Weekley Update August 31, 2011: SUPERDUPER HALOFEST RECAPTACULAR!!!

If you've wondered how exactly 343 Industries plans to recreate the multiplayer gameplay you know and love from Halo: Combat Evolved in Halo CE: Anniversary, this is your answer.

To explain, we asked 343 Industries' Content Producer David Ellis to give us the inside scoop as to why a typically innocuous thing like a title update could become such a gamechanger or Halo fans.

"It's a free downloadable update for Halo: Reach to allow the MP to work seamlessly with the Halo CE: Anniversary MP as well as adding some additional options for adjusting gameplay variables in multiplayer," Ellis explained.

Translation: this update will essentially use high-tech ninjary to fool Halo: Reach into playing like Halo: Combat Evolved.

The update won't enable content immediately; you'll have to wait until specific multiplayer hoppers go live sometime in October for that. But here's how it will all work when they do.

Weapon Changes

The insanely overpowered gameplay of the Halo: Combat Evolved Magnum pistol will crash the Halo: Reach party with the Title Update.

Now, it won't feature the OG Magnum itself exactly; instead the wizardy of the TU will allow for the configuring of the reticle bloom on the Reach pistol (and other semi-automatic weapons, like the DMR), enabling high-precision firing with increased accuracy in rapid succession, making for a lethal three-shot kill from anywhere on a map. It's strongly reminiscent of the way Combat Evolved felt.

Ellis puts it this way: "Bloom is a gameplay mechanic in Reach which encourages players to space their shots to keep accuracy high. For example, the rate of fire for the Reach magnum isn't set. You can fire the gun as fast as you can pull the trigger. However, there is a lag in the time it takes your firing reticule to shrink down between shots. Fire quick, your shots are less accurate; fire slower and your shots will be more accurate."

The TU allows changes to how much your reticle "blooms", or expands, when firing 'head shot' weapons. If you set it to zero, there is zero bloom. If you set it to .85, it's 85%. *All* headshot weapons on the map are affected by this setting. Settings will vary for different beta hoppers.

Swords will get a tweak as well; specifically the ability to block a sword attack with a melee from any weapon other than another sword will be disabled.

Melee Damage and Armor Ability Changes

In Halo: Reach, players can basically sprint at you and melee twice for an insta-kill. Not so with the TU; melee beatdowns will require 3 full blows as damage will bleed through your shield into your health, similar to Halo 3.

And good news for anyone who hates people who camp Armor Lock: Sticky grenades will no longer be nullified if you use Armor Lock after being stuck. Also, damage received while in armor lock is transferred to remaining Armor Ability energy, and how much the damage depletes your armor lock energy (and how quickly) is configurable.

Active Camo will get a dialing back, reducing the bonus time the player gets in Camo while standing still and reducing the overall length the player can be in Active Camo.

The update will enable Campaign and Firefight matchmaking for players using an Xbox 360 4GB console without a HDD, which previously required a HDD.

"We'll be launching the TU sometime in September with the beta hoppers coming online in early October. One of these reasons we're doing this is to allow the rabid Halo community to provide feedback on the changes we're implementing in this TU. So in essence, the community themselves will help to shape their Halo multiplayer experience going forward."

Halo's Warthog Makes its Debut... in Forza 4.

What could be cooler than seeing the new Halo 4 Warthog in your favorite racing game? How about racing in it? Well, too bad, but it's still very pretty looking.

The Warthog will be featured as part of Forza Motorsports 4's Autovista mode, which allows players to walk around and interact with vehicles. You can't race in it (could you imagine trying to handle Forza's tracks in a giant dune buggy?), but you will be able to interact on some level. Oh, and you're going to have to unlock it, so we hope you're good at Forza.

Check out the screens of the new improved Warthog.

343 Guilty Spark Campaign Impressions

It's a strange lens at times. Going from the mysterious and oh-so-2001 fog-plagued view of 343 Guilty Spark of Halo CE to a ominous and alien swamp courtesy of Saber Interactive is... jarring, to say the least. It's distracting wandering around a level you thought you knew to see everything that's been done. Everything looks more alive than it did before, which changes the general vibe of the level in distinct ways. The haunted swamp feel has been pushed aside by a foreboding green and yellow light emanating from the trees.

