Last year, we took a more traditional approach with our Best Video Games of 2009 article with categories such as Best Music Game or Best Action Platformer. This year we are going to depart from the traditional and give what we think are categories that truly deserve to be rewarded their due.

Best Use of Zombies / Best Downloadable Content – Red Dead Redemption “Undead Nightmare”

The ultimate “What If” scenario brought forth to one of the best games of 2010, “What if the undead invaded the old west?” And the answer doesn’t just involve a lot of people dying. There are horses of the apocalypse, big foot, some hard choices to be made and people turning on or abandoning their fellow man left and right.

This awesome story told over the revamped look of Red Dead Redemption using characters players have already grown to know, love or despise makes Undead Nightmare not only the best zombie game of 2010 but also the best exmple of DLC for the entire year as well.

Continue Reading →

How do you make a Halo game without Master Chief? Somehow Halo 3: ODST, a converted expansion turned full retail release, was able to do it. But ODST wasn’t about the Spartans. It was about a group of ground level grunts just trying to survive impossible odds. Halo: Reach focuses on a group of Spartans called Noble Squad and the six members as they fight through the final days of the planet Reach. The game is a prequel to the original Halo: Combat Evolved and there are lots of little references and Easter Eggs to the events to come in Halo. But still, is it really Halo without Spartan John-117, Master Chief? After just a short time with the game you will agree it is.

Gameplay:

Halo: Reach takes the tried and true Halo formula of being one of the best FPS console games and continues to run with it. Fast paced combat with occasional instances of vehicular sequences, one incredibly short stealth sequence and the E3 revealed space battle encompass all that is Halo: Reach. The most fulfilling part of Reach’s gameplay is how even though it does have the “I’ve done this before” feel to it, it still has the addictive nature that made the previous Halo titles so special. It will be likely that the XBox Live top five charts over the coming weeks consist solely of Halo 3, Halo: Reach and three Call of Duty titles because of this.

Gameplay has been switched up a little bit from previous titles however. Most notable is the inclusion of armor abilities. As first seen in the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta, the item system has been removed and replaced by these abilities that are “built-in” to the Spartan’s armor. These include Jet packs, Stealth and Sprinting. The jet pack is easily the most fun new power to use as it allows for mid-air sniping along with dropping into the heat of battle using the grav-hammer to level groups of unsuspecting grunts and brutes. Another interesting new ability is the hologram which creates a diversion as a holographic image of yourself runs forward drawing fire momentarily before the Covenant forces realize it’s not actually you.

Continue Reading →

When you are publishing one of the XBox’s largest exclusive franchises, it is inevitable that eventually some things will leak out to the public. To get ahead of this, Bungie has “leaked” to the information about the achievements to their upcoming blockbuster Halo: Reach. Taking control of the five man Spartan squad known as Noble Team, players experience a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved in which the military installation planet known as Reach is devastated by Covenant forces.

Halo: Reach will feature a total of 49 achievements. The way they break down will be 23 Campaign, 7 Firefight, 4 Multiplayer, 6 Training and 9 Player Experience. Bungie has noted that some of the Training goals can be met in both Campaign or Firefight modes.

So far, Bungie has revealed the names of 7 of these achievements along with the requirements for 7 of them. Below is what we know so far:

A Monument to All Your Sins – Complete each Campaign Mission on Legendary – alone.

Banshees, Fast and Low – Hijack a Banshee during the Reach Campaign.

Yes, Sensei – Earn a First Strike Medal in a Matchmaking game.

A New Challenger – Complete all of the Daily Challenges in a given day.

Make It Rain – Purchase an item from the Armory that requires the rank of Lt. Colonel.

Continue Reading →

Anthologies can often be either one of the best ways to explore a concept if executed properly. The idea explored here is Halo and the mythology surrounding it. For the first time, one work tries to take from all other source material like the Halo games, novels and comics in an effort to fully explain the world of Halo. In the process, it also helps actually add new substantial concepts to this much applauded franchise that show that the fight isn’t really over for Master Chief and the Spartans.

As seen before with Batman: Gotham Knight and The Animatrix, Halo Legends is an anthology of seven distinct and separate stories about the characters and ideas of Halo as seen through the eyes of various anime heavyweights. With writers and directors who had worked on everything from Cowboy Bebop to Bubblegum Crisis and MASK to Dragon Ball Z, the spectrum of top talent in this field was pieced together to put together Halo Legends.

The first story, “Origins”, comes in two pieces and may easily be the most important of the seven parts to the greater Halo universe. For the first time in full detail, the audience is given a look at exactly what happened to the Forerunners that caused them to disappear with the creation of the Halo rings. Most interesting about this feature comes from the revelation of what the Forerunners looked like and how they became revered as the gods of the Covenant.

Continue Reading →

Starting this week, The Flickcast will be taking our love of Machinima and turning it in to a weekly feature. For those who don’t know, Machinima is real time 3D rendering of graphics to generate computer animation. What that means is people take different video games and their associated mods and create different short films or series based off of them.

This week, we will be taking a look at Phil from Black Light Productions. Named after its main character and created using Halo 3, Phil revolves around a Halo newbie as he learns his way around the XBox Live world with the accompaniment of the standoffish Zack and overly nice and naive Wally. Unlike some Machinima which has the players reacting as if the events of the game are “real life”, Phil, Zack and Wally acknowledge that they are playing Halo 3 and communicating over Live.

Following them through the series’ thirteen episodes, we get to see some of the biggest faults in online gaming portrayed in a very humorous way. Everything gets covered through the series from trash talkers, glitchers, griefers, competition and clans… and even a little bit of romance.

Continue Reading →

It’s no secret that we all get giddy for LEGOS around the Flickcast office. Whether it’s playing Lego Batman in our spare time, reviewing Lego Rock Band for the site or watching “8-Bit Trip” for Fan Film Fridays, Legos hold a special place in our hearts. It’s also no secret that we love ourselves some video games here and it is impossible to say you love video games if you don’t love Halo.

Now, six years in the making comes a trailer combining two things we love the most. No, Traveller’s Tales and Bungie are not pairing up to release Lego Halo for the XBox 360 but we are getting the next best thing. Using the magic of stop motion animation, a lot of free time and a passion for the two properties, Alex Kobbs has created a twenty-five minute long homage to his two most beloved properties with “Battle of the Brick: Built for Combat”.

Continue Reading →

In an article detailing the growing influence of game publishers in Hollywood, the Los Angeles Times scooped the San Diego Comic-Con news that Microsoft will be producing a series of short films based around the popular Halo game, without involvement from Hollywood.

The seven short films entitled Halo Legends will be created in the anime style and will be produced by 343 Industries. Five production houses in Japan will be handling the physical animation, however Microsoft’s creative staff will approve all major visual and storytelling decisions.

Warner Bros. has been tapped to distribute Halo Legends on DVD and digital platforms in early 2010.

The full article can be read here.