Halo 3: ODST - PREPARE TO DROP!

[McChimp]

Yeah I just can't decide. At this time yesterday I was keen, but the Good Game review last night kinda turned me off a bit. (Short campaign, so-so graphics, admittedly hilarious psychic detective aspect, the fact that Bungie didn't want to charge full price... and yet here we are.)


I wouldn't necessarily go by Good Game's review. I'm far from the biggest Halo fan, but I'm finding ODST to be grabbing my attention a lot more than other Halo's. I think it's got a good style (going from the noir-style 'detective' business to the flashbacks with all the action in it), the graphics aren't terrible, and as far as the length of the campaign, I dunno (only played an hour or so of it).

I think it's a good buy as a whole, with all the multiplayer bizzo in there, as well as the campaign and I paid $79 from JB (price wasn't an problem today).

[FrozenSoul80]

This game is taking some getting used to. The ODSTs handle very differently from the Chief, there is a lot I have to unlearn.

Other than getting lost a lot, I'm enjoying this so far.

[Thraxas]

Anyone up for some firefight right now?

[Jickle]

EB price-matched $68 for me without even checking. I think I got the part-timer girl who doesn't really care about the company's bottom-line, which is great for me. :p

I'm up for co-op/firefight tonight. I just ran through the first 'flashback' level, the new pistol is awesome.

[HiredMan]

Theres still a spot in my room with Lex and his mate Heath. 7pm kick off if you're interested mate :D

[FrozenSoul80]

If anyone wants to play firefight with me right now, just add me. Gamertag: FrozenSoul80

[aubergine]

I'll go get it and jump on tonight sometime.

[Thraxas]

If anyone wants to play firefight with me right now, just add me. Gamertag: FrozenSoul80

I added you.

[HiredMan]

I'm on my way home in about 10 so I may well join you cats shortly.

[FrozenSoul80]

Just played some Firefight with Thraxus but had massive lag. And it wasn't normal lag, either. We could both look around and talk normally, but moving and shooting came in 3-second bursts. Has anyone had troubles like this?

[Cerebral]

Installing it now. Who's up for co-op/firefight?

Also I have a new router now and iirc my last one was a gigantic asshole when it game to playing Halo 3, so hopefully this should be a smooth experience.

[Thraxas]

I had a look at all my settings too, and everything seems normal. I've never experienced anything like it. Hopefully it was a one off...

[Thraxas]

Installing it now. Who's up for co-op/firefight?

Also I have a new router now and iirc my last one was a gigantic asshole when it game to playing Halo 3, so hopefully this should be a smooth experience.

What's your GT?

[Tonez]

Damn you all....TO HELL

[adam_91vn]

Picked this up. Will be on later. Time differences though

[Cerebral]

What's your GT?

Shmuxor.

Had a few rounds with HiredMan, Natrak, and Jickle. Firefight is a damn good challenge.

[Natrak]

Yeah, love firefight, I can see myself playing a lot of it.

[Starscream]

My copy is at the post office. :(

How does Firefight play like? Better than Horde in Gears 2?

[FrozenSoul80]

How does Firefight play like? Better than Horde in Gears 2?

Much better, because it's not Gears of War :p

[Antwandemarco]

Oily Drain Spout Trench

[Cobla]

Over Dose, Stay Thin

Just picked up the last (!) copy at JB Nunawading. Was surprised to see it had a 200 MS point card taped to it.

Obviously a partial refund for all those map packs I bought! ;)

[Starscream]

Much better, because it's not Gears of War :p

The heat will be on!

EDIT: Mods vs Members as part of the weekend multi?

[Dunkurtin]

Picked this up from JB today. God i suck at saving money but i've played all the other Halo shooters (didnt get halo wars <_<) on release so i couldn't resist. >_<

[Xanafalgue]

Has anyone installed the MP disc on their HDD? Same issues as Halo 3?

[FrozenSoul80]

EDIT: Mods vs Members as part of the weekend multi?

As in regular Halo 3 multi? I seem to be having trouble with firefight :/

[Starscream]

As in regular Halo 3 multi? I seem to be having trouble with firefight :/
Start practising!

[FrozenSoul80]

Start practising!

Tell that to my internet! I can't play a game with people without it lagging weirdly :/

[REQUIEM]

Tell that to my internet! I can't play a game with people without it lagging weirdly :/

It will only get worse with the Australian Adults cant be trusted filter. :(

[Starscream]

Has anyone installed the MP disc on their HDD? Same issues as Halo 3?
Anyone?

No information on gameinstalls.com yet. :/

[FrozenSoul80]

I don't see why it matters, seeing as it's multiplayer you will still be waiting for the people who haven't installed it.

Anyway, I think I've nearly finished this as I just got the achievement for finding all the clues. I'm finding it hard to tear myself away from this. I know I'm getting lost a lot which gets annoying, but I'm just having so much fun with the music and atmosphere.

[Shorty]

I'd just like to say thanks to NeoSanity and Rainbow6Jedi for the epic 2 1/2-hour Firefight session we played. Half a million points and some serious Warthog ownage.

[5N1P3R]

Got ODST at lunchtime yesterday and finished it last night on Heroic; so happy I abstained from the B.net and GFAQs forums for fear of spoilers.

Anyway, I need some Aussie people with ODST to get some Firefight lovin' on, but my friends list is pretty bare. My Gamertag is elGravy.