You'll lose track of that when the shooting starts though. In that respect, everything is as it was. Halo CE is filled with moments involving a valley, trees, and a dozen or more Grunts and Jackals. These kinds of encounters dwindled in later games, and playing them again, I realize how much they've been missed. There's a great sense of pacing to timing shots from the Halo CE pistol to maximize efficiency, alternating between close grouped head shots on Grunts and well aimed arm shots on shield-bearing Jackals to leave them vulnerable.

No other Halo game has gotten that same pistol-powered rhythm down as well. The one-two-three of effective pistol usage is empowering and distinctive and... I really missed Halo: Combat Evolved. It's good to have it back again.

There are some wrinkles in the experience right now though. First, hardcore Halo fans will want to foreswear the wireless controller in lieu of a wired one. The finer points of Halo combat were tuned around the wireless-lag-free response of the original Xbox controller, and things might feel a little more floaty than you recall otherwise. Then there's the 3D.

This being 2011 and all, a major title can't seem to hit our greedy little hands without some implementation of 3D, and Saber Interactive and 343i have implemented it pretty well. Aside from the world's longest gun barrel, there's a great sense of depth, and a lot of adjustment options. Plus, it supports passive 3D for compatible televisions, so you can spring for lots of cheap, theater style glasses for everyone you want to suffer through watching you play Halo in 3D.

CEA gets 3-D Support

Halo: CE Anniversary is getting a lot of upgrades in the visual department, but if you're at Halo Fest this weekend there's a pretty major one you can see for yourself: stereoscopic 3D.

Microsoft announced that the revamped Halo: Anniversary will feature a 3D system built specifically for the game. The 3D is being demoed during Halo Fest at PAX this weekend.

Changes Coming to Waypoint

At its "What's Next for Waypoint" panel at this year's Halo Fest, the 343i team announced a number of changes and additions to Halo Waypoint due later this year.

Waypoint will receive a visual overhaul for the release of anniversary this November. The Xbox 360 portal will get a new look, with a consolidated look at stats and top level information regarding your Halo experience. Players will also be granted the ability to issue create and issue custom challenges to their friends.

The web version of Waypoint will be altered to reflect the console changes to the platform, with an initial full stats view of your personalized Spartan in Halo: Reach. The deep-view information players have come to expect from Bungie.net for Halo: Reach will also transfer over to the new Waypoint site, as well as the Windows 7 Waypoint App.

ALL SKULLS ON

At 343i's "Halo Anniversary Campaign" panel at this year's Halo Fest, the developer confirmed the return of "skulls" in the remake launching later this year. Previous Halo titles have allowed users to find hidden skulls that could be activated in order to trigger additional effects within the game, such as more resilient enemies or no regenerating health.

In addition to the previously leaked Grunt Funeral skull available for pre-orders at specific retailers, the panel disclosed two of the currently unknown total number of easter eggs. Malfunction, when activated, disables a random HUD element after each respawn, while Boom doubles explosion radiuses.

343 also informed fans that skulls will not be available or functional in the so-called "Classic" mode. Skulls will also not be visible to collect outside of the remastered mode.

Also it was confirmed that they are going to use the Halo 3 format. You will have to find the skulls secretly located throughout the campaign.

Halo 4-6 Now has a Name for the Trilogy!

While the ten year birthday of Halo: Combat Evolved and the upcoming Halo CE Anniversary release are clearly the focus of the first Halo Fest at this year's Penny Arcade Expo, the continuing adventures of the Master Chief aren't far from anyone's mind. At 343i's Halo 4 panel on Saturday morning, Josh Holmes discussed the impending Halo trilogy and revealed the name of the upcoming three-game series: the Reclaimer Trilogy.

Astute Halo fans will recall that Guilty Spark, the AI presence from the original Halo installation in Combat Evolved (and namesake of 343i), often referred to the Master Chief as the Reclaimer throughout their interactions. Guilty Spark also plays a prominent role in Halo CE Anniversary's new addition to the original game, the Terminals.

Halo 4 beta rumors have been deceased.

At was announced today that there will be NO beta for Halo 4 shipping out with Halo Anniversary, They did go on to say that when they have a beta, they will make sure the full public has access.

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