News of the New Year

If you are a big fan of HomeFront. Will good news, you will have the multiplayer sever's back online from now and between March 31 of 2014. We don't know yet. But it should be back between this dates. HomeFront is already in to hands of CryTek. It was in THQ but they went bankrupt a long time ago.

China Rising is here. On the Xbox 360, one, PS3, PS4, and PC. Which I don't think that you can get assignments on it but you do get 4 Map packs Silk Road, Altai Range, Guilin Peaks, and Dragon Pass, and you will get a new mode just a fun gamemode and level up your air vehicles. Air Superiority. And you will have a new vehicle and a Fan Favorite the Dirt Bike.

We got some information on Call of Duty Ghost. On Map packs. All the first letter of the Map packs spells ODIN. first one is Onslaught, the second one is Devastation, the third one is Invasion, and finally the forth one will be Nemesis. Each on of these map packs will contain 4 map packs, a new weapon, and a new Extinction map/mode what ever you want to call it. Now the weapon part of the pack, they are going to only give one weapon. Because of there Memory Space, but in the future they could bring one gun in every category. And finaly the Extinction mode will have more story with more fun to shoot some alien's.

TItanfall will be released on March 11 2014 for Xbox One, 360, and shocking PC. They did say that they will be on for the Xbox consoles. But now it would be for PC. Maybe they meant it that way because PC is from Microsoft. But I don't know if they are going to make it to MAC. But they may but it on Steam. Who know only time will tell us.

New website name.

If you want to see this blog. It would be in a different website address. This is a check up. I know that it is not a lot. Be right back soon.

Happy After Chirsmist and a happy New Year.

There will be lots of more coming soon. Been busy with the family. Gotten BF4 if you guys want to hear tips about it. See u guys soon like tomorrow.

New Name Same Me

This is an update saying that my admin would be James Blaster, but it is a still thegamingcell. Did't want you guys to worry.

Trying to get back online

Hello this is thegamingcell. and want to talk to you guys about why I haven't been online a lot. It is not only the internet and all the equipment but also there is nothing to review with because I haven't been getting the materials. But I will hopefully soon. But for now on, I will be starting reviews on free FPS and RPG games online or solo. But I will say this. I am trying to post at least once everyday. I said this so many times but didn't do it. But it will take great will power and dedication to do this. Thank you for reading this message and have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hookah, A new Year, and so forth.    

Vengeance is out

Vengeance is out for the PS3 and PC, and the New Cammo that you can see at the Call of Duty Site (www.callofduty.com ).

An't no news yet. thegamingcell signing out.

BTW: Might do a more tips and tricks and talk about products.

Double XP For PS3 and Double XP tips

Double XP for PS3 is coming and also Vengeance is coming tomorrow. So get ready, And here is some Double XP tips to level up faster.

1. Try hard. If you try hard like your in a MLG match or you wanna get the High Kills/Death Ratio, you will get a lot of XP for doing that.

2. Be an objective player. If you go by the Objective, you will get tons of points. For just capturing a flag on a Domination match

3. Try Hard mix with being an Objective player. Here is a trick I always use when I want a to do good and win. I go by the type of Objective game mode I play

I. Domination
  A. Go Capture the A/C flag depending what side your on
  B. Then try to ether capture B right away or What works for me is that I Clean out B flag area a little, and          Then I go for the B flag.

  C. Defend the B flag a little then start the racking up XP. If they are trying to Capture the B flag, go to the          B flag and defend it then ether go rack up XP again or Capture the B flag if they already captured it.


II. Kill Confirmed

  A. Go to the Safest spot to go and flack the Route that everyone is going to ( Depending on the Map )
  B.  When you get a kill check the area's to make sure no one is Camping, then get them and get the                     Dog tag/Confirm. Rinse and Repeat till you think you should try a different route. How to make sure,             Will you can tell if there is more people or you just died.
  C. Camp Less, Move More.

