Road to Recon Vidmaster: CLASSIC

I have managed to get my hands on an early release copy of Halo 3: ODST and I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed. The campaign felt like it was the right size and the gameplay was pretty good, but what I wanted to post about today is to do with the Vidmaster achievements. In my previous posts I have speculated upon the difficulty of some of these achievements, but now I’ve actually had some hands-on time with the game, I can give a pretty good estimate upon the actual difficulty of these. As you can see above, this is my progress on the Road to Recon (despite already having the armor perm) and I’ve got them all done apart from Endure and Déja Vu. I haven’t gotten these two done as they require four people on Xbox Live, and because the game doesn’t come out til the 22nd, I would have found it very difficult to find anyone to do these. I wanted to give a walkthrough for the Classic achievement as this may be one of the most infuriating ones to get started on.

The actual achievement is to finish ANY level SOLO on LEGENDARY on LIVE without one SHOT FIRED or GRENADE THROWN. This basically means that you are limited only to using the melee button to clear out enemies. However, should you do it properly, you won’t even need to use it. Before you start reading the guide, there will be some MINOR spoilers in the walkthrough, but only in order to explain the level layout and what you’re dealing with. Turn back now if you don’t want to have some minor spoilers.

Before I started this achievement, I had the task of choosing a level that would allow me to get through it without the need of firing a weapon. I tried a few levels but most of them were pretty shooter-centric. Funny that for an FPS. I eventually had the toss up between the final mission; Highway, or an earlier mission called Uplift Reserve. I tried Highway first as it is all vehicle based so I thought it would be a good start. I started out and then realised that Highway is actually a very long level which has a firefight section at the start. After a dozen deaths I decided to call it quits and eventually landed with Uplift Reserve.

This level can be done ENTIRELY in the Warthog you are given at the start of the level, provided you know how to drive and know which weapons to give your wingman in the passenger seat. The first time I ran through the level I didn’t shoot a single time or throw a single grenade but yet the achievement didn’t ding up. I did a little bit of thinking and I worked out that the achievement might not have dinged because I used the horn and the power-slide button whilst driving the hog. I redid the level without using either and then it did ding up. My warning is, DO NOT use the triggers even once whilst in the Warthog. It may just be the right trigger that counts as a ’shot fired’ but I didn’t use the left trigger either and I got the achievement. If you want to play it safe, DO NOT use either trigger.

I repeat, DO NOT use either trigger. At all. Period.

Here’s a small bullet point walkthrough for those who don’t like reading. Why would you?

• Do not shoot
• Do not throw grenades
• Give your Spartan Laser to the Marine on the sideseat
• Have a gunner at ALL times
• Don’t use the Warthog’s horn
• Take your time
• DO NOT USE THE HORN!
• Keep it Clean

Ok, you start the level off as Mickey on the beach and you have been given an SMG and a Spartan Laser which comes very handy later on. Head through the ridge and you’ll find a group of marines with a turned up Warthog. Go over and flip it and jump in and start driving towards the other hogs that already have Marines in them. Now, crash your hog into one of the other hogs in order to stop them from driving and switch hogs. I did this in order to grab a gunner on the back straight away without having to circle some Marines whilst they flat-out ignore me. Now, once you have a turret gunner and a Marine on the side seat you can do one of two things. The first option is to circle around for a while and try to take out the various Ghosts and Choppers as they are the things which will really drain your shields. The second option is to charge straight past them and head through the ridge.

Once you get to the ridge, you’ll encounter a Wraith. Drive round the right-hand side of it and ignore it completely. Next there will be a Chopper. Same as before, just ignore it. The last Wraith may give you some trouble, but just hang a left round the side of it and you should hit the next checkpoint. You’ll then get to a tunnel where there will be an empty Ghost and a medkit station. Grab a medkit (if you need it) and then hop back into your hog. Go through the tunnel and then as you come out, there will be a group of Grunts on your left and a sniper platform in front of you. Go left and mow down the grunts and keep going til you reach a small body of water in the middle of the canyon which should ding the next checkpoint. This next part is quite tricky and will require many, many reverts.

