Oct 29, 2007

Angus The Barbarian

30 seconds of Halo 3 Co-Op, Sierra 117 on Hard


Angus and Gypsy 6, ready for action.
Angus and I have just rescued Sgt. Johnson from the Brutes when two Phantoms come swooping in and puke out a squad of enemy reinforcements. Having just killed our way in here, we need to kill our way right back out again.

Angus follows me out of the jail-house into a long corridor. We leap up a ladder at the end, and Angus takes off down the causeway, brandishing a hammer as big as a Fiat. I follow about 10 paces behind to cover his six while he charges into the crowd of Brutes and Grunts. He scares them so badly that two of them pop open Bubble Shields, but to no avail. By the time they get their weapons out he's already among them, pounding them like a chef tenderizes a stubborn cut of beef. I see a pair of Jackal snipers try to light him up and I dispatch them with headshots from my Battle Rifle. Normally this is an easy job, but I can barely take my eyes off the furious shit-storm Angus is kicking up. After I drop the Jackals, I look back to Hurricane Angus to see not one, but two Grunts stick Plasma grenades to him. The explosions shake the ground and kill every enemy within 30 feet. Angus' shattered corpse flies off the causeway into the water, sinking into glorious oblivion.

I back up to respawn him. He pops into life and says, "Ok I'm back." We both run into the open while I switch to my Needler to take out a couple more Grunts that have come scuttling onto the causeway. They explode into little Grunty-balls while Angus retrieves his Hammer and goes after the one remaining Brute. It's a leader, wearing gold armor. I try to attract as much aggro as possible by jumping up on top of a crate and firing for effect. The Brute blasts me with his Brute Shot, his grenades knocking me off the crate, where I hide while my shields recharge. By the time I jump up again, Angus has moved around behind the Brute leader. Angus rears back and in one blow crushes the bad guy flat as a pancake. All clear. Our Pelican comes to get us and we get the hell out of Dodge.

Despite being only an occasional Halo player, Angus has shown a terrific ferocity and accuracy in his Halo 3 gameplay. If I accounted for more bad guys than him, it's only because I've played through the level a couple times, while this was his first time through. A great session.

Oct 22, 2007

H3 Gallery: Exploding Warthog

A surprisingly cool feature of the game is the ability to review your single-player levels. You can pause them, and snap images from any angle.


My precision driving techniques are truly evident in this image. Look carefully near the top of the image (behind the huge fireball) and you can see me ascending to heaven.

H3 Gallery: Flying Warthog

A surprisingly cool feature of the game is the ability to review your single-player levels. You can pause them, and snap images from any angle.


You can see that my tires will really last because they hardly ever touch the ground.

Oct 21, 2007

The Simpsons Game

Surprisingly fun. Worth: $12
based on 360 demo, October 2007

I played this demo more from a sense of obligation than anything else, but I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It felt like I was playing the cartoon: same voices, same visual style, and same great sense of humor.

While fun, it's really easy. Only a total video game newbie would struggle with this game. Skill level dictates not whether you finish, but how long it takes you to finish. Even with the relatively easy play, it's fast pacing could make it a fun diversion for a while.