Okay, by now, most of you have seen the Halo 3 commercial, you've had time to digest it, roll it around in your head, and come up with theories and conclusions. So, what did we see? First and foremost, this ad feels almost like it was designed as a movie pitch. Now that Fox and Universal have dumped the Halo movie, we wouldn't be surprised if MS starts using this ad to fish for new investors.
Now, as the commercial begins we see what looks to be one of the Chief's memories, presumably before he was kidnapped and turned into the superhuman badass he is today. Second, we get to see the real time weapon storage as the Chief magnetizes a rifle to his back (of course, we all know that it's the new MA5C assault rifle, unlike our non-fanboy brethren at Joystiq, who mistakenly call it the MA5B*). Next, we have a forcefield grenade which blocks a tremendous blast. Could this be the mysterious new function of the X button? Finally, the Chief jumps into the fray. A little frame-by-frame reveals that these enemies are all Brutes (one of whom seems to have obtained Tartarus' gravity hammer, the Fist of Rukt) . Most will recall that Halo 2 ended with a covenant civil war between Brutes and Elites. Does this mean that Elites will form a truce with humans to eliminate the Brutes? Unfortunately, we'll have to wait another year to find out. Check out the video and post your conclusions and theories in the comments.
In the most recent book, "Ghosts of Onyx," the elites are fighting the Brutes as in Halo 2, however they still manage to want to eliminate the human race. This might be a three sided war we're about to see...
Posted this in the other thread but here it is again?
So does anyone else think that the little boy and girl are the Chief and Cortana as kids and they were both in the same Spartan class? but since Coratan's body couldn't take it she was turned in to an AI and now her 7 years is up and she's turning rampant (listen to I love bees again that's all that was running in my head while playing Halo 2)?
I also remember seeing an interview with the Bungie guys before Halo 2 shipped. But, during what looked like a cut-scene you see the Sarge hug an elite right before a huge blast washes out the screen. So who knows, i think that a covenant human alliance is possible considering how Halo 2 ended.
Ok, who said that Cortana was ever a human? I could be wrong ofcourse, but Cortana? Anyway... My question: Where is this battle taking place? You can clearly see what appears to be a cloud of smoke or a mountain (or maybe a volcano). The sand looks very white and dirty, which might mean that this doesn't take place in the African field near Mt. Kilimanjaro. I tried looking at the aircraft that fly by when the Master Chief is "waking up", but couldn't really make out what they were because of the motion blur and the odd contrails. I think that the "shield grenade could actually use the X button, because Halo 1-2 had only 2 types of grenades and could cycle through them. With the Shield Grenade and the Spike Grenade, that would make 4 grenade slots you would have to cycle through, which would take a bit of time in an online match (when you are in intense situations).
"during what looked like a cut-scene you see the Sarge hug an elite right before a huge blast washes out the screen"
This cut scene is part of Halo 1; it's inserted before the Pillar of Autumn blows if you finish the game on Legendary. It should be in the h.b.o. cut scene library (assuming that part of the site is still around).
The kids in the beginning are real actors. (Hard to tell, I know.)
I'm don't think the girl in the beginning is Kelly (or another "soon to be spartan") as they are postulating about the possibility of extra-terrestrial life. By the time the spartans were "selected" I'd imagine that the war against the covenant was common knowledge (even if Earth was insulated from the damage). So I imagine that it was John and someone before his initial "selection" for the Spartan program.
I think many of the "clues" that Bungie mentioned are in the audio (which is very hard to decipher when he is waking up. There is present day audio, flashback, Com traffic, etc. all overlayed...lots of stuff. I hear Cortana, his young self, some marines, etc.
Lots to think about, but I just want one of those blast shields and the new rifle!
"The kids are real actors, which was said on the Xbox Live summary." A soft bloom effect is added to the actors to make them blend with the CG backgrounds, as seen in the cutscenes for Need for Speed: Most Wanted.