If you don’t have gunner on the back of your hog at this moment, you should restart and not even attempt the rest of the level. If you do, get ready for some tedious moments of killing plasma turrets. You’ll come to a ridge which will have loads of Plasma turrets (the big round ones) and a Chopper which will come towards you. Hang back and slowly reverse so your gunner can take out the chopper. Once the chopper is down, slowly move forwards until your gunner is in range and wait for him to take out each turret one by one. Take out on turret, reverse and then take out the next. Once the majority of the turrets  are down, go up the path on the left and there’ll be another turret. Take that out and then wait for your stamina to come back before heading on. In front of you will be some buildings on the left and various brutes and jackals on the right. Go behind the buildings and put your foot down. Keep bombing it until you get to the next section.

This next section takes the longest but is very easy if done correctly. You should have your gunner and wingman still in the hog, but if you don’t and managed to get them killed along the way (shame on you!) pick up some new Marines. Once you’ve gotten past the initial wave of covenant you’ll be encountered by three Wraiths and various Ghosts and/or Choppers. Now, remember the Spartan Laser that you have? Well, get out the hog and get the guy in the sideseat to take your Splaser. You now have a mobile death machine, if you play it right. Just take your time and take each Wraith one at a time. Be patient. Don’t rush it or you’ll just have to start again.

After this section you’ll go over a bridge and then into a tunnel and be approached with the second to last encounter. There’ll be a sniper tower and some plasma turrets up the side. Take it slow and then head up the ridge. There will now be a big purple circle on the floor with various covenant bad guys crawling all over it. Again, take your time and let your gunner and sideseat do the work for you. Just get in range of the bad guys and then if you start to die, just slap it in reverse and get your stamina back. Now, just put it into fifth gear and go up the mountain. There will be a couple of Brutes running away from you because they can sense your badassery and don’t want to get slaughtered. Run them over and keep going. After you’ve passed two destroyed Wraiths you’ll be near the end of the level. Keep at it, you’re nearly there!

This last section was a little bit of trial and error, until I decided to just drive as fast as I could past the Wraith and Brute Chieftains. Head for the hole in the canyon wall and wait for the cutscene to start playing. Now, if done correctly you should have your achievement ding up after both of the cutscenes. If it hasn’t it means that you either threw a grenade, shot someone, or used the horn on the Warthog. Don’t use that horn, it’s deadly to Covenant forces.

Now you should be one step closer to getting your Recon. Now good luck with the other achievements. Endure and Déja Vu are going to be hard, so get ready to don your ODST armour and knuckle down with your friends on Firefight and Highway. Good luck.

The Room – Prince Charles Cinema

“If this move is the Citizen Kane of bad films, it makes Tommy Wiseau the Orson Wells of crap.”

Wow. What else can I say, other than wow? Recollect everything you know about film, and forget it. It’s clear that Tommy Wiseau did when making this film.

Ok, so the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square did a screening of the cult hit The Room earlier this evening and how could I pass up the opportunity to see the film that has taken America by storm? At first I was apprehensive about the chanting and shouting whilst watching a film, but I gradually eased into it and became a Room pro within 20 minutes. It is the best worst film I have probably ever seen, but the audience participation throughout is what really drives this film. This is the Rocky Horror of our generation. I urge you, go see this film whenever you can at an auditorioum with a good crowd. You will definately not regret it.

Bye Denny.

(Small) Collection of my Halo related Art

I’ve realised over the last couple of days that I’ve made a couple pieces of art about Halo that deserve a bit of a public viewing, rather than being stuck in my dusty old Hard Drive. My first piece has been put on here before and is of the Master Chief in pixel form. This was done by creating some line art of the Chief first and then going over it pixel by pixel to create an image that was far bigger than I originally envisaged.

My next piece is still a WIP and hasn’t had any work done on it for a while. It’s of the Security Helmet and is still quite far from being finished.

