, saving multiplayer for a future date. Maybe I will mull a bit about the game on this blog. Would be a good excuse to write something here.

Darth... Disney?

The News:

Yesterday, October 30th will be a day which will go down in geek history. We will not remember Hurricane Sandy, or the Presidential race, we will not even remember it as the day where we were just a week away from Halo 4.

Yesterday was the day Disney bought Star Wars.

The Reaction:
The shocking news came to me through a series of text messages in between me and my father:

Wayne;"Take a look at fox news today. Disney bought lucasfilm for 4.05 billion. Now you can get one job and technically work two of your dream jobs."

My dad, ever observant of my future career choice, broke the news in the job sense, not aware how my nerd sense would be affected. The nerd sense felt as if "a million voices suddenly cried out and then silenced." Then the cynic in me thought it was a belated April Fools, so my response text was....

Jacob;"Really?"

Wayne;"Yes really. they plan on making an episode 7, 8, and 9"

I was shocked to my core. I like many fans had buried all thought of more films with the rolling credits of Revenge of the Sith. Although the theatrical release of The Clone Wars defied this I wrote it of as animation, a one time experiment.  Now the sequel trilogy was a reality.

Jacob;"?"

I then loaded the Google search page on my phone, only to see a New York Times web page repeating the news.

Jacob;"Oh gosh. You're right! So I guess this means we can officially welcome Star Wars and Indy to the Disney family. But I am surprised George would give up so much control, unless he was secretly planning to retire soon anyway."

I would soon learn my hunch was right, George Lucas was planning on retirement.

Basically the conversation turned into my shock, some choice swears, and joking speculation that Rush would score the new trilogy (this is my dad and I, we always find a way to make a Rush reference).

Once the shock settled I soon made a mental list of all the good and ill which can come of this:
Good:
1. Disney is the best inheritor to Star Wars if Lucas is retiring. No other person or company seems to fit.
2. Disney has had a long history of working with Star Wars. Their Star Tours rides are better than the entire Prequel Trilogy.
3. Lucasfilm will remain its own branch, similar to Pixar and Marvel; with the added protection of Disney.
4. Star Wars will make a better "Potter Killer" at Walt Disney World than the much delayed and loathed 'Avatarland.' See here: http://micechat.com/15047-disney-lucasfilm/
5. Star Wars in the hands of the same people who helped make The Avengers, awesome!
6. Disney could shut down the inane Star Wars: Detours project.
7. Disney could give LucasArts the freedom they give the developers of Epic Mickey, helping LucasArts to become a great game company again.
8. Lucas not in direct control is a good thing, meaning we will see less Jar Jar, Asohka, childhood Skywalker, and will instead see more "awsum stuf ".
9. More original Star Wars Lego sets incoming.

Evil:
1. Star Wars in the hands of the same people who made, John Carter, National Treasure, The Prince of Persia, The Sorcerers Apprentice, and Pirates of the Caribbean 2 through 4; oh crud.
2. Would Disney object to more mature projects such as Star Wars 1313, a video game in production aiming for an M rating?
3. Would Disney cancel Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network just so they can start their own Star Wars show on competing Disney XD?
4. What if the Sequel Trilogy is worse than the Prequels and kills the franchise?
5. Disney could be as constricting on LucasArts as they are with the majority of Disney Interactive, ruining any chance of LucasArts becoming a great game company again.
6. Would Lucas Animation be stuck to Disney Channel projects, while ILM never be allowed to animate a feature film again, ruining chances for another enjoyable bizarre artsy film such as Rango?
7. Will Disney treat the Star Wars Canon as loose as they did with Star Tours? Will Disney rewrite the Expanded Universe to better suit their story (mind you Lucas did this himself multiple times)?
8. Lucas not in direct control is a bad thing,  we will see less characters like Darth Vader, Han Solo, and Darth Maul.
9. No more 20th Century Fox Fanfare to start the film. :-(

Conclusion:
I cannot predict where Star Wars will go under Disney's care. Uncharted space is ahead, and to borrow a line from another sci-fi franchise, we must "Boldly Go." All I know is this; make sure to fasten all safety restraints in a proper manner, stow all carry on luggage in the provided compartment. Put on your 3D glasses. And remember to not ride if you are pregnant or suffer heart issues. No eating or smoking in the cabin. Please, no flash photography. And remember, thank you for flying with Star Tours...

