Not exactly how I expected I’d be spending my night if I’d pondering this a few days before.

Overall the experience wasn’t that bad. For anyone who has ever watched an animé mashup DVD before—such as the Animatrix or Katsuhiro Otomo Presents: Memories—you know that you’re in for something of an emotional and artistic roller coaster. This series of short movies certainly didn’t fail to deliver.

In the same vein as the Animatrix, the first two shorts in the series were the past-is-prologue type of programming with long-winded narration and little animation telling the distant past of the universe, the plight of the Forerunners, the origin of the Flood, and all the just-so stories as to the workings of Halo as it is today. I could have done without those myself: I’ve played the games, I know how those marbles fell.

Then there’s the emotionally gripping story about the Spartan II project and the subsequently emotionally scarred subjects.

Of course, there’s also the oddball semi-comedy in the middle of the entire storytelling experience centered on a Spartan who goes on wacky misadventures and also happens to be Spartan 1337. That one included a dinosaur, two animé teenagers who could have come straight out of Dragonball Z, and a rampaging Covenant weapon that took the shape of King Kong with cyberware.

One of the later shorts, one that looked like it was trying to be Robotech gave an interesting look at Spartans as compared to ordinary mortals. That is to say, the average Spartan seems to be at least two heads taller and a bit wider than the work-a-day ODST elite, even Helljumpers.

There’s even a story about a Covenant elite who suffers the ultimate price for actually remaining an honorable warrior in the face of zealotry.

Of course, no series would be complete without one animated short being rendered in 3D. So there’s that also.

Expect characters familiar to you, if you’ve played the video games or read the books. Mentions of, and appearance by, Kate Elizabeth Halsey kept me on my toes.

Recommendation: If you have Netflix, a cozy night, and 120 minutes you don’t care if you’ll never get back, sit down and watch it. There’s a story in here for everyone, especially those who watch animé and those who have played Halo.

The first Halo caught our attention immediately when it was released in 2001 and became a must-buy after the demo gave us mousepaw. Although, really what captured our imagination happened to be the attention to detail to the world—the halos, their implications, the threat of the Flood, etc—and also the portrayal of the various characters across the storyline. The FPS evolution seemed to come in terms of a clean presentation, low bugginess, excellent sound, nicely architected environments with strong visual cues to identify structures and enemies. These certainly made it a fairly solid product and we appreciated all of that during game play. It also still has one of the more shining examples of multiplayer set ups throughout most current FPS games.

Then there’s the Alien vs Predator series, which came out with Alien versus Predator 2 in 2001. Another solid product that presened a powerful storyline based on an already pre-existing franchise, it developed an amazing set of environments, a plethora of different play styles arranged in a style designed to produce the rock-paper-scissors effect for multiplayer. We still enjoy the concrete mechanics for weapon switching, easy controls, and stark environments which run from claustrophobic (good for Aliens) to open and cluttered (good for Predators) and an engaging reason to be there in the thick of the fray.

Looking at the modern Halo games it seems that Microsoft has been spending a lot of time sitting on their laurels. They’ve changed very little from the initial product with new skins, new beasts, and new storylines to draw in players. This is probably why current offerings like Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 are currently scorching Halo—in all its variations—in the multiplayer market. The variability of play styles and the potential to find something in the game to challenge the player has always been a massive pull.

Then there’s the single player attachment. With each new release of Halo the story has become less and less coherent, lengthier, more winding, and creates a disconnect between critics and campaign-oriented players. Alien versus Predator develops a campaign that hadn’t been seen in almost any FPS contemporary to it, or even since, by interleaving the timelines of the three different factions, especially important due to their rock-paper-scissors manner of interaction. This produces a sort of synthesis that made players realize that they’ve crossed their own path in the storyline while playing (usually as their enemy.)

Places where Halo still shines happens to be the introduction and development of new skills based on weaponry. The double-fisting mechanism and the melee aspect of the original Halo still glitters brilliantly all the way into Halo 3. This allows players to mix-and-match play styles based on what kind of equipment they can get their hands on, giving them an on the fly ability to develop from scratch how they want to engage the game. It also permits level developers and campaigns to force particular problem solving paradigms onto the players by changing up their equipment or environment. Could do some good for its own replayability.