First, I took a picture of the Security helmet and then traced it to create a very small line art drawing. I then coloured it in using the 6 colours of a Rubik’s Cube (green, red, white, yellow, orange and blue). Once I did this, I upscaled it and then took pictures of Rubik’s Cubes, with each individual square representing a pixel. I would have made it with Rubik’s Cubes in a big square but I don’t have 289 Cubes knocking around. As you can see, it isn’t yet finished, but I may come back to this piece and finish it at some point in the not-too-distant future. The original pixel drawing is incredibly small, but I’ll post it anyway.

My next image is a pencil drawing I did of the Chief a long while back. It’s pretty rubbish, but I thought I might as well include it.

I have a couple of other drawings that are just stuck in a sketch pad that need to be scanned and coloured at some point. In fact, I may go and scan those in now

Halo 3 ODST ViDoc

Bungie have posted up a new ViDoc for Halo 3 ODST which includes a voiceover by Firefly star, Nathan Fillion. Fillion is actually voicing Eddie Buck, one of the squad members in ODST. The small featurette includes some new scenes from the game that haven’t been seen before and actually shows off some very nice animation work on the human faces. It’s made the human faces move in a much more convincing way than the ‘ventriloquist-dummy-mouth-movement’ in Halo 3. To watch the ViDoc, either click the picture at the top and follow the links on Bungie’s page or click here for the same page. Alternatively, you can fire up your 360 and download it off the marketplace and watch it in glorious HD. It’s really up to you.

If you’re looking for the new Vidmaster Achievements to get some fancy Recon armor when ODST hits the shelves, follow this link for a post on the new Vidmasters and how difficult they appear to be.

Taking the surprise out of a Kinder Egg Surprise

The arrogance that some people have in this world amazes me sometimes. Normally I can deal with it when somebody possesses so much of a certain essence that I, if I were Simon Cowell, would dub the ‘C Factor’. You can make a guess about what this C stands for, but if you can’t, the aforementioned celebrity is one of them. Well, I decided to go to my local Petrol Station that is only a 5 minute walk away and has been there as long as I can remember. I was only popping in to get some phone credit, a bottle of Pepsi and some Monster Munch. What? That’s just the kind of guy I am. I may have smelly breath but you need not talk to me face to face as I now have £20 of phone credit to burn. I digress. There was some woman in front of me who looked a little bit suspect and looked like a good contender to get through to the second round on the C Factor. You know the sort; overly chatty, too familiar with the person at the till and dressed like a tramp. And not the lovable homeless type.

Now, she had paid for some petrol and bought a Kinder Egg Surprise for her child who I soon learnt was left in the car in the forecourt. How? Well, as I was paying for my little banquet I heard some shrill yuppie voice that soon clicked as belonging to the woman with the Kinder Egg. I quickly turned to see what was the problem. In her hands she had the foil of the Kinder Egg and the toy. No sign of the chocolate though. She went on to complain that her ‘nightmare’ of a spoilt bastard child was screaming in the back of her car because there wasn’t an Ice Age toy in the Kinder Egg. She carried on saying that they shouldn’t advertise them with the Ice Age logo if you aren’t garunteed to get an Ice Age toy. The man behind the till was already as tired of her as I was and just gave her another one for free. I’m sorry, but the whole point of a Kinder Egg is that you don’t know what you’re getting. Hence the ’surprise’. What kind of surprise would it be if there wasn’t a surprise?

I thought this story was well and truly finished, but as I left I saw the woman approach another member of staff on the forecourt with the foil and toy in her hands from the second egg and was still asking for another one. No need to worry about this one folks, I think she’s well and truly made it into the live shows on the C Factor. What I find funniest about this whole thing is that the child probably doesn’t give a flying shit about Ice Age and just wants Mummy Dearest to keep getting him chocolate and toys with the feeble excuse of ‘not getting the one he wants’. Kid, I’ve got one thing to say to you. You’ve got balls to be messing around with that monstrosity that you call ‘Mum’. I feel for ya, I really do.