[Lex]

Sorry bout last night HM, got home about 10 and couldn't find my mic anyway :/.

Still, I am freaking LOVING odst. I wasn't expecting anything from it I'm finding myself pleasantly surprised.

[HiredMan]

Sorry bout last night HM, got home about 10 and couldn't find my mic anyway :/.

Still, I am freaking LOVING odst. I wasn't expecting anything from it I'm finding myself pleasantly surprised.

All good mate :) Had a bit of a go at the co-op campaign with Jickle and Shorty (did the first flashback).

I'll be up for some more tonight if people are interested. I'm currently divided between my joint and looking after my mums joint in the city, so if people are keen for co-op let me know and I'll go to mine tonight, where my internets and xbox is :D

EDIT: I'll almost certainly be home tonight. Really keen to run through the campaign in co-op. Anyone, let me know if you're free tonight at around 7pm AEST for a run through from after the 1st flashback.

[Antwandemarco]

I just bought it and will be up for some co op later in the evening, maybe around 9 or 10 if anyones around

[aubergine]

All good mate :) Had a bit of a go at the co-op campaign with Jickle and Shorty (did the first flashback).

I'll be up for some more tonight if people are interested. I'm currently divided between my joint and looking after my mums joint in the city, so if people are keen for co-op let me know and I'll go to mine tonight, where my internets and xbox is :D

EDIT: I'll almost certainly be home tonight. Really keen to run through the campaign in co-op. Anyone, let me know if you're free tonight at around 7pm AEST for a run through from after the 1st flashback.

I just missed you guys last night it seems, didn't get online til 9:30 or so.

I want to finish the mission in solo but I'm up for trying out firefight if people see me online and they want to, I'll just save and quit out of the campaign.

[Thraxas]

As in regular Halo 3 multi? I seem to be having trouble with firefight :/

I played today with some people from America and apart from a tiny bit of lag during the bonus rounds (which are ****ing awesome) it was all good for me.

[FrozenSoul80]

Yeah, the problem is obviously my slow 256k connection. It runs fine for Halo 3 matches, so I don't see why firefight is affected by it :/

[Dunkurtin]

I may just get a live account so i can play this with you guys. Loving it so far.

[Thraxas]

Yeah, the problem is obviously my slow 256k connection. It runs fine for Halo 3 matches, so I don't see why firefight is affected by it :/

I don't know... I feel bad because Firefight is awesomesauce :( The guys I was playing with are very good at the game though and put me to shame. They were just headshot, headshot, headshot... and I was blowing up from sticky grenades :)

[Shorty]

I don't know... I feel bad because Firefight is awesomesauce :( The guys I was playing with are very good at the game though and put me to shame. They were just headshot, headshot, headshot... and I was blowing up from sticky grenades :)

Were they yours? :p

[Xanafalgue]

lol :)

[Jickle]

I think it's a bit crap that you all get tossed out when one person leaves in Firefight. It's not fair to expect that everyone in the team will be available for the full course of the game, surely the option should be there to continue after someone leaves. The mode is still mad fun, though.

[Starscream]

I think it's a bit crap that you all get tossed out when one person leaves in Firefight. It's not fair to expect that everyone in the team will be available for the full course of the game, surely the option should be there to continue after someone leaves. The mode is still mad fun, though.
I read about that as well. Mainly complaints.

There's always plan B though. ;)

[FrozenSoul80]

There's always plan B though. ;)

Kidnap people and force them to play local multiplayer with you?

[Manny M]

It might be that I only recently bought a PS3 and have quite a few titles to take up my time, but I don't feel compelled to grab this at all anymore.

[Blob]

It might be that I only recently bought a PS3 and have quite a few titles to take up my time, but I don't feel compelled to grab this at all anymore.

A few of my friends who used to enjoy Halo are finding this same issue probably because they have found other shooters with better gampeplay mechanics and better single player. I agree with them but im still looking forward to getting this game if only for firefight with mates and the mythic map packs. But ill wait till its cheaper (Not likely based on Halo 3s price still) or they all get it.

[Tukenstein]

Being the gamerscore whore that I am I've decided to run through this on Legendary to net that 100 point achievement at the end. F*** me this game is hard. >.>

[Shorty]

To be fair, the game does have a rather different feel to it despite being in the Halo universe so I think there's enough to set it apart from the main games if you approach it with an open mind. Obviously, the cheaper you can get it the better (I believe $70 from Big W is the current price winner) but I feel like I'll get my $80 out of it.

[Manny M]

It's not that it's Halo... I loved Halo. I think it's just come at a bad time (for me).

If I can find it for the Big W price (don't think there are any in the city), I will be grabbing it though.

[adam_91vn]

I was thinking yesterday when I bought this that my console will probably RROD. And thats what happened :(

I even had fun playing firefight by myself. Really enjoyed it why I could. Was gunna trade it back but I think I'll keep it.

[Natrak]

I just finished the game on Heroic. It was definitely my favourite Halo campaign yet. VRGL is awesome.

[Thraxas]

Were they yours? :p

:D It wouldn't have surprised me if they were. It was the Brutes when catch was on, it was like they had infinite stickies.

As for the one person leaving ending the mode, it's so stupid. I had to go yesterday after about an hour and a half of play. So I just left the xbox on and hid in a corner. When I returned I had nabbed an achievement for not shooting in a round of firefight :p

[Cobla]

I was thinking yesterday when I bought this that my console will probably RROD. And thats what happened :(That sucks man. You still in your 3 yr warranty?

