Halo Reach Guides, Tips, and Wiki

Jimmy Jangles assesses the Noble Pack Maps

2011-01-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

Seems familiar?Jimmy Jangles assesses the Noble Pack Maps

So, what a surprise that Bungie (Microsoft) release the two best multi player Maps they've designed for Halo: Reach as downloadable content. I have no doubt Tempest and Breakpoint will prove to become some of the most popular Halo maps of all time. Still, I miss Turf.

Here's my assessment of the three maps after a few hours playing on them:

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To Boost or not to Boost: Beware Roosting Chickens in your home.

2011-01-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

I like the image K?So Bungie has laid out how they treat gamers who Play Halo: Reach (and Halo 3 presumably still) by boosting. Boosting is where you manipulate the game to your advantage to get better game statistics. Usually this is done by creating game play situations where logged in players sit around with their tits in the air doing nothing, waiting to be killed.

Bungie explains their boosting policy as such:

OKAY: Full Party Boosting

Playing with a full group where nobody is idle and everyone is running around getting kills, headshots, sticks, and sweet rejections. Nobody is AFK.

NOT OKAY - Idle Boosting

Getting into a full or partial party with guests or other Gold accounts who are not manned in order to kill AFKs. Also not acceptable is having EVERYONE AFK to attempt to get Credits for time played.

Got it? Good. As always, more nefarious behavior such as network manipulation is right out. The Banhammer catches that kind of behavior in its sleep - and it is always cranky first thing in the morning. Best to let sleeping dogs lie.-What this means is when the Bungie Banhammer comes down (and it will) you will wake up and suddenly you can't pwn noobs no more in the best game ever. Ever.
But for us honest folks at home, WTF is boosting you might ask? You'll note Bungie used the acromym AFK. This is geek speak for Away From Keyboard. So the point Bungie is making that if you play games with players in the game who's specific purpose is to be the meat in your sandwhich, you run the risk of being banned.
Generally speaking Boosting is the practice of playing a competitive multiplayer xbox game against (or rather with) accomplices, in order to easily gain ranks or achievements which would require significant time or skill to achieve during regular play (it's like how everybody lined up in Halo 3

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Halo Remake: worth taking a look?

2011-01-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

game is being quietly remade by Microsoft's 343 Industries. All the speculation appears to be based on a interview with Steve McGill a high level English Xbox Executive.

The original question was:
Eurogamer: Is a Halo remake something you personally would like to see? Do you think it's a good idea?

Steve McGill: I imagine it's a good idea. I think some people want to go back to older games and see them revisited and I think a lot of developers want to see that too.

But statement was taken out of context by Halo fans and journalists who ran with it - here's the question that was asked about Halo just prior to the one above:

Eurogamer: "Why aren't you doing any HD remakes? The God of Wa

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Without New Zealand, there would be no Halo

2011-01-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

New Zealand. Best country in the world and that's a fact. Without New Zealand's Chris Butcher on the programming job, Halo would not have made Halo as totally freaking awesome as it originally was and still is. And that's a fact too.

In an article about NZ economic growth and creativity, prominent media commentator Russel Brown had this to say:

"We've sent at least one star to the global industry in Halo lead developer Chris Butcher. Might we conceivably have an industry that could employ a prodigy like Butcher in his home country? Iceland managed it with Eve Online developer CCP, which has survived and prospered through that country's financial meltdown."

Why am I posting this? In an article about the New Zealand economy, it's nice to see Halo get a mention.
Halo FTW!

Fans may like to recall the time I actually met Chris Butcher. Labels:not really Halo related...

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Halo Reach Game News Gets Site Links: Webmaster thrilled.

2011-01-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

What am I on about? This may help. I'm all about the SEO optimization you see... Labels:not really Halo related...

Happy Halodays from Bungie

2011-01-01T18:13:00.000-08:00

Bungie's artists have come up with this very nice season's greetings card. I suspect it doesn't say Merry Christmas because of political correctness...

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Anya Stroud: The Cortana of Gears of War

2011-01-01T17:58:00.001-08:00

is about to hit the Xbox 360 and the other lesser platforms and I thought it would be rude to not do a focus piece on shall we say the titular character of the Gears series, Anya Stroud.

