Penguin Great Ideas - Making the Intellectual Accessible

In 1946 George Orwell wrote, “there are also those books, chiefly Penguins and cheap editions, which one buys and then loses or throws away.” An amusing irony, as the quote is from the title essay of Books v. Cigarettes, a small essay collection and one of 100 books in the Penguin Great Ideas series. This series has taken select-works from notable thinkers of the last 2000 years and released them, without foreword or introduction, in volumes of approximately 100 pages.

Bip, Bap, Boring! Welcome to Firefight.

The Halo: Reach survival mode, Firefight, pits the player against relatively dull bullet sponges. To compensate, matchmaking relies on ridiculous loadouts, damage modifiers, and a large, if not infinite, pool of lives. The only plausible explanation I can think of for playing Firefight in its current form is that is offers a sizeable pay out of credits. Campaign lacks even a plausible explanation.

However, like many aspects of Halo: Reach, both Campaign and Firefight are frustratingly close to providing a great gameplay experience. The levels, with regards to movement and cover, are well designed (unlike Halo 4), and the AI can flank, rush, and fall back, when necessary. The problem is that the current set-up does not lend well to any of these AI behaviours. You can choose to face dim witted and weak opponents, or more coordinated foes with near impregnable shielding; neither option is particularly enjoyable and both restrict variety.

"What are you reading?"

Smiling Mask, painted by Caballero Salguero, 1990

Oh, here it comes. Pulling into the train station, I see more people bustling at the platform than there are seats. Sat alone, by the window, I move my bag—my last line of defense—begrudgingly from the seat to my right, onto the floor.

And here he comes.