[adam_91vn]

That sucks man. You still in your 3 yr warranty?

Yeah, have 3 months left.

Its more the timing. Got another kid coming at the end of October and trying to get in as much gaming as possible :D.

Now I will get the console back with halo and batman to finish/play right before the new GTA episode and call of duty.

[Rypien GT]

Wow, had my first session of 'firefight' ODST style last night. Loved it. Played in a party of 3 and enjoyed the action. I'm definately hanging out to get a full party of 4 next time out, and with some more organised teamwork i think you could rack up some big points and medals. Only played 2 of the 'firefight' maps, but hope to give the rest a good workout next week.

This weekend i plan to get cracking on the campiagn. Lined up 3 other guys who are comming over for a LAN, so i might as well make use of them and try to plow through as a party. If we finish it early i guess we could do some more firefight ;)

Getting used to the game from Halo3 was pretty seamless, although the different physics for grenade throws does take a little getting used to. Great to see the pistol powerful again (perhaps too powerful at long range?). Having Sgt Johnson as a playable character was fun for the first 10 minutes, but i soon got a bit sick of his jibber-jabber an went back to being a normal ODST.

The 3 new Mythic multiplayer Halo3 maps are impressive. Played 'Longshore' on Mythic Big Team quite a few times and it was a blast. Plays very well in Team Slayer and also Bomb gametypes. Heretic was awesome, as i knew it would be from its Halo2 brother. And although i played a small 1 v 1 custom game on Citadel, i'm yet to try it out to any degree on Matchmaking. All in all they will be good fun maps.

One thing that does really impress me is the stats you can get fomr playing ODST. The Bungie.net site offers some great stat tracking, but as a member of Halocharts i can say its well worth having a look. Below is a link to my Halo3 Halocharts stats page, from here you can look at LOTS of different stats, manage player groups, and look at ODST stats (more functions comming soon).

http://halocharts.com/index.php?player=Rypien GT

[REQUIEM]

I thought this was funny.

http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/halo-3-odst-in-5-seconds/330921

[Saxby]

I'll have this tomorrow and will join you guys soooooon...

[Jickle]

Having finished the campaign last night I'm wondering whether to hold onto this or trade it back to EB (making a ridiculous $27 profit in the process). I'll probably pick up a cheaper copy from Play Asia or something once I'm done with Uni - I love Firefight but right now I really don't need the distraction. :p

[Xanafalgue]

I'll have this tomorrow and will join you guys soooooon...

Ya, me too. I'm giving in to hype :cool:

[Starscream]

Having finished the campaign last night I'm wondering whether to hold onto this or trade it back to EB (making a ridiculous $27 profit in the process). I'll probably pick up a cheaper copy from Play Asia or something once I'm done with Uni - I love Firefight but right now I really don't need the distraction. :p
Keep it. You can have never enough multi-player.

[Clift]

Picked it up today, really enjoying it so far! :D

I kinda like the fact that you're not as resilient as Master Chief, makes me play with a little more... Caution? Rather than guns blazing like I have with previous Halo's :p

[Bronze]

http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp269/buronzu/New/odst.jpg

Came out today over here (we just finished five days of public holidays). Can't wait to try the Halo: Beach beta. ;)

Count me in for the multiplayer festivities, I guess.

[Blue]

http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp269/buronzu/New/odst.jpg

Came out today over here (we just finished five days of public holidays). Can't wait to try the Halo: Beach beta. ;)

Count me in for the multiplayer festivities, I guess.Did you have trouble getting your hands on a copy?

[Bronze]

Yeah, both of the game shops in my town got a couple of copies each, and that was it. I doubt there'll be any copies left around here by tomorrow.

The game is completely localised into Japanese. The opening cutscene scrolls Japanese text, and all of the voices are dubbed. There's English subtitles to keep me company when I can't keep track of what's being said, and that's about it. Was quite surprised. Normally Microsoft's localisation over here is half-arsed and the other way around (English game with Japanese subtitles).

On the downside, lag for me is atrocious. Just tried to play co-op with Cer, and it was crawling. Definitely unplayable. Not sure if it was something that's just between us or whether it'll happen in Firefight. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I primarily bought it for the single player campaign, so I'm not too fussed if the lag keeps me out of the multiplayer side of things. Going to be trading it in for Bayonetta when I'm done anyway. ;)

[Starscream]

.....I primarily bought it for the single player campaign, so I'm not too fussed if the lag keeps me out of the multiplayer side of things. Going to be trading it in for Bayonetta when I'm done anyway. ;)

I saw some trailers for this. Want (only based on trailers though) :(

[FrozenSoul80]

On the downside, lag for me is atrocious. Just tried to play co-op with Cer, and it was crawling. Definitely unplayable. Not sure if it was something that's just between us or whether it'll happen in Firefight. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Was it weird lag that caused the whole game to move at 2 or 3 frames every three seconds, however you could look around and aim at normal speed?

[Starscream]

May try hooking up with another Co-op campaign with one of your friends online and see if you still have the same problem.

[Bronze]

Was it weird lag that caused the whole game to move at 2 or 3 frames every three seconds, however you could look around and aim at normal speed?