Some are saying the girl might be Cortana, but wasn't there a rumor that Halo 3 will allow you to play as a female Spartan in multiplayer. Could the female Spartan be in the storyline, and available as a playable character in multiplayer.
Either way, I thought it was awesome, and I'm not that much of a Halo fan. I liked the effect of the gun magnetizing to MC's back.
The beginning is MC and Kelly. The are both wearing the long black one piece's that signify they are in the spartan program. Remember that Spartans started training when they were only six.
They are most likely on Reach, but I am not certain about that.
Cortana is an AI clone of Dr. Halsey, who was the one who captured John. Can't be her. I'm guessing those two kids are insignificant, just there for theatrics.
My understanding on AI's is this. All AI's brain structures are based off of a living human being (or at least living at one point). Now for Cortana, "Cortana is one of thousands of AIs which populate the computer networks of the Human worlds. She is, however, somewhat unique; she is a direct copy of a human being, Dr. Halsey, and lacks behavioral inhibitors of any kind. She is free to do as she pleases, unlike most other military AIs, such as the ONI AI Beowulf, which is strict, sullen, and by-the-book. Cortana, on the other hand, is strong-headed, noisy, and somewhat off-the-wall."
Because this is the case, the kids at the beginning of the commercial can not be MC and Cortana. It could be MC and Kelly or Linda though.
@16. "I'm guessing those two kids are insignificant, just there for theatrics."
Did you read the books? You seem to be aware that the AI's come from human counterparts. Yet, you seem to leave out the fact that there are female Spartans. The only names I can think of are Grace, Linda, & Kelly (the latter two are still alive). Therefore the two in the grassy knoll is most likely John, Spartan 117, and Kelly, Spartan 087
I do not think that the X button would be for a cover system. I loved it in Gears of War, but Master Chief is not pure human soldier. He goes beyond what any human can do. Therefore, he has the intestinal fortitude to be able to run out in front of a dozen brutes and tear them all a new one. It is most likely for either running but probably for that new grenade.
Instead of just speculating on what the X Button does, look also at where it is on the controller. The placement of it is too out of the way to be assigned to "take cover", because you couldnt hold that down and press any of the other 3 buttons on the face.
/x = take cover
grenades, though it would be good to assign the new one to X, because it wouldnt be used alot, is not big enough of a feature to "hide/keep secret" until closer to the game's release.
The X button will have to be a revolutionary new addition for them to be keeping its fuction a secret for so long.
/x = grenade
Summary:
x = something that wont be used a lot, but will have a very, very important and special purpose.
The X button can't be for the grenade... like someone said earlier its most likly RUNNING... which would be pretty cool... there are several things that support that theory...
- Grenade's are just a weapon, even shiled ones... no reason to add a button for that.
- They are shooting for a HUGE wide open thing... no body is going to want to walk around a huge open world...
- It would have to be something you could do all the time... if it were a shield grenade you would run out and most of the time the button would be useless...
It has to be running... Also... its hard to tell with the lighting but it looks like the first shot of the helmet is not as scratched up... maybe it is a young MC and the helmet is actually sitting there with the kids in the grass...
I think the video is a nice advert for Halo 3, which is an Xbox 360 game which will be released next year. The game will be very nice, and we will all play it with our hands and use lots of guns.
Everybody on the internets is very excited about this game because it has a big robot man who really a human, and a scary blue woman who might own cats. When the game is put into shops, people will wait aaaaaaalllllll night to play it in their houses. Some people will play it for a very long time and forget about stuff like food and life.
/patronise
Seriously though, it's a cool vid, just leave it at that. Buy the game, have fun, don't tear it apart before it's even out.
The clues they are refering to may be subliminal as #20 mentions but there are many clues that are point blank... a new shield "grenade?"... sprinting most likely will be the new all secret x button function... the kids could very well be spartins as #20 points out from the black jumpsuits, one of which is John 117 and the other is his friend kelly as they were grouped together from early on in their training... the spartin II program was initiated to deal with rebels in the outer colonies not aliens so john and kelly would have had no idea aliens existed until after the had been in active duty for several years... the cutscene with the elite and sgt.Johnson was an easter egg (ie. no correlation to the story) as johnson is seen alive throughout h2...
