Halo 2 Roundup, Part Six
Someday we'll return to being able to post news items separately. But there are those who say that day will never come... in the meantime, the roundup, thanks to HBO, Halo Planet, Halo Babies, The ILB Wiki, and many others:
Death by intelligence.
Halo 2 Roundup, Part Five
The Halo 2 juggernaut moves on into the first full weekend of XBL action. Here's the latest:
So That's How Halo Works
How Stuff Works has interviewed Pete Parsons from Bungie about storytelling in computer games. He talks about how Bungie fleshed out the Halo universe. Thanks Rams at Halo Planet.
M9 HE DP Fragmentation Grenade
Unlike the plasma grenades used by the Covenant, human fragmentation grenades bounce, rather than stick, when they hit surfaces or targets. Like the plasma grenade, you can carry a maximum of four at a time.
Detonates after one half of a second after impact, and has a blast radius of 15-30 feet.
UPDATE: This weapon is expected to be in Halo 3. Exact designation and specifications are unknown. However, it is expected that due to the addition of Spike Grenades, the maximum number of frag grenades you can carry will be reduced from four to three.
UPDATE: In the Halo 3 Public Beta, the number of grenades per type that can be carried simultaneously is in fact two.
Plasma Grenade
Dormant until activated, Covenant plasma grenades will "stick" to targets, killing most targets (in Halo 1, anyway) and causing damage to nearby units, including disabling shields. As in the first game, you can carry up to four of these. In the first game, they were carried by both Grunts and Elites.
The plasma grenade has a blast radius of 30 feet, and detonates three seconds after coming to rest.
UPDATE: This weapon will also be in Halo 3. Any changes to specifications are as of yet unknown; however, indications are that because of the addition of Spike Grenades, the number of Plasma Grenades that can be carried at once will be reduced from four to three.
UPDATE: In the Halo 3 Public Beta, the number of grenades per type that can be carried simultaneously is in fact two.
And Now For Something Completely Different?
The BBC has a nice little article on Halo 2 with the usual kind of stuff in it-- will Halo 2 live up to expectations, what are the changes, etc etc. The interesting bits, though, come from Pete Parsons right at the end:
"We have several 100 years of Halo fiction laid out," said Mr Parsons.
and
"After Halo 2 we are planning to do something different. We will do something else and we have a few ideas."
Ballmer's Halo 3 Gaffe Debunked
As part of the all-new, uncut, extended and extruded History of Bungie on the new Bungie.net, the page on Halo 2 has this to say on Steve Ballmer's mention of Halo 3 last fall:
Q: What is the Master Chiefs name?*Update*Halo 3
Umm. I have been trying to figure out the Master Chief's name now for about 2 months, and i think its time that i swallowed my pride and asked someone. So If anyone could help me out. It'd be much appreciated.
(man i feel like such a newb)
- Read more about Q: What is the Master Chiefs name?*Update*Halo 3
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Halo Developers, Halo Developers, Halo Developers!
Steve Ballmer, never one to pass up the chance to shoot his mouth off, apparently spilled the beans on Halo 3 all the way back last fall at the Microsoft Office 2003 launch. It went unnoticed until Richard Watkins found it and told Louis Wu at HBO.