Who the hell is Anya? you may well ask? Anya is the Coms person for G.O.W. She's the lady who tells Marcus Fenix and Dom that there is a courtyard free some where for them to fire cannons in. Boom!

Lieutenant Anya Stroud was a Gears of War officer in the COG Army and the daughter of Major Helena Stroud. Our heroine Anya joined the COG army to follow in her mother’s footsteps, but unlike her mother, she did not serve as a frontline Gear soldier. Anya Stroud instead became a communications officer and served in her mother's unit during the Pendulum Wars. It was during that time met soldier Marcus Fenix and formed a love interest with him, and also became friends with Dominic Santiago.

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Halo Reach: 15,000 Cheaters Rage

2010-10-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

Bungie has banned a whopping 15,000 Halo: Reach cheaters – and promised more is to come.

Some sneaky Reach players (not you, we hope) had found a way to earn cheap in-game credits via an exploit.

It's all to do with something called "network manipulation and other easily detectable workarounds that fall well outside of standard gameplay".

The developer's answer? Wipe their credits out and ban them from obtaining credits for one day.

"Specifically, we targeted an exploit that allowed players to complete a Challenge 20+ times via intentional network manipulation (i.e., disconnects)," Bungie said.

"Spot checks have revealed the tell-tale signature of this behaviour on every denier so far, so don't be fooled by the protests of innocence. We aren't.

"We are in the process of applying credit resets to approximately 15,000 users who we have identified as the most egregious Challenge Reset abusers.

"A one day credit earning ban has also been applied, mostly to ensure that recipients receive an in-game notification of the action taken.

"As with any such measure, we have taken the time to carefully select our criteria to eliminate false positives.

"A more comprehensive pass will be occurring in the coming week as our automated Banhammer mechanisms grow accurate enough to satisfy our high bar for burden of proof. If you are thinking about getting an easy 50k credits by using this exploit, I would strongly advise you to reconsider."

You have been warned.

Halo: Reach generated $200 million in its first 24 hours on sale, and is the biggest Microsoft published game ever. It's also pretty good.

Halo 3 Killer Sentenced

2010-09-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

In his sentencing, as transcribed by GamePolitics, Lorain County judge James Burge intimated that he believes -- "as a human being ... and not a jurist" -- that gaming can elicit similar physiological responses and addictions as some drugs. He further decried the creation of a delusional environment. The quote that's currently making the rounds is, "I firmly believe that [Petric] had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever." In other words: Petric didn't realize there are no respawns in real life, according to Judge Burge.

Of course, attributing Halo 3 as a causation of these crimes is probably reaching, especially when most of the other 6.4 million who bought the game seem to be of sound mind. I'm no psychologist, but to me it seems this is about the wrong mind and the right catalyst inciting the most heinous of actions -- whether it be Master Chief, Niko Bellic, The Beatles, or a German Shepherd.

Judge James Burge sentenced the boy to 23 years to cries of mercy from the boy's surviving father, who stated that Daniel "still does not understand why he did something so terrible."

Daniel's sentence is actually a lot lighter than it could have been, as the prosecution was pushing for the maximum sentence of life without parole. The defense's argument was that Daniel was so young and so addicted to the game that he could not be held accountable. Petric, only 17 years old, was even younger when he committed the crime, and the judge's lenience is likely tied to his belief that young Daniel was addicted to the point of delusion.

Teenager Kills Parents Because of Halo 3

2010-09-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

Daniel Petric shot his parents -- killing his mother -- because they wouldn't allow him to play the video game Halo 3, prosecutors told a judge at the boy's murder trial Monday.

The trial, on charges of murder and attempted murder, opened Monday for Petric, 17, of Brighton Township. He is being tried without a jury before Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge.

Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty because of Petric's age. In their opening state ments, prosecutors outlined this version of events surrounding the shooting:

In September 2007, Daniel, then 16, had sneaked out of his bedroom window to purchase the game at a store against his father's orders. When he returned home, his parents caught him with the game and took it from him. His father, Mark, a minister at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, put the game in a lockbox in a closet where he also kept a 9mm handgun, according to prosecutors.

