Sierra 117

Damn that’s a big H3 – it runs off the screen. The Bungie logo comes up non- decrepitly and then dissolves. What a vast improvement over the Halo 2 splash screen that seemed to promise world-wide bubonic infections in the name of Bungie and Steve Vai.

The scene opens on a dark sky populated with stars. A female voice, easily identifiable as Cortana, says that MC was special because he is lucky? Being lucky is the whole crux of MC’s Power? That would work if he were some sort of super space-gambler but not if he is Master Chief, the walking gun-ship.  During the voice-over we see a shooting star approach and then split up as it comes crashing to Earth. Having been part of that crashed space junk, Master Chief lies stunned on the forest bed in a locked position. The suit seems to have updated for Halo 3. MC has a little more armor along his arms, the color is right. He appears a bit more zaftig, but thank god Bungie didn't do a Joel Schumacher and add nipples to it. When he does come to, he takes a quick run for the Arbiter who is watching from afar.

Walk it Off 

The game starts not in the starkness of a spaceship or with technicians calibrating Master Chief’s armor, which was standard for the last two games, but in a lush forest. Johnson directs the squad to head on through the canyon. Follow the squad as they run a steeplechase over the logs, through the trees, up over cliff faces and around pools.

Around the last corner a phantom flies overhead and everyone stops at a water fall fed lagoon. You would think with the beauty of the water-fall, the brilliant blue, and the fact that half of your squad climbs the rocks, that you should climb up there. But don’t. The proper path is a hard right over a log and into your first firefight. That phantom drop ship deposits a clutch of Covenant troops into another lagoon.

• Use your altitude to your advantage and shoot them as they slosh around below.
• Target the brute as he stands on the rock above.
• As opposed to the regenerative shields that the Elites had in the previous Halo games, the Brutes have a Ghosts N’ Goblins style armor in which a good blast will knock them down to their underwear. 
• When the brute is dead, work your way around the edge of the little encampment to take out the remaining, and now leaderless, grunts.
• Don’t move too far into the firefight because another Brute is just a bit further.
• Make sure the little grunts are dead before pressing on so that you can fight the gold colored Brute Captain Major without them nipping at you.

The rest of the path winds around and over to a cliff that is overlooking a small canyon. One of the squad mates says ”Jackals on the ridge, stay back it looks like the have Carbines.” He is right, the place is swarming with snipers.

• The best approach is to get a hold of a range weapon such as a Battle Riffle or a Carbine.
• Take this area slowly and stand on the highest point to pick off each Jackal who is standing around the perimeters of this gorge.
• Don’t jump down into the middle area, instead stay on the rocks that line the canyon.
• Doing so will allow you to stay far away from the grunts and the brutes. At the far end of the gorge are several fusion cores which have the potential to take out several at the same time if it.

Johnson says “Pelicans are en route.” Around the next corner, a gold-clad Brute stands high on a log holding a small man. The brute asks for the location of the base and guy replies, “kiss my ass.” The guy is pummeled and tossed to the ground. This key moment in Brute character development as it is used to show that they are mean and brutal.

• There are Jackals above ready to snipe you so don’t go rushing right into battle. Instead, focus on the brutes and the jackals from afar using the carbine.
  
• Continue past to fight off more resistance

The path leads into a cave and while in there, MC starts getting flashbacks or psychic nag-backs from Cortana. She appears to be lying down hurt or trying to imitate that little mermaid statue and says  “Could you sacrifice me to complete your mission”, “Could you watch me die.”

Johnson urges “Chief, the Pelicans are at the river, so hustle up.” There are two Pelicans hovering over a river and the marines inside are shooting down to the covenant forces below. Covenant Banshees blitz them and the pelicans do what they do best which is to get shot down. One of them explodes with that multi-headed explosion that I think was invented in the Vietnam War. The other Pelican barely escapes.

• First, shoot off the light resistance at the beach. The real fight will be in the human structures that are along the cliff face.
• There is a portable machine gun turret hidden in the Pelican wreckage but it is too slow and inaccurate to use in this firefight.
• Creep along the left side of the large boulder and pick off the jackals before flinging yourself into the melee of Grunts and Brutes.
• If you are having too much trouble up close, head into the high ground of the boulders and the high wall that runs around the rear perimeter of the base.
• A combo of carbines and plasma pistols will work well against most of the armored attackers in this area.
• When the main area of the base is cleared, round the corer to find a gold brute and some more snipers.

Charlie Foxtrot

The Arbiter recommends heading back into the jungle and Johnson radios in that he and his pelican were shot down. He sends the MC his coordinates in anticipation of a rescue.

• This next area has even more Jackal snipers than before. Pick up one of the covenant sniper rifles (called Beam Rifles) that one of the Jackals dropped back at the last base.
• You will use it extensively throughout this next portion.
• Note that the covenant beam rifle does not have a clip, you will have to drop the whole gun when it is low of ammo so ask you kill the jackals swap out your rifle for their fully loaded one.

Overlooking the next ridge, Johnson will say “Come on you big dumb apes, if you want breakfast, your going to have to catch it.” Weapon Suggestion: Sniper/Carbine | Brute Shot

• Pick off the jackals on the ridge.
• Then, secure a close range weapon such as a Brute Shot because there will be heavy Brute presence in the ravine below.
• The path winds around from the ravine up towards a small bridge. It is best to keep one ranged weapon here because there will be jackals on that bridge.

When you reach the top, you can see that Johnson’s pelican didn’t make if far from the beach.
Weapon Suggestion: Human Sniper Rifle | Brute Shot

• The path through the mountain ridge will be guarded by the brutes and grunts. Attack them with the brute shot
• Save your sniper rifle bullets for the next area.

Quid Pro Quo

The path opens up to a deep canyon that was created by the dammed river. If this were a Tom Clancy book, this is where the separatist’s would be manufacturing their cocaine. Instead, as the Arbiter points out, this base is being used by the brutes to use Johnson and his crew as bait.

• There are Jackal snipers around the entire perimeter of this base. Take them out with your rifle.
• When the threat of snipers is gone, jump off the cliff and fight in close combat below.
• Use the needler here because it is in abundant supply and you will want to save your brute shot for the encounter on the top of the dam.

Climb up to the top of the dam and turn the corner. The brutes come in full force here.

• When the brutes see you, all of them will come running towards you. Stay back and out of range of the jackals above.
• Focus your sniping on the brute leader (his hammer will come in handy soon)
• The lesser brutes will fall easily with the brute shot.
• Pick off the Jackals and then use the hammer on the grunts.
• Once the brutes are out of the way, the rest of this fight is quite simple.

Work your way around the dam and follow the navigation icon to find the imprisoned Johnson. Free him by clicking on the force field.

The Pelicans start the approach to free Johnson and his men. However, more Covenant ships drop in. Here you will need to kill the covenant while surviving until extraction.
Weapons: Dual Wield Spikers | Brute Shot.

• Stay close to the troops as they will provide some much needed fire support and will absorb bullets that were meant for you.
• Backtrack around the U again and up onto the dam.
• There is shield regenerator equipment hiding around there. Use it.
• Just hunker down for the remainder of the fight, the story will progress not when you kill everything but once the pelicans get there.

The pelican “goes hot” and fires a barrage of missiles at the covenant drop ship destroying it instantly. Damn! Where was all of this in the last two Halo games. If someone would have just equipped them with these missiles a long time ago we probably could have skipped through the Two Betrayals level in 10 minutes.

TIME: 53 Min | Rating ******

Crow's Nest

Two guys, one with a missile launcher, the other scouting, sees that it is a Pelican coming and they fist bump. The flight traffic control guys say to the Pelican “sorry for the tight squeeze, Tell the commander her ace is in the hole.” Dirty.

Master Chief, the Arbiter, Johnson and the rest of the troops unload from the Pelican. Some injured troops notice this and are excited and get hopeful because Master Chief is on-site. They must not have heard that my sticky grenades regularly miss Grunts and end up on some soldier's nuts or that I have no problem shooting one of them in the back of the head if they obscure my line of sight.

Miranda Keys, she the one with the raccoon style mascara, or maybe she’s just dirty from her trip through uncanny valley, is in command of this operation. She narrates the closest thing you are going to get to a recap of what happened in the last game which is that she stopped the halo from firing, then the Covenant smashed through Earth’s defenses. The Covenant profit named "Truth" then concentrated all his forces into East Africa and started digging for the Ark. Finding it will mean the profit can fire all of Halos, killing all life in the galaxy.
Lord Hood calls in to the conference center for an update. He is pleased to see that they found Master Chief. Hood asks for his status. “Green, sir” Says chief. Badum-ching! Miranda details her plan to stop the Covenant digging which is to take out the Covenant’s Anti-Air defenses and then Lord Hood will come in from the sky.

The power stops and the image of the Profit Truth splashes across all the screens at the command center. He threatens to glass the surface and then specifically mentions what he will kill the demon (the Master Chief).

With the message over the Master Chief worries aloud that the Profit mentioned him in the message. Master Chief is a cybernetic bad-ass why is he worried about this? It is like he is the kindler-gentler killing machine who fears his own mortality. Miranda calls for the evacuation of the base.

