Chronique:Halo Bulletin 09/11/2011

9 novembre

Original

TL;DR: We're excited Anniversary is almost here. And we hope you are, too.

Every morning, upon arriving at work, I am faced with a not-so-difficult choice: hike up a seemingly endless flight of stairs or slip into the welcoming arms of an elevator. Considering the former involves athletic ability, physical exertion, and the risk of injury, I typically choose the latter. Until the Forerunners invent the teleporter, I figure it's the better of the two options.

In our lobby, there is a pair of elevators at our beck and call. One is average, in every sense of the word, and the other is frequently found sporting protective padding on all four walls. Part of me wonders if it's the preferred mode of transportation for those that forget their straightjackets (I'm not saying I'm talking about the guy that wore the chicken suit for Halloween, but I am saying I may be talking about the guy that wore the chicken suit for Halloween). Then reality kicks in with the obvious answer: clearly, the padded elevator is a time machine.

While I remain convinced the lift will one day accelerate to 88 mph, the closest I've gotten to a time-traveling adventure is yesterday, when, after sharing the vertical transport vehicle with a coworker, I was briefly taken back to a time when Anniversary wasn't the focus, but Halo: Combat Evolved was. I usually spend my elevator time attempting small chat and avoiding eye contact. Yesterday, though, due to the excitement of being exactly one week out, I verbally assaulted Chris, the poor soul that was my perhaps unwilling but still captive audience.

I asked him, as the motors hummed ever so softly in the background, if he was excited about the upcoming release of Anniversary. He said he was, and asked if I was as well. As I'm not capable of giving anything less than a torturously long response, I told him that I was quite excited. So excited, as a matter of fact, that I had not played through the last level in Anniversary yet and that I was saving it for when the game actually is released. That last level, you see, is my most favorite video-game level ever. It's so special to me that I'm waiting to experience it in my privacy of my own home. I plan on cranking up the surround sound, tuning out the real world, and losing myself in the moment, just as I did ten years ago. He nodded his head, and then recounted his decade-old experience.

He was working on Combat Evolved, and the game was almost ready to launch. By the time it went gold, he estimated he had played through the Campaign over 50 times. I asked him, since he played it so much before it was released, if he played through the entire game again after it came out. While the look he gave me said it all, he said, with his mouth this time, of course he played it again. And he couldn't wait to do the same with Anniversary.

As the appropriately named header says above, we're excited Anniversary is almost here. And we hope you are, too.

Halo: Anniversary Matchmaking Playlists

While you're probably familiar with the Campaign portion of Anniversary, I thought you might want to know about the multiplayer aspect as well. The game comes bundled with seven of the most popular maps in Halo history, and we'll have five different playlists featuring them, all offering a more classic Halo experience.

The Anniversary playlists will be going live the morning of the 14th. Well, the morning of the 14th if you call the Pacific Time Zone region home. Why are we releasing them a day early, you ask? Because we want to make sure the playlists are available to all players immediately upon purchase of the game, regardless of what part of the world they live in. That means, depending on your time zone, you may see the playlists before you can actually utilize them. Fret not, though, because once you have secured your copy of the game, you can traverse the virtual battlefields with your friends—stealing flags, sniping faces, and accidentally betraying your teammates with the rockets, just like you did in CE.

Anyway, on to the specifics!

Anniversary Squad

4v4 Slayer and Objective

Contains Anniversary Classic and TU game types

Maps: Battle Canyon, Beaver Creek, Solitary, Prisoner, Penance, Damnation, High Noon, Hang 'Em High

Game types: Anniversary Classic Team Slayer, Anniversary Classic Multiflag, Anniversary Classic Assault, Anniversary Classic 1 Flag, Anniversary Classic 1 Bomb, Team Slayer, Team Slayer DMRs, Team Slayer Pro, Elite slayer, Assault, Multiflag, 1 Flag DMRs, Stockpile, Crazy King DMRs, Neutral Bomb, Headhunter, Hot Potato DMRs, Territories

