The war between humanity and The Covenant has raged on for far longer than anyone can remember. Even before our adventures with the Master Chief, the two forces had at each other’s throats for reasons that yet remain unclear, perhaps even to the soldiers involved.

It is during this time that our tale takes place. On the human colonial world, Reach, an elite squad of Spartans known as Noble Team has just recruited their enigmatic sixth member. Tension exists between the military and civilian settlers, but an uneasy peace born from common interests keeps that in check. Such was the case until The Covenant arrived, and their attack began.

Thus begins our counterattack. No matter what happens, Reach must not fall.

I’ve talked about this with my friend Sam Callahan (who you’ll recognize as the guy I turn to for thumbnails), but there’s something compelling about prequels and the sense of inevitability that comes with them. Thanks to the other Halo games, we already know that the UNSC loses and Reach gets annihilated, even before we start the campaign. That knowledge tinges every aspect of what we see and take part in. No matter how successful Noble Six and the rest of Noble Team are, or how much damage they inflict, they cannot and will not stop the inevitable.

Additionally, something has to be said for the noticeable leap in production values we’re seeing at the start of Halo: Reach. Particularly, the first thing I noticed playing again after Halo 3/ODST is how much better the face models look compared to those games, merely two years later. This goes hand in hand with the writing, because the additional detail allows our cast to be more expressive. The scene with Jorge and the refugee is powerful because he removes his helmet and shows her a very human face to better relate to.

I also can’t help but appreciate the new subtitles, with bright yellow colors to contrast the darker, moodier palette (fitting for the tone). Combined with their font choice, it makes them very easy to read and keep track of on screen. If they could start bringing subtitles into the dialogue spoken during gameplay, and not just in cutscenes, then this would be a great example of good subtitling.

There’s a lot to like here, and hopefully that will only grow as we progress through the campaign.

Another contract has come in, and our target is located on the Isle of Sgail. Our window is short, so we need to act fast.

It’s time for another Elusive Target. Codename: The Stowaway.

This was a surprisingly simple hit, once I actually got around to listening to the instructions. If anything, the test was more one of patience that anything else.

I don’t think I’ve ever IO use line of sight for anything other than pure detection. It was cool to have a target who is deliberately watching out to make sure he isn’t being watched. I, for one, did not expect him to literally lock the bathroom door behind him. Nor did I think he would alter his routine when he saw me dart into the room he intended to hide in.

I imagine it took some scripting work to get that all setup, but I hope this means that IO plan to use that tool when designing new content for this and future Hitman games.

Our squad is still scattered and the Covenant continues to hound us all from every angle, even as we struggle to gain our bearings. As ODSTs, it is our job to overcome this adversity and complete our mission… whatever said mission is.

In the meantime, we should continue to track down our comrades. We’ve got Our Long Night ahead of us. There’s so much to do and so little time.

I enjoy it when game designers get the chance to experiment with more focused, smaller standalone expansions like this. You don’t see them too often anymore, since Games as a Service tends to dominate the marketplace, but they tend to allow for their teams to experiment with new concepts or reiterate on old ones that didn’t quite make the mark.

The darker mood and tone for this game, combined with the focus on guerilla warfare and ambush tactics, create a whole new feeling to the Halo games. There’s a whole different feel to how combat plays out despite using most of the exact same systems.

There’s also something to be said for bringing in a lot of big name actors to perform major characters for a project like this. Though the motion capture performance and/or facial animation is… obviously dated, it was still a big step up at the time.

Solid game all around, and I look forward to playing Reach.

Sometimes we play card games together. Sometimes we perform assassinations during increasingly difficult conditions. And sometimes, we pilot a train full of demons to save the underworld from the forces of Heaven.

It’ll be a cold day in Hell before… Ah crap.

It appears that on this day, my sin was pride.

We’ve all had that experience. The entire run been smooth as silk, without a single complication. We’re on Cloud Nine, and absolutely nothing could even hope to stand a chance against us.

But one single misplay *completely* destroys the game. We had it, but we lost it because we clicked on the wrong thing at the wrong time. It happens, but it hurts when it does.

Oh well. We live and we learn.

At long last, our fight is over. The Flood has been eliminated, as has 343 Guilty Spark. The remnants of the Covenant are working with us to establish something akin to a lasting peace between our peoples. And the Master Chief sleeps, until such a time as he is needed once more.