Has Halo actually been evolving combat? The outcome is a bit iffy. Microsoft is publishing a powerful, compact product with sleek lines but it’s really not innovating anything so far—even when compared to products gaining cobwebs from 9 years ago. While Halo dominated with game mechanics, acrobatics, and quick-twitch combat–a mainstay of the modern genre–Alien versus Predator brought a more solid foundation for the players to stand on with a superior game play experience. Innovations in technology, which Halo managed, make good prototypes, but they don’t make epic games. With the new release of Halo: Reach maybe we’ll see something that will pique our interest, and we’ll keep you in mind.

Starcraft Series 1 and 2
Action figures from the popular Blizzard game Starcraft, these toys are some of the most detailed and interesting on the market. While they’re a little hard to find these days, due to Starcraft being long in the tooth for a video game, it’s worth the effort. Of the figures, only the Hydralisk and the Ghost seem a touch uninspired, but that’s more than made up by the personality in the Firebat and Infested Kerrigan models. Mmm, there’s just something about a woman who can carve up a tank with chitinous blades that does it for me. Check out the line over at Atamaii.com.




Final Fantasy VII Advent Children
Okay so it’s a movie. But it’s a movie of a video game, and one of the most popular games in history. The selling points for these figures lie in the detail and articulation. They’re just beautiful, especially the vehicles and monsters, and very posable. The figures carry through the personality of the characters, from Cloud’s defiance in the face of fate, to Sephiroth’s bemused arrogance. If you’re looking for something to celebrate your adventures through Final Fantasy VII, these figures are a good choice. They also make handy drawing models for your yaoi Rule 34 fanfic. You can check out some great pictures of the Advent Children action figure series at this Toys n’ Joys place. Watch the prices, though, some of this stuff is import-only, or limited edition, and can get scary expensive.

HALO Series 1 to 4
Coming from a video game about action heroes and villains fighting huge battles in space is a toy series about action figures and villains fighting huge battles in space. There’s nothing unexpected about the appearance of a toy line for the HALO games, but they do offer some nicely spiffy figures. McFarlane Toys is pumping out the most recent incarnation of these models, which is good, because they tend to do quality work for their price point. My personal favourite is the alien Elite, but then again, who can deny the brutal effectiveness of Covenant plasma weaponry? Either way, the figures are just about perfect as drawing models for your furry genderswap Rule 34 fanfic. You’ve seen that Halo/Metroid video, you know what I’m talking about. Toywiz.com has you covered for pictures of the whole line.

World of Warcraft DC Unlimited
Personality. Detail. Murlocs. These are the qualities you’ll find in the DC Unlimited production of figures for World of Warcraft. You might have heard of this game, a charming little title from the folks over at Blizzard. It has elves and orcs and dragons and such. Warcraft also features a heaping helping of signature characters, which stand as inspiration for this action figure line. They’ve covered just about all the bases, too. You’ve got the orc shaman, the undead warlock, a draenei paladin, and the cutest little Draenei mage you’ll ever lay eyes on. Or maybe your tastes run more toward that blood elf rogue in the picture over there. Her name’s Valeera Sanguinar, by the way. A quick word of warning, though; if these figures seem your like cup of Morning Glory Dew, snap them up quick. Previous figure series have sold out utterly, leaving only vacuum and the hawking mating calls of eBay sellers. DC Unlimited has pictures of the whole line. Yes, Virginia, there is a succubus.

Resident Evil NECA Series
Where else are you going to find a proper figure of a skinless man-dog with this much tongue? The Resident Evil games kickstarted the survival horror genre on modern consoles, then reinvented it again with Resident Evil 4. A game series based around shocking and gruesome monsters deserves an equally impressive figure line, and this series from NECA does the job. The best part of these figures is how they captured the decay and grime of the Ganados village in the paintjobs. Second place goes to the inhuman poses on the monsters. The Regenerator comes off as especially spooky. The spikes don’t hurt, either. You’ll also find the Anniversary series on the NECA Action Figures website, which is well worth your time if you need models for that yaoi tentacle Rule 34 fanfic.

Got any other game figure collections out there that should be on this list? Let us know in the comments. Oh, and no, that horde of Sonic junk you’ve got under your Starfox shrine doesn’t count.