Know Your Role

The Covenant ships are approaching and it is Master Chief’s job to secure the perimeter so that the escape ships can get out. This is essential a Hoth mission without the snow or tow cables.

Head down the stairs, following the overly enthusiastic marines. Miranda calls in saying that a hanger has been infiltrated and Master Chief needs to clear it out.

• Continue down the hallways to get to the hanger. Use the Right Bumper to open every hatch that has a glowing green light.
• Run past the quickly destroyed Warthog, fight through the gauntlet.
• Secure a plasma pistol and pair it with a battle rifle to have an easier time with the jackals and the coming Brutes.
• EASTER EGG: When this hallway is clear of monsters, don’t go through the green lit door. Instead, run down to the end of the hallway to see the Red Vs Blue guys do a bit about being locked out.

The Hanger: There is light resistance to begin with but eventually wave after wave of Covenant drop ship enters, drops its troops and then leaves.

• Run up to one of the emplaced turrets and detach it by pressing B. You will be slow but the huge well of bullets that is in that gun makes up for it.
• It may be tempting to shoot the energy gun turret on the front of the Covenant drop ships but don’t. Save your bullets for the Brutes.
• Make full use of those red light tunnels. You can use them to pop up behind a pack of attackers and shoot them in the back. Shooting people in the back is how to win the war.

When clear, the Pelican lands and your allies climb aboard. The Master Chief however, will need to stay behind and backtrack (yes backtrack) to the Op Center. Before you go though, look out of the hanger and see the gigantic Covenant ship laying siege over the city. Those are the command ships of the Profit Truth, the one who came over the command center screens. Backtrack to the ops station. On the way back, the sounds of enemies breaching the base echo throughout the halls and Keys intercoms that the barracks are under attack.
A soldier tells Master Chief to come along but is quickly attacked by a giant fly. These are drones, the stupidest looking beast in the Covenant Menagerie. Daikatana was criticized so many years ago for casting bugs as enemies and they still arn’t cool now.

Weapons: Battle Rifle | Pistol
Stay back in that room with the cage and snipe the flies with your Battle Rifle. It’s like your shooting out of Danny Devito’s office from Taxi. When your shield is low back off to the next room until they recharge.

Gift with Purchase

Back in the ops center Miranda is on the big screen and damn she looks like an Oblivion NPC telling a ghost story with a flashlight. The troops are preparing a giant bomb with the intent of blowing up the base once the troops are evacuated. Johnson commands between cigar-chomps that saving the barracks troops is a priority because “We both know what they do to prisoners.” Johnson was a prisoner back at the dam. All they do is put him in a force field, and that doesn’t sound too bad.”

EASTER EGG: If you head up to the second story of the Op Center, there are some laptops with the same Blue-Screen-of-Death from the New Mombassa map in Halo 2.

The garage (complete with overburdened Semi) leading to the barracks is the first real challenging battle. It is a long hallway with Brutes arranged in an offensive line. Rushing into this battle will mean getting attacked up close by the first line of Brutes while the ones in the back will snipe you to death.

• First, get the shotgun. To find it, run straight ahead to the end of the truck and pick up the grav lift. Deploy it and bounce yourself up to the catwalks above. On both sides of the upper deck are ancillary rooms that are filled with weaponry. The shotguns are here.
• The shotgun can take out a ground level Brute with a single shot paired with a melee attack.
• The best way to whittle down this Brute platoon is to hug one of the walls, wait for them to walk by, and then shoot/melee them in the side. (This stance is picture below)
• Stay in ancillary room to take out the first two curious Brutes then jump down to the bottom level.
• Same as above, let them come to you.
• If you pop out and shoot at them down the length of the hallway, they will open fire and you will die.
• Hide in all of those smaller side rooms and get into the hunkered down position (see the picture below)
• Use the radar to see when they are approaching.
• Again, you will have to be more patient then them, they will always come to look for you so just hide in the shadows
• They really don’t attack that aggressively so you have time to reload and let you shields re-charge.
• The Brutes will send the low level ones first. Take them all out and then go after the gold and chieftain.
• Save your sticky grenades for the gold one
• When the low-level guys are all dead the one with the hammer (the Chieftain) will come after you. The game plan changes at this point. You are now going to have to run around maintaining a good 10 meters distance from him. Keep the shotgun but use your ranged weapons such as a scrounged Brute shot or a Battle Rifle. If you find yourself in close quarters with him, switch to the shotgun a blast him a few times so he is stunned and thus buying yourself time to run away. Go back to sniping him from afar.
• When the Chieftain is dead, go scrounge for his energy hammer.
• Oh and if you get tired of dying, a fun diversion is to grab a grav lift and place it under the semi truck. It will float right up.

What a battle. From afar, fighting the Brutes looks like you are in shoot-out with Homer Simpson. Head through the open door at the other end of the hall. Head for the little manhole and a Drone comes popping up. That was just a scare tactic because we were so jumpy from the Brutes. Jump down and Cortana comes back writhing around. This would be the hot and bothered stage of Rampancy. She says that Master Chief has been called upon to serve. Drones will come shooting out of the pipes and it reminds me of the (non-super) Mario Brothers stages. Don’t jump down the pipe at the bottom, there is another skull in here.

Just run past them to find the Arbiter again. He is simultaneously shooting at drones and upbraiding the false profits. He turns to Master Chief and mumbles through a few lines that I think say “The Brutes have taken your soldiers as food or prisoners blruble brlupy burble.”

The next room is the barracks, I think Bungie bought this level at a Valve yard sale. Yah it was the room where you had to set up the turrets while the combine was coming. This room is significant because it is the moment I realized that I like fighting direct, box smashing Brutes more than the foppish, hide-in-the-corner Elites. Fighting Brutes fulfills the fabled 20 seconds of fun.

Weapons: Shotgun | Hammer

• Continue using the same Brute survival tactics you learned in the last room
• You can be a bit more offensive on your attacks in this room because they are not grouped as tightly as the last room.
• Save your hammer for the Brute Gold.

Over the radio generic soldier #75 reports that the Op center has been lost due to a Brute rush and they had to fall back to the hanger, yes this will be the third hanger/garage. When the lights come on, run up to the large elevator door and hit the switch. I know its going to be full of something, I know it.... Nope? That was anti climactic. Hit the Green switch to start the ascent. Someone with a really fake southern accents reports that the Brutes are attacking the sensors.

The Pelican lands for an evacuation but has to leave again because it ambushed by flying Brutes. The weak Pelicans are becoming a real liability, why don’t they just add a machine gun to the side of one. Or even like a sharp spike that moves back and forth. Oh and stop making them out of paper machete. That would solve half of the human’s problems.

• The Brutes will drop in waves so take them out one by one.
• Stand back and let your squad and the Arbiter shoot them down to ground level
• Hide along the sides and when the Brutes are shot from the sky, finish them off with a shotgun blast.

So the troops load into the Pelican and the guy reports that the op center bomb has been deactivated. Miranda Keys is back on the mic and she commands the Master Chief back to the op center to destroy the Brutes and re-arm the bomb. Whoa I am getting serious Halo 2 Deja Vu. Head down the stairs from the hanger. Oh, but if you look up before you leave you can see some of those new Hornets zipping around – pretty neat looking.

Last One Out, Get the Lights

Continue down the military tunnels. I recommend the Hammer and a dual wielded speed weapon like Spikers or plasma rifles. Creepy Cortana is back and says
“You will be the protector of Earth and all of her Colonies.” The next fight winds down through an access tunnel ultimately leading to Op Center

• Take cover along the sides. Rip off a plasma turret and use against the shielded jackals.
• When you get to the end of the hallway destroy the two energy turrets so an adventurous Grunt wont commandeer it. Don’t go out in the open, there are two snipers and another turret deep in the next hanger.
• Grab the battle rifle that is leaning against the truck and crouch behind that purple barricade that the Covenant has setup. Still crouching, pull back from the barricade just enough to see the feet of the sniper jackals. Pick them off from here. The barricade should protect you from the Grunts in the next room.
• Now sniper less, perform a full frontal assault on the Grunts. Scatter them with grenades and shoot at will. Be sure to keep them off the turret and you will be fine.

Follow the icon to the Op Center. Inside, the Brutes are amassed around the main screen where the profit Truth is asking his lead Brute if he know how the humans are going to stop him. He does not so the Profit puts the Brute in charge with finding answers. The Brute then shows true leadership ability by delegating the task to his subordinates - the drones are to scour the base to see what the humans know about the Ark.

• Take a moment to appreciate the fact that no one made any “Somebody set us up the bomb” jokes
• This battle is difficult because everything explodes and it is hard just to understand what is going on.
• Go back to the hallway and grab a Covenant beam rifle and use it to pick off the two lesser Brutes. Switch to a shotgun or other close range weapon to get rid of the Grunts.
• It should now just be Master Chief and the Brute Chieftain. Use the hammer , if you still have it, or the shotgun that is sitting right next to the door of the command center.
• When the room is clear, run up to the bomb and hit the switch.