III. S&D
  A. Go to the safest spot to get XP, Remember this, depending on the map, Would you want to use a Long Rang gun and pick people out, or do you want to run and gun.
  B. kill at least 1-4 players, you might kill one, but make sure you look on the Score board and see how many player's are out. If at lest 2-4 players are out. Plant the Bomb. Then Camp some where to defend the bomb or Run around the Flank them. Your Choice.
  C. Rinse and Repeat unless you need to do change something in you style.
  D. If your on Defended the Bomb though you can just Camp at the bomb, camp near the bomb, or Run around cover to cover, or just simply run around. My Advise is to Camp neat the bomb, Because if you camp neat the bomb you can get a couple kills then if they armed the bomb you can flank them and kill them all then disarmed the bomb

IV. Demolition
  A. Offence: Go spawn kill them, then go to the bomb and plant it.
  B. If you do not wanna spawn kill then just go to the bomb, my suggestion is to Spawn kill since the Mode has one Spawn.
  C. Defended the bomb, Spawn kill them, then if there is a bomb planted then carefully Defuse it.

V. Hard Point
  A. Go to the Hard point. And stay there till there is to many to defend. If there is players on it, then try your best to get them all out. The best way to play this is to get friends to play with you or Go with your teammate.
  B. Also if your on the Hard Point and you know there is going to be players capturing it. Go out, The should capture the Hard Point, then Go back stealthily, Run in, or just wait for teammates. Then when your finishing the last player, You should get a something that you capture the Hard Point, and you should get Score Points to you Kill Streak.

VI. Capture The Flag
  A. If you want to defend the flag. Just secure an area that players are going to go to capture the flag.
  B. If you want to get the flag and bring it back to base, the best way is to get it carefully,
  C. Best way to get the Flag is to go Around the area to search For players that are camping ( Fits perfect on Drone )

VII. Multi-Team
  A. You need to basically rack up kills or Spawn Kill
  B. Most Importantly about this Game Mode is to follow your team mates closely, but not to close where you and the teammate/teammates get killed.

IX. Team Death Match

A. Rack up killd or Spawn Kill ( Simple )

X. Free For All
  A. Do not camp unless otherwise ( Simple )
  B. Sometimes it works to camp all the time, because it draws attention to you, but sometimes it don't because it will be impossible to get out or get back in.

XI. Hard Core games
 A. Follow the game modes above
 B. But make sure you the first one shooting, and hitting the player
 C. Don't waste a lot of ammo, every one's health is reduce to low. So you can but less bullets for more kills.

I will be giving the Party game Tips for leveling up soon. this is thegamingcell signing out

     

News and another website

Hello everyone, thegamingcell here and wanted to tell you guys been working on another website, no joke. It is like this one but it has News, Products information, Videos from me, Lots of Information on Games ( Coming soon ), and more. Here is the site

www.game3tillthend.com

Also I am going to give news from this site and www.game3tillthend.com, Hope you like this site.

In other words, Games Con is coming soon in Germany, I'll give all the information as fast as I can. So much is going to show from there.

In other words, THQ is dead, but they are taking there games to different companies,
*Home Front and Home Front 2 is going to the Crytek

Ubisoft will take the: South Park: The Stick of Turth, and the games underdevelopment Underdog, and 1666.

Sega will take the Relic and the WarHammer games

Koch Media will take the Saints Row, and Metro series

Take 2 will take Evolve

And sadly the DarkSiders series will stay with THQ till they are out of Chapter 11 ( Bankrupt )



HomeFront was the game that a lot of people like to take a break from any games they played, like Call of Duty series, Halo series, and the Battle Field series, etc. But recently THQ shut down the Multiplayer for HomeFront. But soon from Now July 2013 ( it was also spouse to open back up in April 2013 ) to March 2014 is going to open. So about in the next 9 months is going to turn on the switch to open the HomeFront Multiplayer. But it can be less then 9 months. My production should been around in November or December. Just because of the Gaming Season, and also HomFront will have some more DLC coming in the way and will the New DLC of 2013-2014 they will be making HomeFront 2.