I am curious who the new chieftan(carier of the gravity hammer) of the brutes is and what effect tartarus' death will have on the continuing story..
Cortana is as is said above an AI created from a cloned Dr.Hasley brain. The creation process kills the host brain thus the cloning...
I am not entirely confident that the aliens around the chieftan are brutes, at least they are not normal brutes because they are wearing entirely new armor and seem to have a different stance to them, when asked about them bungies' responce is vague at best...
and i'll let it rest at this the clip could be anywhere but is likely in africa the smoke clouds in the distance are probably the remnants of atomic weapons.
Well now that you mention the open environments, the X button being a running or sprinting action makes much more sense. So, how is Bungie going to use these open environments in gameplay, not just to pop your own eyes out. Past FPS's have been very linear, so could you have different paths for completing missions like Rainbow Six: Vegas? But in Halo, you shouldn't be going through "pathways" like corridoors and the like. You might have an open field to cover (like in the E3 trailer).
Ok people... as nobody noticed, the begining of the ad with the little boy and little girl talking about "people in he heavens" is from the Very first part of the Very first episode of RedvBlue... my god and i thought you were fanboys
and that part at the end.. would be spectacular if there was a drop kick abilty...
All this commentary, it's got me a flutter. I spent almost a whole hour on the phone earlier with my Halo 2 buddy discussing the Trailer, the info that's been released so far, the tie-ins from the previous games, basically as comprehensive as we could get. I am absolutely hyped for this game.
My thoughts are that we will, at least see a second spartan on the battlefield with us, i.e. Kelly. In the books, she was my second favorite character, obviously only second to John. If she makes an appearance in this that's all I need.
I also want to know what the "Chief, leave me" is all about... When I heard that, my interests for Halo 3 went through the roof! I was praying that the story line would be awesome, and seems my prayers might have been answered! :) I'm getting all giddy inside :)
#20 spartans were created before there was any knowledge of the covenant they where originally meant to put down uprising and keep the human colonys in line
Ok...i spent 30 minutes going over the commercial and this is what i got.
First the kids are deffintley real actors, you can just tell they are. And i belive that when the one kid says, "do you think we'll ever meet them," i belive he is talking about the Spartans or the Chief and/or the Covenant. WHen the chief wakes up, the planes going overhead are deffinitley banshees, (you can tell by pausing it and seeing the wings, very disticntive). When you pause it right after that, i can tell that the black things are either just rocks, debris, or UNSC marines, i thought i saw one fall but maybe it was just me. The chief puts his helmet on, and the first voice kinda sounds like Cortanta which makes me wonder about somethings, or it sounds like a Mexican guy talking to the Chief. THen when the chief activates his "shield" its really cool to pause the commerical right when the plamas hits and the whole screen is white, (dont keep it long on a plasma screen because it might ruin the picture) After the chief disables the shield, which i belive that it ran out of power because it took so much damage, the chief runs, and at one point you can really examine the pistol. To me, it looks as if it has the same features of the one in HALO and HALO 2. then the Chief grabs his Assult rifle and runs to the cliff. Now here, i counted 13 brutes, and 1 guy that looked like Tartrus. The clouds in the backround looked like either a volcano or just clouds that randomly took shape to form some huge thing. THe Seraph tanks look differnt which is proably the tanks for the Brutes. Well, thats about all i got from it. FINISH THE FIGHT 2007
Oh the magical and mysterious X button. I am of the belief that hitting X will record up to 30 seconds of what is happening on screen so you can post it online to show off your badassness for everyone on xbox live. I believe Burnout did a similar thing... and I also seem to remember Bungie saying a while back that you would be able to do that.
I think using it as a run button would be useless. I always thought that the chief moved pretty fast anyways, but that's just me.