But although that fight has ended, our time with Halo has not. Sometime after this grand finale, Bungie released another adventure in the Halo franchise, one where we do not play as the Master Chief.

Instead, we play as a highly-trained, yet otherwise ordinary team of humans as they fight the Covenant without the aid of Spartan Enhancements. These are the ODSTs, and this is their story.

What strikes most about ODST is how it differentiates itself from the games that came before it while still being recognizably a Halo game.

Most interestingly, there’s a noticeably darker atmosphere here than in previous games. The lighting is moodier, and the background music evokes an eerie vibe. Mechanically, this is accompanied by a feeling of disempowerment since the ODSTs aren’t quite as sturdy and lack some of the abilities of the Master Chief, like dual-wielding. ODST is about as difficult as the other Halo games, but they throw us against limited groups of foes, throwing us into larger arenas where we have to utilize the terrain for hit-and-run tactics. As a player, we feel that we’re punching above our weight class and using every advantage we can to turn the tide.

The method of storytelling also works extremely well for me. It was smart to use The Rookie as a framing device to transition from one character to the next in a multiple perspective story. The writers are doing an excellent job at seeding just enough plot points to keep us hooked as we move from set piece to set piece.

I look forward to continuing this, and I’m glad that I’ve finally decided to play through the Halo games.

Another update has hit Legends of Runeterra and with it a new region and a whole host of new cards. This time, we’re set to explore the sands of Shurima: The Egyptian-themed region from League of Legends.

But if I’m being honest, I only know it as the place where Nasus and Renekton, characters I have seen in heaps upon heaps of fanart, hail from. Let us explore what these new Champions bring to the table.

As always, thanks to Mobalytics for compiling the deck lists we made use of. The deck lists are:

• Life After Death (Thresh/Nasus): CEBAMBAHBUNCMLZ3KECQCBJCFAVTCNACAECAKEACAECQCHIBAEAQKGI
• Azir Scouts (Azir/Lucian): CECAKBAHAMNBYM25AIBAAAQJAIAQAFRBAECAAAYBAMAQACI5GMCACAQAA4AQGAAOAEAQAFIBAQDTS
• Shurima Overwhelm (Renekton/Sivir/Sejuani): CEBQQBAHAEFRYJRNG5BV2AIDAEBAEAIBDIPQEAIEAEFAEBAHCRCQCAICAEBA

As an avid fan of Aristocrats-style decks in Magic: The Gathering, the new Slay mechanic embodied by Nasus is of particular interest to me. A unit, ally or enemy, is “slain” by us if one of our damage source or kill effects is the one to deliver the final blow. This also includes abilities that allow us to kill one of our own units for a benefit, like Glimpse Beyond.

In essence, that makes the goal of the Nasus deck to murder as much as possible to make him strong, since each “slain” unit boosts his power even further. If we can summon him and keep getting rid of our opponent’s strongest units, it should be easy to finish the game after a few attacks. And since we have so many ways to gain cards and value out of killing our own forces, we should have enough resources to keep ourselves afloat for the long haul.

In contrast, Azir promotes a more aggressive strategy, which I find more difficult to pilot personally. The goal with him is to abuse his trigger, along with other effects, to create a disposable army of ephemeral units that can hopefully overwhelm the enemy. And thanks to Inspiring Marshall and Cithria the Bold, these temporary soldiers should be able to take out a large part of our opponent’s board, if not their life total. Alternatively, I’ve seen him pair with Shadow Isles to take advantage of the bodies being created, but I didn’t use that deck here.

And that leaves Renekton and Sivir, who are both two extremely powerful fighters. Both of them, when combined with cards that either make enemies vulnerable or give them challenger, can devastate enemies by eliminating their most valuable units. The more damage they deal, the stronger they grow.

There’s a lot to like in this expansion, and I look forward to playing around and seeing how this changes the meta.

At long last, we have arrived at the end of the original Halo trilogy. Our long batter against numerous powerful foes has concluded, and we emerged victorious.

What I enjoy most about the finale is how expertly the writers thread the needle between all of the competing factions fighting on Earth. Many of the relationships established in earlier Halo games earn strong payoffs in this one.