DarkSiders 3 is coming, but we do not know all the details yet.

Look at this website. www.game3tillthend.com

go to www.game3tillthend.com, I well be posting a lot on there, Haven't know if I well be posting on there and this blog, or the new website. But till then, click the link for everyday news, latterly. 

News of 1/4/2013

 We got some really good news. For at least for Call of Duty Black Ops 2. There has been some leaks about the map pack. There are going to be 4 Multiplayer maps, 1 zombie remake map, and a new gun/guns. Don't know if there is going to be only one gun or multiple guns. But there well be a new gun and it has not been confirmed. But it looks like it is real and is something Treyarch would do. Here is the picture right blow here

   


Hydro looks like a Call of Duty 4 Downpour map.

Grind looks like a city

Downhill looks like the 2nd mission in the campaign. But the first Futuristic Mission in the campaign

Mirage looks like a remake of one of the Asia Maps in CoD 5 World at War, also one of our favorites.

Die Rise looks like ether a remake of Dierise from WaW or takes place somewhere in Germany or some where in the Middle East in my opinion.

and the new Peacekeeper SMG kind of looks like a futuristic K2 from all the FPS games on the PC/MAC

But Who knows, we might get that SMG, we might get 1 gun from every Category, or something a little bit more. Or this Picture could be false. But we don't know for sure.



I have something really good for you guys in CoDZombies. In Black Ops 2. When you can afford enough to pack a punch you gun for 5000 points, you can pack a punch it again for cheap. only 3000 points. How did I notice this. I was board and I played CoDZombies. So I had enough points and I bought the pack a punch for the RPD and the M8A1. Then I was going to experiment again to see if you could pack a punch it again for the M8A1. Turns out I could. For cheap. I don't know if you guys herd of it. But I discovered this my myself, no YouTube or Google or any thing. I found this out by myself. But tell me if you guys ever herd of it.


This is thegamingcell signing out.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year guys. Did you have a great day yesterday, I hope you did. Well let get into some news now.

To help you plan for the year ahead, we’ve compiled a list of all the 2013 games with confirmed release dates. By confirmed, we mean something that either has a specific date or month narrowed down. Basically, if a game has a ’2013′ or ‘Spring 2013′ release window like Grand Theft Auto V, Beyond: Two Souls, and Killzone Mercenary, they won’t be listed.

Check them out all out below and keep in mind that all release dates are North American and subject to change.

January 2013

• Fuel Overdose (PSN) – January
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Demo (PSN) – January
• Anarchy Reigns (PS3) – January 8th
• Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable (PSV – PSN) – January 8th
• God of War: Ascension Multiplayer Beta (PSN – PS+) – January 8th
• Borderlands 2 ‘Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt’ (PSN) – January 15th
• DmC Devil May Cry – January 15th
• Dead Space 3 Demo (PSN) – January 22nd
  
• Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 (PS3) – January 15th
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3) – January 22nd
• Painkiller: Hell and Damnation (PS3) – January 22nd
• Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear (PS3) – January 29th
• Hitman HD: Trilogy (PS3) – January 29th
• Ratchet and Clank: Full Frontal Assault (PSV – PSN) – January 29th

February 2013

• Hakouki: Warriors of the Shinsengumi (PSP) – February
• Dead Space 3 (PS3) – February 5th
• Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage 2 (PS3) – February 5th
• Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time (PS3, PSV) – February 5th
• Aliens: Colonial Marines (PS3) – February 12th
• MUD – FIM Motocross World Championshop (PS3) – February 12th
• Crysis 3 (PS3) – February 19th
• Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires (PS3 – PSN) – February 19th
• Generation of Chaos: Pandora’s Reflection (PSP) – February 19th
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3) – February 19th
• Blood Knights (PS3 – PSN) – February 20th
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus (PSV) – February 26th
• Young Justice: Legacy (PS3) – February 26th

