Just back from playing Firefight in San Diego

Back from ODST.
Here's the lowdown:

The line didn't look too long. They were letting in people 8 at a time, it was shady, and Gamestop was handing out free water and chips. We also got a little postcard thing which had the ODSTs and DARE on it, with the control diagram on the backside.
The line took 4 fucking hours. The 8 people were allowed inside the van for 15 minutes, then got booted out. There were about 120 people in line. It looked short, but it took a lifetime.
Anyway, one bonding experience with my fellow Bungie fans later, I was inside the truck.
The entire truck was dark except for some blacklights and the glow from 8 HDTVs. The TVs were lined up in the center of the truck, with 4 on each side. There was already the group of 8 which came before us playing Firefight on Alpha Site. We watched while a Bungie guy gave us the low-down.
He explained a few things, namely the annoying (but not game-breaking) glitches which were in the maps in the build, what we couldn't do due to time constraints (mess around with armor perms, leave the party, take a look around the ODST main menu, etc.). He also explained that we were free to change the difficulty to whatever we want, and he explained that in this build, the "7 lives" rule was removed so newbies who are playing on a level too difficult didn't drain the lives pool.

Finally, the run on Alpha Site was over, the guys saw their postgame carnage report (pretty much the same as H3's, just looks prettier), and they got booted out of the truck.

Then it was our turn. We sat down and poked around the Firefight menu. The 3 maps we had to choose from were Crater (night), Security Zone, and Alpha Site. The party leader changed the difficulty to Security Zone on Heroic, with IWHBYD, Cowbell, and Grunt Birthday Party on by default.
The Heroic symbol was different than what I was used to: rather than the normal Halo difficulty symbol, it instead was the "shield" you see on easy with crossed Silenced SMGs where the crossed swords normally are.
Finally, the game was started.

The ODSTs spawned near a huge ammo cache, with our Silenced SMG and the silenced H1 pistol as starts. I was Butch, one of the ODSTs, and the other three were Sgt. Johnson, Romeo, and DARE.
Right away, I noticed EVERYTHING looked nice as fuck, MUCH nicer than Halo 3. I don't know if it was just the HD, but I have never seen Halo look that nice.
Another thing I noticed off the bat was how much more human I felt. I ran at half the speed of MC (annoying at first, but you get used to it), I jumped like a fat kid, and I couldn't dual-wield.
The Halo multiplayer announcer said "Tough Luck!" and one of the skulls on the left side of the screen lit up, with text below it saying what skull it was and what its effects were.
I made a dash for the turret to try to take out the Phantoms which were coming to drop off a shitload of Grunts. I managed to get on the turret and started to fire on one of the Phantoms, but I got killed right off the bat.
I respawned and noticed that there was now a shitload of Grunts. Actually, more like 4 shitloads, all headed for our weapons cache. It was more Grunts onscreen at once then I had ever seen in a Halo game.

A few grenades and SMG bullets later, the Grunts were dead. I heard the Halo announcer say "Reinforcements!", and 2 more Phantoms came in. This time, it was a bunch of Jackals and a Wraith. I left the Jackals to my teammates as I went back to the turret to take down the Wraith. I shot at the damn thing and managed to kill the gunner, but the mortars were getting too close for comfort, so I ditched the turret and decided to charge right into there.
Stupid move.
I jumped down, took some fall damage, and came face-to-ugly-face with a Hunter. A pissed-off Hunter. And it was twice as big as I was. (It was scary.)
Luckily for me, my buddies came to my rescue, and the four of us took it and its bond-brother down. It was now I realized there was a new medal, the "Assist" medal, awarded for getting... An assist.

