Zodi Plays: Halo 4 (In Canada It's Called Halo: Shadow Raiders)

[Lord Raziere]

Halo 4 Log 006:
Thats because it probably is a futuristic tommy gun, Zodi. It probably is.

well with a title like "Didact" its no wonder he is so far up his own behind that he can't speak meaningfully

as for how dangerous hanging on a ship in slipspace well..... slipspace or splistream space, to quote the wiki: "is a dimensional subdomain of alternate spacetime consisting of eleven non-visible infinitesimal dimensions used for faster-than-light travel" and is "existing in a very small bundle "above" the one temporal and three spatial dimensions perceptible to human beings." and basically you shift from one to the other, you effectively change the laws of physics for that piece of matter allowing to go at FTL speeds with no relativistic effects. there are actually more alternate realms such as these but they're not important right now.

its mathematics are non-Euclidean and non-Einsteinian. this means its not straight lines, but neither does it obey theory of relativity. according to the wiki "conventional notions of acceleration, velocity, distance, and time are technically meaningless within slipspace." but
"Ordinary matter cannot exist in the raw slipstream without being torn apart; ships traveling in slipspace are shielded by carefully-tuned quantum fields which wrap them in envelopes of normal space. Any construction in slipspace itself would have to be composed of specialized forms of exotic matter."

ok dangers, here we go:

Direct exposure to the slipstream is incredibly dangerous. Despite the presence of a quantum field which effectively keeps the ship within a "bubble" of normal space,[40] people traveling on a slipspace-capable craft can experience a range of symptoms, from nausea, to heart failure or even death. It is also known that some people react to slipspace jumps stronger than others.[65] Even more uncommon, but still known to happen, is the total disappearance of a person while in the slipstream.[66]

Slipspace travel is also dangerous due to the high level of radiation encountered during the trip, which can be extremely hazardous to the crew. This is negated by the use of lead foil in UNSC ships, which absorbs the radiation. Fissile materials also emit radiation, specifically Čerenkov radiation, upon exiting slipspace; this is not harmful to humans, however it does make emerging from slipspace very noticeable...

.....In addition, slipspace travel generates a great deal of static electricity on the ship's hull. To discharge the static energy, humans have developed a piezoelectric material known as polymerized lithium niobocene...

...Small ships, such as dropships, do not possess the same gravity and are placed under considerably more stress than a warship, able to crack the hull and buckle reinforcing struts.[74] It is not impossible, and UNSC slipstream monitoring probes make the transitions all the time, but require heavy reinforcement to survive the stresses, and are unmanned, having no need to protect internal occupants...

So yeah....uhh....MC should be dead. I think? its possible that since this is a Forerunner device, that they're more advanced at manipulating it, since they use Slipspace for teleporting people as well (and MC has been teleported before and came out alive) and a whole bunch of bonkers applications like stopping time within a bubble, or put these storage bubbles within other storage bubbles for thousands of years potentially all of time, or create hyperbolic time chambers as prisons, things like that. thats the explanation I'm going with.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

I think he's just safely within the ship's 'bubble' of real space. His shields should be more than sufficient to protect him from radiation; dunno about the static charge, though.

It's not the first time he's been on the outside of a ship that's in slipspace, though. Happened in Halo: First Strike, when (due to a Forerunner artifact and a bunch of stray power) a whole bunch of ships ended up in more or less a single giant 'bubble', and the Covenant ships sent boarders onto his, which he and a few other Spartans repelled from the hull.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I see you didn't learn about the alt-fire for the Pelican. Where instead of the autocannon, you got a Spartan Laser.

Oof, missed out on a spartan laser that never runs out of ammo. That's a kick in the teeth.

[DataNinja]

Oof, missed out on a spartan laser that never runs out of ammo. That's a kick in the teeth.

Tbh, while it's more fun (in my opinion, at least), it's nowhere near as effective.

[LaZodiac]

*toots a tiny horn* More Halo time!

Zodi Plays: Halo 4 [7] Composer? More Like Compost-er!

Video Length: 37:38

In this video, we get what might be one of the best levels in this game, both in mechanical gameplay and actual plot execution. It's pretty cool! It also brings in a new weapon that is QUITE fun, and most importantly of all, lets both of us play around in the Mantis. All in all, a pretty great level of a video game! Also Cortana continues to slip off the deep end and like ten thousand humans just got turned into data but like, that's not that big a deal. We've got this... right?

Hope you all enjoyed! Join us all next time for... I think the finale!

[Lord Raziere]

Halo 4 Log 007:
any landing you walk way from....is a good landing.

credit to them, they actually focused on the human element of seeing all work being blown up and how that affects her in that moment where previously in Halo this sort thing was just handled more businesslike: "okay blow up the base or covenants getting it, ONI orders as usual" which reflects the fact that they technically aren't in wartime right now.

I mean its the future and they've been using drugs and such to enhance human bodies for centuries, they probably have lifespan extending medicine at this point, Halsey seems like the person with enough connections to get some and enough technical expertise for people to begrudgingly allow her so they can benefit from it.