March 2013

• Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut (PS3) – March
• Fuse (PS3) – March
• Metro: Last Light (PS3) – March
• MLB 13: The Show (PS3, PSV) – March 5th
• Sniper Elite V2: Silver Star Edition (PS3) – March 5th
• Tomb Raider (PS3) – March 5th
• God of War: Ascension (PS3) – March 12th
• Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (PS3) – March 12th
• Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 (PS3) – March 12th
• Dead or Alive 5 Plus (PSV) – March 19th
• Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel (PS3) – March 26th
• BioShock Infinite (PS3) – March 26th
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 (PS3) – March 26th

April 2013

• Injustice: Gods Among Us (PS3) – April
• Dead Island: Riptide (PS3) – April 23rd
• Star Trek (PS3) – April 23rd

May 2013

• Remember Me (PS3) – May 2013
• The Last Of Us (PS3) – May 7th, 2013

As soon as more games are given confirmed release dates, we’ll be sure to let you know, so stay tuned to PSLS.

Which games from this list will you be picking up? Did we happen to miss anything? Let us know in the comments below.

Essential Reading:

• Best of 2012 Awards
• Daily Reaction 100th Special: Win Stuff, Laugh at The Last of Us, Read Something Awesome
• Bad Gamers: Ep 14 – Going Out with a Bang

This Information came from this website -------> http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2012/12/31/all-the-ps3-ps-vita-psp-games-with-confirmed-2013-release-dates/

To bad that I don't know what the release date would be for Grand Theft Auto 5. That game was the S**t.

This will tell you 17 things that you can have fun in custom games in Halo

Halo is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. The plot is fairly generic and shallow, unless you’re in a team online you’ll tend to end up playing with screaming 5 years olds yelling abuse down the mic at you, and there’s nothing I find especially compelling about its mythology or characters. Yet I’ve easily racked up more hours on Xbox Live playing the Halo series than any other franchise. The reason is simple: Halo offers one of the best customisable experiences available on a console. Forge (a mapmaker) is an incredible tool that other multiplayer games should learn from, and you can get endlessly creative with the custom game settings. With Halo 4 recently released, the time seems ripe for a list of some of the many different ways to have fun without even entering ranked playlists.

So without further ado, and in no particular order, I present to you 17 Great Ways to Have Fun in Halo Custom Games.

17. Tremors

1 Flag CTF, 4-10 Players Recommended

Hugely popular with the Halo community, and with good reason. Tremors is silly, addictive, unadulterated fun. You can play it on any large CTF map, a variant of Blood Gulch being the preferable choice. While the attacking team try to steal the defending team’s flag, the defending team are able to use ghosts (I recommend having a large supply ready in the base, on quick re-spawn) to try to run them over. The attackers can only carry the flag; they can’t board ghosts or attack the defending team. The defenders, on the other hand, can only use the ghosts to run over the attackers – they can’t shoot from them or dismount. The attackers are therefore forced to use a combination of planning, tactics, teamwork and acrobatic ability to transport the flag back to base – the sole advantage they have are the rocks dotted around the map, as while on a rock they are ‘immune’ and the ghosts aren’t allowed to try to run them over. If everyone follows the rules this game is loads of fun, so I highly recommend trying it out if you haven’t already done so.

16. Fear

Slayer, 2-16 Players Recommended

This one is brutally unfair, yet addictive. All against all, a few rounds, 2 lives per player, a random primary weapon and sometimes (depending on your preference) a Magnum secondary. The joy of this game lies in the variations it offers – you’ll have to play radically differently depending on which of the many weapons you get allocated, and then adapt still further depending on what your opponent has. It’s a cruel moment when you spawn with a plasma pistol and see your rival saunter smugly across the battlefield holding a rocket launcher, but it’s all the sweeter if you manage to sneak up on him and steal it. The 2 lives mean that you normally get at least one decent weapon during a round, and if not you’ll just have to take out someone who’s outgunning you and relieve them of theirs. The paranoia of not knowing what your rivals have until you face them, and knowing that you only have a couple of lives to spare, make this custom game’s name well justified.