Colorado and Back Again

Vacations, nothing like a good excuse to leave behind normal life and go somewhere. With the female half of the family going to see some super famous "Phantom" play thingy in Vegas, Dad and I set of for the wild west.

After several hours on the road we made it to the famed Arches National Park. With blue sky ahead of us we had little fear of the weather, despite the storm which had been following us from home down towards Moab...

Actually a little fear of weather would have been a good thing... With lightning approaching with haste, we quickly had some fellow hikers take our picture at Delicate Arch.

Moments latter we were with said hikers hiding under a rock, taking shelter from bullet like rain. Of course this was all after the lighting, the wind, and the dust. Basically the weather was trying to trap us on a mountain in penance for our ignorance. Of course Dad and I found the rough experience to be a bit adventurous. When the rain slowed a bit we rushed towards the car, where we changed out of out soaked clothes and set of on our next quest, to find 20 pound of Anasazi Beans.

After searching Dove Creek Colorado high and low, we set of with our precious beans towards what I hoped to be the highlight of our trip, Durango Colorado. Arriving late we had difficulty finding our hotel, but the rainy night acted as a teaser for our day to come, as we entered the city I spotted the dimly lit roundhouse. From inside the building rose a steady smoke pillar, while outside rested a steam locomotive. In short; I was giddy with anticipation.

However  the next morning we could not go straight from the hotel to the railroad, but first we had to take the van into a shop to get its brakes fixed! With no car, we rode Durango's mass transit system downtown to where we could walk to the train station. My Dad noted how the places preserved historic street gave it a Disney-like appearance. 

As cool as the city was, I really wanted to get on the train. With anticipation, I watched as our steam engine coupled with the train. Soon we were asked to board the venerable train, and by 10:00 am we left the station, on board the famous Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Being the off season; our train was never scheduled to make it as far as Silverton. The shorter trip to Cascade allowed us to see the highlights of the line; including the high line, the section where the train travels along a massive cliff wall. 

You know, I could fill this whole blog with pictures of the line if I wanted to.

The railroad even got me in the mood to take pictures in Sepia! Of course all good things must end, and by 3:00 pm we were pulling back into Durango Station. But the next day promised to be full of adventure. However we repeated the hotel finding issues of the night before, this time going of course trying to find the city our hotel was in! With the wrong impression, we went inside Mesa Verde National Park, only to find out our hotel is in Cortez.  By the time we reached the hotel all we wanted to do is watch Undercover Boss.

After a lot of pancakes for breakfast we headed into Mesa Verde, again. But this time we went in there knowing what we were doing. We set up several tours into the park, including one into the large Cliff Palace in the photos above. However if one wants an adventure they should take the Balcony house tour, because of this ladder here...

And this tunnel...

And the cliffs...

And because of our sweet skills we totally ruled the trail through balcony house! 

As we left Mesa Verde, we prepared for the long trip home. Of course our adventures were not quite over... In Moab we found ourselves accidental in a classic car show, which was parading up and down their main street. Okay maybe we were more driving through, but I think of our minivan was decked out in American flags and flames too, we would have schooled the other cars there. 

And then there was our third night in a row not being able to find our destination, but this time it was being lost in the highly familiar Salt Lake City, due to a crazy GPS which wanted us to take some odd routes home. Despite this a little past midnight we pulled into our garage, our trip over. 

I wonder if the girls had as much fun at their "Phantom of some Opera" thing...

And now, please enjoy the steamy sneezes from a saucy steam engine. 

Retro

Want to recall a time when I was in junior high, a time when algebra 1 was hard, a time before worrying about college, a time when my larynx was much longer? Without further ado, copied from the depths of the aging family blog, the most embarrassing moment 0f 2007 returns...
Okay so the source file is missing but the link should suffice...

http://www.wayneandheatherlyman.blogspot.com/2007/11/special-video.html

Retro

Want to recall a time when I was in junior high, a time when algebra 1 was hard, a time before worrying about college, a time when my larynx was much longer?

Without further ado, copied from the depths of the aging family blog, the most embarrassing moment 0f 2007 returns...