The bomb is armed and we are launched into a Metroid-style escape sequence that is rendered almost benign because there is no countdown clock. Johnson says head back to that service hanger and then on to a secondary garage. ANOTHER garage! This base is 75% hangers and garages. So, with no time pressure to escape, saunter down the stairs you took to get to the hanger during the first part of this level. There will be a murder of Grunts running around. Don’t worry about shooting them as they more like set pieces that add to the overall stimmung of the army base.Cortana is back and she says “There will be a great deal of hardship on the road ahead” in the same tone of a nagging wife who has since lost the magic. I half expect her to add “You should probably pick up some Arby’s tonight if you want dinner.” Wander around here long enough an icon will appear directing you where to go. When you reach the hanger Cortana comes up and say “You will become the best we can make you.” The “we” seems to hint at her new partner Gravermind. The hanger is in disarray and you can run past most of the resistance into the elevator. Cortana is back again and says “this place will become your home... this place will become your tomb.” And then the level ends.

I really enjoyed this level, I could see where some might complain that this is another Bungie backtracking hack job but in certain cases (and this is one of them) backtracking makes a level feel more real. You backtrack at the office, and in your house because it is a functional place. Gears of War had almost zero backtracking and much of it felt like you were fighting down one long tunnel with the only difference being that some of the walls looked like a city and some of the walls looked like a cave. The layout of those tunnels never matched a real-life location. In Crow’s Nest, the level is architected like a real, functioning base so there is by necessity going to be backtracking.

Time 59 Minuutes – Rating *******

Tsavo Highway

With the base evacuated and the structure destroyed, Master Chief and the remaining soldiers must set to reunite with the rest of Miranda Key’s Troops.

Full Contact Safari

The lights come on and it is dark and smokey. Up on the D-pad is flashlight by the way. The other woman in Master Chiefs life starts asking for status and giving orders. He is so whipped. Miranda says that Master Chief and the rest of the marines must find transport to the town of [garbled static]. Follow the non-injured soldiers into the garage, yep this level starts with one. In the small connecting room, notice the line of lockers. If you knock the first one over it will fall into the other ones causing a domino effect. Continue through the room to the garage which is pack with Warthogs. Get in the one with the turret (not the SUV model unless you just want to enjoy the excitement of carpooling). One of the other soldiers will unlock the door.

It always seems like a special moment the first time you use a vehicle in the Halo series. This one is no exception. You should probably get in the Warthog’s turret unless you want to drive this level and watch your NPCs enjoy all the shooting. It would feel like playing the boring half of a SHUMP game. The vehicles bound through the dark tunnel following the light and emerge in a grassy clearing. The driver will run over any resistance which seems easier in H3 than the other two. The Jackals used to dive out of the way all the time.

After clearing the grassy area of Covenant, it is worth a look over the edge of the cliff. The post-apocalyptic landscape expands outward from there and the radio voice identifies the wreckage as the downed Mombassa Space Elevator.

Drive or be driven uphill along the perimeter of the huge metal ring. Continue through the path, the savanna pretty much directs you through the rest of the way.

The canyon eventually opens to a small valley with a Covenant drop ship hanging overhead. If you are on the turret just shoot but if you are driving, use the following tips to get you through the area.

• Don’t drive straight into the bottom of the canyon as you will be torn apart. Instead, hang a quick left and follow the rim around.
• There is an overturned Warthog here that is still functional. Flip it and drive it. If you have enough soldiers you can split them up and have two Warthogs running around this canyon.
• The ultimate goal is to get up over that bridge. The path up there is along the left side ridge.

At the top, that same generic soldier calls saying that he is stranded along Tsavo Highway. Go get him by continuing through the canyon.

The valley opens up again and it is flooded by Brutes and their custom vehicle: the Chopper. I recommend trying to find one of the Brute Choppers and using that while your allies drive the Warthog.

• The Brute Chopper runs like a poorly aligned Covenant Ghost. It does have longer range than a Ghost though. The best way to use it is to park it far from a group of enemies an just start shooting at them without moving.
• Run up to the giant purple barricade and at the center is the control unit, smash it to deactivate the purple shield.
• Drones then start pouring out from the tunnel. Hang back and let your allies shoot the drones.

Continue through the tunnel and down the connecting highway.

As you continue down the highway you will have to boost over the first hole in the road but the second gap will require you to drop down. Then, down below you see the E3 2006 Teaser Trailer....

The Broken Path

The Covenant digging has unveiled something. Miranda and Johnson assume it is the Ark and they direct the Master Chief to the city of Voi. You will have to leave whatever vehicle you have behind and climb up the ladder that leads up to the rest of the Tsavo Highway.

The next area looks like a construction zone in which they are either building a sewer line or a kid’s playground.

• Head right to free up a couple other marines. They will help distract the other Brutes while you sneak up behind them
• The rest of the constructions zone has heavy Brute coverage but should be no problem with a shotgun and by hiding next to the truck waiting for them to come by.
• Shoot out the remaining jetpack Brutes with the battle rifle

Until the Pelicans arrive you will have to hold out here. A Covenant drop ship comes in and deposits a whole pack of Brutes

• Retreat to the base at the top of the hill and let them come to you.
• In one structure you will find a sniper rife and in the other a gun turret.
• Start by picking off the smaller Brutes with the sniper.
• When they get close, switch to the gun turret.
• Hopefully most of them have been picked off by the time they make it up to the base emplacement and you will only have to fight the Chieftain.

When the first wave is complete a second one will be coming right behind it so search the carnage below for some salvageable equipment. Bubble shields are the most handy as well as the Fuel Rod Gun (it’s the Covenant version of the missile launcher).

• Save your fuel rods because a Wraith will come after you kill this wave of Brutes and you need the ammo for that.
• Get back into position at the top of the hill and get yourself a battle rifle and fuel rod
• Focus on the jet pack Brutes because they will fly up to the hillside to flank you.
• Next, hit the assorted Brutes before focusing everything on the Chieftain.

The Wraith will arrive at about the time you eliminate the second wave of the Brutes. Use the fuel rod gun to destroy it (some of the Chieftains may have dropped more fuel rod ammo).

A Warthog is deployed. Use it to head into the next area.

• Jump out of the Warthog at first sight of Brute Choppers. They make a much better weapon in this area.
• To get a Chopper, snipe at the Brute drivers as they zip by. When you shoot one out of the driver’s seat, commandeer his vehicle.
• Zip right to the two red gun turrets and take them out.- With them gone, return to the fire fight and start working on the remaining Choppers.

A second Warthog is deployed. It is a specialized, upper-deck model that was promised back in Halo 2 (better late than never I guess)

Continue through the tunnel that was flanked by turrets.The second area is more free roaming Brute territory. You will get more checkpoints more often if you take it slow and only take on one or two Choppers at a time.

• Don’t try and ram a Chopper head on, you will die.
• When the Wraiths appear, don’t go after them until you have dealt with all Choppers. Pull back out of range of the Wraith and let the Choppers come to you.
• If you have any fuel rods left, get out and destroy the Wraiths on foot. It is much more effective.
• Tear down that Brute wall. On the highway overpass the Brutes have setup a roadblock:
• Make sure that all the Wraiths are taken care of.
• Get another Brute Chopper if you need it and start attacking all of them hiding among the purple walls.

• The second line of defense is even more challenging as there are more of them and, well there are more of them. Look for the red turret, it is sitting on top of the box, just left of the main gate. Shoot it.
• Stay back, right next to the downed Pelican. The Choppers have pretty good range and you should be able to kill everything from here
• When they are all subdued, smash the shield generator to proceed.

With the landing zone clear two Pelicans touch down. Miranda relays the news to Lord Hood through the Pelican’s communication system. Lord hood then gives a big pep talk. “The profit doesn’t know it yet but he is going to get kicked right off his throne.” He tells them all they have to do is this attack and this challenge is all over.

Time: 1 Hr 30 Minutes | Rating ****

The Storm

The marines arrive at the base at the edge of the Covenant’s digging project. Their defenses are entrenched, preventing the Lord’s airborne strike. Take out the resistance to stop the Covenant from unlocking the Ark.

Ghost Town

After emerging from the tunnel it is storming. Well, drizzling. Not much of a storm really. I guess it is better to name this level “The Storm” instead of “The Light Drizzle with 40% Chance of Thunderstorms.”

Now, because this is a human installation it can only mean one thing: Garages Ahoy! The ancient Romans had their aqueducts, the medieval Europeans their cathedrals and the 26th century humans have their well-crafted vehicle holds with efficient floor grating and futurist doors.

Head to the first of many garage doors and the sergeant says “Chief, take point and we will cover you with the fifty.” I don’t know how to find or obtain this “point” and I am not sure I want the sergeant covering me in anything, but I suspect I should just shoot everything in the next room.

The squad drives the Warthog in but they are blocked by a second garage door. The gate opener is up above so jump up on the crates and move along the catwalks to unlock it for the Warthog.

• Kill the beasts in this room and proceed to the next gate.
• Follow along on the upper ramp, tossing grenades down at the clusters of Jackals to make quick work of them.
• Open the gate and grab a ghost.

The Lord is impatient and asks how the mission is going. Miranda responds that the weather is intensifying above the Ark and that Sierra 117 is proceeding. Sierra 117 is the new code name for Master Chief who is also known as John 117. He has as many nick names as Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

You will have to clear this area of all vehicles, here is how to do it.

