Gears of Halo

Jimmy Jangles here, writing for Gears of Halo to provide you with the latest info and news about my favorite Xbox games such as Halo 4 and the Reclaimer Trilogy, CE Anniversary, Gears of War and Mass Effect, what the fans of these games are up to and what ever the team at Bungie conjure up...plus a lot of cosplay pictures!

There will be spoilers! If you don't want to know NE thing about new and soon to be new Xbox games, slowly back away from the internet now...

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Friday, January 27

Watch Mass Effect 3's Multiplayer Trailer

Watch Mass Effect 3's Multiplayer Trailer which demonstrates.... multiplayer!

Multiplayer is a completely new element to the Mass Effect series, it's going to be very interesting to see how it pans out - it's a fairly unique way to progress a campaign! (for those that don't know, playing multiplayer can have an impact on your sucess or failure in the ME3 campaign).

Seems like players will get to tackle a few of those dastardly Reapers along the way so it all sounds pretty cool.

Here's a run down of the race and associated class factor.

Soldier Human: Adrenaline Rush, Concussive Shot and Frag Grenade.
Engineer Quarian: Incinerate, Cryo Blast and Sentry Turret
Vanguard Drell: Biotic Charge, Pull and Cluster Grenade
Sentinel Turian: Warp, Overload and Tech Armor
Vanguard Asari: Biotic Charge, Stasis and Lift Grenade
Infiltrator Salarian: Energy Drain, Tactical Cloak and Proximity Mine
Soldier Krogan: Carnage, Fortification and Inferno Grenade

Mass Effect 3 Concept Art

Thessia, homeworld of the Asari

Here's some sweet Mass Effect 3 concept art that I found at the official Bioware site. Featuring some landscapes, space ships and a Krogan, it looks like some real awesome design work has gone into the game.

Tuchanka

Read on...

Watch Halo: Helljumpers first episode

This is possibly the best quality Halo fan movie ever made, aside from the TERRIBLE acting, it has great effects, an interesting character set up and a really good vibe! Can't wait for episode two - the makers should be pretty proud of themselves!

Thursday, January 26

Read the Mass Effect: Deception Excerpt

The latest tie in novel Mass Effect: Deception launches next week on January 31st. To celebrate, publisher Del Ray has released a fifty page excerpt from the book for fans to get a taste!

The above image is the first paragraph of the novel.

Check it out here at the Bioware Blog or order it from Amazon.

343 are busy bees says Kiki Wolfkill

Kiki Wolfkill chipped into the Halo Bulletin to let everyone know that the team at 343 is very busy and that's about it.

"We've had an action-packed week of internal mission reviews, a deep-dive with the Marketing and PR teams, and a quick little exec review thrown in for good measure. It may sound like a lot of reviews and that's because it is.... we are in full execution mode. There are hundreds of moving parts across 343 and Microsoft Studios that need to be aligned and coordinated—now is the time to get all our ducks in a row.

While it's been a little hectic making up for last week's snow days and going through these reviews, it's always invigorating to be able to get the game in front of folks who aren't staring at it every minute of every day. I do look forward to getting back to our normal routine of game-building, playtesting, and general creative rabble-rousing. More on this later."

Hanging out for some real Halo 4 news much?

Wednesday, January 25

Adrienne Curry as Princess Leia from ROTJ

Top Model and gaming fanatic Adrienne Curry loves to dress up as her favourite characters - she's done the Wonder Woman and the Silk Spectre - here's Curry as the 'Slave Princess Leia' from The Return of the Jedi movie. Some one get Adrienne into a sci-fi movie asap!

Why not allowing second hand games to run on the new Xbox would be plain wrong.

Why not allowing second hand games to run on the new Xbox console would be plain wrong.

Kotaku is suggesting that the new version of the Xbox will potentially not allow used or second hand games to be played on the console. While closed units and IPR rights and DRM is all the rage in some quarters, it would seem to be a shitty move by Microsoft if they are trying to stamp out trading in second hand games .

Their motive of course would be enourage the purchase of new games either off the shelf from bonafide retailers or by download through the XBL service (which also would encourage the purchase of gold XBL member accounts).

And that’s fine. Microsoft is there to make money.

Publishers are there to make money too. That’s why you have to pay for DLC – and if DLC is free, you can be sure that there’s a marketing incentive behind it (such as goodwill to fans to keep a community active etc).

What I do not like is Microsoft’s attempt to thwart something that is perfectly legal – in NZ where I live for instance, it is perfectly legal to sell second hand software. In the form of an Xbox game, it is absolutely legal to sell your copy of Halo 3 to the kid down the street.