I mean the problem with M's reasoning is that this whole AI rampancy thing I'm pretty sure was canon before Halo 4. Like there was no way this kind of "I'm going to die and be replaced soon" kind of drama wasn't going to happen at some point. now she could be given a better sendoff yes, Halo is a war story so....a noble sacrifice before she turns evil would be in genre and probably be a better execution, that I will say.

[DataNinja]

So, fun fact! When you hear scientists you saved calling out "Wait, come back!" (at around 17:30 in the video), if you do go back, you get some Forerunner stuff they've collected - promethean armour abilities and weapons.

"New Cortana model." Ah, yes. That's how it works. When it's been long established in canon that AIs are unique because of the brains they're built around. Heck, even the AIs made from Halsey's brain clones weren't all Cortanas! Like, this just frustrates me!

Tbf, Bungieisms had already been well ingrained in Halo. Stuff like the Librarian and Diadact were even Halo 3 era stuff, IIRC. As the sorta snippets and teasers of the beforetimes. When it was all idealistic.

I mean the problem with M's reasoning is that this whole AI rampancy thing I'm pretty sure was canon before Halo 4. Like there was no way this kind of "I'm going to die and be replaced soon" kind of drama wasn't going to happen at some point. now she could be given a better sendoff yes, Halo is a war story so....a noble sacrifice before she turns evil would be in genre and probably be a better execution, that I will say.

It was canon, sure, but it was never, ever mentioned before. And that's Halo 4's whole problem. If you aren't clued into the EU, a lot of stuff just gets dumped on you out of nowhere.

[LaZodiac]

For the fourth time, lets finish this fight.

Zodi Plays: Halo 4 [8] [FINALE] Midnight Hour

Video Length: 57:55

We take on the final level of Halo 4; which consists of a very oddly made flying segment, then one rather lengthy but mechanically enjoyable bit of run and gunning with a lot of high powered weaponry. It finishes up with a "playable cutscene" "fight" against the Didact, equal parts one of the more disappointing and well executed boss fights in the series. Master Chief explodes the nuke directly at his feet since apparently that was required and... somehow survives because Cortana, now fully in control of the Composer and apparently lucid enough from her impending thought-death, was able to shield us... from the nuclear explosion that started directly between our legs. I guess our DNA is just really thick.

She sends us back home, not conclusively dying so that 343 has a hook for next game when she becomes evil inexplicably but inevitably (though until I play Halo 5 my personal guess is that most of Halo 5 is going to be VR simulations she put us on to keep watch over us, and that the nuke didn't actually go off she just made us think it did and now has us in her clutches) and the game ends with the Didact giving his speech about what humans are so dangerous and deserve to be corral'd, and the developers saying that they hope you continue on with their own Great Journey- completely forgetting that the Great Journey in universe is a genocidal idiot ball plan to exterminate a region of space the Prophets could not understand.

Halo 4 is very much a land of contrasts. Mechanically I found it incredibly fun, and despite the goofy nature of its plot and the ridiculous deification of various aspects of the original three games that seeped into it I actually enjoyed the plot, just not in the way they wanted me to. This was supposed to be 343's big debut, where it uses some plot hooks left over from the first three games to start their own story- a story they want people to care about, a story that in their eyes correctly gave homage and respect to those that came before. You can honestly see that, I think, this desire to make a good thing based on their memories of an old thing. I can't fault them for that, but they were off the mark. This happens a lot in sequel series made by people who loved the originals instead of those who made the originals; Dragonball GT, the Star Wars sequels (except for Last Jedi I love you and no don't discuss Star Wars in this thread), hell, even Doom Eternal! You can tell there is a lot of love, even if it is misplaced. Sadly, Halo 4 misplaces all of it. We discuss it in the video, but Halo one through three used the story as a vehicle to bring you to cool set pieces, and that was really all it needed. Not every story needs some sweeping grand gesture of importance in it, and Halo 4 didn't understand that (though lets be fair, Halo 3 didn't really understand that either, it just managed to reign it in a bit).

If I can give 343 some credit, I do appreciate they tried. The human DNA robots are very silly but I'm way into their aesthetic, their weapons are cool, and fighting them is fun. The Didact is a stupid nothing villain but Halo's villains have genuinely never been its strong suit. Halo 1's main villain was The Alien Collective, as a whole, and I sorta guess Guilty Spark?. Halo 2 gives us Tartarus (generic donkey king, dead) the Prophets (basically just mouthpieces for the aliens) and Petey Piranha (a weirdo plant zombie that everyone loves due to his weirdness and style, but in terms of actual mechanical and flavour never actually does anything of note). They were trying to make someone impressionable and cool, but also make him more directly active, and this just isn't a series, or genre really, that can support that sorta stuff. But they did try- and ****ing look at how much I've written about a FPS game. They managed to do that, at least.

Ultimately, and in conclusion, maybe the final message from 343 is apt. A genuine message of love, tinged by the fact that they clearly do not actually understand what they're doing.