We heard the announcer say "Reinforcements!" again, so we knew it was time for more Phantoms. This time, they dropped off a shitload of Brutes, in all flavors. I counted 3 Chieftans (2 with Fuel Rods, 1 with Hammer), 6-7 invisible Brutes (had to switch to VISR mode to see the damn things), a couple regular 'ol Brutes, and 4-5 jetpack Brutes. We all collectively shit our pants when they came towards us.
I took on one of the Fuel Rod Chieftans, and noticed the Brutes had gained a new shield effect: Their shields now had an energy "ripple" like the Elites do. The new shield regenerates like an Elite's if it takes minor damage, but as soon as it breaks, the armor falls off like in Halo 3. It looked really nice, but I still had a pissed-off Chieftan to worry about.
It was close, but I used all my Pistol ammo to kill him and traded my pistol for his Fuel rod.
The Jetpack Brutes were diving for cover behind a bunch of rocks. I flanked them while they shot my teammates, took out their shields with my Silenced SMG, then switched to my Fuel rod and blew them all to hell. I heard the familiar "Double Kill!" "Triple Kill!" "Overkill!" "Killtacular!", and earned my killing spree, which doubled my points. Unfortunately, I wasted all my precious Fuel Rod ammo, so I switched it for a Brute Plasma Rifle.
My teammates and I then teamed up for killing that fucking Wraith.
The other three distracted the thing while I tried to get close and board it. Instead of focusing on the distractions shooting at it with little effect, like the Halo 3 Wraiths would have, it focused on the biggest threat: Me. A few close calls and an attempted splatter later, I boarded the thing and blew it up for 600 points.
My buddies and I split up again, and I switched to VISR to find the camo Brutes. I could barely make them out, but the VISR outlined them in a nice red color, and so I opened fire with my Brute PR.
I was amazed at how much more powerful it seemed. Their shields were down in a few hits, and they were dead a couple melees later. As I killed them, I heard the announcer say "Two enemies remaining!" and "One enemy remaining!", before I see "Lives Added" at the top of my screen. It was shortly replaced by "Weapon Drop", but I didn't go investigate, instead deciding to fortify my position and switch my Silenced SMG for a carbine.

And then the madness began again.
"Catch!" said the Halo announcer, and soon another skull is lit up.
Then I hear "Reinforcements!" once again, and I'm SWARMED by Drones. There were more Drones than I could shake a stick at, and I'm just diving for cover, trying to kill the sadistic little bastards on my own. I get my Killing Frenzy and Running Riot trying to destroy the little bastards, and my score had a 3x multiplier and a 4x multiplier as I went along.
Then came the Jackals. Jackal snipers, Carbine Jackals, regular shield Jackals. I toss my grenades at them (grenades are a commodity in Firefight, I see them VERY rarely) and eventually just let my teammates get 'em.

"Reinforcements!"
Here we go again. This time, it was Grunts, Jackals, and another Wraith, which became REALLY ANNOYING very quickly.
I decide to make a run for the Wraith. One of my teammates has a Gravity Hammer and decided to try the same thing, as we both charge at the damn Wraith. I get to it first, board it, and toss a Spike Grenade into the cockpit, blowing the thing up in one of the most beautiful explosions I've ever seen.
The multipliers from my Running Riot gave me 2400 points, plus 70 for killing a couple Jackals with the blast, then -300 for killing my Hammer-wielding teammate who got too close.
But then, we hit the time limit. The Firefight round was only set to last for 7 minutes, to keep the line outside moving. I take a look at the postgame carnage report:
Romeo and Johnson both managed to get about 3,000 points each.
DARE got 5,000.
I had earned 8,000 points, and the Bungie member running the show came up to me and rewarded me with my prize for coming in first: A license plate frame which reads, In bold, UNSC-type letters: "My other car is a Warthog".
The guy who had come in first in the other Firefight game going on at the same time received the same prize.
I was herded outside and talked to one of the Bungie guys managing the crowd outside, thanking him.
He told me that if I had managed to get 10,000+ points in the round, I would have been awarded with a Bungie T-shirt. Since I came in 2,000 points too short, I didn't get a shirt.

But, I must say, ODST was fun as hell. I came out with a feeling I hadn't had since I picked up a Halo game for the first time. That was one of the best games I've ever played.

Notes:

• In VISR mode, if you get hit, you have waves of static go across your screen which don't stop until you aren't getting shot at. If you are getting bombarded by shots in VISR, the growing red on the screen coupled with the worsening static makes it so you can't see and are forced to switch out of VISR, an interesting tradeoff.
• The SMG has less recoil than it did in Halo 2, but more than it did in Halo 3.
• The Pistol has quite a bit of recoil to it to make up for the added zoom.
• Also, you can zoom in with the SMG. Yes, zoom in. It's cool, but pointless, as the SMG is designed for closer range. I didn't test any of the other guns for zoom, sorry.
• Brute Plasma Rifle has power AND a faster ROF, but overheats quickly.
• The Covenant are a LOT smarter than they were in H3. They analyzed threats well, knew when to use equipment, and actually dove for cover rather than just get hit.
• When you reload, you say "Changing Mag!". When you throw a grenade, you call out "Grenade!". It's a nice touch.
• Johnson has a LOT of new dialogue. One of the lines which made me laugh was "Oh, are you sad because I blew up your little hula-hoop?"
• The Battle Rifle is MIA.

