Christmas haul

So, here's what I got, with mini reviews!

PS2 Slim- Wow, this thing is tiny. I had the original version of the PS2 years ago (It died), and it was huge compared to this. The slim one is about the size of a trade paperback copy of Watchmen. Smaller, actually. Anyways, it's a nice little system, and, unlike when I switched to an Xbox, the controller didn't take some time to get used to. I also got a memory card for it, which is one thing the original Xbox has over the PS2 AND 360- built in hard drive.

Kingdom Hearts 2- This is why I wanted another PS2. I played the KH games years ago, and was starting to miss them. It's a very Japanese game, in that (Aside from being an RPG and all) there's quite a lot of story and videos and mysteries and what not. The gameplay is excellent. It has a lot of Disney's whimsical feel, which meshes surprisingly well with the Final Fantasy elements. Also, you can fight alongside Jack Skellington on one world. How awesome is that?

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories- The card based fighting system isn't really as good, but the game is still enjoyable. You can still kind of tell that it's an upgraded DS game, though.

Tetris Worlds- It's Tetris. Tetris is, and always has been, perfect.

GameStop Edge card with subscription to Game Informer- Free magazine, and a card to get extra money on trade-ins, and money off used games. This will be particularly useful, as you may have noticed I did not get the first Kingdom Hearts (Apparently the main GameStop here (There's almost as many GameStops as Starbucks, including two right across the street from each other and another two next door to each other) didn't have it).

Clothes- You don't care, but I got some nice pants, shirts and a sweatshirt.

So, what did you get?

Halo 3 Master Chief

There a couple of things I feel I should admit before i start this review. First off, I rather dislike McFarlane Toys (Hereafter referred to as McToys) until about a year ago. You likely know by now that I love great articulation in my figures, and most McToys figures had next to know (McStatues). Three things changed my mind though. First, was buying the great and awesomely articulated Image 10th Anniversary Spawn figure. Next, was conversing with Steve "The Victim" (Who works at McToys) on the Rooster Teeth website. Finally, was the Halo 3 line, the main character of which is the subject of this review.

That brings me to my second admission. I've more or less fallen out of the Halo loop recently.I don't have a 360, so I haven't played Halo 3 or Halo Wars. And I've skipped pretty much everything else since then. However, getting a bunch of these McToys Halo 3 figures has gotten me into it again, so I've been playing the first two games, and I read the first Marvel comic series.

ANYWAYS, the review.

The Master Chief. He has become a video game icon, with his distinctive armor and the mystery surrounding him. Sure, a guy in a mechanical suit of armor might not be the most innovative idea (Iron Man, anyone?), but few games are as fun as the Halo series. Anyways, as this figures is from McToys, the sculpting is superb.Every detailo on the Chief's MJOLNIR armor is covered, from the panel lines to the wrinkles and seams on the black undersuit. McToys has had some issues with paint, but it's well done here. The panels are all outlined in black, which is something Gundam fans have been doing to their toys with markers for years. I also particularly like the brown paint brushed on his feet and shins. I actually looks like mud and dirt. The lighter colored dings on his right chest could be better though.

Now, the articulation. Brace yourself, this might take a while. He has a double balljointed head, balljointed wrists and torso, swivel/pin shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, and toes (yes, toes), swivel biceps, forearms (just by the elbow joint), thighs, and ankles (they also swivel at the top of the joint). As for the hips, well they're a system of swivel and pin joints that replicate the movement of swivel/pin joints. So, not only is the Chief well articulated, but he has extra joints he doesn't even need! This is definitely a turn-around for McToys.

One of the other draws of the Halo games is the large variety of weapons. And the toys don't disappoint. As this is the series three Chief (He's been released with different guns multiple times) he comes with a sniper rifle and a brute spike grenade (Which I forgot to take a picture of...). You might notice the sniper rifle is being held by a Spartan in one of the multiplayer Spartans in EOD armor, while the Chief is dual wielding SMGs. You see, any figure can use any weapon. Anyways, the weapons all have these little removable pegs on the. Each figure has corresponding hles on their back, right thigh, and two on the back of their wast, allowing the figure to carry extra weapons, just like in the game! Pretty awesome, like working holsters on a figure.

And, if you want more weapons, McToys has recently released a weapons pack with 2 Brute Spikers, 2 shotguns, 2 plasma pistols, 2 plasma rifles, 2 SMGs, a fuel rod cannon, a Spartan laser, 2 plasma grenades, and 2 frag grenades. Yeah. A lot of stuff.

So. This is a great figure. Even if you're not into Halo the Chief is a well made, fun figure. Most of the figures in the line are like this. They're pretty much everywhere, so you should be able to find them.

That's the Chief and Sgt. Johnson fighting a Jump Pack Brute.

~ Raw/Monty