As an aside; I think I extremely benefit from playing these games with such a good friend, because I can see my experience with these games being far worse if I didn't do them co-op. Maybe if I was playing solo I would have been sucked more into the world and I would have reacted to things differently? Maybe if I was playing solo I'd be angry at the checkpoint system and how some enemies have really ****ty gotcha style instant kill weapons. Maybe video games are a difficult and complicated behemoth of experience. Who knows. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! We'll see you all next time for... twin sticks? Shoooting???

[Lord Raziere]

Halo 4 Log 008:
Wow. a flying segment out of nowhere in a shooter game in a tight corridor like area full of obstacles. this is actually bad, what the heck?

"why is there a nuclear device acquired on this!?" -Its a futuristic military and it works in space. those two professions practically run on being prepared for literally everything. the Spartans being trained to personally insert hand-carried nuclear devices is not surprising to me in the least.

Cortana solving both her madness and the current problem by using one to get of the other.

this music is too cheesy for storming upwards to face the final boss.

that final quicktime event might as well have said "press W to sacrifice life"

"I never went to earth until I as an adult, but I think of her as my home, metaphorically in a nebulous nationalistic sense. Praise the UNSC and ONI"

don't worry Zodi, you only see whats under the helmet if you complete the legendary difficulty. you will probably never see it unless you google specifically for it.

yeah, the Didact speechifying about humanity's threat that is a weird choice yeah. not sure what they were saying there. is it supposed to be ironic because showing a bunch of soldiers over that text kind of paints them as the exact threat he is talking about.

[DataNinja]

Okay, wow, this section sucks if you aren't using a controller. With a controller, it's actually... decent.
Oh, you were perma-boosting. XD

Hey, it's not mutiny if FleetComm relieves the captain! That's just bureaucracy.


Forerunners are not psychic, no. It's all just gravity repulsor whatever control that he uses.


It's so stupid. The only reason there's the ladder cutscene at the start of the game is for this unnecessary bit.


Halo 4 release: November 6, 2012.
Cortana release: April 2, 2014
Zodi's right.

-------

Sooooooooo, uh... the Diadact isn't actually dead. According to a Comic, he was just teleported through the slipspace rift. Because that's what that portal was he fell into, apparently. And instead of doing anything interesting with him, he locates the Composer Forge - the place where Composers are made.

He's tracked there by a team of Spartans, and they, with the help of the Forge's Monitor, kill the Diadact by dropping a chunk of the Halo that he's on (Installation 3, I believe) with the control room onto the Composer forge. Where he's successfully Composed by the 5 Composers there before the Halo destroys them all. When he was canonically made immune to the Composer by his experiments on himself to resist the flood or whatever.

THE ANSWER ACTUALLY WAS USE A BIGGER USB STICK. IT'S SO STUPID.

And, god. They say they kill off a villain. Then they bring him back... AND REHASH THE EXACT SAME PLOT WITH HIM. YOU HAVE WHAT YOU'VE SAID TO BE THE LAST FORERUNNER. DO SOMETHING INTERESTING WITH THAT.

And then it was never brought up again.

-------

Hey, I love Halo Wars, but I was well aware it'd never happen! Don't accuse me like that, Em!

Oh, yay, Spartan Ops! It was fun, but also you get... half the story, and then it was continued in a comic book because they didn't make a second season.

And yessssss, anime. (And to clarify for Em: It was a few parts of the Halo 3 Terminal cutscenes that were taken from the anime.)

[LaZodiac]

Bonus episode time!

Zodi Plays: Halo 4 [B1] Spartan Oops

Video Length: 18:26

Here, we take a look at Spartan Ops, and then promptly stop looking at it. I also say I'm going to make a donation incentive during the eventual multiplayer stream of "hey, if we get 500 dollars I'll do Halo Wars" so... look forward to that!

[DataNinja]

...huh, so, fun fact: I wasn't actually aware that there were 50 of these things, because our Xbox Live subscription ran out before the 3rd set released. So, uh, yeah.

I don't blame you for not doing it.

[Lord Raziere]

Halo 4 Spartan Ops Log:
I have the Master Chief collection by the way, so I could play multiplayer with you any time. just saying.

the "WHAT!?" from learning there are 50 of these things was perfect.

the story of Spartan Ops is basically from what I can gather on wiki in as short as I can make it:
UNSC goes to planet, finds two artifacts, weird stuff happens, Dr. Halsey gets involved, covenant capture Halsey, she and covenant leader get two halves of a key, she gives her half to a spartan then claims she wants to cooperate with the covenant leader to get her revenge because of what the UNSC/ONI did to her.

thats basically it.

[DataNinja]

It involves connecting one bit of the EU to another bit of the EU which tangentially connects via Halo 4 to Halo 5. I can try and give Context to at least the Halo 4ish end of the EU, if you so desire. But, good news. I don't really know anything about the Halo 5 end, so, you're safe from any inadvertent spoilers there.

(Spoilers: The summary will make you hate ONI even more.)

[LaZodiac]

The next LP for Halo beings!

And it is... Halo... one? Again?

trust me on this one folks.