Podtacular

Download We continue our Halo 4 Spartan Ops coverage as we start to dive into the secrets that Requiem holds. A strange Forerunner artifact has been recovered and brought aboard Infinity, which soon wreaks havok across the entire ship. Systems begin to malfunction and the Infinity is being pulled towards Requiem. Luckily, Commander Palmer is fast on her feet and manages to save the ship by giving the artifact a firm kick. Dr. Glassman's curiosity gets the better of him and gets absorbed by the artifact. While you and the rest of your Spartan team can't do much about it at the time, there are still things to do on Requiem to keep the Covenant and the Prometheans at bay while scientists dive further into the depths of the planet. Again, we are joined by our resident Spartan Ops expert HaloFanForLife. Enjoy

Download Adding to our arsenal of Halo 4 coverage is the War Games series covering each and every multiplayer map playable in War Games. Our first map up for discussion is Complex, suitable for objective and slaying gametypes for teams. It's an asymmetrical map with a few key control points that will help you dominate the map for all gametypes. We cover weapon/player spawns, objective markers, strategies, and key points of interest on the map to help give you an edge against your opponent in gametypes like Slayer and Capture the Flag. I am joined by JakFireDragon who is in house for this episode. Enjoy

Download We are continuing our mini-series with the initial episode of our Spartan Ops coverage. You've played the campaign; now it's time to continue the story with your Spartan IV career as you go back to Requiem aboard Infinity. Covenant occupation has grown while you've been gone and it's time to take the planet back. For our Spartan Ops coverage, we have partnered with HaloFanForLife over at halofanforlife.com. Enjoy

Download Today we embark on our mini-series of podcasts. It would only be appropriate that we start with a campaign one. We will be releasing these segments as they are recorded and then release them as official episodes as they come together. For our first campaign show, we start on the first mission: Dawn. In this mission, you are woken up by Cortana only to learn you're drifting around a Forerunner planet and that the Covenant are fighting you once again. Podtacular founder foomojive joins us for this mission. Enjoy

Download There has been a big debate going around the Halo community on the end product we have been given for Halo 4 War Games. While there are people on multiple sides of multiple issues, there is no doubt that Halo 4, like any other game, is not without its faults. Some of these bugs, glitches, or issues have been exploited, while others are pretty harmless, but create a double-take reaction when noticed. For many people, the game feels like something resembling a "beta" version, and on top of that ponder the question of why we didn't have a public beta for Halo 4. Many of those questions and more we address on this show and hopefully give you some helpful answers to help but your thoughts to rest, or at least dormant for a while.

Download Halo 4 debuts the return of Master Chief in the new Reclaimer trilogy and the first encounter with the Forerunners: the builders of the Halos. As the Chief, you are pitted against the Covenant once more until you awaken an ancient evil, the Didact. You are able to stop the Didact before he composes every human on Earth, but at a significant cost. Skin deep, this is a classic Halo game where you encounter a new enemy part way through the game and defeat it in the end, but at a closer examination, there are deep complex plot lines that are building and shifting. Is Cortana really dead? Which Didact are we fighting against in Halo 4? What happened between the Covenant and humans? Prepare yourself for a deep dive into the fiction of Halo 4 and attempt to unravel the mysteries of the Forerunners. We are joined by B2theRyanNewman, Goosechecka from Grifball Hub, and Greenskull from Ready Up Live. Enjoy

Download It's been a while since we've talked about news in the Halo-verse, so it's time to take a look at the past few Halo Bulletins and see what we've missed. We've seen weekly playlist updates where map fixes and new game modes are introduced into matchmaking. Since release day, we've seen SWAT, Team Snipers, FFA Throwback and Team Regicide hits the streets with Extraction coming next week. The Crimson Map pack has been announced with three new War Games maps: Shattered, Harvest and Wreckage to join us on December 10th. Finally, the Halo 4 Infinity Challenge was revealed this week. It's a competition to find the best and most dedicated Halo player in War Games and Spartan Ops for a chance to win great prizes. Enjoy