Did someone say X would be for cover. Did you forget that this is Halo, not GRAW, GOW, or R6. Halo is a fast paced run n' gun, cover is meant for tactical shooters. Not to mention it is a pain in the ass to do in an fps. They would have to introduce a temporary 3rd person perspective ala PD0, and I know I am not alone in saying that game sucked.
The sheild grenade is possible, but someone made the excellent point that it would render the button useless when you are out. Maybe... just maybe they changed it so that your normal body sheild does not deplete, but you have to hit X to activate it and leaving you unable to shoot. Bungie did say that the X button would change the way we play Halo.
Danno: "I am not entirely confident that the aliens around the chieftan are brutes, at least they are not normal brutes because they are wearing entirely new armor and seem to have a different stance to them"
I remember seeing a in-game model of what I think are Brutes in the Behind the Scenes of the Halo 3 Trailer on Xbox Live. Could these enemies in the commercial be the ones that are in the said documentary (with much more detail)? I also heard a very odd sound (with headphones, much clearer) when the shield grenade dissipated. I does sound like it ran out of power from the powerful blast.
The human/covenant war did not start until the spartans were in there teens, which those children clearly are not.My speculation as to the start is that the warthog the cheif was in was hit,throwing him from it and knocking off his helmet.He is more than likely having a flashback to his days on reach with the other spartans when he wakes up.As) for the shield grenade(prepare for a bombshell of speculation!), it may be that in between when he gets off the forerunner ship and into the desert his shields are permanently damaged,so he has to use other means of protection, like in First Strike.However I don't think he would jump into a huge ass group of brutes without a shield.And for god sakes, if you want to make accurate speculation please read the damned books so that we don't have to keep telling you that your completely wrong(AKA:No cortana is not freaking human,nor was she ever.Unless you count the copying of Dr.Halsey's brain).Believe it or not those library things still exist(if you don't feel like dropping the huge $7 for one of the books).Because I really don't want to have to keep telling you that you're wrong.So here I go:
-No there more than likely will not be other spartans in the single player due to them being "unnavailable"(Read the books)
-I just realized this now but if you read the last chapter of "Onyx" where there in the room at the end(I'm trying not to spoil anything here) compare the described motion to the halo 3 announcement trailer.Can you say shield world?
-God damn I'm crafty
-The flying things are obviously banshees due to the dual trails of........trail.........stuff.
-I believe that the cloud in the distance is the same place as in the E3 announcement trailer. If you want to argue about sand colour and texture, just don't.(that sand is clearly coral based where as it is a known fact that the sand near Mt.Kilimanjaro is a product of erosion and thusly would be a brownish-red, and much denser resulting in less particle/gravity interaction,which would lead me to the conclusion that I like sand.)
-Seriously though read the books.
-It makes so much sense if you read the last few chapters of Onyx then think about the ark seen in the announcement trailer.It makes absolute sense.
-I cant take it anymore!Heres my complete forerunner theory.
*!!BOOK SPOILER ALERT!!*
The ark on earth is where the reclaimers ( the forerunners that were selected to survive the halo's) were sent.(This co-insides with the theory that first man was in Africa)After going into the slip space portal in the middle they were protected.
They then re-populated earth(Bow-Chinca Bow Wow)
The reason the master chief knows all of the controls to the forerunner objects is because it is bred in to him because he is a descendant of the forerunners.More later.
Please verify if any of you have noticed what ive noticed of the following....
- anyone else notice the crack in MC's visor. I know that this time around he's supposed to be battle scarred and a lil beat up, but think that crack will show up in the HUD?
- this is borrowed from the 7th column - as I watched it over and over and over again, 8 times in one day, the older people in the office think im absolutley f--ked, but after so many times there is some flashing light action going on on MC's visor towards the end of the sequence. As mentioned in the novels, there are 3 surviving spartans, very distant from all the action in H1 and H2. But as these spartans communicate via flashing lights, and there are 3 remaining spartans and 3 flashing lights, is there a possibility we'll be running missions alongside some other Spartans. Think about it for a second...... JEEEEEEEEESUS.