Precisely! Do you know of a solution? >_>

[FrozenSoul80]

Precisely! Do you know of a solution? >_>

No, but the same thing happened to me when I tried playing with Thraxus :(

I'm going to try playing with someone else on the weekend and see if the same thing happens.

[Blue]

Yeah, both of the game shops in my town got a couple of copies each, and that was it. I doubt there'll be any copies left around here by tomorrow.

The game is completely localised into Japanese. The opening cutscene scrolls Japanese text, and all of the voices are dubbed. There's English subtitles to keep me company when I can't keep track of what's being said, and that's about it. Was quite surprised. Normally Microsoft's localisation over here is half-arsed and the other way around (English game with Japanese subtitles).

On the downside, lag for me is atrocious. Just tried to play co-op with Cer, and it was crawling. Definitely unplayable. Not sure if it was something that's just between us or whether it'll happen in Firefight. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I primarily bought it for the single player campaign, so I'm not too fussed if the lag keeps me out of the multiplayer side of things. Going to be trading it in for Bayonetta when I'm done anyway. ;)Ha, I was actually joking, because I assumed that in Japan, hardly anybody actually wants it, so it'd be easy to find. I still assumed that Microsoft would be trying to get a fair few copies on shelves, but I guess there really wouldn't be much room for MS over there, hey …

[Bronze]

I dunno. I fully expect it to appear in the top 10 when the next sales charts are released. The Halo games have slowly been gaining in popularity over here.

[Blue]

I dunno. I fully expect it to appear in the top 10 when the next sales charts are released. The Halo games have slowly been gaining in popularity over here.I only just realised that Halo anime is just a ploy to win over our Eastern friends.

[Lex]

Finished at 330 last night. Heading to work now :(

[naclj]

got this yesterday, managed to put a good 2 or 3 hours in on heroic and have been really enjoying myself so far, the rookie exploration is quite fun and as always the sound is awesome.

why do hunters always come in twos. i dont remember taking on hunters being as tense in the other halos. you really do feel more vulnerable as an ODST.
will likely give firefight a good going over this weekend after i finish the campaign.

[FrozenSoul80]

Hunters always come in twos, it's something to do with their society. I was disappointed to discover the pistol doesn't kill them in one shot like I remember it doing in Combat Evolved.

[Natrak]

When a colony of Lekgolo worms becomes too big to be one Hunter they split to become two Hunters. These two Hunters become 'bond brothers' and the Covenant basically always drop bond brothers into battle when deploying Hunters.

[Dr Skinnybones]

I like it how you can break the Hunters armour on their backs to expose more of that sweet sweet flesh.

I think I'm nearly finished with the campaign. I liked the change of pace with the Rookie. People are playing Firefight tonight, yeah?

[aubergine]

I played firefight for a while on Easy in splitscreen while babysitting a 9 year old. It was pretty good but I'm keen to try it in fullscreen with, you know, challenging enemies. I found it pretty addictive.

[HiredMan]

I am!

[aubergine]

I keep missing the "gang" by coming on too late I think, will try to be on from 7pm tonight?

[Silph]

Got the game yesterday and hells yeah, would like to try some firefight or co-op.

[drzaius]

sweet game.
too dark though. I find the nightvision annoying but the alternative is for everything to be pitch black.
i wish they would find some rationalisation for there to be more than one player when you play co-op...

[HiredMan]

I keep missing the "gang" by coming on too late I think, will try to be on from 7pm tonight?

I should be on by then aub

[grimace06]

I can't believe everybody loves this game.

I hired it and finished in four hours - in that time I saw the game throw the same tropes from every other Halo game at me. The story is flat, the characters are boring and the level design is poor by Bungie's standards.

[aubergine]

Nup, messed up again, agreed to have dinner with my parents so don't know when I'll get home, not too much later than 7...

Couldn't reasonably have said "Oh no wait, I've got Firefight tonight. What's that? Well, it's like Horde mode but with terrible matchmaking. What's that? Oh, well in the old days you used to be able to play multiplayer against bots, and now developers are selling that back to us as if it's a new thing and not just them skimping on features for ten years."

[Lex]

I can't believe everybody loves this game.

I hired it and finished in four hours - in that time I saw the game throw the same tropes from every other Halo game at me. The story is flat, the characters are boring and the level design is poor by Bungie's standards.

I honestly don't know how you came to that conclusion. The level design to me was way better than anything bungie have previously done, at least in halo3.

[Rypien GT]

"I can't believe everybody loves this game.

I hired it and finished in four hours - in that time I saw the game throw the same tropes from every other Halo game at me. The story is flat, the characters are boring and the level design is poor by Bungie's standards."

I guess the campaign is a bit flat and could have been meated out a bit more, i definately agree with you there mate. But the campaign is only a small part of the package, as 'firefight' is the best part imho. Having a variety of settings, different difficulty levels, and introducing medals and acheivements does make for an interesting game. Throw in the co-op option and you can have some intense sessions for sure. Loads of replay value.

And having 3 great Halo3 multiplayer maps to add is fun too. Really enjoyed some Big Team Battles at Longshore the past couple of nights.

I think without co-op firefight the game would be a rip off, but as it stands i think its pretty good overall.

[Cerebral]

I totally finished the reserve level on Legendary without firing a single bullet or tossing a single grenade, and I still didn't get the Vidmaster achievement. What rubbish.

[FrozenSoul80]

I'm really enjoying Firefight, it feels like you are against the odds which is what was sorely missing from the single player. As much as I loved the music, I didn't once feel like I was in danger during the main campaign.

