- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
As you may have noticed, we have finally entered the double-digits in the amount of days until November 9th. With the article "Are You Prepared For Halo 2?" Frankie told us how to get our hardware ready for Halo 2. So, I decided to write this little thing about getting prepared mentally for Halo 2.
Note: I am not a professional journalist, and all my experience comes from sleeping through one semester highschool journalism. So, at some points it may look like, as Shishka puts it, I "banged my head against the keyboard until it looks like english." Now, onto the first point...
[color=white]Chapter 1: Let's All Go To The Movies![/color]
First things first, as many of you may have noticed (hell, even a blind deaf and dumb person would eventually notice them), Halo draws a lot of its inspiration from the classic Science Fiction movies. I put together this handy list of movies you might want to check out at the local Blockbuster before you start your Campaign against those communist alien bastards.
1.[color=green]The "Alien" series:[/color] I recommend only the first two. Mainly because those are the only really good ones. Sure, Aliens 3 is good, but it's so boring. And what's the deal with Bishop in that one, is he human or a cyborg?
But I digress, "Alien" (the first of the series) is just plain kick-ass. Especially the scene where the black guy takes the pipe and hits the crazy guy with a pipe and the crazy guy's head gets knocked off and that milk stuff is spraying everywhere. That was awesome! Then there's the scene in the airducts with the flamethrower, talk about tension! Oh, and the motion tracker in Halo (and Marathon) are seen in this movie.
"Aliens" (the sequal, and the best in the series) is the movie that got Sigourney Weaver her Oscar nomination. Here's where you'll notice the most similarities to Halo. The dropship that the marines use to get to the colony looks exactly like the Pelican dropship (and it's pilot looks exactly like the girl who crashes the escape pod on Halo in the beginning). The scene where the marines first encounter the aliens is extremely similar to the first Flood encounter in Halo. And you'll see the physical incarnation of Sgt. Avery Johnson. There are several other similarities, but mainly, this movie will get you in the mood to kick some Covie and Flood ass.
2.[color=teal]"War Of The Worlds":[/color] This is just a great movie chronicling the first encounter with extra-terrestrials, and the following war against them.
3. [color=yellow]"Starship Troopers":[/color] Never seen it. Heard it wasn't that good. Looks like one big war against some bugs that are a little too big to be taken care of with a can of "Raid."
4.[color=blue]"E.T.":[/color] For obvious reasons.
5.[color=red]"Full Metal Jacket":[/color] Because only two things come from Texas...
6.[color=orange]"A Fistful Of Dollars," "A Few Dollars More," and "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly":[/color] These movies are for those of you who want to look and act cool while you're killing those alien bastards. There's nobody cooler than Clint Eastwood's "The Man With No Name," and if you pretend you're him all the time it really helps your self-esteem. Believe me.
[color=white]Chapter 2: "No! It's not fair! It's just not fair!"[/color]
That line, of course, is from The Twilight Zone episode where there's only one man left on Earth, and he finally decides he can finally catch up on his reading. But, when he opens his book, his glasses fall off and break. Instead of breaking into the optomotrist's office and stealing a new pair, he just sits there crying like a little girl.
This chapter is here to tell you to catch up on the books or, if you haven't read them, start reading them. These will clue you in on the Halo backstory, which will most likely come up in Halo 2. The books are, in chronological order:
1. "The Fall of Reach": Pre-Halo
2. "The Flood": Halo
3. "First Strike": Post-Halo, pre-Halo 2
You'll definitly want to start reading those before you dive into Halo 2 and end up pulling a "Joni Eareckson Tada."
[color=white]Chapter 3: Deja Vu[/color]
Replay Halo's campaign. Then play it again, and again, and again. The do it on a different difficulty. Then get some friends and play against them. Rumor has it, your skills in Halo will translate into Halo 2 perfectly, so, how good you are in Halo will be how good you are in Halo 2. Might as well get a jump start on everybody when it comes to Halo 2 mutiplayer.
But you might be saying "I've already played Halo 1,000+ times, g-money! I got teh mad sk1llz! I am teh wizard master, jive turkey!" Well, if that's the case, then there's no better way to enhance gameplay than trying it out in real-life. So, go out and punch your friends in the back of the head for melee practice. Pick up a stick and hit small children and animals with it for Plasma Sword practice. When one of your parents is pulling into the driveway, jump out of nowhere and try jacking there ride. The important thing is to go out, have fun, and hurt as many people as possible.
[color=white]Epilogue[/color]
Yeah, I know this was a crappy guide. But hey, if it helps even a little, then I've done my job. Thank you for your time. I'll be updating this as I see fit. I love all of you, so feel free to ask questions, and I'll try and answer them in a humorous and uninformative manner.
[Edited on 8/8/2004 10:13:01 AM]