• Work your way around the walkway and try to ram as much as you can.
• Head to that little that is at the end of the central dock. There is a missile pod on the second story that will help destroy the Wraith across the way.
• The missile pod can lock on to the Wraith that is across the area so destroy it from up here.
• Use the ghost you have to destroy the anti-air Wraith that is in the sand belowWhen everything has been destroyed in this area, the next destination is through another garage door that is located behind the Wraith’s body.

• If you want to keep your Ghost you need to jump it up onto the catwalk.
• The garage door opens not under the Chief’s actions but by a blitzing Covenant attack squad. Destroy them and move on.
• When you clear out this garage, the next door opens and you meet up with another Warthog.
• Drones come in droves, let your Warthog buddies do most of the killing.

Cortana, having not reached us in a while brags: “I have defied Gods and Demons.”

Proceed through and in another Garage a pack of four Mongooses line up ready for an attack. I think the hardest part about being in the military is repeating those same clichéd phrases like “Saddle up” or “lock and load.” But that is essentially what you will do on you way to the next battle.

• Drive around letting your missile endowed passenger knock out the Wraiths and Ghosts.
• Dodge under the grounded cruise ship (which is 100 flavors of awesome.)
• If you flip the Mongoose get back on and honk your horn a few times. The missile man will get back on.
• Continue to drive around until the area is clear.

Judgment

In comes a scarab and Master chief and all his troops surround the cornered quadruped and start firing at it. It goes to show you that for all the 1000s of years of evolution, antibiotics and cybernetic implants, this group of guys is basically going on a woolly mammoth hunt. One side of me is a little ashamed that we still want to hunt like this, but another part of me is all “wow this is so gnarly that we don’t throw spears anymore. We can send out tiny spears that are launched with little fires that are summoned without flint or tinder”

• In this battle you don’t have to do much, you could park the vehicle and let your partner do all the shooting.
• If the scarab does turn to you and starts firing, just start moving again.
• If you want to make this more dramatic I guess you could go over those jumps a few times, otherwise just stand still and let the partner take it out
• When you are in the parking/firing position do it so that you are between the scarab and the buildings instead of between the scarab and the ocean. That way, if scarab does hit you, you just fly back against the wall (probably surviving) instead of an instant death in the ocean.
• After enough hits the scarab falls on its haunches and it is Shadow of the Colossus Time.
• Run up to the back side of it and jump to the (you guessed it) garage bay on it’s backside.
• There will be turrets that you can pick up but don’t. They are too heavy and you will fall off more easily.
• Once securely aboard, walk around the very edge of the scarab’s back, there will be little walk ways that lead to the control switch.
• You need to find the core which is a big iris looking shield. Smash that and then shoot the glowing thing behind it a lot. The tank will start to blow so jump off – you won’t die from the fall. The body shakes, shutters and then its head blows off. Search the debris for weapons and then carry on.
• If you can find a missile launcher, hold on to it. It will make the next few battles much easier.

With the scarab threat eliminated, head up the ramp. The Arbiter is there and the team runs through the ramshackle base. Turn the corner and oh god, Cortana is back and she quotes “I am your shield, I am your sword.” If Cortana is across the universe using a psychic link to communicate in one sentence bursts, you would think she forgo the overly complex double talk in favor of a more practical “Gravermind is coming, get f’ out of here.”

Master Chief, the Arbiter, and the remaining troops run through a make shift medical facility in which injured soldiers and hard hat clad workers flail around on the ground. None of injured, by the way, are black. This does take place in the East African country of Kenya. Which at least in 2007 was predominantly so.

White guys, the face of Africa in the 26th centry

Through the next gate, Master Chief arrive in another garage but this one is a really big garage. Go up to the catwalk to grab a turret and use it against the Brutes. Admire the sunlight piercing through the skylights. Still Stormy?

Now that the tides of battle have started turning in Earth’s favor, civilians pick up their guns and start fighting. Still though, no black workers to be seen. At the back end of the garage is, well another garage door. Two Hunters storm in. I really love fighting hunters it really is a good change of pace. - Lure them away from the open door because the snipers out there will tear you apart

• Don’t use missiles on them, it is a waste instead...
• Attack them with a pistol/Spiker combo or grab the mounted turret (thanks J Schlein).
• The Hunters are only vulnerable in the red parts located between their armor.
• To expose that, have them charge you then dodge out of the way like a matador. Then, turn around and shoot them in the back where the red soft spot is exposed.

Outside the garage door, the storm (the whole reason this level was named) has cleared and it is quite sunny.

• Instead of going out through the main door, head up the stairs on the left side. In the second room up there is a sniper rifle.
• Take up position here sniping or if you have a missile launcher go outside and fire it at the pack of Brutes.

Beyond the next series of walkways you reach the giant anti aircraft gun. The Lord’s ships are approaching and this gun must be disabled before he gets in.

• The path up the hill is paved with Grunts and capped off with Brutes
• Save your missile launcher for the battle at the top and use a riffle for the close combat with the lesser enemies.
• The music by the way may actually be from the real world Chieftains.
• When you get to the top and have defeated the Brutes, collect all the equipment the Brutes had, there was some good stuff
• Johnson says “that gun’s been firing all day its gotta be running hot.” I don’t know what that means.
• Watch the underside of the Turret. After it fires a giant white thing that looks like a bike reflector hangs out. Shoot it with anything, bullets, and missiles, whatever.

The gun falls apart and it is just a huge tripod. The chief rests his gun on his shoulder like he does on all those Halo 3 promotional products and the only way he could look cooler would be to replace that gun with ghetto blaster.

The Good Lord’s armada arrives and they commence firing at the Ark because, you know, if a mysterious piece an Armageddon grade ancient hardware is set to fire, the best thing to do is shoot at it.

The Eiffel tower part of the structure explodes and the whole circular surface subsides. As the side panels become turgid, a brilliant beam of light shoots skyward. Blue light emanates through everything. Ships start turning towards the glow and the screen goes black. Cortana says “This is the way the world ends.” If this is the end of the game I am going to book my ticket to Redmond right now.

It’s not, the screen returns and Chief watches as the Eiffel tower floats up into the blue orb. All of the Covenant ships turn skyward and venture into the blue orb. A since unseen ship warps into the atmosphere, flies overhead then pulls a Lindsey Lohan right into the valley below. The Arbiter wonders aloud if it is more Brutes, “worse” Master Chief says.

Time: 48 min Rating: ******

Floodgate

The smoking, crashing craft was none other than the Profit Regret’s Flood infested cruiser. For those of you worried that Bungie can’t help but slip in a Library-esq level, this could be it.

It Followed Me Home

The flood is spilling out of the ship and infesting the town. Master Chief needs to stop the certain infestation and the best plan they have is to set off the reactors, destroy the city and everything along with it. Instead of “It Followed Me Home” this section should have been titled “Baby With The Bath Water.”

Go down the hill and around the first switchback when you see that purple Covenant crate and glowing rod. Stop here because you have a chance at getting another skull.

Continue down and into the city. The first infestation of the flood comes pouring down from above and are more sploshy sounding than the previous Halos. Flood come at you in high numbers and really fast. The best weapons are the close range ones with quick rates of fire. The larger forms of the Flood seem especially vulnerable to melee attacks.

As you follow the checkpoints around the map you will backtrack through the garages and access tunnels that you fought through in “The Storm.” In the main hanger, look for a parked transport containing fusion cores. Exploding them at the right moment can save bullets.

The navigation icon will lead you to a hole in the floor. Don’t jump in just yet. The flame thrower is located on the nearby and it is very useful at setting the Arbiter on fire and blinding you in dark hallways.

The Chief jumps down a hole and right on cue Cortana appears to say that Gravermind is dangerous.

Cut Scene: The good Elite ship Shadow of Intent deploys a legion of troops using the coffin drop method.

Continue up the hill swapping out weapons as you run low on ammo – the bulleted weapons are much more effective against the flood than the energy variety.

Upon reaching the outer garages, Miranda breaks the news: Cortana is on that ship and Johnson suggests you get her out.

Outside the Master Chief is joined by some more Elites to fight for the common good against the flood. Near the tower a newer form of the flood appears. In one form they appear spider-like and shoot small needles out of their thorax. Left alone they transform into giant hulking beasts that appear to have fleshy Fu-Manchu mustaches. They are slow and take a lot of bullet damage but a quick strike with the Brute shot blade or the plasma sword will take them down.

The trail ends at a giant piece of generic wreckage. The Arbiter says he will stay behind to ensure that nothing will pass. The Master Chief, on the other hand, must go into molten yellow orifice.

Infinite Devil Machine

So Master Chief dives into some organic creature. This is probably the titular Infinite Devil Machine. IDM actually sounds more like a bad Japanese RPG than a sentiment bio mass. The hallways of this level are completely covered in generic organelles. I think we are in Gravermind’s Intestine thus earning the Game Intestine “Intestinal Moment of the Game” Award.

As you proceed, the tunnel vision starts and instead of Cortana’s cryptic ramblings, Gravermind recommends that the Master Chief “be not be afraid, I am piece and salvation.”

The hallways continues to wind deeper and deeper in. Thank god for next-Generation hardware that can finally render the subtle perspiration on pulsating zombie polyps. Don’t shoot those nodules though as they release a blast of the little Flood-lets.