[Silph]

I totally finished the reserve level on Legendary without firing a single bullet or tossing a single grenade, and I still didn't get the Vidmaster achievement. What rubbish. I haven't played that level myself, but I've heard something about not honking any vehicle horns. They count as a shot for some reason?

[Xanafalgue]

Got it today, very atmospheric and EXCELLENT music. I'm very impressed. I started on Heroic knowing that I wasn't very good at Halo games which was a bit of a mistake, and my hands are still mapped to BF: 1943 controls so that took a little time to get used to.

Just finished the first flashback, have no desire to rush through it so I'll probably stretch it out for a week or two. I have a feeling I'm not ever going to use Firefight or the MP disc :p

[Natrak]

I totally finished the reserve level on Legendary without firing a single bullet or tossing a single grenade, and I still didn't get the Vidmaster achievement. What rubbish.

What vehicle did you use? If you were in a warthog with a gunner I'm pretty sure any shots he fired would have counted as you firing shots (since the gunner's kills count as your own).

I immediately grabbed the first warthog and drove off before anyone got a chance to get in and then jumped in the first ghost I came across so I didn't have to worry about any passengers messing up the run.

Also, IIRC the achievement didn't show up until I was back in the Rookie's boots.

Was this the game? (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/ODSTg.aspx?gameid=16066595&player=Shmuxor) Looks like the marines in your warthog messed it up for you.

Here's my run for comparison. (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/ODSTg.aspx?gameid=12262029&player=Natrak)

[Ingram]

Anyone want to join our Firefight match? Three of us so far, we'd like more.

Add me: Master Ingram is my tag.

[aubergine]

Finished the campaign tonight on Heroic.

Is there an extra hidden level or something if you find all the audio tapes? I found maybe half and heard the woman's voice in frozen tunnels near the end but nothing came of it.

Doing the highway right at the end was really frustrating, because Nathan Fillion refused to drive and was a terrible gunner, often not even shooting at anything. I don't know how it will go on Legendary, it was the only part of the game which presented any difficulty, and only because I was dependent on a retarded AI.

I'm fully annoyed that Firefight mode has no matchmaking, as I can't play it because I can never get online at the right times. What a pain in the arse, I can't believe Bungie of all people took the sloppy corner-cut with that one.

[Ingram]

Kinda sucks that it's 4 players only for the Firefight mode. Had to turn back some people. Sorry about that.

[FrozenSoul80]

I'm fully annoyed that Firefight mode has no matchmaking, as I can't play it because I can never get online at the right times. What a pain in the arse, I can't believe Bungie of all people took the sloppy corner-cut with that one.

If you are up past 12.30am your time on weeknights you can try playing with me. Just shoot me a message.

I say try because I'm not sure if my slow connection will allow us to play a lag-free game.

[adam_91vn]

That firefight is worth the price of admission alone.

Played for about 3 hours with the same people, no lag.

Gaming at its finest. Thanks a mate let me borrow his console.

[Starscream]

The Storm have thrashed the Broncos.

If anyone's keen for some Firefight or Horde, hit me up.

[Cerebral]

What vehicle did you use? If you were in a warthog with a gunner I'm pretty sure any shots he fired would have counted as you firing shots (since the gunner's kills count as your own).

I immediately grabbed the first warthog and drove off before anyone got a chance to get in and then jumped in the first ghost I came across so I didn't have to worry about any passengers messing up the run.

Also, IIRC the achievement didn't show up until I was back in the Rookie's boots.

Was this the game? (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/ODSTg.aspx?gameid=16066595&player=Shmuxor) Looks like the marines in your warthog messed it up for you.

Here's my run for comparison. (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/ODSTg.aspx?gameid=12262029&player=Natrak)
Hit the nail on the head. I grabbed a warthog and let the gunner do the work (and forgot that bungie.net basically tracks everything >_>). Might have a go at doing it with a ghost later.

[Starscream]

Firefight at 8:30 pm AEST tonight.

Me, Bronze, Cerebral

Need another one.

[Cerebral]

I'm down, but it lagged pretty badly when I last played with Bronze, so that's a tentative inclusion.

[Starscream]

I'm down, but it lagged pretty badly when I last played with Bronze, so that's a tentative inclusion.
Added. Might make Bronze the host?

[aubergine]

Firefight at 8:30 pm AEST tonight.

Me, Bronze, Cerebral

Need another one.

I'd like to have a go.

Do I have you and cerebral on my f-lists?

"ubergine" is me.

[Cerebral]

Your ****-list? You vile human being.














(yes I believe I have you but not Starscream)

[aubergine]

I love you for your mind.

Because it is squishy at the back of your mouth.

[Starscream]

GG.

Bronze tell Microsoft to upgrade their Halo servers in Japan.

Oh the lag!

[aubergine]

LAGasm!

I kind of had a perverse enjoyment of playing the game in slow motion, but it did improve markedly when poor Bronze took his expatriot arse out the door.

I think this would be an awesome LAN game.

Thinking of which, you can system link more than two xboxes right? How do you do that?

There are four in the household here. It would be cool to play multi where everyone had their own screen and no lag (although I've heard there's still lag in system link for halo 3!)

[Big Kev]

Any new multiplayer maps?

[TrinityJayOne]

LAGasm!