Banjo Kazooie/Tooie Stop ‘N’ Swop

So, after playing Banjo Kazooie on the N64 back in the day, I thought it was time to play it again via the XBLA. 11 hours later and I have finished it 100%, collecting all of the jiggies and all the notes. Despite this, there are a few items in the game that are inaccessible and have been this way since BKs first release. Although unavailable, you can access the eggs and the Ice Key by typing in certain codes into the sandcastle floor in Treasure Trove Cove. Think of my horror and pain after I typed in all of the codes, collected all of the eggs and key and got nothing for my endeavours.

Flash forward a couple of months and Banjo Tooie is released. Now, if you have got both Banjo Tooie and Banjo Kazooie, fire up Banjo Tooie and get past the first cutscene or so. You know, just play the game and get used to inverted flying that you didn’t get in Banjo Kazooie. Now, go back to your 100% completed BK game and you should find that all of the egg locations have already been unlocked, as is the ice key. No typing in codes for you! Also, because you don’t type in any codes it will save your eggs and ice key. The six eggs can be found:

• Pink Egg: In Treasure Trove Cove by the sandcastle there should be a sign in the water that says ‘Shark Food Island’. Behind it is a rock that has found its way out of the sea. Climb up the platforms inside and get your egg.
• Red Egg: Go to Rusty Bucket Bay and climb into the Captain’s cabin. There should be a nice big egg on his bed.
• Yellow Egg: Click Clock Woods in the Winter is where this egg is at. Head to Nabnuts house and smash the window to get in. It’ll be sitting on his table.
• Light Blue Egg: In Mad Monster Mansion, head to the cellar and one of the casks should be open for you to walk into. At the end will be your egg.
• Green Egg: Also in Mad Monster Mansion, this egg will be hovering above the toilet that you once descended into.
• Blue Egg: Head to Gobi’s Valley and it is in an entrance in the cliff face behind the Sphinx. There is a little switch to press and the coffin will open to reveal the egg.

The Ice Key is inside Wozza’s Cave in Freezeezy Peak (the spellchecker has just gone crazy). Once you have these items, turn off BK and fire up Banjo Tooie. Head to Heggy and he’ll (very slowly) open your eggs for you. You’ll unlock Gamer Pictures, an NXE theme and a new move that smashes Kazooie’s head against the ground. The Ice Key is used to open a big safe inside Gutter Gulch Mine. Once you’ve opened the big safe, head to Wumba’s hut outside Grunty World and hop into the pool. She’ll turn Kazooie into a dragon who plays identically to Kazooie except she now has a fire breath that can be used by holding the B button down whilst standing still.

The eggs and ice key can also be used in Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts to unlock crates for new vehicle parts. I don’t actually have Nuts & Bolts so I can’t be bothered to post about it. Anyways, I have a script to write. Ciou.

ODST Vidmasters Broken Down

There has been a lot of buzz recently over the new Vidmaster achievements for ODST which have been supposedly leaked onto the net. My last post included what are believed to be the new Vidmaster Achievements, that once completed (along with the others from Halo 3) the Recon armor permutation will be unlocked. Let’s take a look at these achievements and speculate upon the difficulty level of them.

Vidmaster Challenge: Brainpan – 0 GamerScore
Find all the hidden skulls on the Mythic maps.

Brainpan will be the easiest out of the bunch to get, considering that you have already got the Mythic maps and have found the three skulls. You have found them right? The new maps included with Halo 3: ODST are Heretic, Citadel and Longshore. Heretic is a re-make of Midship and is not that big so should be quite easy to find the skull. Citadel also looks to be a smaller sized map and should not prove too difficult to find. Longshore is huge and may take quite a while before anybody finds the skull.

Time Rating: 6/10

Difficulty Rating: 3/10

Vidmaster Challenge: Endure – 25 GamerScore
In Firefight, on any mission, passed the 4th Set on 4-player Heroic LIVE co-op.

Named Endure after the level of endurance you’ll need to be able to finish this one. In many Bungie podcasts, they have described Firefight as being incredibly difficult on Heroic, so getting past the 4th Set may take some butthurt before you get through it. Each Set is made up of three rounds. Each round is made up of five waves. Therefore, each Set will consist of 15 waves of ever-increasing difficulty. Make this four sets and it comes to a massive 60 waves of ferocious Covenant. Yeah. Good luck.