Gravermind: “Join your voice with mine and sing victory everlasting”

Look for a giant blue console. Cortana is in there. Climb on top of it and at the prompt press the right bumper to retrieve Cortana.

Guilty spark descends and he attempts to save the Cortana as Chief holders her in his hands. Gulity Spark was the light house keeper for the Delta Halo and first met the Master Chief in Halo 1. The Chief, the Lord and the leader of the Elite (he is the one with the helmet that looks like a Nerf Screamer on his head) regroup in the war room of the Elite’s Shadow of Intent. It is soon realized that this in not the real Cortana but rather, just a recording. While sitting on the command table does her best “Help me Obi wan Kenobi” and then recommends that all forces head into the portal to stop the flood for good. The commanders agree with this plan of action and they ready their troops.

Quick cut to a montage of Elites and Marine troops preparing for battle. In one key scene, a human carries a pile of Covenant Carbines while an Elite shoulders a missile launcher. Their respective races look at them strangely and it is a touching moment of inter-species reconciliation brought to you by guns. See, people don’t make peace, weapons make peace. Lets all get guns and then trade guns and we will all work together in racial harmony. Guns!

So all the ships head into the portal like they are fertilizing a giant blue egg – well, an egg that didn’t mind polyspermy.

This level is kind of like a bridge paragraph that is just trying to join two parts of the story. The Floodgate really doesn’t have much punch to it and I thought it was a bit sloppy.

Hour: 28 Min | Rating: ******

The Ark

The armada appears and they seem to have emerge from a clear blue sky. As the camera pulls away, it is apparent that it is not a sky but a strange, massive space object that looks like a bloomed flower with land covering each petal. It seems like something they would put on a Pink Floyd shirt.

The Brute cruisers approach the Elite’s ships and they ready for a huge space attack. Johnson and a fleet of Pelicans un dock en route to one of the petal surfaces. The Pelicans get shot and then entering the atmosphere of the flower thing. The objective is to land and clear out a landing zone for Key’s battle ship.

Installation 00

The Brutes have setup a base on this planet/ring/installation/forerunner thing and Master Chief must clean it out. The land is sandy blonde in color and stretches out for miles. It looks a lot like Utah.

Follow the other troops around the ridge until you find the Covenant’s encampment. It is heavily patrolled by Brutes as well as Jackals and Grunts.

• Snipe at the Brutes, ignoring the jackals and Grunts
• When the base is clear of Brutes, jump down to clear out the smaller combatants.

Continue on after fighting through the prior camp. Head through the automatic footlight tunnel until you come across a carrier piecing together an anti-aircraft battery that is hued a lovely tomato red.

• Snipe the Brutes again. I just went down the line knocking out their armor so my allies could shoot their flesh bits
• Snipe the Jackal above and run down to kill the rest up close.
• Find some Brute Spikers for use on the approaching Hunters
• The ship drops two Hunters. Lure them back to your troops on the ridge and flank them. Aim for the soft underbelly

Around the bend of this encampment is a small trail heading up the cliff side. Heading down the trail is a gold Brute lead by 7 tiny Grunts. I wonder if that Brute hates his assignment.

• Knock out the Grunts with a couple grenades and then focus on him.
• A Brute shot works wonders against the group.

Keys comes on and says the fleet is in brutal combat with the Brutes. She needs a place to land and she needs Master Chief’s squad to clear one. Head into the huge structure that is not Covenant. Rather, it is Forerunner. Once inside, the way out is through the front door. The two side doors lead to a terminal that displays an anonymous diary (t01). My favorite thing about all in-game diaries (be it Bioshock, Systemshock, Metroid or even Doom 3) is that the author, despite being in the middle of a dreadful blitzkrieg by a mysterious enemy, is able craft fully realized, well written, and correctly punctuated diary entries lamenting their current state.

Outside, fight your way around the sandy ridge until you find a downed Pelican and a couple of Mongooses. Forget the Mongooses. Your immediate goal is to salvage the wreckage for a missile launcher. Quickly, two Brute sleds bound over to kill you

• Use the missiles to blow up one of the sleds
• Use a sniper rifle to pick off the driver so you can have your own Brute sled.

Over the next hill you will engage in full on vehicle combat.

• Use the sled and a possible gunner to de-man a Brute Chopper. Then, board that Chopper because your allies are not good enough to help you through this fire fight.
• Now that you have a Chopper, lure the other Choppers away so you can have at them without being molested by the other ground forces .

Continue through the Lucas-ian desert and destroy all outposts until you reach the valley on the right. There should be two Grunts cruising around on Ghosts. Kill them both because there is a skull in this area.

The skull looks on as you grenade jump up to the krelbow

From the Grunt valley head up and around to the right to another valley of Brutes

• At the bottom of a small valley you will find two Brutes. You can’t circle strafe in a Chopper like you can in a Ghost. Instead, you should run at them like a joust. Just be sure not to collide, the Choppers are quite fragile when it comes to head-on collisions.
• At the top of the hill, blocking access to the bridge is a Brute blockade. From the Chopper hang far back and out of the range of the fuel rod firing Brutes.
• Work your way across the bridge to the Brute encampment. The Brutes have setup a station to shoot at those gold doors to try and breach them. Focus your attack on the red turret before killing the other Brutes.

When everything is destroyed, a Pelican descends. Johnson explains that this is the map room that will point to the control room (“The Cartographer” in Halo-talk). However, the gold doors there are keeping everyone so we will have to secure a landing zone so Keys can bring in the heavy equipment. Follow the Pelican across the valley.

En Route, you will encounter a small detachment of jackals and Grunts in a shadowy base. They should be easy to subdue in a Chopper.

• The landing zone is through the cave. To clear it will mean taking out the surrounding Brutes and a Covenant Wraith. There is a land bridge and a pack of Brutes behind a purple barricade. Skip them for now.
• Instead, drive the Chopper down into the basin and up to the Wraith. Get out of the Chopper and fight it on foot. If you have fuel rods and or the shield sapping piece of equipment use it as it disables vehicles.
• Jump back into the Chopper and drive away to the entrance of this zone.
• The Brutes that were guarding the barricade to the land bridge will start crossing towards you, ignore them, they will be clustered too tightly together and will make short work of you.
• Instead, focus on the two ghosts that will come to meet you. The Chopper has better range then them so drive away and hit them from afar.
• Even better strategy is to try and get a ghost as they are much more maneuverable than the Choppers.
• When all the Brutes and assorted vehicles have been cleared of the basin you should get a checkpoint. Note, there maybe a Grunt manning a gun placement at the barricades or another Grunt hiding between the two rocks that are where the Wraith was. If they are alive you will not get a check point.

Continue further past the Wraith’s corpse to take on the anti aircraft weaponry. The rock structure is swarming with Brutes so carefully take them out. I recommend using the energy turrets. Use the last energy turret to take out the two anti-aircraft tanks. As soon as they are gone Miranda Keys’ ship lands and it is quite impressive.

Forward Unto Dawn

Miranda drops three tanks and a ton of support vehicles. Grab the tank and a bunch of guys will jump aboard the treads. They are basically canaries whose death indicates that you tank is being severely hit.

• The mission here is escort the Guilty Spark to the gold gates so he can open them. This part is really great. It actually feels like you are playing an RTS (which is how Halo was first conceived). Drive the tank through the level destroying everything in your path.
• When the Covenant drop ship floats above the canyon, fire at its glowing engines and it will explode.
• Pull the tank up to the bridge you navigated earlier making quick work of the Brutes.
• Master Chief’s Robot: 434 Guilty spark opens the door

Head on in to start battling in the installation. Hey the last time Master Chief and 434 Guilty Spark were together fighting it was through the library. Who knows, Bungie maybe giving the library another try.

• Follow the spark and click the button to expand a bridge for your team to cross
• Turn around to reach the second terminal (t02)
• Head outside and damn Bungie really got the light right for distant objects. Check out that atmospheric perspective.
• Climb aboard the Warthog and jump in the turret position to make this battle more fun.
• After clearing out all of the Wraiths/ghosts, in crawls the Scarab.

This part sucks big time. The setup is that you can shoot from the Warthog with this great Gauss rifle but your driver is so bad that you will be annihilated by the scarabs laser. If you switch it up and elect to be the driver you are watching as an NPC gets the glory of taking down the scarab.

• The most fun option is to commandeer one of the tanks.
• Park the tank right underneath the scarab and start shooting at those purple flappy things over its knees.
• Hopefully when you do shoot out its legs it lands in a place where you can jump aboard. There are gray lifts located in that nearby building which can help you get up onto it quickly.
• Find the power core and destroy it by shooting it.

The Elite commander reports that the Brute’s fleet has been crippled in the attack. The leader of the Brute army is on the top of the spire. Continue up there

• Drive the Brute Chopper up the ramp and use it against the beasts on the first few tiers of the spire.
• The first Brute and one of the Grunts should have an fuel rod gun, use it and a carbine in this next area.

Real Men Don’t Read Maps

I'm not sure if this level is a dig at the Master Chief who is primarily a cyborg thus not a real man. But the Arbiter and a few solders are dropped off at the top floor and the door is open. The Guilty Spark continues to open doors to a room full of sleeping Grunts.