I kind of had a perverse enjoyment of playing the game in slow motion, but it did improve markedly when poor Bronze took his expatriot arse out the door.

I think this would be an awesome LAN game.

Thinking of which, you can system link more than two xboxes right? How do you do that?

There are four in the household here. It would be cool to play multi where everyone had their own screen and no lag (although I've heard there's still lag in system link for halo 3!)
A router/hub should do the trick.

[Natrak]

Any new multiplayer maps?

The 'Complete Multiplayer Experience' disc (aka the Mythic disc) that comes with ODST has all of the DLC maps as well as three new maps - Citadel, Heretic (a remake of Midship from Halo 2, which is one of Halo's all time best) and Longshore (inspired by CE's Hang 'Em High).

[HiredMan]

I haven't played Longshore yet. Keen to give it a go.

[concrete donkey]

The 'Complete Multiplayer Experience' disc (aka the Mythic disc) that comes with ODST has all of the DLC maps as well as three new maps - Citadel, Heretic (a remake of Midship from Halo 2, which is one of Halo's all time best) and Longshore (inspired by CE's Hang 'Em High).

is the multiplayer disc made for HDD installation like the campaign disc?

[HiredMan]

is the multiplayer disc made for HDD installation like the campaign disc?

I don't think so. I've heard that the campaign/firefight disc is fine to install, but the "Complete Halo 3 Multiplayer Experience" disc has the same issues as the normal Halo 3 install, i.e. don't do it, it'll increase load times.

[Clockw0rk]

LAGasm!

I kind of had a perverse enjoyment of playing the game in slow motion, but it did improve markedly when poor Bronze took his expatriot arse out the door.

I think this would be an awesome LAN game.

Thinking of which, you can system link more than two xboxes right? How do you do that?

There are four in the household here. It would be cool to play multi where everyone had their own screen and no lag (although I've heard there's still lag in system link for halo 3!)
I've played 12 player System Link Halo 3 and had no lag in any of the game modes or maps, and this was at launch. Don't know about ODST or Firefight, but you should be fine.

[adam_91vn]

It is beyond difficult to find or get a firefight match :(

[FrozenSoul80]

It is beyond difficult to find or get a firefight match :(

Not including a matchmaking system into firefight was a massive oversight.

[Natrak]

With the kind of arseholes you often run into in matchmaking I don't think I'd want to use it for Firefight.

[Rypien GT]

I'm enjoying Firefight more and more everytime i play it. Had a nice 2 hour session the other night @ Security Zone on Normal difficulty. Got to Set3, Round3, Wave5 with 4 of us playing. We were mucking around a fair bit and am now determined to get well over the 2 hour mark and 400,000 points @ Security Zone. Might need some Red Bull to see my old bones through ;)

Still got lots of Firefight maps that i've not tried yet, and am interested to see which ones you guys enjoy the most and why.

As for the campaign, i played through on Normal with a couple of mates again and have to say its pretty ordinary and certainly on the boring side at that difficulaty level. I'd recommend to everyone to slide the difficulty up a notch or two to make the game a little bit more fun and challenging. Pretty dissapointed in the campaign to be honest.

[aubergine]

Halo 3 in co-op needed to be set to Legendary or it was a pushover, I expect ODST is the same.

Will go on at 7pm tonight.

[FrozenSoul80]

The campaign is so much better when you play on your own. Make sure you go solo on your first run through the game.

[aubergine]

Anyone wants to firefight, send me a message on live

[Clockw0rk]

Halo 3 in co-op needed to be set to Legendary or it was a pushover, I expect ODST is the same.

Will go on at 7pm tonight.
Legendary with skulls. Legendary by itself was a pushover TBH.

[drzaius]

yeah, legendary with two people was pretty darn easy.
i can totally see how the campaign would have been better as a single player experience too...

so does anyone want to explain the ending to me?
mostly the bit with the prophet riiiight at the end

[Natrak]

There isn't a total explanation for it, but basically it looks like the seismic activity Sadie's father refers to in the audio logs revealed some forerunner architechture. I'd say it'd have something to do with the portal to the Ark.

The prophet was Truth, so it must have something to do with the activation of the portal.

[Spazzallo]

Grabbed this game today and love firefight. Problem is I've only played with a couple of mates who have only just gotten into Halo, so they aren't very good :P.

I'm nearly always up for a game so please add me to your friends list for some Firefight!

[Saxby]

Aub and Spazzallo, consider yourselves consripted. Everytime I log on for a game of firefight, there has been no one playing... I'll msg you guys if you're on next time.

[Spazzallo]

Cheers mate :).

Adam_91vn sorry about last night. Couldn't hear you at all over the microphone and I was constantly running around the house.

[adam_91vn]

Cheers mate :).

Adam_91vn sorry about last night. Couldn't hear you at all over the microphone and I was constantly running around the house.


No worries I turned the 360 off to see if that would work then you were gone.

I looked down and the mic was actually switched off :o

[Cerebral]

Tried Lone Wolves again for the first time in ages and got absolutely destroyed. I'm also up for firefight.

[Saxby]

I'll be on tonight for maximum pleasure and all tomorrow, aww yeah.

And maybe Friday night, need to catch up on sweet gaming...

Gamertag - Saxby Is TehMan

[Starscream]

Anyone know when this Halo: Reach Multi-player Beta is going to happen?

Looking through the game contents there's just a flyer "Invitation included with Halo 3: ODST".

Is this flyer the invite?