15. Duck Hunt

1 Flag CTF, 4-16 Players Recommended

This one will need either a bit of preparation, or a download, as you’ll need a custom Duck Hunt map. Personally I find the creation process to be almost as much fun as playing, but if you don’t have the time or will, energy? avoids rep of will and slightly less judgemental a quick Google search will yield countless links to custom maps you can download. Duck Hunt involves two teams: the snipers and the ducks. The snipers spawn inside a protected room with a window looking out sideways onto the course, where the ducks will spawn. You can make the course as long or short as you want, but basically you want a long line with assorted jumps, some shelter and maybe a couple of traps. The ducks will have to try to traverse this course while being shot at by the snipers. At the end there should be a flag, which you will pick up and jump hold as you jump through the floating capture point, afterwards dying and re-spawning. Ducks should be fast moving and not have any weapons to defend themselves, relying on their speed and dodging ability to make it to the objective. Teams change each round, of course, so it’s a question of who can get more flag scores during their chance while they have the opportunity.

14. Dodgeball/MiniTroy

Team Slayer, 4-16 Players Recommended, 2 Minute Multi-Rounds

For this one you’ll need 2 minute rounds, and a small contained map with an easily determinable halfway point (such as the river in Battle Creek). You’re not allowed to cross that halfway point, and everyone’s packing heavy weaponry, so the situation will quickly escalate into chaos, as you leap from rock to rock, screaming defiance while your rockets zoom towards the enemy and explosions go off around you. Again, this relies on the players respecting the rules, but it’s easily one of the most simple and fun games on this list.

13. Cat and Mouse

Zombie, 3-16 Players Recommended, 2 Minute Rounds

Use a large, open map to make a vehicle obstacle course with ramps, tunnels, traps and so on. The cats (zombies) should spawn in a small floating platform above in choppers or wraiths, and then jump down the map below. From there, they try to hunt and crush the mice (who try to evade them in their mongooses). No shooting or dismounting is allowed, and any mouse that is killed becomes a cat. Cats score 2 points for each mouse kill, and a mouse scores 10 points for surviving the 2 minute long ordeal. Ideally, The game should be played out over several rounds.

12. Chrono Trigger

King of the Hill, 3-16 Players Recommended, 1 minute hill change

This map takes advantage of the Spawn Timer feature of Forge. It can be extremely entertaining to make, and I encourage readers to get creative with the phases, but otherwise you can add me on Xbox Live and I’ll hook you up with a variant. It’s a King of the Hill with a magnum spawn, played on a custom map. You begin next to a hill with a series of shield doors through it, so it’s basically hand to hand only, as your weapons are next to useless. The next hill takes place in an open space, and some mongooses begin spawning near the beginning – it ends up as a sumo match between them to stay in the hill. Afterwards, gravity lifts spawn in the same area and a floating platform (4 connected bridges) spawns above, with gravity hammers and the new hill on it. Try to get up there first and use your hammer to keep out the other players who will be jumping up to join you. After this, the next hill is located at the end of a long tunnel to the other side of the map, and sniper rifles begin spawning all over the place, so a sniper battle invariably develops down the length of the tunnel. The penultimate hill is located in the centre of a huge labyrinth (with random weapons spread around), and a teleport should appear next to the start to allow re-spawning players to get there quickly. Fighting in the maze with various heavy weapons is a frantic experience, and the last hill appears on the other side, with a collection of overshields spawning to make the final fight a brutal one.