• Do not shoot them. Instead hit them with your melee attack and you can kill each one without startling the rest of them.
• Terminal 3 (t03): As you head through the next rooms there will two hallways. Head underneath the staircase in this hallway and through the door to the third terminal.
  
• Follow the Arbiter through the next rooms.
• In the next expanse, target the large number of fuel cells in the room to kill more with fewer bullets. Continue to spiral through the rooms until you get to the horse-shoe shaped veranda.

At the press of the nearby switch the structure’s planetarium comes into full effect. The first image shown is the Milky Way Galaxy which Master Chief seems to narrowly recognize. Guilty Spark lectures that the space flower that we all find ourselves on is the Ark. The Profit Truth has hidden himself in the core of the Ark and is safely behind a protective shield.

Before much more plot can be advanced, a pack of Covenant Banshees attack. The Arbiter jacks one of the Banshees Master Chief heads back into the structure to hide from the attack and to get back to some more backtracking.

Near the bottom, you will emerge on a giant, round patio. A whole legion of Brutes are standing around a profit hologram.

• You should target the Brute chieftain here so you can get his hammer.
• When you hopefully obtain it, stand on the upper deck where you can shelter yourself from the heavy fire from the other Brutes.
• They will get curious and will approach your glass shelter. Quickly step out, knock them with the hammer and then return behind your glass wall.
• When the Brutes are gone, jackal snipers will take up position in the upper deck. Carefully climb up there to take them out.
• When the entire room is clear, the sergeant will come in with a Pelican.

The little centuries approach by the thousand and Johnson is about to open fire. The guilty sparks stops them saying that they have other priorities.

HR: 1:24 | Rating *******

The Covenant

Now that the humans have a better idea of what the Ark is and that the Profit Truth is hiding away inside it, they device a plan to hack the Ark to bring down the shields.

Trident

A platoon of Pelicans and two Elite transports fly over the ocean approaching the shield generators. Johnson and his men will take out the first shield generator, the Elites the second, and Master Chief will take the third station. As Master Chief’s platoon nears the landing zone, the paper mache Pelicans lose altitude and crash on the shore. I think an approaching cold front and the resulting spike in humidity may be to blame for the Pelicans’ downing this time. Jump off the Pelican and good heavens that’s a big gun Master Chief has.

The level starts with your classic beach storming mission in which an entrenched enemy uses their beach entrenched advantage against you.

• Keep pushing forward using grenades and the Battle Rifle
• Save the Spartan Laser for later. I am talking like 10 minutes later, there is a big vehicle battle coming and you will need it then.
• When you reach the two red turrets, strafe right and follow the river path around to flank them. Hit them with a sticky grenade or shoot out the Grunt gunner.
• When you reach the top of the hill you will find the other downed Pelican and two Brutes. When they are gone, destroy the anti-air Wraith with the fuel rod gun that one of the Brutes dropped.
• Take the remaining bullets as well as the Spartan Laser with you. I know they are both anti vehicle and woefully overpowered against infantry, but again there is a big nasty vehicle battle ahead and you will need both of these weapons.

With the air defenses cleared, a Pelican deploys a Mongoose and a Warthog. Master Chief must drive his men towards the generating station- So, as Master Chief lead these men to the first Generator.

• Take out the pursuant Wraith using the Spartan Laser. Doing so will give you the “Too Close to the Sun” achievement.
• The subsequent uphill path leads through a picturesque valley that makes me think the Forerunners had visited Yosemite National Monument.

The trail descends into one of the greatest, most beautiful video game waterfalls I have ever seen. It rivals the one on the Legend of Zelda Splash Screen. Down in the gorge is the huge vehicle battle and the reason I made you save your Spartan Laser and Fuel Rod Gun.

• Use a ranged weapon to snipe out a Ghost’s driver and use it to take out the ground troops.
• Don’t fight the Wraith until you have dealt with all the tertiary attackers.
• The two Brute vehicles can easily outgun your Ghost so use the Spartan Laser on them.
• With both vehicles gone, use the Ghost to loop around the valley shooting at any beasts. Retreat after they knock out your shields.
• Focus on the Wraith. Use the ghost if you are daring or the Spartan Laser if you are lazy.With the valley clear, head for the garage door that is at the buried in the side of the canyon.
• Use grenades and range weapons such as the Beam Rifle (it is located at the top of that metal structure opposite the garage door)

The inside of the building is a nearly identical regurgitation of the shield generator stations from Halo 1. The room has an outer ring of hallways and then a central lobby area where there is a mysteriously glowing energy field. - Keep moving around the outer ring picking off the Covenant as they attack.- There are a lot of fusion cores here. Aim for them and you can clear a room quite efficiently.

• Wind around the perimeter of the map and look for the ramp that leads to the second floor.
• TERMINAL 04 - From the second floor, walk over to the energy beam but don’t hit the switch. Instead, jump over to the nearby darkened room to find another of the terminals. In this entry, another besieged author dreads his pending fate while still maintaining excellent sentence structure (t04)
• When complete with the terminal, jump back to the elevator and hit the switch to activate an elevator to the generator’s control room.

At the top of the beam station is a floor absolutely teaming with Grunts. Is all this necessary? It’s as overstaffed as a GAP.

• You should be adept by now at taking out a pack of Brutes. Fire a shot or two at one of them and then wait form them to come and get you.
• By slowly picking off one or two at a time, you slowly bleed the platoon of its Brutes.
• Use their equipment against them. If they throw down a bubble shield, jump into it, kill everyone in there, and then stick around until it recharges. Same thing for the green regenerator fog.

When the room is clear, head to the window and flip the switch. The energy beam deactivates. Looking across to the other installation, the Arbiter deactivates his assigned beam. Quick pan to the third and final beam and it doesn’t turn off. Johnson’s team failed. After stranding himself on the Delta Halo, crashing countless Pelicans, and now this, it’s becoming apparent that Johnson really isn’t that good at what he does. Keys changes the plans. Regroup with the Arbiter and then go bail out Johnson.

So, turn around and backtrack your way out of this installation and back into the waterfall valley. Two vehicles have been dropped off. I opted for the Aerostar edition Warthog.

When you get back to the beach, two Hornets descend and the pilots get out. With their smaller helmets and diminutive size, they look like diet Master Chiefs. Hop in and fly off to the final shield generator.

If You Want it Done Right ...

The shield generator station that the Arbiter was assigned to and the one that Johnson failed to disable are further down this rocky coast. The first station that is on your right was the station assigned to the Arbiter. It has successfully been deactivated so is only of interest to you if you want to get a skull and a terminal.

• Flying tip #1: The right stick controls your altitude. The left stick is the forward throttle.
• Flying tip #2: there are so many Covenant aircraft target only the ones that are harassing you.
• Flying tip #2: When fighting airborne enemies, target its engines. The little glowing things on each wing for the Banshees and the big glowing balls on the transport ships are the equivalent of a headshot.
• TERMINAL 5 (t05): Land the Hornet and from the ground floor of the installation, head around to the back. The fifth terminal is there along the wall.

Continue past the Arbiter’s generator station and around the cliff face is the third generator station.

• If you are being hit from behind, spin the Hornet around and fly backwards as you shoot at the Banshee attacking you.

When you get near the third metal tower, there is heavy anti-aircraft fire.

• Fly low and take out the two orange turrets, the Wraith, and the two AA tanks on either side.
• When those are clear, the Brutes really start pouring out of the station. The Hornet can make short work of them.
• If you dislike flying the Hornet and want to tackle this area on foot, there is a Fuel Rod Gun in the forested areas on the right landing zone. (its behind a rock in a Covenant crate)
• If needed, you can jump out of the Hornet from a high altitude. You will almost be paradropping in.

Head into the Forerunner structure to deactivate the third shield.

• Along the left side are a mess of drones, get a pair of Spikers ready to neutralize them.
• When they are gone, head to the middle lobby and battle it out with the Hunters. If you still have the Brute Hammer use it on them. Otherwise, use the fuel rod gun that is back in the grassy area.
• When the area is clear, your Elite allies will crouch around the door that you should enter.
• Advance up the ramps and battle the Brutes here.
• TERMINAL 6 (t06) - Climb up onto the beam elevator but, like last time, don’t go up. Instead, jump across the darkened room to get the sixth terminal.
• Jump back to the beam elevator and ride it up to the control room.

Like last time, the generator control room is over-staffed with Brutes. This time they have been upgraded with invisibility

• Stay back in that first little alcove, pop out and shoot the passing invisible Brute a little and he will com back at you.
• Continue to shoot them one-by-one and they will follow you back to that first alcove.
• When all the other Brutes have been taken care of, there is the chieftain at the head of the room. Use your Hammer or the nearby Needlers.

After hitting the switch the sky instantly opens and appears to defecate. The space turd, traveling at high velocity, sideswipes the Elite mother ship. A second chunk of the sky-stool crashes through the window and skids across the room. Whatever that was that just happened resulted in a ton of Flood in the generator room. Grab the plasma turret the Chieftain was carrying and get to work on the Flood-ites.

The Elite’s ship lost its weapons systems in the collision but is stable otherwise. Miranda commands that we focus on the Truth and deal with the Flood later.

Backtrack out of the base and back onto the landing zone. Guilty Spark recommends that we explore the meteorite crash site for damage to the Ark. Miranda’s alternate plan of Truth first is getting more traction. So, it seems we are headed out to breach the Profit Truth’s Citadel.