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(I'm second to right, next to the guy in the white shirt)
Didn't get any picture of the license plate frame, I should have. Too lazy to take one now, tbh. =P

Nice, so it was fun, thats great, btw, did the game render at a higher resolution than halo 3 did (halo 3 ran at 640p) I'd be grateful as hell if it ran higher

oh man sounds awesome, how do you find out where the bungie people are gonna be?

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Originally Posted by Pyong Kawaguchi

Nice, so it was fun, thats great, btw, did the game render at a higher resolution than halo 3 did (halo 3 ran at 640p) I'd be grateful as hell if it ran higher

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Pretty sure he didn't have time to count the pixels.

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Originally Posted by Pyong Kawaguchi

Nice, so it was fun, thats great, btw, did the game render at a higher resolution than halo 3 did (halo 3 ran at 640p) I'd be grateful as hell if it ran higher

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I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Bungie was keeping the game to run at no higher than a 720p resolution. Don't quote me on that though, I'll try and find a link.

Just wondering, how easy were the engineers to kill in firefight english mobster?

Well, (I'm not answering for him, btw) I've seen that they are pretty easily to kill, however if there's more than one they can put overshields on each other, as well as any other enemies near them. I seem to recall a video with a drone that had an overshield. That, or there was just too much going on where I couldn't tell what was what.

Wow, you have incredible memory. Got any pictures of the swag you got? Also, did you manage to get H1 disk signed?

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Originally Posted by Ki11a_FTW

oh man sounds awesome, how do you find out where the bungie people are gonna be?

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http://www.gamestop.com/gs/landing/h3otour/h3o_tour.pdf

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Originally Posted by =sw=warlord

Just wondering, how easy were the engineers to kill in firefight english mobster?

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Security Zone didn't have any Engies. I asked the Bungie guys about it, they said they appear mostly on night maps, so if my party leader had chosen Crater (Night), I would have gotten to see them.

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Originally Posted by Limited

Wow, you have incredible memory. Got any pictures of the swag you got? Also, did you manage to get H1 disk signed?

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Haha, people tell me that a lot. I took mental notes when I was playing (hey, I AM making some maps based off of ODST), so it was pretty easy for me to recall what happened.
I have pictures, but I would need to upload them to my server first.
Brian Jarrad was in the van, but he said even though he wanted to, he couldn't sign anything because then he'd be swarmed with fans asking for autographs. So my disc was left unsigned.

Also, did I mention that, at least in Security Zone, the BR is gone? I know it's a Halo 1 pistol clone, but I looked around for it (the clip size for the Pistol is TINY, I think about 7 shots per clip, with 3 clips, so save your shots, Bungie wasn't kidding when they warned you to save your ammo), but I couldn't find it.

There is no BR in Halo 3: ODST.

I haven't seen any gameplay with the AR yet either, but i think its in one of the cutscenes

I BELIEVE I saw an AR somewhere, but don't quote me on that. I heard a familiar noise and saw my teammates shooting at some Brutes with what I think was an AR, but I didn't really take a good look.

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Originally Posted by English Mobster

Back from ODST.

• Johnson has a LOT of new dialogue. One of the lines which made me laugh was "Oh, are you sad because I blew up your little hula-hoop?"
• The Battle Rifle is MIA.

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Oh god, I can picture his voice in my head saying that,
I will now go reserver halo odst, just so I can play as him.


as for getting that bumper sticker, congratz,
and you think you can post a couple pics?

Btw, did you see any sign of the original PR, or is it gone like I thought?

Im pretty sure Jackals/Grunts/Drones would hold the regular Plasma Rifle.

EDIT:
The BPR has a bit of different color than H2's, seems to have a brighter sheen.

Sounds really cool. Glad I pre-ordered it. Can't wait the 22nd! I'll have to get used to not using a BR again. I've become so accustomed to it in H3 it's always the first thing I look for in a map.

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Originally Posted by Alwin Roth

Oh god, I can picture his voice in my head saying that,
I will now go reserver halo odst, just so I can play as him.


as for getting that bumper sticker, congratz,
and you think you can post a couple pics?

