The Halo Bulletin:

TL;DR: We’re excited Anniversary is almost here. And we hope you are, too.

Every
morning, upon arriving at work, I am faced with a not-so-difficult
choice: hike up a seemingly endless flight of stairs or slip into the
welcoming arms of an elevator. Considering the former involves athletic
ability, physical exertion, and the risk of injury, I typically choose
the latter. Until the Forerunners invent the teleporter, I figure it’s
the better of the two options.

In our lobby, there is a pair of
elevators at our beck and call. One is average, in every sense of the
word, and the other is frequently found sporting protective padding on
all four walls. Part of me wonders if it’s the preferred mode of
transportation for those that forget their straightjackets (I’m not
saying I’m talking about the guy that wore the chicken suit for
Halloween, but I am saying I may be talking about the guy that wore the
chicken suit for Halloween). Then reality kicks in with the obvious
answer: clearly, the padded elevator is a time machine.

While I
remain convinced the lift will one day accelerate to 88 mph, the closest
I’ve gotten to a time-traveling adventure is yesterday, when, after
sharing the vertical transport vehicle with a coworker, I was briefly
taken back to a time when Anniversary wasn’t the focus, but Halo: Combat
Evolved was. I usually spend my elevator time attempting small chat and
avoiding eye contact. Yesterday, though, due to the excitement of being
exactly one week out, I verbally assaulted Chris, the poor soul that
was my perhaps unwilling but still captive audience.

I asked him,
as the motors hummed ever so softly in the background, if he was
excited about the upcoming release of Anniversary. He said he was, and
asked if I was as well. As I’m not capable of giving anything less than a
torturously long response, I told him that I was quite excited. So
excited, as a matter of fact, that I had not played through the last
level in Anniversary yet and that I was saving it for when the game
actually is released. That last level, you see, is my most favorite
video-game level ever. It’s so special to me that I’m waiting to
experience it in my privacy of my own home. I plan on cranking up the
surround sound, tuning out the real world, and losing myself in the
moment, just as I did ten years ago. He nodded his head, and then
recounted his decade-old experience.

He was working on Combat
Evolved, and the game was almost ready to launch. By the time it went
gold, he estimated he had played through the Campaign over 50 times. I
asked him, since he played it so much before it was released, if he
played through the entire game again after it came out. While the look
he gave me said it all, he said, with his mouth this time, of course he
played it again. And he couldn’t wait to do the same with Anniversary.

As the appropriately named header says above, we’re excited Anniversary is almost here. And we hope you are, too.





Halo: Anniversary Matchmaking Playlists

While
you’re probably familiar with the Campaign portion of Anniversary, I
thought you might want to know about the multiplayer aspect as well. The
game comes bundled with seven of the most popular maps in Halo history,
and we’ll have five different playlists featuring them, all offering a
more classic Halo experience.

The Anniversary playlists will be
going live the morning of the 14th. Well, the morning of the 14th if you
call the Pacific Time Zone region home. Why are we releasing them a day
early, you ask? Because we want to make sure the playlists are
available to all players immediately upon purchase of the game,
regardless of what part of the world they live in. That means, depending
on your time zone, you may see the playlists before you can actually
utilize them. Fret not, though, because once you have secured your copy
of the game, you can traverse the virtual battlefields with your
friends—stealing flags, sniping faces, and accidentally betraying your
teammates with the rockets, just like you did in CE.

Anyway, on to the specifics!

Anniversary Squad
4v4 Slayer and Objective
Contains Anniversary Classic and TU game types
Maps: Battle Canyon, Beaver Creek, Solitary, Prisoner, Penance, Damnation, High Noon, Hang ‘Em High
Game
types: Anniversary Classic Team Slayer, Anniversary Classic Multiflag,
Anniversary Classic Assault, Anniversary Classic 1 Flag, Anniversary
Classic 1 Bomb, Team Slayer, Team Slayer DMRs, Team Slayer Pro, Elite
slayer, Assault, Multiflag, 1 Flag DMRs, Stockpile, Crazy King DMRs,
Neutral Bomb, Headhunter, Hot Potato DMRs, Territories