About a month later, on Oct. 20, 2007, Daniel used his father's key to open the lockbox and remove the gun and the game. The boy shot his parents, killing his mother and gravely wounding his father. As his father lay wounded, Daniel tried to place the gun in his father's hand.

Daniel fled after his sister and her husband arrived at the house, taking the Halo 3 game with him.

Also on Monday, a tearful Mark Petric testified that his son came up behind him as he sat on the couch and said, "Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you."

Petric, 45, said he "expected a pleasant surprise" and closed his eyes. Then his head went numb. As the blood poured from a bullet wound in his head, he realized his wife, Susan Petric, 43, was lying dead on a nearby loveseat, shot in the head, arms and chest.

Petric said his son shoved the gun into his hand saying, "Hey Dad, here's your gun. Take it."

Mark Petric broke down on the witness stand as he said he believes he survived the shooting only because his daughter and husband arrived at the house to watch an Indians game. He heard his son telling them they couldn't come inside.

"You guys shouldn't come in," Mark Petric recalled his son saying. "Mom and Dad had a big argument."

The couple, Heidi and Andrew Archer, testified they heard a moan - possibly their names being groaned - from inside the house, pushed their way in and found the elder Petric wounded and his wife dead. The elder Petric, through his shattered jaw, managed to say his son had shot him, while Daniel tried to blame his father.

Heidi Archer called 9-1-1 and then realized that Daniel had picked up the handgun that had been lying on the couch. Her husband took the gun from the boy, who gave it up without resistance.

The boy ran out of the house and fled in the family van. He was caught by Wellington police a short time later, the Halo 3 game still on the front seat.

Daniel showed little emotion throughout the trial except when his mother's autopsy photos were flashed on a large screen. He bowed his head and stared at his hands for about 20 minutes while the photos were discussed.

Petric was allowed to visit his son in jail over the past year. He said his son has apologized. "Dad, I'm so sorry for what I did to Mom, to you and to the family," Daniel said, according to his father. "I'm so glad you are alive."

"You're my son," Petric responded. "You're my boy."

He said his wife and their son had a very close relationship.

"He was always her little boy," Petric told the judge.

Heidi Archer said the family has forgiven her brother and want him to come home because the family cannot heal until they are all together.

Daniel's lawyer, James Kersey, gave a short opening statement. He said his client had been under great stress at the time of the shooting because of a snowboarding accident that resulted in a severe staph infection. It left Daniel with such severe spinal damage that the slightest injury could leave him paralyzed.

Daniel was homebound for a year with nothing to do but watch television and play video games, Kersey said. It was during that time that he became fascinated with the Halo series and would play them for hours at friends' houses. His father forbade the games, saying that were too violent and sexually explicit.

Question to readers:

Should he get the death penalty for this?

Did he think his mom would re-spawn?

The Art of Halo 3: Rare Sold Out Book

2010-09-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered how the ideas for Halo are put into the game? They usually start as drawings.

The Art of Halo 3 is a collection of concept art used for the production of Halo 3. It also includes a collection of commentary by numerous Bungie staff, and is written by Fernando Bueno.

In late 2008 or 2009, The Art of Halo 3 unknowingly went out of print making it an extremely rare collector's item. Online stores have an average low price of just over $200 with prices known to go well over $1000. On Amazon it's nearly 250$!

This is a picture on the early makings of Master Chief in Halo 3.

Question for readers:

Which Spartan do you like better in this picture; choose
1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and why?

Halo Reach Armor Unlocked FULL HD VIDEO

2010-09-25T04:30:00.000-07:00

THE HACK FILE IS HERE: http://uploadables.com/download/5878-halo_reach_hack.rar

NOTE: PLEASE USE RESOPONSIBLY!

Bungie Gave Up on Halo 4

2010-09-23T22:04:00.001-07:00

For about a year after Halo 3 people thought there would come a Halo 4.

In fact, Bungie had planned on creating Halo 4 where Master Chief would awake from his cryo-sleep and kill all the aliens you could ever dream of. However Bungie decided that they would keep our beloved Master Chief frozen so they could pursue Halo Reach.

“We don’t want to open up a whole bunch of doors that we’re not going to close. By the end of this, it’s all going to come to a nice, neat finish, and if people want to then go play the Halo trilogy, I think they’ll have a better understanding of what’s going on, but it’s not required at all.”

