While part of me still hopes somehow that the list of Halo 3 Achievements discovered awhile back at Xbox.com is not entirely legitimate, or at least not complete and final, it did contain something quite interesting. The final nine achievements are worded like so:

Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the nth mission.

While the idea of points might be new to the Halo series, at least in campaign mode, it is certainly not new to first person shooters or to Bungie games in general. Looking at those two sets of precedents could produce a pretty good picture of what this feature might entail in Halo 3. If that’s not enough, a good hit off the crack pipe would provide visions of even more outlandish implementations.

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Can I find a group of racist twelve-year-olds trying to ruin my Halo 2 experience if I tried?

I just read an article that lamented the state of Halo 2 Matchmaking. While articles like these aren’t new, this one prompted me to try something out; I’m going to use Halo 2’s matchmaking system (Rumble Pit) to see if I run into the jerks everyone claims infest Xbox Live.

Game 1
The only noise in the pre-game lobby was dooooo talking to his friends. The worst thing I heard in the game was “Yeah, punk!” from doooooo, and he was the only person who even bothered to speak. No insults here.

Game 2
Not one word was spoken for the entire game until the post-game lobby. Cederlof, who recognized me from the last game, said, “You won again.” sublymonalZACH said, “Good game.”

Where are the racist twelve-year-olds?

Game 3
jjnorth had a voice mask, and the first thing he said is “Please do not kill jjnorth.” That was the only thing spoken all game. In the post-game screen, Nockternalassn said “Game Over.” Thanks for pointing that out, man.

OK, I started getting bored, so I stopped. It seems matchmaking isn’t the infested cesspool everyone says it is. I believe everybody thinks Halo 2’s matchmaking is as bad as it seems because it only takes one asshole to screw it up for everybody. You can game an entire night, and if only one person insults you with their racism, homophobia, or what-have-you, that can mar the entire night. One bad apple spoils the bunch, so to speak. Don’t let the jerks get you down, focus on the good times that keep you coming back.

*Note: These are the first and only three games I played for this experiment. I only said the occasional “nice shot” when appropriate.

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Currently Playing: Shadowrun, GHII (PS2), Resident Evil 4 (PS2)