11. Platformer

Slayer, 1-16 Players Recommended

An attempt at genre conversion, Halo works surprisingly well as a 3D Platformer. If you don’t want to spend hours constructing your own map there’s plenty of them available for download, the basic premise being: don’t fall. You’ll jump, scurry and crawl with increasing difficulty along a line of floating objects, and the slightest misstep will mean starting from scratch. This is the only game on the list which can be played without friends, so no discrimination against the socially inept. The levels also tend to be created by the most sadistic of Halo map designers, so be forewarned.

10. Doom Flags

2 Flag CTF, 4-12 Players Recommended, Flag Touch-Return and 15 Second Reset

My personal favourite entry on this list, Doom Flags is a game type which is hugely rewarding if you have two teams with a bit of experience under their belt. It’s best played on a Lockout variant (I’d recommend downloading a player-made replica if your game doesn’t have Lockout/Blackout etc), and there should be 4 or 6 rounds. All players spawn with grenades, a sniper rifle as a primary weapon and a battle rifle as a secondary. You can also experiment with power-ups if you want, but I’d recommend keeping it relatively unadulterated. This variant is a fantastic way to practise your sniping and no-scoping skills. Counter-intuitively, it’s not about staying put and camping, you’ll need to move fast and have a very quick trigger finger. There are a few different routes to take, and while going over the top of the map is faster, you’ll also be more exposed to sniper fire.

9. Survivor

Slayer, 4-16 Players Recommended, No Vehicles

Basically a swat variant, Survivor entails 1 shot kills but with only 1 life per player per round. You get a battle rifle and grenades with which to defend yourself, and this can create incredibly tense games as you remain, crouched and stationary, waiting for your opponent to make the first move. Personally I always used to love playing this on Zanzibar, but it works well with almost any map. Most people will usually rush for the sniper, but the wise player will wait at a distance, ready to gun down anyone who might try to take it.

8. Cops and Robbers

Zombie, 4-16 Players Recommended

Another fan favourite, Cops and Robbers relies to a large extent on the players in your party following the game rules. The robbers spawn within a player-made ‘prison’ and the cops (zombies) have to keep them in there, while allowing them to move around. Cops are only allowed to kill the robbers if they break the rules, however, while the robbers should try to escape or assassinate the cops without getting shot. This game type can be really absorbing if everyone takes it seriously, but I wouldn’t recommend playing with a large group of people you don’t know well.

7. Run Rabbit

Zombie, 4-16 Players Recommended

Not dissimilar to Duck Hunt, but this time the prey can fight back. One team are the rabbits (all in white, with enhanced speed) and the other player is the farmer. The farmer has a sniper rifle and is invincible (except to assassinations), so the rabbits can either try to kill him for 10 points, or stay alive for as long as possible. Any rabbit killed by the farmer becomes a farmer as well, so pretty soon it’s a frantic desperate? struggle to stay alive as shots whistle around the frantically running rabbits. And did I mention, the farmers should be able to see an icon marking where the rabbits are at all times? Cruel.

6. Carnage Hill

King of the Hill, 3-16 Players Recommended, Ghosts and Warthogs

This is total… well, carnage. Again, you’ll want to play on a Blood Gulch variant, and the only really important rule is that you’re not allowed to shoot from the vehicles. Your only weapon type? should be a Magnum and grenades, both of which you are allowed to use – but that’s all. It boils down to vehicles sumo wrestling in on? the hill in the middle, trying to push each other out, while the occasional player unlucky enough not to be driving something frantically jumps up in the air to avoid them or tries to board someone. There are two ways to play – unoccupied hill required to score points, or not – and they’re equally fun. This is one of the easiest custom games on this list to just jump in and play without a lot of preparation, although finding people who can resist letting fly with the ghost’s cannon may be considerably trickier.