I think in the end it was a smart move on Bungie’s part to not pursue Halo 4 as we will probably see another developer work on it with the possibility of even more Halo games in the pipeline after the 4th.

Halo Reach Armor Guide

2010-09-23T21:54:00.001-07:00

Are you overwhelmed by how much armor you can unlock in Halo Reach? Well don’t worry because I have taken the time to set up a how to guide for how to unlock all of the different kinds of armor found in Halo Reach. I would like to thank the halo.wikia for the following information. This guide should help you better understand the requirements for unlocking the in game armor, armor effects, firefight voices and visor colors. I have broken down each section into it’s own page to allow for an easier way to navigate around this guide.

Disclaimer: This is not a complete guide at the moment. This guide will change often until it is 100% complete so please check back often for updates. Also if you find any information which is incorrect in the guide please leave a comment and let us know the issue so it can be fixed promptly.

View the images to see a full view of all the helmets!

Halo Reach Rank Up Guide

2010-09-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know, "Halo: Reach" launched recently. If you're one of those people who really wants to get a certain rank to unlock a cool new armor, or just like staying ahead these tips will help you!

1) PLAY ONLINE

You don't need to be playing with other people, but just make sure you're hooked up to Xbox Live whenever you're playing "Reach." The reason for this? Challenges. Challenges are mini-objectives like "Kill 100 grunts with headshots" or "Stick 5 plasma grenades on enemy Elites." Completing these will earn you credit boosts, but based on my initial testing, you can't complete challenges when you're offline. Also, there's a maximum number of credits you can bring from your offline profile when you switch it over to an online profile, so you may end up losing a chunk of your work if you're not on Xbox Live from the get-go.

2) PLAY THE CAMPAIGN

Every mode in "Halo: Reach" earns you credits, and that includes the campaign. If you leave campaign scoring off (the default), you'll get no indication that you're earning money, but you definitely are. Every kill, every medal, every mission completed factors in to how much cash you earn, and higher difficulties like Heroic or Legendary will boost that even further. I played through most of the campaign on Legendary with a buddy and by the time the credits rolled I had ranked up five or six times, and was half-way to Warrant Officer.

Launch week also has a Challenge: "Complete 9 missions on Heroic." This is something most people should be able to manage, especially if you're playing in co-op. The credit bonus is a cool 5,000.

Don't think you need to keep getting crushed in online multiplayer to earn credits. The campaign is one of the best money-makers there is.

Halo Reach

3) PLAY ROCKETFIGHT/SNIPERFIGHT

Now that Firefight supports matchmaking, Bungie has included a variety of different modes to pick from. Rocketfight is one of those matchmaking modes, and it equips all players with unlimited rockets. The match only lasts 12 minutes, but in that time you're sure to get tons of multi-kills as you send Grunts flying into the stratosphere. And because there's no penalty for death, you're guaranteed to make it to the end, raking in a solid number of credits.

4) DON'T QUIT OUT OF GAMES!

There are many reasons you shouldn't quit out of multiplayer games early. For one thing, if you keep doing it, you'll eventually be placed on probation, and the next time you quit out early you'll be blocked from Matchmaking for 15 minutes.

An even better reason not to quit is the Match Finished bonus, which is oftentimes the largest credit boost you'll get from an online multiplayer battle. Quitting early forfeits that cash, leaving you with nada. You'll also miss out in the slot machine bonus, which randomly awards a bunch of credits at the end of the match. This bonus starts at 10 credits, but I've seen it go as high as 1,000. Patience is a virtue.

5) WATCH YOUR COMMENDATIONS

Commendations are different from Challenges in that they don't change every day or week. Instead, Commendations keep track of your lifetime stats and offer you rewards for hitting certain milestones. Getting 10 assassinations in matchmaking, for example, will net you a cool credit bonus and the Real Admiral (Iron) badge. The next level requires 25 assassinations, but offers up an even bigger bonus.

Keeping track of your commendations (viewable in the pause menu or on Bungie.net) allows you to see when you're able to get to the next level and adjust your play-style appropriately. But because there are dozens of commendations, you'll probably find yourself unlocking them without even expecting it.