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Not bumper sticker, license plate frame.
And I had some pics on my computer, but it fried itself playing earlier and I had to switch to my desktop. I'll have to reupload them to this computer again.

Pictures were promised, and here they are:
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(I'm second to right, next to the guy in the white shirt)
Didn't get any picture of the license plate frame, I should have. Too lazy to take one now, tbh. =P

That would be funny if all the xbox's got red rings.

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Originally Posted by Advancebo

That would be funny if all the xbox's got red rings.

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pyong to the fucking rescue

Yeah... :D
Also, I played firefight earlier, I had a joygasm

Just played firefight, Save your ammo.

I CANT FUCKING BELIEVE I MISSED THAT TRUCK NOT EVEN A MILE AWAY FFFF

I cant believe its not coming anywhere near Atlanta ):

I can't believe its not butter

I can't believe that I couldn't read the gamestop .pdf. It was fuckin' reverse mirrored. >.>

Btw, the pistol has max 60 bullets clip

So what, the pistol's mag carries 8 or 12 shots, with a max carry capacity of 60?

It has a max capacity of 6, with 12 shot clips

All I know is you BLOW through those shots.

How were your Firefight sessions? What maps did you play on?

I feel bad for who ever has to drive it.

I have played on all of the maps that don't require unlocks.

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Originally Posted by Pyong Kawaguchi

I have played on all of the maps that don't require unlocks.

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How'd you manage that? We were only allowed a few minutes and 1 map...

Out of curiosity, did you take any pics?

Hehe
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/halo-3-odst-live-stream

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Originally Posted by English Mobster

How'd you manage that? We were only allowed a few minutes and 1 map...

Out of curiosity, did you take any pics?

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He's referring to the french leak that he has, on his own 360 setup.

SAN DIEGO FFFF THATS LIKE 30 MINUTES FROM HERE HOW DID I NOT HEAR ABOUT THIS :(

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Originally Posted by Freelancer

He's referring to the french leak that he has, on his own 360 setup.

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never proven

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Originally Posted by Heathen

never proven

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Um. Yes it was. He's explicitly stated it in the Donor Board and he's broadcast a live feed of himself playing on Ustream.

IMO, one of the funnest firefight maps that I have played is:

Windward

My favorite is Security Zone (The one that is pretty much a giant hill)

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Originally Posted by Pyong Kawaguchi

My favorite is Security Zone (The one that is pretty much a giant hill)

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Isn't that the one they showed just after E3?
Just outside the ONI building?

Its the one that takes place right after you destroy the bridge iirc

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Originally Posted by AdmiralBacon

Um. Yes it was. He's explicitly stated it in the Donor Board and he's broadcast a live feed of himself playing on Ustream.

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oh.


lol.

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Originally Posted by Pyong Kawaguchi

My favorite is Security Zone (The one that is pretty much a giant hill)

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That one is my second favourite. It's also they only one, I found, that has heavy weapons placed at the start.

Also, I'm not really a big fan of the night maps. Not sure why...

I think its because of the engineers, they are a painintheass

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Originally Posted by Saggy

That one is my second favourite. It's also they only one, I found, that has heavy weapons placed at the start.

Also, I'm not really a big fan of the night maps. Not sure why...

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Doom 3-eske atmosphere while your taking on 12 foot tall hunters and 8 foot tall brutes?

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Originally Posted by =sw=warlord

Doom 3-eske atmosphere while your taking on 12 foot tall hunters and 8 foot tall brutes?

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If only it felt like that...

Basically, though, the maps they chose night variants for aren't very fun to begin with. Making it hella dark and adding Engineers, like Pyong said, is really not that fun. More of a pain. Maybe it would be better if I played with more than 2 people.

Also, can't wait for the 22 so I can pick up my copy and play online. Any one wanna be firefight buddies?

me :P

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Originally Posted by Saggy

Also, can't wait for the 22 so I can pick up my copy and play online. Any one wanna be firefight buddies?

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Il join you as well, first i want to play campaign solo though so i can see the storyline unfold.
You know my live tag so once im done message me any time.

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Originally Posted by Pyong Kawaguchi

me :P

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What's your GT again? I forget how to spell it :P

Also, Warlord, you're in England, right? Hopefully time zones won't be too much of a factor.

s1r 0wns alot