April Fool's Alert #4: Bungie announces Halo Zero
You have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool the Halo faithful and in any case, prime time Saturday night isn't the crack of dawn by any interpretation. An April Fool's prank of the "We didn't even bother to research it" variety from Game Stooge is what we have for you this time and it has to do with a prequel to Bungie's Halo series.Don a pocket protector and start up your favorite MC Frontalot album because it's about to get real nerdy up in here.
The story as it goes has a prequel to Halo starring the beloved cast of the alternate reality game sensation, I Love Bees, in a tactical shooter much like the Rainbow Six series. The problem being that none of the characters would know each other prior to the original Halo, nor would any of them have any combat training whatsoever. Hell, the protagonist, Janissary James' great accomplishment was getting shot in the chest. Okay, so she broke some limbs and generally beat the crap out of some folks along the way, but she isn't exactly the Chief.
Another, more obvious error, is the Cortana-like A.I, Melissa (see also: Durga), being referred to as Dana by Game Stooge. If they had listened to the I Love Bees audio files for, oh, let's say two minutes, they would have gotten that one right. Hello? Wikipedia? Ever heard of it?
This exercise in epic fail concludes with a fake address by Bungie co-founder Jason Jones that makes him sound more like a public relations robot than a human being. When was the last time any of you remember Jason Jones doing a public anything, much less a statement outside of the Halo 2 documentary? You have a better shot at finding Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny playing a game of Strip Uno at the end of a rainbow than you do finding Jason Jones doing anything public, ever.
If we're lucky, this "Doctor Who" marathon we're in the middle of will last until April Fool's is over.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Shadow Hog @ Apr 1st 2007 12:03AM
What about Dobermann's fangame?
Charron @ Apr 1st 2007 12:06AM
Speaking of Doctor Who, it'd be bad-ass if, as an April Fool's joke, they recreated the Max Headroom pirate broadcast from '87. Bet most people wouldn't expect that. (Or understand it.)
Hello @ Apr 1st 2007 12:20AM
Why do my posts keep dissapearing??
hvnlysoldr @ Apr 1st 2007 12:28AM
Does it count that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny at the end of a rainbow were playing strip
tic-tac-toe?
Breserk @ Apr 1st 2007 12:35AM
It also doesn't help their credibility that the zero in the "Halo Zero" logo is simply a cropped O from the original Halo logo. Fail? Fail.
Twist @ Apr 1st 2007 12:39AM
And of course we already know about the real Halo prequel called Halo Wars.
epobirs @ Apr 1st 2007 1:14AM
Funny thing is, they've got the storyline and missions for a 'Halo Zero' in one of the Halo novels that was a prequel to the game.
brandon @ Apr 1st 2007 1:05AM
Also not to mention the Halo Zero 2D fan game. I think Bungie would know better than to use the same name as a fan game.
Shadow Hog @ Apr 1st 2007 1:13AM
Besides, it's all about Pimps at Sea.
Gavin @ Apr 1st 2007 1:20AM
Speaking of Dr. Who, my g/f and I have been re-watching season one of Little Britain. There is nothing that gets me jazzed like hearing Tom Baker saying "Britain, Britain, Britain". Cracks me up far more than the pathetic April Fools garbage that plagues the net these days.
SaxyGator @ Apr 1st 2007 1:22AM
Jason Jones's alleged announcement?
"A precious reality is love for our output; let’s say, iDrives a young idea forth.' We have the ability to explore and experiment unlike most other companies. We will marry the genres of first-person tactical shooters with full-blooded role-playing games, and we know our fans will be assured that they’ll play something new and exciting.
Look at the first letters of the first few words... "April Fool's Day."
Breserk @ Apr 1st 2007 1:27AM
Nice catch, Gator! I knew something was weird in the statement's wording. I asked myself why it sounded so broken. Bah.
Jonah Falcon @ Apr 1st 2007 2:18AM
A game based on ILoveBees would be cool. :p
Jonah Falcon @ Apr 1st 2007 2:19AM
"It also doesn't help their credibility that the zero in the "Halo Zero" logo is simply a cropped O from the original Halo logo. Fail? Fail."
Wrong. It's from the Halo 3 ad, with the "3" removed.
It's not expected to be serious, fool.
Jonah Falcon @ Apr 1st 2007 2:24AM
"The story as it goes has a prequel to Halo starring the beloved cast of the alternate reality game sensation, I Love Bees, in a tactical shooter much like the Rainbow Six series. The problem being that none of the characters would know each other prior to the original Halo, nor would any of them have any combat training whatsoever. Hell, the protagonist, Janissary James' great accomplishment was getting shot in the chest. Okay, so she broke some limbs and generally beat the crap out of some folks along the way, but she isn't exactly the Chief."
Yeah, like Bungie's been a stickler for continuity (remember the first Halo 2 trailer? Profoundly different than the actual event.)
Kevin @ Apr 1st 2007 2:26AM
They should have named it Halo Zero Mission
Jonah Falcon @ Apr 1st 2007 2:31AM
Should have named it Halo 90210 - make people more aware of what the joke is.
Allister Howe @ Apr 1st 2007 3:50AM
Whoo hoo, Doctor Who! Ooooo-eeee-ooooo!
ssuk @ Apr 1st 2007 7:10AM
New series of doctor who couldn't even go one episode without me thiking "Oh dear god this is shockingly bad" and the next episode looks even worse. Fuck shakespear and fuck the moon, bring on the daleks!
Psaakyrn @ Apr 1st 2007 6:12AM
That's nothing. Blizzard just announced a prequel to World of Warcraft!
[/aprilfish]
Mr Khan @ Apr 1st 2007 11:25AM
Again, they're not even trying. This is obviously just a cash-in to Halo/360 fanboys (like the MGS4 announcement).
This years' April Fools gags = Fail
Daniel @ Apr 1st 2007 12:47PM
There are already three prequels to Halo. (though not officially)
It's called Marathon.
justin @ Apr 1st 2007 5:34PM
can someone pls tell me where they get these cat pictures? i would be gratefull
Kritz @ Apr 1st 2007 6:00PM
@ 22;
You forgot Pathways Into Darkness.
>> Kritz
Keef @ Apr 2nd 2007 4:24AM
OMG THAT PIC!!
lmfao where is that picture from?!