Anniversary BTB
8v8 Slayer and Objective
Contains Anniversary Classic and TU game types
Maps: Breakneck, Headlong, Ridgeline, Timberland, High Noon, Hang ‘Em High
Game
types: Anniversary Classic Big Team Slayer, Big Team Slayer, Big Team
Snipers, Big Team Elite Slayer, Big Team Multiflag, Big Team 1 Flag, Big
Team Assault, Big Team 1 Bomb, Big Team Neutral Bomb, Big Team
Territories, Big Team Crazy King, Big Team Stockpile

Anniversary FFA
FFA Slayer with a pinch of Objective
Contains Anniversary Classic and TU game types
Maps: Battle Canyon, Beaver Creek, Solitary, Prisoner, Penance, Damnation, High Noon, Hang ‘Em High
Game
types: Anniversary Classic Slayer, Slayer, Slayer DMRs, Slayer Pro,
Elite Slayer, Headhunter, Crazy King, Infection, Alpha Zombies, Oddball

Anniversary Classic
4v4 Slayer and Objective
Contains Anniversary Classic game types
Maps: Beaver Creek, Hang ‘Em High, Headlong, Damnation, Prisoner
Game
types: Anniversary Classic Team Slayer, Anniversary Classic Team
Snipers, Anniversary Classic Multiflag, Anniversary Classic 1 Flag,
Anniversary Classic Assault, Anniversary Classic 1 Bomb, Anniversary
Classic Oddball

Anniversary Firefight
Contains our most popular Firefight variants
Map: Installation 04
Game
types: Arcade Fistfight, Arcade Nadefight, Arcade Rocketfight, Arcade
Sniperfight, Arcade FRGfight, Arcade Plasmafight, Arcade Fiestafight,
Arcade Arcadefight

Anniversary Classic game types have the
following settings: no Armor Abilities, Anniversary Pistol (pistol
traits have been modified to replicate CE behavior), one Frag Grenade
upon loadout, player speed increased, gravity increased, jump height
increased, shield and health recharge rates increased, and melee damage
reduced. Please note that the standard TU changes also apply to
Anniversary Classic game types.

TU Game types are our standard
Reach Matchmaking settings with the Title Update changes. Those changes
are: damage bleed enabled, modified reticle bloom, sword block removed,
Armor Lock modified, and Active Camo modified. You can read more about
the specifics of the Title Update here.





Anniversary Map Pack

Now that
the relevant playlists have been covered, we should probably touch on
the multiplayer maps as well. The Anniversary Map Pack, which includes
six multiplayer maps along with one Firefight map, will be available on
November 15th for 1200 Microsoft Points. This means even Halo: Reach
fans can take part in Anniversary!

Before we dip into each of the
maps, I thought I would walk you through some of the different
scenarios you may find yourself in on November 15th. Halo: Anniversary
and the Anniversary Map Pack are two different pieces of content, so
here are the various ways to access the maps.

• If you own Halo: Anniversary but not Halo: Reach, you will launch the Anniversary maps from the disc menu.

•
If you own Halo: Anniversary and Halo: Reach, we recommend installing
the maps using the Anniversary Map Pack code that comes with
Anniversary. You will then be able to launch the Anniversary maps from
both the Anniversary and Reach menus.

• If you purchase the
Anniversary Map Pack, you will install the maps like any other piece of
DLC. You will then be able to launch the Anniversary maps from the Reach
menu.

Now, back to business. In previous Bulletins, we took deep
dives into the majority of the maps, but in an effort to save you the
time of digging deep within our archives, I’m going to summarize all
seven of the included playspaces. I think I’ll even throw in an overhead
shot of each map. Because yes, despite what you may have heard, I
really am that nice. Well, every once in a while, anyway.


BATTLE CANYON (2 - 8 players)



“The telemetry spires in these canyons help manage the Halo ring’s vast translocation grid.”

The
rocky warrens of this part of Halo provide the ideal environment for an
array of impressive telemetry clusters. These spires’ synchronization
conduits ensure that the ring’s translocation grid is always fully
operational, part of a remarkably powerful system which allows
near-instant transportation across the full ten thousand kilometers that
span the installation.


BREAKNECK (8 - 16 players)



“The initial Covenant strike is over, but the fight for Mombasa has just begun.”

Section
21 once looked out onto the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator with pride and
optimism. Now, with much of the city flooded by the Covenant’s brutal
assault, the skyline is only a shattered ghost of what it once was as
the battle for humanity’s survival continues on the streets and
corridors below.