A fresh supply of vehicles is delivered. Pick the tank unless you want to do some more driving while you live vicariously through your shooting NPCs.

Journey’s End

Drive the tank through the now snowy country side. As you descend through the region, the Halo 3 Love Theme builds in the background. The Giant Forerunner structure glints softly in the dusk light and looks like the face paint of LCD Soundsystem’s lead singer in the “All my Friends” video. As you wind around the trail, shoot across the switchbacks to take out many of the vehicles before they even get within range of your vehicle.

At the end of the path two Hornets are deposited for a fight against two scarabs.

• You can take the scarab out two ways, the first is the one employed earlier in which you jump onto it and circle round to the shield core. The other method, now that you have a powerful Hornet, is to shoot at the large glowing thing that can only be described as the Scarab’s butt hole.
• If you choose to take the scarab out by boarding it, fly around it to shoot the Brutes that come out and stand on the Scarab’s back.
• If the rear-end attack is more up your ally, circle around to the back side of it and aim for the glowing thing. Continue to shoot at the tail and the backside will fall off exposing the core that must be shot to implode the Scarab.
• While in your Hornet, always maintain a far distance from the Scarab. They pack quite a punch if you get too close.
• Repeat this for the second scarab.

With the two Scarabs defeated, the Citadel’s main defenses are down. The Covenant is holding Johnson captive (again) and they are ready to fire the rings. Two excellent reasons to storm the base. Get yourself to the navigation icon and the Guilty Spark will activate the drawbridge.

As the Master Chief heads in, Cortana comes back to say “It asked and I answered, and for a moment of safety I risked damnation”

Inside the citadel, the Profit does his best imitation of Apple’s 1984 inspired Macintosh commercial. Inside the control room, a Brute beats Johnson as he taunts the Brute. The Truth needs a human to activate the Ring and his best hope is to force Johnson into doing the deed.

Realizing that Master Chief is too far away to stop the profit, Miranda takes the initiative by crashing a Pelican into the command center’s window. Do Pelican’s even have landing gear, or are they all just one time use crafts? She jumps out of the wreckage and holds both the Brute and Profit at Jon Wu-style gunpoint. Realizing the best option to prevent the ring activation is to eliminate all the humans in the room, she points her gun at a weakened Johnson. As she wavers, the Profit shoots her in the back with a Spiker. I want to feel like that is a bummer but I can’t remember and great moments in the story that involved Ms. Keys. She was more of a project manager than a character.

As the Profit stalks like Monty Burns across the room, he explains that the human race was left by the Forerunners so that, if needed, they could one day activate the rings. Humans are the equivalent of the key you hide under the rock in the backyard in case you need the neighbor to open the back door when you leave the oven on. The Profit gently places Johnson’s hand on the turn-on-the-rings button and the neon lights activate like the front of the Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As the Master Chief and Arbiter arrive, two flood tanks drop in. Communicating through their bottle-brush mandibles, they agree to team up, just for now, in order to stop the rings from firing.

Revelation

The Master Chief and the Arbiter, accompanied by a legion of friendly Flood, barrel forward towards the Profit.

• Head down the hallway but slow down so the two hulking Flood beasts will take the brunt of the shots fired by the Grunt and the Jackal.
• Hide behind the barricades that line the bridge if you need to recharge/reload
• When you get to the end of the hallway, grab the plasma turret for use in the next hallway. It should play out very similarly to the one you just went through.

Cut Scene:
The Master Chief and Arbiter arrive just in time to see Johnson cradling the dead Miranda like a gender inversed Pieta. The Arbiter grabs the Profit by his ample neck and holds a blade to it. As the Profit continues to claim that his path to salvation is the right one, the Flood slowly leaches out of his face. The Master Chief powers down the rings. The Arbiter commits Truth-icide and then lets out a primal yell. Johnson caries Miranda into the amazingly still-functioning Pelican but as he takes off, Gravemind’s tentacles wrap around the platform and it. Before the Chief and Arbiter can escape off the Pelican, the tentacles pull them back in. The short Flood/Sentient life truce comes to an end and they start attacking immediately.

Cortana, not to be forgotten, interjects: “I’m a thief but I keep what I steal”

Backtrack through the same ringed hallways, continue through the Flood until you reach the glowing blue hole. Jump down it.

Cut scene: The Master Chief looks around the next hall and sees Cortana’s ghost. Master Chief opens the nearby hatch and the shutter lifts exposing an exquisite view onto the Ark’s core. Then, a huge metallic structure that rivals the size of the Halo 3 marketing machine rises out of the molten depths. Chief says that he intends to fire the rings so that he can destroy the Ark. The Guilty Spark jubilantly floats off to prepare it for the process.

The Halo 3 loading screen starts and I keep thinking that one of these times it is going to make the AT&T logo.

Hr: 1:58 | Ranking *****

Cortana

The scene opens on the burned out crater left when that flood chuck came plopping out of the sky. A Banshee flies overhead. It was the Chief and he gets out to step into a puss-y, bile-y muck that is the former Covenant city, High Charity.

I feel sorry for the Chief in this level. Trying to win back an ex from a new boyfriend is never easy. I am sure they had a great times together in Halo 1 and Halo 2, but, man, when you left her on the other Halo, she totally looked down on that. She’s all up in Gravemind’s head now. I don’t think you can win her back at this point. You just need save face now Master Chief and find a new AI.

Rampant

From this first great room, pickup some Spikers and Plasma Rifles and continue down the hallway killing off the swarms of Flood infestation. Continue through the nearby sphincter.

Gravemind speaks to Master Chief and lens effect he uses makes this look like a colonoscopy. The overlord says that he does not forgive the sins that a father passes to his sons. This is a reference to the Forerunners who first fired the rings and the sons would be the humans that descended from them.

Weapon Recommendation: A close range weapon such as a shotgun or a plasma sword and then a ranged gun such as a carbine. If you ever find a Brute shot, hang on to it the blade on that thing is a Flood killing machine that doesn’t waste ammo.

Descend through the ground sphincter and hear Cortana ecstatically laugh/cough. Fight your way up the ramp and into a much larger chamber that has the full range of Flood types.

• The Pure Form Stalker (new to Halo 3) will climb the ceilings then turn into the Ranged type. So, if you are being shot at and you can’t figure out from where, look up.
• It can be easy to lose your way in this room so your first goal should be to find the Pelican that has crashed into the side of the structure. There you can find some pistols and a shotgun.
• From there, head over the hill on the other side and descend into the tunnels.
• Get the checkpoint and then head through the next sphincter.

From here on out Cortana and GM will takeover Master Chief’s brain microphone and not really taunt, just sort of give status updates on their relationship. Its bad enough to go crawling back to your ex-AI, but it’s even worse when she makes fun of you as you do it. Such a shame, I am really more worried about Master Chief in this level than Cortana.

To add further insult, Gravermind’s tunnel vision starts again and he tells the Master Chief that he knows he is here for Cortana but it is no good anymore. They are one now.

Further down the hall an almost childlike Cortana says that she is nothing but a buildup of lies. Gravermind retakes Master Chief’s brain and says that maybe her heart still remains with Master Chief but her mind is definitely with Gravermind. Read: “She may still like you a little but I am the one who gets to have her at night.”

The next room has a bunch of Flood clad in shinny black suits. Fight them off and then head up the hill and jump down the hole into a room that is less consumed by the flood. The walls and floor are that Covenant Purple.

• The Ranged form is really infesting this area so you should hide behind a structure and let the Covenant come to you. When clear, pop out and snipe at them before they rain down on you with those green spittle shots.
• As you fight, Cortana, sounding very childlike, introduces herself and asks if you like to play games. Its like her memories are being consumed and all that is left is her memory of introduction to the Chief. Here is also where you find the next skull:

Continue on, a way point should appear to guide you through this room. The hallways continue almost indistinguishably. As you round a particularly narrow point, child Cortana says “I’m just my mother’s shadow, don’t look at me, don’t listen.” Either this is an offspring we are listening to or she has completely regressed to thinking her old self was her mother. Continue slowly through this very infested hallway. At the end of it Gravemind frustratingly yells at Master Chief.

The next great room is again crawling with the Range form Flood. You need to head straight up, almost like a platformer. The jumps are pesky, but even more pesky when the Flood are firing at you. Clear the room of flood before you proceed up this room.

• Look for the Brute shot in this room. It is most effective against the wall clingers.
• To climb up the room, go to the big purple box in the middle. Jump on it, then to the metal platform across from it. Continue up there and then jump across the next chasm.
• From there, wind around the ancillary hallways. If you going uphill, you are on the right path.
• There will be another chasm to jump across before you reach the sphincter at the top.

Cortana is back and says “I have watched the edge of the abyss and I have seen your future” Gravemind interjects: “SUBMIT.” What a grump. I guess I would feel the same way through if a someone was climbing through my orifices.

Through the next hallway and out the next sphincter you reach a giant room with a hollow column down the center.

• The place is crawling with the spider form. - Use the Brute shot heavily in here. The melee blade can take out the bigger, Tank form and a few shots can take out the Ranged form.
• Circle around the perimeter to the bridge that leads to the center island.
• From the center, take the flesh bridge across to the other side and reach a door that has yet to be consumed by the Flood.

