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343i keeps delivering more great content as we approach the release of Halo 4 as we get a first look at Vortex, the final War Games map available with Halo 4 on November 6th. It’s a Big Team oriented map that is multi-tiered allowing for a good mix of personal and vehicular battles. (Almost) the entire list of forgable items is also provided in the bulletin, and with the help of our guest Pete the Duck form IdleDuck we dive into the list and pick out a couple of interesting things you’ll want to know about. All nine maps in the upcoming DLC packs along with release months have been provided as well. Lots of good stuff to look forward to within the first six months of the game. Enjoy

Bungie’s fire and cauldron bubble…

Urban Reflex continues his ‘Brief History of Halo’ – the latest chapter, ‘Mendicant’, brings us up through the fight between Mendicant Bias and Offensive Bias. Great reading! (Louis Wu 18:24:29 UTC)

jake108 let us know that Teabag Prevention’s recap/analysis of the latest FUD episode is already online. (Watch the episode first, of course.) See if you missed any bits! (Louis Wu 17:34:07 UTC)

Forward Unto Dawn Part 4 went live this morning – and the action heats up (WAY up). Once again, I’m floored by the overall polish and quality of this film. Go watch! Thanks, Vincent. (Louis Wu 17:32:26 UTC)

Der Flatulator put together a small tool that lets you browse through the objects available in Halo 4’s Forge. It’s a work in progress – he plans to add more features! Check it out.(Louis Wu 17:29:17 UTC)

padraig08 put together some cool screenshot artwork to celebrate Halloween – go see! (Louis Wu 17:27:13 UTC)

agdtinman is selling off some of his Halo toys – there’s some pretty unique stuff in that collection! (He worked on putting reference material for the artists who made these – if you’re a collector, this is a bunch of stuff you should keep an eye on!) The first auction is live, and a list of what he’s selling is also in his post. Go look! (Louis Wu 17:26:09 UTC)

Edge let us know that the 6th episode of their Pick of the Week series is up – it’s all about Best Sticks, and you can vote for your favorite clip. Noice! (Louis Wu 17:15:26 UTC)

Anoj has released his last Reach Top 10 – this one’s called ‘All Time Kills’, and is full of some pretty impressive clips. (They’ve all been seen before – this is a Best-Of. Doesn’t mean they’re not worth watching again, though…) Go watch ’em!(Louis Wu 17:08:36 UTC)

Two new pieces are up in our Fan Fiction section this week – go read!(Louis Wu 17:03:56 UTC)

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You guys have asked for it, and how we’re giving it to you. We start our trio of podcasts looking at the history of Master Chief in the Halo franchise starting with Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo was has been defined as one of the pivotal moments for first person shooters on the console and it has lived up to that name ever since. In Combat Evolved, we are greeted by Captain Keyes and his crew being run down by Covenant and have ended up near a ring world called Halo. While captured on the surface of Halo, the captain overhears conversations the Covenant have about Halo being a weapon of some kind. The objective to take control of Halo turned out to be an adventure of mystery, as the secrets of Halo unfold before your eyes and reveal and even greater thread than the Covenant: the Flood. Halo was originally designed to wipe out all sentient life to starve the Flood to prevent them spreading, which 343 Guilty Spark tries to convince Chief of doing as a “Reclaimer”. After discovering Spark’s true intent, the goal was no longer to control Halo, but to disable and destroy it at all costs. Enjoy