HIGH NOON (4 - 12 players)



“Despite millennia of abandonment, transportation facilities like this one continue to function flawlessly.”

The
vast generator complexes which power this enormous slipspace portal
allow it to connect with an unknown number of locations across the
galaxy. However, passage through this system requires a Forerunner
keyship, and few command such a vessel this long after the disappearance
of the portal’s creators.


PENANCE (2 - 8 players)



“The Covenant have harnessed the waters of this moon to refuel their massive supercarriers.”

As
the primary satellite of the Unggoy homeworld, Buwan provides the
perfect environment for this massive Covenant hydro-facility used to
power and refuel a variety of capital ships. Though still operational
via automated subsystems, the station was abandoned shortly after the
breaking of the Covenant.


RIDGELINE (8 - 16 players)



“Overlooking one of Halo’s impressive relay complexes, this idyllic cliffside once served as a UNSC staging area.”

Once
serving as a watchpoint for the immense relay complex below, the
monitoring outposts nestled atop this ridge became a staging ground for
human forces during their time on Installation 04. Toward the end of the
conflict, a Covenant assault brought the resistance of the marines here
to a tragic end.


SOLITARY (2 - 8 players)



“The security spire’s damaged interior only hints at the terrifying power of its previous inhabitant.”

These
spinning confinement platforms are a testament to the technological
prowess of the Forerunners. In the event of a security breach, the
facility’s suborbital location and frigid temperature were thought to be
able to keep any threat at bay, but it appears those plans were…
optimistic.


INSTALLATION 04 (1 - 4 players)



“Fight for survival around mysterious Forerunner structures on Installation 04.”

When the UNSC Pillar of Autumn
arrived at Alpha Halo—also known as Installation 04—the Covenant was
already there to welcome them. The conflict that followed raged across
the surface of the ringworld, eventually pitting the renowned and
battle-hardened ODSTs against a merciless Covenant assault, which would
stop at nothing to control Halo.






Halo: Anniversary Launch Party

Anniversary
officially launches next Tuesday, and the launch parties take place the
evening before. Starting at 10 p.m. on Monday, November 14, 13 U.S.
Microsoft Stores will play host to an evening full of Halo-themed
festivities. The first 100 people in line at each store will receive
special swag, including an Anniversary poster, a Red or Blue team
identifier, and more. With a Monster Energy drink in one hand and pizza
in the other, you will, assuming you’re game, face off against fellow
attendees in classic, 16-player Red vs. Blue matches. Additionally, the
first 100 fans who purchase Anniversary will receive a limited-edition
Grunt plushie. And that thing is freakin’ cute. Trust me on that.

Here
is a list of the participating locations, along with some of the
special guests that will be in attendance at a few of the stores.

Atlanta, Georgia - Lenox Square Mall
Bellevue, Washington - Bellevue Square Mall
Bloomington, Minnesota - Mall of America
Costa Mesa, California - South Coast Plaza
Houston, Texas - Houston Galleria
• Special appearance by Certain Affinity developers and the creators of “Red vs. Blue” from Rooster Teeth
Lone Tree, Colorado - Park Meadows Mall
Los Angeles, California - Westfield Century City
• Special appearance by franchise development director Frank O’Connor and members of the 343 team
Mission Viejo, California - The Shops at Mission Viejo
Oak Brook, Illinois - Oakbrook Center
San Diego, California - Fashion Valley Mall
Santa Clara, California - Westfield Valley Fair
Scottsdale, Arizona - Scottsdale Fashion Square
Seattle, Washington - University Village
• Special appearance by Halo: Anniversary executive producer Dan Ayoub and members of the 343 team

I’ll
be hanging out at the University Village location, so if you stop by,
please say hi. Or you can employ the same strategy as 99% of the
population, and avoid me at all costs. Either way works.





These are not the community questions you’re looking for.

And
now, instead of the customary community-submitted question-and-answer
part, I thought we’d wrap things up with an inquiry I recently posted on
our forums. I asked, “What are you most looking forward to in Anniversary?” And these were some of your responses.





And with that, I’ll see you next week. Unless I’m too busy
playing Anniversary, that is. Which is a very real possibility, my
friends….

<3,
bs angel

P.S. I heard captioning is a
great activity to help pass the time, especially when you have a long
six days ahead of you. Take a gander at last week’s Friday Caption Fun
picture, then hit the current article to provide a witty and relevant
quip. Off you go!