Filed under: Halo 3

In a very special edition of Points > Life, we outline the location of each of the three new skulls hidden on the upcoming Mythic Maps for Halo 3: Assembly; Orbital and Sandbox. If you plan on skull hunting when you pick up the maps (via Halo Wars CE or XBLM this Spring) you should remember, the skulls -- and subsequent achievements -- can only be obtained in Halo 3's Forge Mode.

Assembly and Orbital have easy to obtain skulls but Sandbox can be quite a pain in the (Mark VI-plated) butt. The Sandbox Skull is hidden beyond the boundaries of the map so expect the large (Guardian protected) light towers surrounding the area to decimate any player who attempts to leave the area. Fortunately, with the help of a trusty teleporter, we were able to snag yet another Halo 3 Skull. A detailed description of how to grab the Sandbox skull can be found after the break.

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You like Halo ... and at least have a mild interest in Sonic related items, do you not? Well, Hawty McBloggy has you covered with this video that mashes classic Sonic tunes with Halo 3.

When the video began to make its way around the office, we all experienced the same things in the following order: 1) eye-roll at the idea of more Sonic; 2) mild interest due to Halo content; 3) half-smile when we heard the music; 4) embarrassment at how wrong our preconceptions were upon watching it all; 5) a strong desire to show it to everyone we knew. Welcome to the last step. Check it out after the jump. Tell your friends.

[via Bungie]

Back in 2007, movie director Neill Blomkamp put together a three piece spectacle of Halo-sized proportions called Halo: Landfall. The all live action video was a glimpse of what the (now dead) Halo movie could have been if Blomkamp's movie magic were applied.

Well, two enthusiastic Halo fanboys took it upon themselves to re-create the entire Landfall film experience as a machinima using Halo 3's game engine. Admittedly, UNSC soldiers are swapped out for Spartans and Brutes are replaced with Elites, but other than that, the video is spot on. Oh how we miss the days when our Halo film dreams were still a possibility ... sigh.

Bryan Simon. You know him and love his Halo 3 themed songs. His latest track "Gold Bars Make You Rich" attempts to start a revolution within the Halo 3 pre-game lobby. Simon asks anytime you spot someone with gold bars, all the way from Master Sergeant to Brigadier General, you should yell out, "Gold bars make you rich!" We'll bite and make sure we do it. Actually, we'll take it a step further and just blast this song in our headset every time we play Halo 3 online. That's what the kids do nowadays, isn't it?

[Thanks, Vanna P.]

Attention collectors: Entertainment Earth has netted the exclusive rights to release this special edition Halo 3 pale-yellow EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) figure. The $15 figure comes complete with needler and flare and ships sometime in April. For those looking to add this to their collection, EE recommends you pre-order soon because the product will be limited. But they always say things are extremely limited... don't they?

[via THEBBPS]

*This guarantee only applies to those who are literate, can follow instructions and have enough artistic skill to glue macaroni to cardboard.

[Thanks, TOMCATS]

Here's an experiment. What would you get if one were to mix traditional Halo 3 multiplayer play with a targeting system, say, like Fallout 3's V.A.T.S.? The answer is something as shown in the video above. It's interesting, sure enough, but we're not sure how much we enjoy V.A.T.S. in the Halo universe. It is definitely not a peanut butter and chocolate combination. That is unless someone could show us how to accurately lineup a teabag using V.A.T.S. Just saying.

[Via GamerSushi]

Sad news for Halo 3 fanboys this weekend. The longstanding tradition of the Double EXP Weekend is on sabbatical this week. Don't worry though, it will be back, stronger than ever very soon. The reason for the missing double EXP only leads to more sadness though. You see, the intended playlist was part of the upcoming Halo 3 update. That would be fine, except the update has been delayed until next Tuesday, so the Double EXP Weekend had to be delayed with it.

At least we have a solid date for the update now. The update is set to contain all kinds of changes, including a new Social Team DLC playlist, Legendary-required Rumble Pit and Social Big Team Battle. Other changes are also planned. We expect we'll hear more by next Tuesday.

For the duration of the weekend, Halo 3 gamers will be able to double their EXP with a fresh, new Grifball Double EXP playlist. Really, what's better then Grifball and twice the EXP per win? Well, maybe triple the EXP or even quadrupole the EXP, but that'd just be overly demanding.

This limited weekend playlist will officially be concluding on Monday, January 12th at 2AM pacific, so begin your hammer and swording activities ASAP. Hit those orange Spartans HARD!

The mid January Halo 3 matchmaking update will bring other changes, including hopper edits, gametype switching and some restructuring. Head over to Bungie.net for all the juicy deets.

Bungie just posted a Spartan sized bundle of Orbital screenshots (some new Assembly screens as well) that give us a pretty good taste of what multiplayer goodness Bungie has in store for us come the Mythic Map Pack's release. We've added the new Orbital screens to the gallery below, so feel free to browse and speculate about the awesomeness to come.


[Thanks, Ibrahim H.]

Remember, the Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack includes the three maps Assembly, Orbital, and Sandbox and releases to the XBLM in March. Sometime around the release of Halo Wars.