| Halo: Combat Evolved: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets
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| Attribution information
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Author(s):
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Doug Radcliffe
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| Publication information
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Publisher:
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Sybex
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Publication date:
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1st edition: September 29, 2003
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Media type:
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Print (Paperback)
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Pages:
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240 pages
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ISBN:
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0782142362, 978-0782142365
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Halo: Combat Evolved: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets is a strategy guide for Halo: Combat Evolved, more specifically its PC version. It was authored by Doug Radcliffe.
What makes Radcliffe's book unique among the many strategy guides available is that it contains Halo Story Bible canon information. So not only is it a good source for tips and tricks, but it also offers Bungie approved insights into the Halo Universe.
Survive a two-on-one battle against Hunters, assist the Marines at the Assault on The Control Room, thwart the Covenant, and successfully capture the flag on Blood Gulch. Halo, the world's best action game, blasts onto the PC, and this book is your indispensable guide to every aspect of the vast Halo universe.
Written with the full collaboration of Bungie Studios, Gearbox, and Microsoft Game Studios, this guide is packed with invaluable strategies, behind-the-scenes information, and winning tactics straight from the experts.
Inside you'll find:
- Complete single-player walkthrough so you can survive and complete Legendary difficulty.
- Analysis of every weapon, vehicle, and enemy in the game.
- Powerful strategies from hardcore Halo veterans around the world
- Exclusive Halo Story Bible excerpts that have never been published anywhere
- Tips and level design notes from the Bungie and Gearbox development teams
- Detailed maps of every single multiplayer level
- Essential tactics for dominating every multiplayer map and game mode
- Full compilation of Halo Easter eggs!
Other credits[edit]
- Associate Publisher: Dan Brodnitz
- Acquisitions and Developmental Editor: Willem Knibbe
- Editor: Heather Dweller
- Production Editor: Patrick Cunningham
- Proofreader: Patrick Cunningham
- Book Design: Owen Wolfson
- Book Production: Susan Honeywell
- Cover Design: Richard Miller, Calyx Design
- Poster Design: Lorraine McLees
- Contracts and Licensing Manager: Monica Baum
- Bungie Studios
- Gearbox Software
- Marc Tardif
- Matthew Armstrong
- Stephen Bahl
- Jennifer Burris
- Eli Luna
- David Mertz
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- Very special thanks
- Halo community members
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Halo Story Bible excerpts[edit]
HALO STORY BIBLE: MASTER CHIEF[edit]
The Master Chief is a second-generation product of the SPARTAN project: he was selected at age six and received intense augmentation and indoctrination as part of a super-secret military experiment. He began his career-after thorough political indoctrination and advanced training in weaponry and infantry tactics-as a Petty Officer Third Class. His first combat deployment was 2525, at age 14, participating in a spec ops mission against an anti-government separatist group. However, such missions were only a prologue.
Shortly thereafter, the threat of the Covenant was discovered. In November of 2525, the SPARTANS were issued the MJOLNIR Mark V armor, and soon became one of the UNSC's most effective surgical strike tools against the aliens. The Master Chief's ground engagements with the Covenant throughout the Outer Colonies, and into the Inner Colonies, number over 200, spanning a field career of more than 25 years. He has been awarded every major service medal except the Prisoner of War Medallion.
In order to force a peace, Earth's military commanders conceived a plan for a specially equipped team of super-soldiers to board a Covenant vessel, access the target ship's computer core, and pinpoint the location of the Covenant home world. Once this was accomplished, it was hoped the team could then be covertly deployed to capture the Covenant's leaders and broker a gunpoint truce.
Before the plan could be implemented, the Covenant arrived at Reach-the last major human naval base, and the training area for the SPARTANs-and obliterated the planet. Of the SPARTANs present, it is believed that only the Master Chief survived, fleeing the system aboard the cruiser Pillar of Autumn.
Though typically addressed by his rank (Master Chief) or by his service number (SPARTAN-117), his real name is John-117. His last name was deleted from the SPARTAN project records on Reach. This name is not used by anyone except his instructors and the SPARTAN-II science team. In fact, his name is not included in his military dossier. Only Doctor Catherine Halsey's secret files on Reach contained the "names" of the SPARTAN-II subjects. These records were presumed destroyed during the Covenant assault on the planet.
HALO STORY BIBLE: MJOLNIR MARK V ARMOR[edit]
The MJOLNIR Mark V Assault Armor is currently the most advanced piece of tactical military hardware in human hands. Each suit costs as much as a small starship. The MJOLNIR armor is the brainchild of Dr. Catherine Halsey, and the SPARTAN-II program was, in large part, Halsey's attempt to create a soldier whose physical capabilities would be sufficient to interface with her vision of the final phase of project MJOLNIR-a fully neural-linked system with an integral on-board AI using the human mind for parallel processing. Such technology did not exist when work began on the Mark I prototype.
The MJOLNIR armor is composed of a multilayer alloy shell over a thick black armored bodysuit. The plates have an iridescent refractive coating to disperse energy-weapon attacks. The armor's inner structure is composed of a revolutionary reactive metal liquid crystal. It is amorphous, yet fractally scales and amplifies force, doubling lifting capacity and increasing reaction time by a factor of five. Unfortunately, the system is so reactive, normal human beings cannot use the suit without injuring themselves. Only an augmented human such as a SPARTAN-II can safely wear MJOLNIR.
HALO STORY BIBLE: CORTANA[edit]
"Cortana" is the AI assigned to the Master Chief as his MJOLNIR Mark V AI system. She was also to act as the Pillar of Autumn's shipboard AI until the team reached their target. Cortana is highly intelligent and adaptable, and assists the vessel's crew in tactical matters.
Her self-determined guise is female, with a dry, witty sense of humor and even elements of a hot temper. She is fiercely protective of the Master Chief, the crew, and her ship.
She is capable of navigating Halo's computer system, intercepting and translating Covenant battle transmissions in real time, and providing the Master Chief with mission waypoints, cartographic data, and tactical advice.
Following her experiences on Halo-where she spends considerable time listening in on Covenant networks-Cortana is probably the best source of intelligence on the Covenant in human hands.
HALO STORY BIBLE: HUMAN WEAPONRY SLANG TERMS[edit]
► Human pistol: go-mag, cannon, hand cannon, power-drill, HE pistol
► Assault rifle: AR, pop-gun
► Shotgun: gauge, waste 'em (for WST, the manufacturer), hammer, deck clearer, universal translator
► Sniper rifle: lightning rod, flagpole, religion (as in, "this weapon gives the target religion by sending him to meet his maker")
► Rocket launcher: jackhammer, pain, spanker
► Flamethrower: DP, toaster, dragon, torch
► Fragmentation grenade: frag, damage (as in, to "toss a handful of damage"), firecracker
HALO STORY BIBLE: GRUNTS[