[Cerebral]

Invite is accessed through the in-game menu (like Halo 3 with Crackdown) afaik.

[ScToTeE]

Finished campaign today.

It's an improvement over the dull campaign mode of Halo 3. I liked the contrast between The Rookie's 'investigation' (slower, stealthier, gloomier) compared to the bombast, action-oriented nature of the rest of the team's missions. The fresh cast of characters is also a welcome approach. And no Flood! :D

I'm happily looking forward to Halo: Reach. For now though, it's onto those Firefight achievements (which are fun as well) and Legendary ... co-op, of course.

[Bronze]

ODST is the only Halo campaign to date that I've really enjoyed. Whereas Master Chief felt practically invincible in the first three titles, the Rookie and the ODSTs feel quite vulnerable and overwhelmed in comparison. Makes it feel a lot more... intimidating.

If they can incorporate the (slightly) improved level design, better characters like the ODSTs and the vastly improved soundtrack elements into Halo: Beach (http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp269/buronzu/New/beach.jpg) then I'm sold.

[Starscream]

ODST is the only Halo campaign to date that I've really enjoyed. Whereas Master Chief felt practically invincible in the first three titles, the Rookie and the ODSTs feel quite vulnerable and overwhelmed in comparison. Makes it feel a lot more... intimidating.

This is what I thought as well. Just finding those health packs is a nuisance!

[aubergine]

Somewhere it says that the game disc itself is your invite to the Reach beta, I guess they'll patch it into the main menu for ODST owners.

[Rypien GT]

Anyone else here seem to experience more lag with 4 player Firefight than with Halo3 Matchmaking?

Having a shitty aussie connection does provide a fair share of lag related problems during games, but on the whole i've found that 4 player Firefight (even with a full party of aussies) does lag more often than not.

I've had problems with 4 player sessions where all of us are aussies and have open NAT settings. Yet on the same night i can play Halo3 Big Team matchmaking online against euros and americans and have no lag at all. wtf?

[aubergine]

I think with the vs you are connecting to Bungies servers but the matchmaking-less firefight is just the hosts xbox acting as a server. There is also more information being passed around than in matchmaking - instead of up to 16 human players you have 4 human players and a heap of bots. the bot info has to go to each console obviously.

I don't understand the science behind any of it and the above is just my assumption. My other assumption is that Bungie/M$ charged a premium price for a game they skimped on.

Unfortunately, by the time they get around to upgrading the service I expect no one will be playing it because of the terrible service. Patching in proper matchmaking would be very nice.

[FrozenSoul80]

A quick Google shows the lag in firefight is reasonably common. Someone has really dropped the ball on this one. Does Horde mode in GoW2 have lag issues?

[aubergine]

Horde has matchmaking right? I bet it has no major lag issues then.

[Starscream]

A quick Google shows the lag in firefight is reasonably common. Someone has really dropped the ball on this one. Does Horde mode in GoW2 have lag issues?
There was some major lag when we had a firefight session with this dude from Japan.
With local players in Australia, there is some but not that bad (from what I've experienced).
Horde in Gears 2 suffers lag as well but only when there are other people from overseas. Local players it's not so bad.


Horde has matchmaking right? I bet it has no major lag issues then.
Gears 2 public multi-player vs matchmaking is only crap if you are low ranked. In Horde mode, it's reasonably quick to get into a match (faster if you are have a higher rank). As for Gears 2 Horde lag, see previous reply.

[FrozenSoul80]

With local players in Australia, there is some but not that bad (from what I've experienced).

I've read accounts on the Whirlpool forums of Aussies having terrible lag (even with high connection speeds), which I have experienced myself. It is probably caused by really bad net code.

[adam_91vn]

I have had several 4 player games with no lag. But most of the time theres some lag.

[naclj]

LAGasm!

I think this would be an awesome LAN game.

Thinking of which, you can system link more than two xboxes right? How do you do that?

There are four in the household here. It would be cool to play multi where everyone had their own screen and no lag (although I've heard there's still lag in system link for halo 3!)


YES it is an AWESOME LAN game.

i had 3 mates lug their 360s over on saturday and we had ourselves an ODST marathon.

12 hours of hardcore gaming, we played a couple rounds of firefight, which was absolutely brilliant fun, one of which went just over 2 hours.

we also did a VERY quick (under 2 hours i think) run through of the campaign on legendary and then moved over to traditional halo 3 multi when a few more friends came round.

i can safely say that firefight is one of the best LAN games around at the moment, team work most certainly makes a difference
but i absolutely hate "buggers" especially with bloody shields and 2x health

[kirok]

The Chief is dropping mine to my house. ;)

[Rypien GT]

Firefight via LAN is definately the way to go.

Lag seems really random sometimes, some sessions will all local guys and its fine, others it lags badly. Nothing ruins a Halo game like lag.

[ScToTeE]

Just on the Gears of War 2 lag question, I've played that mode to death with up the four players over Live (all Australian, and those whom I knew) with absolutely zero lag. Never had an issue at all playing Horde over Xbox Live ...

[Xanafalgue]

Haven't touched it since I played it for an hour the day I got it. I'm up to this part shortly after the first flashback, there are 3 big ugly things and one flying ugly thing and they keep kicking my arse ;(

[FrozenSoul80]

Haven't touched it since I played it for an hour the day I got it. I'm up to this part shortly after the first flashback, there are 3 big ugly things and one flying ugly thing and they keep kicking my arse ;(

Plasma pistol overcharge the flying thing, it kills them in one hit (and also homes in on them). Everything else will be easier to kill if they aren't shielded.

