Tag Archives: Bungie

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone has a blast this Christmas season. I know I haven’t posted in a long time and that really sucks… a lot (sorry). We’ve been incredibly busy and frankly, have had some weird happenings going on keeping us from blogging among other things. But Christmas is turning out pretty well!

So lets catch up… A few months ago, Borderlands FINALLY made it to our doorstep and we couldn’t be happier. The game is an absolute blast! We’ve logged 45 hours in the game and we’ve still got a ways to go. We have a few minor complaints, but overall, its definitely one of our favorites.

The following month, Halo 3 ODST came out and we had a blast with that one as well! The campaign really surprised me, I was not expecting such a gripping story and incredible graphics. Its hard to believe its just a tweaked Halo 3 engine. We’ve also had a lot of fun with Firefight which is definitely way more exciting than survival/horde modes in other games. I really hope Bungie is working on some Firefight DLC, but it doesn’t sound like that will happen. Firefight could definitely use some more maps.

Earlier this month, my lovely wife gave me an early Christmas present. Just like last year, we were slaying zombies before Christmas, this time in Left4Dead2. The game definitely has a lot to offer despite all the controversy. Although, I must say, I wouldn’t pay full price for it. The survivor AI got dumber and the AI director got tougher. After the fourth time one of our AI buddies spooked a witch, I started getting really annoyed. We left them behind quite a bit because going back for them was usually more trouble than it was worth. Overall, it is a fun game, and I look forward to logging some more hours on it. I’m not sure I want to try the next difficulty without having a full crew of friends though. The AI was just too aggravating and I don’t think we stand a chance with them.

Achievements! Wow, I’ve had fun with achievements lately. I’ll just list my recent favorites…

From Left4Dead2: CL0WND, CLUB DEAD, and HEAD HONCHO were all a blast.
From Halo 3 ODST: Be Like Marty (drove my wife around on a ‘hog), Vidmaster Challenge: Déjà Vu, Vidmaster Challenge: Classic (way easier than I thought it would be), and Vidmaster Challenge: Endure.
From Borderlands: You’re on a boat! (ok, I confessed, I kind of cheated on this one), Facemelter (LOVE corrosive weapons… *sizzle*), and that’s it so far. I really want to figure out what the rest of those secret ones are but without cheating :).

I’m REALLY looking forward to Halo Reach. The trailer was fantastic. I’d link to it but I won’t because I strongly recommend you download it on your 360 and see it in HD with glorious sound. I’ve watched it several times now and I’m still all giddy.

Another one on my list is Brink. There are four videos on XBL for that as well. They show off the SMART system of movement which is pretty snazzy. Its Mirror’s Edge craziness but easier (or at least the dev made it look easy). The other videos show off a few different classes and the objective system. Brink is really shaping up and six player co-op has me extremely excited. If there’s no split screen, I’m going to be extremely bummed.

That’s about in on the game front and I don’t have a whole lot to add about anything else either. If you see me online this weekend or next week, send me an invite! Tuesday, we’re getting together with my brothers for some in-person gaming but other than that, we’re pretty free. So again, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Can I Has Reconz?

There’s a ViDoc for that.

Bungie was nice enough to let everyone earn their recon armor with the addition of Halo 3: ODST. I’m not quite there yet (still need classic and deja vu) but I’ll be there soon. If you’re having trouble with the Road to Recon or are in the mood for some good ol’ Bungie developer humor, check out the latest ViDoc.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead! Watch at your own risk. You’ve been warned!

I want to be like Marty

By complete accident, I ran across the achievements for Halo 3 ODST while checking out the new Bungie.net design. There are some pretty sweet achievements in there. My favorite is “Be Like Marty” which awards players for not killing a single enemy for an entire round of Firefight. Achievements for being bad? That’s unheard of! Of course not many people are going to achieve this while trying to help their team but its still pretty amusing. Poor Marty, he’s the brunt of so many jokes at Bungie. He’s a good guy though, and obviously very well respected despite the jokes.

Two other achievements I really like are “Stunning!” and “My Clothes!” which award players for using the plasma pistol effectively. The plasma pistol has always had a bad rep but I think its vastly underestimated. I have very few kills with it in Halo 3, but I use it frequently to stun a vehicle or drop an enemies shields instantly. I bet some Halo 3 players don’t even realize how effective it can be, so maybe these achievements will add some spice to Halo 3 matches. Of course our pink friend, the needler, returns with another achievement much like in Halo 3. Also featured are the Splaser (Spartan Laser), the new automag and Plasma Grenades.

There are some juicy hints as to what we might find in the campaign. Looks like we’ll be searching for audio logs instead of skulls. “Naughty Naughty” and “Good Samaritan” sound like they have something to do with the engineers we’ll run into during the campaign. You have to choose between killing the engineers or not and it looks like you’ll get an achievement both ways. I guess I’ll have to replay that part twice!