Anniversary BTB

8v8 Slayer and Objective

Contains Anniversary Classic and TU game types

Maps: Breakneck, Headlong, Ridgeline, Timberland, High Noon, Hang 'Em High

Game types: Anniversary Classic Big Team Slayer, Big Team Slayer, Big Team Snipers, Big Team Elite Slayer, Big Team Multiflag, Big Team 1 Flag, Big Team Assault, Big Team 1 Bomb, Big Team Neutral Bomb, Big Team Territories, Big Team Crazy King, Big Team Stockpile

Anniversary FFA'

FFA Slayer with a pinch of Objective

Contains Anniversary Classic and TU game types

Maps: Battle Canyon, Beaver Creek, Solitary, Prisoner, Penance, Damnation, High Noon, Hang 'Em High

Game types: Anniversary Classic Slayer, Slayer, Slayer DMRs, Slayer Pro, Elite Slayer, Headhunter, Crazy King, Infection, Alpha Zombies, Oddball

Anniversary Classic

4v4 Slayer and Objective

Contains Anniversary Classic game types

Maps: Beaver Creek, Hang 'Em High, Headlong, Damnation, Prisoner

Game types: Anniversary Classic Team Slayer, Anniversary Classic Team Snipers, Anniversary Classic Multiflag, Anniversary Classic 1 Flag, Anniversary Classic Assault, Anniversary Classic 1 Bomb, Anniversary Classic Oddball

Anniversary Firefight

Contains our most popular Firefight variants

Map: Installation 04

Game types: Arcade Fistfight, Arcade Nadefight, Arcade Rocketfight, Arcade Sniperfight, Arcade FRGfight, Arcade Plasmafight, Arcade Fiestafight, Arcade Arcadefight

Anniversary Classic game types have the following settings: no Armor Abilities, Anniversary Pistol (pistol traits have been modified to replicate CE behavior), one Frag Grenade upon loadout, player speed increased, gravity increased, jump height increased, shield and health recharge rates increased, and melee damage reduced. Please note that the standard TU changes also apply to Anniversary Classic game types.

TU Game types are our standard Reach Matchmaking settings with the Title Update changes. Those changes are: damage bleed enabled, modified reticle bloom, sword block removed, Armor Lock modified, and Active Camo modified. You can read more about the specifics of the Title Update here.

Anniversary Map Pack

Now that the relevant playlists have been covered, we should probably touch on the multiplayer maps as well. The Anniversary Map Pack, which includes six multiplayer maps along with one Firefight map, will be available on November 15th for 1200 Microsoft Points. This means even Halo: Reach fans can take part in Anniversary!

Before we dip into each of the maps, I thought I would walk you through some of the different scenarios you may find yourself in on November 15th. Halo: Anniversary and the Anniversary Map Pack are two different pieces of content, so here are the various ways to access the maps.

If you own Halo: Anniversary but not Halo: Reach, you will launch the Anniversary maps from the disc menu.

If you own Halo: Anniversary and Halo: Reach, we recommend installing the maps using the Anniversary Map Pack code that comes with Anniversary. You will then be able to launch the Anniversary maps from both the Anniversary and Reach menus.

If you purchase the Anniversary Map Pack, you will install the maps like any other piece of DLC. You will then be able to launch the Anniversary maps from the Reach menu.

Now, back to business. In previous Bulletins, we took deep dives into the majority of the maps, but in an effort to save you the time of digging deep within our archives, I'm going to summarize all seven of the included playspaces. I think I'll even throw in an overhead shot of each map. Because yes, despite what you may have heard, I really am that nice. Well, every once in a while, anyway.

BATTLE CANYON (2 - 8 players)

"The telemetry spires in these canyons help manage the Halo ring's vast translocation grid."

The rocky warrens of this part of Halo provide the ideal environment for an array of impressive telemetry clusters. These spires' synchronization conduits ensure that the ring's translocation grid is always fully operational, part of a remarkably powerful system which allows near-instant transportation across the full ten thousand kilometers that span the installation.

BREAKNECK (8 - 16 players)

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"The initial Covenant strike is over, but the fight for Mombasa has just begun."

Section 21 once looked out onto the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator with pride and optimism. Now, with much of the city flooded by the Covenant's brutal assault, the skyline is only a shattered ghost of what it once was as the battle for humanity's survival continues on the streets and corridors below.

HIGH NOON (4 - 12 players)

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