[Xanafalgue]

Thanks, I'll give that a go next time I boot up the 360 :)

[FrozenSoul80]

Just make sure you stand clear of the flying thing, they release missiles shortly after they fall to the ground which can kill you.

[Creedy]

So should this game be played through in single mode first of all?

[naclj]

So should this game be played through in single mode first of all?

I think it should be played solo first, its harder and more moody plus its not a very long game so it shouldn't be much of an issue to find time.

however if your mainly going to be playing firefight then i dont think it makes any real difference if you touch the single player (other than you need to unlock stages in solo play)

[HiredMan]

So should this game be played through in single mode first of all?

If you listen to a lot of people, yes. The Rookie sections of the campaign play on a sense of isolation so might be a bit more atmospheric by yourself.

I, however, always play Halo campaigns co-op with ODST being no exception.

[Shorty]

I, however, always play Halo campaigns co-op with ODST being no exception.

Speaking of which, we need to organise some more co-op sessions. It's been too long since our last one!

[HiredMan]

Yemen. I haven't even finished the second flashback solo yet!

[Cerebral]

More like Firefight!

I got so bored the other day I jumped into Alpha Site and got the 200k achievement by myself >_>

[AyatollaofRocknRolla]

I finished this last week after having it on ice for a week or two while I finished Batman. I really enjoyed this game. It brought another element to the Halo universe walking the streets at night, picking off grunts from the shadows it and included the best bits from the games we are already familiar with in the flashback sequences. I'm really looking foward to seeing what they do with Reach now.

I've done a few rounds of firefight with my house mate as well and that was alot of fun. Keeps you on your toes when the grenades starting raining down.

[SOX]

Just picked this up, bit late to the party I know. Three levels in (on Heroic) and it seems pretty easy mode hopefully the difficulty ramps up a bit as I get further in.

Is the firefight armour you unlock for finishing it on Legendary the chick with the Recon helmet?

EDIT: Nvm it is who you unlock. I also read you can actually unlock Recon armour for normal Halo 3 multi as well by completing the Vidmaster challenges across the two games - challenge accepted :D

[SOX]

Half way through Legendary atm and it's pretty easy mode compared to what I remember of Halo 3. I'm thinking the last two stages will be pretty tough though and I'm definitely not looking forward to having the escort the damn Engineer.

Anyone here get through all those Vidmaster challenges?

[FrozenSoul80]

The Warthog sections will **** you over. That's really the hardest part of the whole game due to useless friendly AI.

[Dr Skinnybones]

the last fight was surprisingly easy. I had finished thinking I had still had 3 waves to go.

[Jabbz]

I hate the lack of no saves as you do a checkpoint. Have been caught out more than a few times, losing a few hours of gameplay each time. GRR! I dislike them strongly.

But, enjoying the game, even though its a struggle on heroic.

[SOX]

The Warthog sections will **** you over. That's really the hardest part of the whole game due to useless friendly AI.

At the end where you are going along the highway I imagine that will be a pain in the arse but with a lot of the driving bits so far you can just drive past the majority of fights in an attempt to just get to the next checkpoint. Like in that zoo stage most of the fights can be bypassed really easily just by driving on.

[Jabbz]

So I just finished ODST, and was thoroughly underwhelemed by then ending. It felt like then end of number 2, so uncomplete. But, for me, on Heroic, it was a good challenge.

Wasn't Halo meant to be a trilogy? And now what, with Halo Wars, ODST and Reach, its a 6 game series....

[Northy179]

So I just finished ODST, and was thoroughly underwhelemed by then ending. It felt like then end of number 2, so uncomplete. But, for me, on Heroic, it was a good challenge.

Wasn't Halo meant to be a trilogy? And now what, with Halo Wars, ODST and Reach, its a 6 game series....

1) It felt incomplete at the ending because the story is based in between the point of MC leaving earth in halo 2, to before his return in halo 3... how can you have an ending when it doesnt finish at the end?

2) Halo Wars was a corporate mistake by MS trying to milk every penny from the halo franchise, its NOT a real halo game

3) Reach is a prequal, if you have read the book series you'd get it.

[dimorphic]

So I just finished ODST, and was thoroughly underwhelemed by then ending. It felt like then end of number 2, so uncomplete. But, for me, on Heroic, it was a good challenge.

Wasn't Halo meant to be a trilogy? And now what, with Halo Wars, ODST and Reach, its a 6 game series....

Halo 1, 2 and 3 are the 'trilogy' parts. Now there are Halo games, books, comics etcetera that are part of the series, but not the original trilogy.

It's like Star Wars.

[Creedy]

I finally started playing ODST last night and as expected it's a good game. But seriously, what the **** is up with the animation in the cutscenes? It feels like I'm watching an episode of Robot Chicken because the animations are so exaggerated.

Can't Bungie decide whether they want their Halo franchise serious or comical or something?

[Shorty]

I would totally watch a Robot Chicken Halo special.

[Creedy]

Holy frak this game is hard!!!!!
I just finished the first mission and I have come across the first engineer thingy you can save/kill. The brutes are handing my arse to me.

[SOX]

Serious? I found Legendary to be a hell of a lot easier than Halo 3's :S