Download It's the podcast you've all been waiting for, our interview with the Lead Multiplayer Designer for Halo 4: Kevin Franklin. This hour-long podcast covers how 343 Industries is addressing bugs, fixes and updates to the game that comes out every week to keep your War Games experience fresh and exciting. We also cover some of the design decisions about creating the maps, where the artists get their inspiration from, and how Valhalla was chosen to make it's return as Ragnarok with the introduction of the Mantis. There are many more topics discussed in this podcast that you'll just have to listen to find out about. Enjoy

Download The time has come: Halo 4 is officially here! We have thoroughly enjoyed the game already and we hope that you all have too. Last week we took off, but we're back with our first impressions of the game. Since we've seen a lot of multiplayer stuff already, this show focuses mainly on the Campaign and Spartan Ops in Halo 4. 343 Industries has done the Halo franchise its due diligence and has delivered one of the best Halo experiences. From it's deep, complex Campaign story to its innovative Spartan Ops to its exciting War Games, Halo 4 delivers on every level. Enjoy

Download The Fight Like a Girl Tournament has been an annual tournament raising funds for breast and cervical cancer research, but this time's different: they're playing Halo 4! There's a 2v2 tournament, a Grifball tournament, and 4 different creative contests that you can enter for $10 per person. You get to have fun playing a fantastic game and it's for a good cause. The Don Wan, co-founder of the tournament is on to give us the rundown on how the tournament works and what's at steak for the winners. We also talk a little bit about the campaign. Don't worry, no spoilers in this episode. Enjoy

Download In the final installment of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, Lasky, Chief and the rest of the cadets are making their way to the extraction point. It doesn't take long for the Covenant to catch up and set up an ambush for the squat. As chief mans the turret and Silva and Orensky take out the Jackals with precision aim, Lasky is doing his best to drive the Warthog, until smashing into a Jackal and stalling the Warthog. It doesn't take long for the main force of the Covenant to retreat and send in Hunters. While Chief takes care of the Hunter, the rest of the cadets make it to one of the training bunkers in the woods, where Silva meets her fate from being mortally wounded from a needle rifle round. At this point, Lasky has lost just about everything, and when Chief comes to pick them up after he takes care of the Hunter, he sees what Lasky is facing and say, "I'm sorry," to Lasky, showing some humanity to this cyborg. They run from the other Hunter where Lasky eventually volunteers to be a decoy for Chief to take out the Hunter with only one remaining grenade. After the Hunter is taken out, Chief calls in the rescue Pelican, and they all get off the planet. Enjoy

Download Today we bring you a quick update on the info that has come from Halo Waypoint over the last few days. There are a couple of new videos covering the new Waypoint system and a trailer for Spartan Ops: Season 1. We also have a new interactive guide put up by 343i that covers a lot of the general items in the game, including three new vehicles and a new game mode: Extraction. Enjoy

Download On this episode, we highlight a duo of content creators who reside across-the-pond making the podcast Dust and Echoes. Tom and The Woaf join our show today to talk about the history of the podcast and some general chit-chat about their current thoughts on Halo 4. Enjoy

Download A little while ago, we posted about a Kickstarter project started by our friends over at Forward Unto Dawn called Community Evolved. It's a project made to highlight the Halo community over the last 10 years since Halo hit the streets and brought us all together through the magic of gaming. FinalPOSTMORTEM and Slightly Live join us to talk about their project and what their goals are. Enjoy

Download Our good friends over at Ready Up Live have put up a fantastic music video for their recently released song: "Requiem Awaits". If you are a premium member over at Ready Up Live, then you already have access to the song, otherwise you can purchase the song for a dollar at your favorite online digital music store including iTunes, Amazon, Google and more. The lyrics are impeccable and the music is upbeat, fun and fits perfectly. Our guests Greenskull and Minolta1034 go into the creative process behind the project and how they came up with the idea. Some of the details may surprise along with a few exclusives that you'll have to listen to the podcast to find out. Enjoy