Gravemind and Cortana have become almost one at this point. They are talking over each other and it is almost cute. He wants to know what she hides (most likely the location of Earth) and she plays coy. Through the next door Cortana admits that she is a monument to all your sins. Insult and injury.

In the next room, Cortana sits in the middle of a pop-a-matic bubble. Melee it and you find a distressed Cortana. She lies there and looks up at her rescuing Chief. Apparently, rampancy causes an estrogen cascade because Cortana is downright busty. Cortana was the mousy librarian in Halo 1 and now she could give SHODAN a run for her money. Cortana reveals that she still has the activation index (that is what she was saving from Gravermind). He reclaims Cortana and puts her in his head.

Nor Hell a Fury

References to dead English playwrights aside, Cortana is back and boy is she pissed at Gravermind. Cortana begs to be taken out of there.

• Head back in the central chamber
• When there, Cortana has the great idea to start a chain reaction to destroy the ship. Throughout the Halo saga, Cortana’s solution to pretty much everything is to overload the propulsion system to make it self destruct.
• Activate the console in the center island and then blow up the four other towers (indicated with the navigation icons).
• The chambers explodes and it is another Metroid escape sequence.
• Wander around a bit and wait for an explosion to clear the escape path which Cortana will mark with a nav icon.

This next sequence is classic Bungie. God Bless Em. It’s another backtracking through an old level. I mean really, couldn’t that chute that was blown open in the last room been a long freefall that spit us out right next to the final door. No sir! Its Hansel and Gretel time. I just wish I had told you all to leave breadcrumbs on your way in. Wander around aimlessly enough and you will be given nave points to lead you out.

The Chief finds the Pelican and the Arbiter. They climb aboard and escape the tendrils of Gravemind and ride off into the sunset. I am disappointed that we never got to see Gravemind. I have a feeling Bungie was a little scarred to roll him out again considering many called him a little shop of horrors doppelganger.

Time 1:09:26 Rating **** //I got lost a lot, combat was confusing

Halo

All other Elites and humans head back into the portal while fresh out of Gravemind’s lair, Master Chief, the Arbiter and Cortana take off for the ring in the center of the Ark. Firing this ring will destroy the flood that have established a home base here. Johnson lands the frigate near the control room before meeting them on the surface.

After flying across a pretty impressive matte painting, Master Chief crashes the Pelican into the snowy drifts of the surface for no other reason than that is how every Pelican is parked. The halo is unfinished and Cortana worries that it won’t work.

Full Circle

TERMINAL 07 (t07): From the skull, turn around and when you get back to the lit part of the cave, make another right and head down the foggy length of it.

• Continue up the hill to a structural element that looks like it is lit with long florescent tubes. - Cortana will ask “Where are you going?”
• Head up and into the room, she will then ask “Wait, what’s that?”
• Walk up to the middle tube and it will open revealing the final terminal. This terminal documents the writers intention to fire the rings.

The goal of this level is to get to the control room. Head down the snowy path until you reach a clearing with a huge Forerunner structure. The control room is at the top of that tower. The Flood command quickly deploy Flood dispersal pods and they come at you and the Arbiter slowly, almost like the zombies in a George Romero film.

Climb to the top of the structure using the ramps are on the back side of it.

• Follow the path along the side of the structure, watch out for the bottomless pit along the edges.
• Don’t be afraid to use your missile launcher on groups of Flood, that is what it’s there for.
• Continue to wind around the structure

When you reach the top, Johnson requests that Guilty Spark open the large main doorway. The Spark will take a while and, of course, while you wait you will be inundated with Flood.

• There are two pieces of equipment here that when deployed will act as turrets. Pick them up and then immediately deploy them both to help you with your fight.
• If you have the Brute Shot, use the melee function on the Flood a lot because no ammunition will be expended.
• This scene is very similar to the storming of the control room in Halo 1.

Johnson reaches the door and is ready for it to open. Cortana, replacing Miranda Key’s role as the female Virgil or is it the female Jiminy Cricket, warns that more Flood are coming. Follow the Nav points to the control room.

Gravemind asks rhetorically “Who is bringing life and who is taking it away?” A definite dig at Master Chief who is ready to fire the life eviscerating ring while the flood operates to reincarnate dead and dying creatures across the Galaxy. But really, Master Chief has made a career of “taking away life” with missiles, grenades, etc, so calling him on it now will do little.

Cut Scene:
The holographic ring spins in the center of the control room and Cortana asks to be “Yanked” into the ring. Johnson wants to have yanking honors so the Chief throws him the card. The Guilty Sparks walks along giving ring status updates to Johnson. But, when the Spark realizes the Sergeant’s true intent is to destroy the Ark, he shoots Johnson and then fires on the Chief. Guilty Spark, I had no idea you had it in you.

So now a pissed off Guilty Spark takes it upon himself to stop the Chief from destroying the Ark.

• His primary and only weapon is to shoot a red beam.
• Strafe sideways to avoid it. Jump over it if you have to.
• Don’t even bother shooting, you have to wait for the next scene to actually hurt it.

Johnson musters his strength and shoots Spark with the Spartan Laser. The Spark drops and Johnson looks over at the Chief and gasps “kick his ass” before dying. I hope my final words aren’t so clichéd, that is something that would end up on my tombstone forever. The Chief grabs the Sergeant’s Spartan Laser and tangles with the stunned but not dead Spark.

• Dodge the Guilty Spark the same way you did before but this time shoot the Laser when you have a clear shot.
• After a few hits, the Guilty Spark explodes in a scream and a puff of blue.

Cut Scene: Master Chief walks up to Johnson who has suffered his mortal wounds from the easiest end-boss in game-dom. Damn Johnson is incompetent. Chief promises to get the Sergeant out of there. Sergeant looks up, not dead yet, and says “Send me out with a bang.” Cortana is dropped into the ring’s console and she starts the firing process. This old ring immediately starts collapsing around the Chief and he runs.

The Way the World Ends

Escape the control room. Outside the sky has turned an objective correlative shade of emergency red. Make a right as soon as you get outside and head up the snow bank. Follow the path.

When you emerge from the structure, climb aboard Johnson’s Warthog and ride it straight on through. The snow recedes and you will be driving the Warthog across a huge metal platform. Avoid the suddenly disappearing graham cracker crust.

Drive the path and just follow the navigation icon as it can lead you through this area much better than I can. You may have go through it a few times to remember where all the sharp turns are; it’s like a Bowser’s Castle Track in Mario Kart.

With the ring at 90% firing ability, the structure really starts falling apart. The final jump is, of course, right into the garage of the friggate. The Chief and the Arbiter tumble out of the landed Warthog. A Tank slides right at the Arbiter but a pile of boxes unconvincingly stops it’s momentum. The Chief places Cortana onto the ships dashboard so she can fly them off the Ark. After narrowly being sucked out into the vacuum of space, the Chief secures himself in as the Ark explodes in the background. Cortana Whispers, “it was an honor serving you John.” White light floods the screen.

Denouement and Legendary Ending

Lord Hood, and his raw hamburger, face looks over a dusk lit savanna. A military band plays a dirge that is not taps. A montage of the Arbiter, a crashing spaceship, and then welders. Welders? Funerals of the future are weird. Seven soldiers fire their Battle Rifles three times. Considering that BRs fire three bullets at a time, this would be a 63 gun solute.

Hood says that he never forgives the Elites for the first strike but he does owe the Arbiter his thanks. Back up in the beer-bottle-opener shaped Shadow of Intent, the Elites discuss how strange it is that there are no more profits. They take off to head home.

Back down at the funeral, the number 117 is scrawled really poorly in the side of the memorial (Master Chief’s number). So, Master Chief is dead. Don't look so glum. On the bright side, if he had survived he probably would have been pressured into a political career and if John McCain, Wes Clark, John Kerry, James Stockdale, and Bob Dole (among others) are any indication, war heroes just don't get elected. Its best that Master Chief went out a martyr instead of losing in an early primary for Space President.

The screen turns black and a postcard of somewhere in Africa appears and overtop of it a love note from Bungie appears and the Credits roll.

Tons of names...

Luke Smith is given a writing credit !?!

Special thanks screen....

Team Ninja? Further evidence of the Bungie an TN love affair. Check out this interview with Itagaki and look for the Master Chief on his table.

Combine that with the unlockable Hyabusa armor in multiplayer, the Dead or Alive playable Spartan and it is apparent that the two developers are playing love swords with each other.

Marketing:
There only three names? How did those three people do all that we see now and I wonder which one of them commissioned the Slurpy cups.

After the credits, Chief is floating through space’s vacuum. Space junk float through the hull. He and Cortana were on the wrong of the portal as it collapsed - so much for that luck that cortana was bragging about at the opening cut scene. It looks like half the ship made it through (the one the Arbiter was in). Cortana compliments him on doing everything and then she starts a beacon. Chief puts himself in a cryogenic tube to be held in status until they are found. As the door to the tube closes he says “Wake me When you need me.” I wonder if that is being said more to Cortana or to Microsoft. Full circle, this is where we started this saga, in a cryogenic tube.

Hour 24 min | *******

Halo 3 Review

REVIEW GOES HERE#####