There seem to be a lot of unlockable levels and characters for Firefight which is exciting. However, a few look like they’re going to be a bitch to get. That’s ok, I like challenges. Speaking of challenges, the Vidmaster Challenges look like they’re going to be real tough this time too.

I’m looking forward to working on these achievements next week! Here’s the full list:

  • Listener – Find the first Audio Log – 5
  • Naughty Naughty – Killing things that are new and different is good, alone or with another ODST – 5
  • Tuned In – Find 3 Audio Logs, alone or with another ODST – 15
  • Audiophile – Find all Audio Logs, alone or with another ODST – 75
  • All Ears – Find 15 Audio Logs, alone or with another ODST – 30
  • Good Samaritan – Killing things that are new and different is bad, alone or with another ODST – 20
  • Both Tubes – Get 10 Rocket kills on Kizingo Boulevard – 5
  • Wraith Killer – Kill all Wraiths in Uplift Reserve – 5
  • Laser Blaster – Get 10 Spartan Laser kills on ONI Alpha Site – 5
  • I Like Fire – Kill 10 enemies with the Flamethrower on Data Hive – 5
  • Dome Inspector – Get 15 headshot kills on NMPD HQ – 5
  • Be Like Marty – In Firefight, finish a full round without killing a single enemy – 10
  • Firefight: Last Exit – Score over 200,000 points in Firefight on Last Exit – 10
  • Firefight: Chasm Ten – Score over 200,000 points in Firefight on Chasm Ten – 10
  • Vidmaster Challenge: Classic – Finish any level solo on Legendary, on LIVE, with no shots fired or grenades thrown – 25
  • Vidmaster Challenge: Déjà Vu – Complete Highway on 4-player Legendary LIVE co-op, with Iron, and no ‘Hog or Scorpion – 25
  • Vidmaster Challenge: Endure – In Firefight, on any mission, pass the 4th Set on 4-player Heroic LIVE co-op – 25
  • Firefight: Windward – Score over 200,000 points in Firefight on Windward – 10
  • Firefight: Lost Platoon – Score over 200,000 points in Firefight on Lost Platoon – 10
  • Firefight: Crater – Score over 200,000 points in Firefight on Crater – 10
  • Firefight: Rally Point – Score over 200,000 points in Firefight on Rally Point – 10
  • Firefight: Alpha Site – Score over 200,000 points in Firefight on Alpha Site – 10
  • Firefight: Security Zone – Score over 200,000 points in Firefight on Security Zone – 10
  • Super Sleuth – Find the final clue unraveling the mystery, alone or with another ODST – 10
  • Pink and Deadly – Get 10 Needler supercombine kills on any covenant – 5
  • My Clothes! – Plasma Pistol Overcharge and quickly kill 10 Brutes – 5
  • Trading Down – Trade weapons with a fellow character – 5
  • Tayari Plaza – Complete Tayari Plaza on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary to unlock a new Firefight character – 30
  • Headcase – Finish any level with at least one Skull activated – 5
  • Ewww, Sticky – Get 5 sticky grenade kills in any level – 5
  • Tourist – Access and download the city map to your VISR – 5
  • Heal Up – Find the first Medical Kiosk and heal yourself – 5
  • Dark Times – Kill 5 enemies while using VISR mode – 5
  • Stunning! – Stun a vehicle with an overcharged plasma pistol and quickly kill the driver – 5
  • Boom, Headshot – Get 10 automag headshot kills in any level – 5
  • Uplift Reserve – Complete Uplift Reserve on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary to unlock a new Firefight character – 30
  • Campaign Complete: Heroic – Complete the Campaign on Heroic difficulty – 100
  • Campaign Complete: Normal – Complete the Campaign on Normal difficulty – 100
  • Campaign Complete: Legendary – Complete the Campaign on Legendary to unlock a new Firefight character – 100
  • Gumshoe – Find the 3rd clue unraveling the mystery, alone or with another ODST – 10
  • Junior Detective – Find the first clue unraveling the mystery – 10
  • Coastal Highway – Complete Coastal Highway on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary to unlock a new Firefight mission – 50
  • ONI Alpha Site – Complete ONI Alpha Site on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary to unlock a new Firefight mission – 30
  • Kizingo Boulevard – Complete Kizingo Blvd. on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary to unlock a new Firefight character – 30
  • NMPD HQ – Complete NMPD HQ on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary to unlock a new Firefight character – 30
  • Data Hive – Complete Data Hive on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary to unlock a new Firefight mission – 50
  • Kikowani Station – Complete Kikowani Station on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary – 30

Happy Bungie Day!

Today is Bungie Day which means all kinds of weird quirky Bungie stuff. Today we have the “Bungie vs the World” playlist in Halo 3 where you can play against Bungie staff for a chance to win Recon armor (which means 13 year olds everywhere are bringing their A-game today). Erika and I will hopefully hit up that list for a while tonight and we’ll find ourselves up against some flaming heads.

Thanks for another fantastic year, Bungie!

Non facete nobis calcitrare vestrum perinæum.

Bungie Day 2009