Arguments about raising revenue aside, there should be no other reason to prevent such a transaction from occurring if it's a genuinely legal activity.

All this huffing and puffing is of course only a short term concern as it's bloody obvious we're heading to a 'download' only gaming world - it's just hard to say how long it will take us to get there? NZ is soooo far behind in the internet world we still have very low data caps so downloading full games is out of the question.

In the end, I suspect Kotaku's sources will be full of crap and if there is some kind of intiative, it will be more along the lines of tying a game to an account in some fashion. The mind boggles.

What's your view? Should Microsoft block second hand games from running on the new Xbox console?

Tuesday, January 24

ME3 Figurines will have DLC codes

EA will release new Mass Effect action figures later this year that include downloadable content for Mass Effect 3. While its been done before, this is a fairly new approach to DLC!

According to new listinsg on website BigBadToyStore.com, each figuring contains different in-game content exclusive to the North America gaming population. The listings all state:

Bonus Downloadable Game Content: Each figure includes an in-pack card giving you access to downloadable in-game bonus content. Each figure contains different in-game content, exclusive to North American released product. Collect all 8 for the full experience!

The site notes that the downloadable content is "slightly randomized during the registration and could include powerful new weapons and new characters. The pack could also include character boosters, weapon modifications, and weapon upgrades to make your multi-player squad stronger. "

The listing also says the content is available for your Personal Computer and Xbox 360 only. So PS3 fanss would appear to be missing out.

I'm picking the Miranda figurine will be a big seller!

Mass Effect Three is shipping soon - order your copy from Amazon now!

Did you hear about the Kantus and the Hammer of Dawn?

Did you hear about the Kantus and the Hammer of Dawn?

How you played Gears of War 3 on Insane mode and got completely rooted by those Armoured Kantus soldiers you come across in Act 4?

Those guys are tough as titanium encrusted titanium. They make Skorge look like General Raam. And then there’s that electric worm that zaps you to contend with. What’s the best way of dealing with these Kantus Clowns?

I was doing an Insane mode run through and I came across a Hammer of Dawn at the point where Marcus and Co are trying to manoeuvre the crane to get fuel for the submarine – and I thought to myself, I won’t use it for this next salvo of Repears, I’ll save it for the Kantus guards.

And sure enough, the Hammer of Dawn works on the Kantus. They need to take a fair whack from it though, a quick douse with it is not enough, you need to laser the shit out of them. The Hammer of Dawn is generally good for about two Kantus kills. It only works in the spots where there's enough sunlight.

A good trick is to try and take that first Kantus out asap – hide behind a block until he is distracted by your squad mates and then let him have it as he moves to the right (if he starts the set piece coming straight for you, you're probably fucked).

You can then pick off the other bugs that escort the 2^nd Kantas or take him out from a distance. That’s the easy part. The next round involve another Kantus, some offsiders and the electrical eel / cerepod / worm thing – work on the eel as much as you can but don’t let him get to close or you’re a dead man. Shoot their tail off from the back and remember they move real damn quick and quietly....

A hint is to try and take him out away from the Kantus so you don’t get any fire from then. Easier said than done too.

Using the Hammer of Dawn will only get you so far however so here's some other tricks to taking down and defeating the Kantus:

For a start, lets hope you followed my guide on arming your squad with the boomshot. Explosives trip up the Prickly Priests so the boom shot comes in handy. Indeed, there's one laying about on the opposite side from where the frag grenade and well placed ammo supply are. So when your Hammer juice is all used up, switch weapons to the Boomshot to take them down. Consider aiming at their feet so you don't miss them but do not fire from close range or you will likely kill yourself.

A well placed torque bow will down a Kantus as well.

When a Kantus gets up after a boomshot, bow strike or frag grenade explosion, they begin to scream blue murder and also glow yellow with rage. That's your chance to put some lancer bullets in their face to wear them down for the kill - or put a bow in their face. Do try it...

Word on the street for the fearless player is you can also tag a Kantus with a frag grenade for an instant kill. I haven't tried that one myself yet... that's only for the brave (or stupid - Ed.)

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Monday, January 23

Freddie Prinze Jr to voice James Vega in ME3

Mr Prinze

It was announced this week that a fairly famous Hollwood actor has been drafted in to voice the new mass Effect 3 character, James Vega. Whilst no relation to Vince Vega, he's sure to have a massive role in the game's campaign, and Freddie Prinze has got the roll of voice actor.

Freddie Prinze is no stranger to acting and games - does any body remember Wing Commander?

Freddie joins other famous actors, Seth Green (playing Joker), Tricia Helfer as EDI and of course Martin Sheen who plays the mysterious Illusive Man who I'm sure will have it out with Commander Sheppard in the game.

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