5. Grand Prix

Race, 2-16 Players

There’s a huge online community of Halo players who rarely play death matches, instead preferring to construct race courses and hold GPs (coincidentally, if Mario Kart ever included a mode which let you design your own race courses and share them, I’m pretty sure Nintendo would win the internet). This was quite complicated in the older games, but nowadays Halo comes with a ready-made Race mode built right into Forge. The only real reason to race on Halo as opposed to an actual racing game is the capacity to make your own tracks, but some players have gotten crazily inventive and there are some truly amazing courses available for download. You can swerve, ramp and even loop the loop to your heart’s content, and all it will cost you is a Google search. While making an advanced race map is quite a big time investment, it’s also extremely satisfying to race on once you’re finished.

4. Troy

Team Slayer, 6-16 Players, 1 Life, Several Rounds

There are so many different variants of this that it’s hard to know where to begin. My favourite takes place on Blood Gulch, with a primary heavy weapon (such as Rocket Launchers, Brute Shots or Fuel Rod Cannons, etc) and a sword secondary. Players spawn on the bases and immediately fire off all their ammunition towards the opponent’s base. In order to fire you must be standing on the roof of your base, and you also have to unload all your ammunition as quickly as possible – no hoarding. If you’re playing it right, a huge volley of rockets and brute shot shells should sail out towards the enemy base from your own, supposedly representing the arrows of the battle of Troy. Once you’re out of ammo, and if you survive the bombardment on your base, it’s time to run into the middle and use your sword’s melee attack on any survivors from the enemy team. Once again, this game relies upon people respecting the ‘only shoot from the base’ rule, but it’s tremendous fun if everyone does (and occasionally hilarious if they don’t). If you’re still holding onto your ammo while people are in the middle with their swords, you’ve kept it too long.

3. Rugby (Griffball)

Assault, 6-16 Players, 2/4 Rounds

This can be played on any small symmetrical map, such as Battle Creek or Foundation. Both teams try to transport the bomb to the enemy base (where there’s an instant arm time), and no shooting is allowed – it’s melee only. This is one of the most popular variants on the list, and that’s thoroughly deserved. Some players play with hammers, swords or speed boosts – personally I prefer a plasma pistol or magnum (no shooting) and perhaps 110/120% player speed. This can be a surprisingly tactical game, and teamwork is rewarded – I remember throwing the bomb through the tiny bunker window in Battle Creek to my waiting teammate, who was then able to instantly score. You can set a time limit for the rounds, or put a score limit of 3 or 5. If you’ve never played Rugby, I highly recommend it – you’ll see it pop up in a lot of custom playlists, as well.

2. Zombies

Zombie,  2/16 Players

Call me a purist, but I don’t think Halo has ever managed to replicate the experience of a custom zombie game on Foundation in Halo 2, with the survivors huddled inside one of the spawn rooms and a stack of crates barricading the door. Having said that, they’ve done all they can, with an advanced zombie mode feature now letting players customise their very own apocalyptic scenario. Depending on how you design your map, you’ll either end up with your survivors crowded inside a safe room (peppering the door with bullets whenever a zombie shuffles into view), or with every player out for themselves, constantly on the move. Shotguns and Magnums work best for the survivors, and of course the zombies should use melee attacks.
Finally, turn the page to see our favourite way to spend time in Halo custom games.

1. Making a Film

I recently unearthed a short action film I made with some friends in Halo 2, seven or eight years ago, and I can only apologise for the (terrible) quality of the video, script, voice acting and effects. I remember, however, that making the film was great fun , and while we had to make our video by using a glitch to drop the gun, Halo 3 added Theatre mode which has hugely increased the possibilities for aspiring directors. Machinima offers a great way for (poor) filmmakers to see their scripts and ideas come to life. The standout success story is, of course, Red vs. Blue, but there are hundreds of fan-made Machinima videos online. You can practise writing, directing or acting, and even if your video doesn’t have the popularity of Red vs. Blue, you might be able to link it years later in an online article. All you need is someone who can record from their 360 and a basic video editing program, which is a small price to pay.

I hope you enjoyed the article, and if you’d like to play any of the variants here but are unsure how (or can’t be bothered to set up the map/game type), write your Xbox Live Gamertag in the comments section, and I’ll try to add you.