The example that readily comes to mind is the moment where the Flood briefly becomes our ally because all parties involved have a mutual interest in making sure the Halo ring doesn’t get fired. However, once that threat has been eliminated and the Arbiter kills Truth, the alliance immediately dissolves. Watching the Flood take over the bodied we just created really sells the moment, as they usurp the role of primary antagonist. Bonus points for infecting Truth with the Flood so that he dies as a vision of the very monster he feared most.

At the very end, there’s a similar payoff for Guilty Spark. After playing the first game, I knew the moment he showed up on screen that he wasn’t to be trusted. And yet, in that moment it’s obvious to the Elites, the humans, and Guilty Spark that all three parties had a reason to work together. Of course, it only took a single misstep to sever that spirit of cooperation. Even knowing from the first that there was only one way it could end, I still fooled myself into thinking maybe it turned over a new leaf.

This was a satisfying conclusion, and I look forward to continuing with the Master Chief Collection. Next up, unless something draws my interest in the coming week, is ODST. I’ve heard many good things about this standalone DLC, so we’ll see how well it holds up. 🙂

It’s funny that out of all the Elusive Targets we could go after for our first in the new Hitman, it would be The Deceivers. They were the last target I ever played on stream for Hitman 2, in a run that was technically a success.

Let’s see if we fare better in the second round.

It’s an improvement, if nothing else. Hopefully, as we do more of these Elusive Targets and Escalations again, my skills will continue to improve.

The fight against Truth continues, as he brings with him a legion on that enemy hated by both humanity and the Covenant.

That’s right: The Flood has made contact with Earth.

Out of all the Flood-related levels I’ve played in the trilogy up until now, this is definitely the best of the bunch. It’s paced well while establishing the threat and what it can do for those who haven’t played the first two games in the series. The new enemy types also give these encounters a much more dynamic structure than the monotonous slogs we’ve received prior.

My attention was also drawn to the fact that the Elites were finally fighting alongside us in order to defeat a mutual threat. It felt good to see the two sides cooperating as they realize there’s more to gain from that than fighting against each other.

Even 343 Guilty Spark has joined this alliance of ours. I fully expect him to betray us at some point, but there’s a distinct “Gang’s All Here” vibe that I’m getting from all of this.

It’s exactly what I would want to see from the finale to a trilogy like this.

You all knew that I wasn’t just going to stop playing Hitman just because the campaign had come to an end. While I enjoy the story in the World of Assassination trilogy, it wasn’t what brought me here. That was, and remains, the immersive sim gameplay which rewards quick thinking and improvisation.

The most recent patch added in two new escalations for those of us who purchased the Deluxe Edition of the game. What better occasion than that exists to return one of my favorite franchises of all time?

Thumbnail by Sam Callahan.

What I find cool about both of these escalations is how they progress over their stages, forming something of a story over the course of the contract. The Proloff Parable is a good example of this, where we start with a simple task of suiting up as the ninja, finding our sword, and using it on our target before moving on to the next stage.

Rather than expand on what we did in the previous stage, by adding a new objective or mechanic to what we’ve done, we look forward. Having already cleared that section of the train, our katana acquiring a thirst for blood, we now must sate it. It’s a race against time to run as quickly as we can through the bulk of the level, killing everyone in our path, leaving a trail of devastation in our wake.

But once that’s done, we ditch our blade to equip our sniper rifle to take out our next target, clearing the path ahead. Once more, the contact could choose to expand on our bloody conquest by making it even more difficult or introducing some new limitation. Instead, we proceed to the final stretch of our train invasion.

And this time, our aim isn’t to leave a trail of bodies in our wake. Instead, we must act with the stealth, grace, and precious of a shinob… master assassin. We can’t even pacify the guards, and we instantly lose if we’re so much as spotted.

With just this one 3-stage escalation, we’re treated so many styles of Hitman. Further, we get this interesting little mini-story of a ninja who took up a cursed blade with a thirst for blood, learned to control it through death and destruction, before mastering it and using his training to complete the job. There’s so many axes of engagement that most players should find something here to like.

I can only hope we start to get even more of these as the months go on. Next time, we’ll get the chance to take out an Elusive Target. It’s been ages since my last go (and ironically it’s against the same target), and I look forward to it.