Time Rating: 8/10

Difficulty Rating: 8/10

Vidmaster Challenge: Déjà vu – 25 GamerScore
Completed Highway on 4-player Legendary LIVE co-op, with Iron, and no ‘Hog or Scorpion.

Sounds incredibly similar to the Annual achievement which is why it’s called Déjà vu. If the style of mission is similar, then the difficulty will be at a similar level. Now, I didn’t have too much trouble finishing the Annual achievement and actually had an awful lot of fun completing it. However, some people have found that getting 4 players together to finish this style of achievement to be quite challenging. If there is anything to go by on this one, it’d be the existing Annual achievement.

Time Rating: 7/10

Difficulty Rating: 8/10

Vidmaster Challenge: Classic – 25 GamerScore
Finished any level solo on Legendary, on LIVE, with no shots fired or grenades thrown .

Named Classic after the original Vidmaster Achievements that were set for Bungie’s classic FPS Marathon, this is one tough cookie. Most people find finishing a level on Legendary difficulty on Halo 3 a very big challenge, let alone without being able to use your guns or grenades. It looks like it’s going to be a melee festival through one of those levels. Despite the difficulty curve that the Achievement initially sets, we don’t know how difficult all of the levels on ODST are. If Halo 3 is anything to go by, the levels have a wavering difficulty curve with some being a lot harder than others. You never know, a driving level may be included and your comrades on the Warthog turret may be just the answer you’re looking for.

Time Rating: 9/10

Difficulty Rating: 10/10

So that’s all of the new Vidmasters broken down and may give you little more encouragement in being able to complete them. I already have the coveted Recon armor, but I will definitely be doing these for the fun of it and just a little bit of Gamerscore.

Vidmaster Achievements leaked?

There has been an apparent leak of the new achievements for ODST, vidmasters included. I personally have not looked at the whole list of achievements and skipped straight to the vidmasters to see how exclusive the armor will actually stay.

Vidmaster Challenge: 7 on 7 – 0 GamerScore
Entered into a ranked or social playlist with 7 EXP on the 7th of the month.

Vidmaster Challenge: Lightswitch – 0 GamerScore
Got the rank of Lieutenant in any playlist in the new EXP progression system.

Vidmaster Challenge: Annual – 0 GamerScore
After 9/25/08, completed Halo on 4-player Legendary LIVE co-op, with Iron, and everyone in Ghosts.

Vidmaster Challenge: Brainpan – 0 GamerScore
Find all the hidden skulls on the Mythic maps.

Vidmaster Challenge: Endure – 25 GamerScore
In Firefight, on any mission, passed the 4th Set on 4-player Heroic LIVE co-op.

Vidmaster Challenge: Déjà vu – 25 GamerScore
Completed Highway on 4-player Legendary LIVE co-op, with Iron, and no ‘Hog or Scorpion.

Vidmaster Challenge: Classic – 25 GamerScore
Finished any level solo on Legendary, on LIVE, with no shots fired or grenades thrown .

(New vidmasters shown in italics)

I have to say, the new achievements look to be of a high enough difficulty to warrant Recon to still be an exclusive reward. Classic seems incredibly difficult. To be able to finish a level on Legendary on Solo without shooting a single bullet or throwing a single grenade is one hell of a task.

Bungie have also announced their Bungie Day extravaganza where it will Bungie Versus The World. There will be a 24 hour playlist that will be 4v4 Slayer and CTF on Foundry and Sandbox map variants. If you get matched against Bungie and win, you get Recon. If you lose? You won’t just lose your chance at Recon, but also your friends who blame you for having that -6 K/D ratio. You can also win Recon via some statistical achievements that will be similar to those seen on the Valentine’s Day playlist. So this could be, get the most kills, win the most games in a row and maybe losing the most number of games.

Good luck.

EDIT: Here’s a blog post about the Vidmaster Achievements and how difficult they may be. Click here.