Some thoughts on Halo 4

Ok, now after having Halo 4 for about two months, I'll post a few of my opinions on the game!

Overview and the Campaign

Here we go again!

I had some serious doubts about 343 Industries taking over the Halo saga after Bungie, but those doubts vanished really quickly once I started playing Halo 4. In fact, it only needed the simple yet elegant start screen =D With the image of the Forerunner planet Requiem and just plain space with awesome piece of music, I was feeling really excited already.

First thing you'll notice is that the game is beautiful, really really beautiful! It took me few minutes just to move to the next room because I was gazing at the details and the super rich light effects Halo 4 has. It's amazing how smooth the game still runs, I mean it's still the same old Xbox 360 hardware! The controls are little re-arranged, there's more armor capabilities and weapons, but overall it feels very familiar.

I'm not going to go into the details of the story of Halo 4, except that it's actually a love story! Yes, believe it or not. One epic love story, starring Master Chief and Cortana, who after 8 years of service is starting to deteriorate since artificial intelligences' "best-before" date is at 7 years. Sure, there is a super villain Forerunner called Didact on the Requiem (where MC ended up in the Legendary ending of Halo 3). Didact is on a mission to destroy mankind and Earth, but preventing that has been made a second-in-line concern over the health of Cortana. Rescuing her is the priority for Master Chief. We've all used to seeing them together over the course of 10 years so emotionally it works so that the player too wants to keep Cortana alive. We've seen Master Chief save the world quite some times already, so it's good he has new priorities - to keep his lady Cortana alive. Awesome!

Cortana looks better than ever even though her mind is troubled!

I think the campaign is more cinematic than before, well, maybe in Halo 2 they had as much of cutscenes and spoken lines. At least that's how it felt like. In Halo 4 there is a lot of in-game talk between Cortana and MC, which is great. Also the facial animations are much much better and realistic than what they were in Reach.

On the minus side of the campaign are the usual things: It's too short and frankly, I think it was way too easy. Playing a game on a skill level called Legendary should be like pain all the way through, having to repeat each and every scene a million times. But in Halo 4 there were only few places where that occurred. Oh, and another complaint is the variety of the maps. I liked it that there were maps for all vechiles and stuff, but to me it felt like too much time inside Forerunner or human constructions ( = boring environment). So kind of repetitive levels in that sense, would've liked more nature themed maps etc.

Multiplayer games

I'll put it simple: Halo 4 has the most advanced multiplayer games of any Halos, in my opinion. There are plenty of new things, e.g. showing vechiles and special weapons on the HUD radar and having all kinds of tactical set ups for your armor. All this makes it seemingly easier for the player, but the variety of different armor combinations creates many many strategies each player can follow. However, this is also a downside and some people might not like the extended complexity. For instance I'm stuck to the very basic: having infinite speed boost, grenade damage boost, Promethean vision (see through walls) and long distance guns. I admit, should try all other options too, but I'm too lazy... Despite the changes, the gameplay still feels familiar and you can get into it pretty quickly.

Classic game types are there too, but with new twists. In capture the flag, for example, the flag carrier can now also use his Magnum while carrying the flag!

There is a nice amount of game types, one of the new ones is Regicide where top scorer is the King and the rest of the players try to kill him, fun! There's two really big new concepts in Halo 4, first is Spartan Ops which is like a continuing Campaign Add-On, chapters that you can play either solo or online. Second thing is the Infinity slayer that is enabled in many gamelists. The game gives you bonuses for good tricks and kills you make in the game. Once a certain point level is reached, you can pick a weapon/armor ability out of three choices. And I like it that there is much more medals and things you get awarded on, like driving the flag carrier back to your home base is something you previously had to do with no personal benefit.

One thing that is much better in Halo 4 compared to Reach is the multiplayer maps that come out of box. They've been specifically made to suit multiplayer games and they're not just campaign map rip-offs like in Reach. The maps are really beautiful, like big team slayer map Exile (see video below). Also, I like the fact that there's no mechanical Forge maps in the multiplayer game, at least not yet.

Full HD gameplay sample from big team multiplayer map Exile. (My nick is AliquisNJ and as you can see, I'm not very pro =D But say hi if you bump into me in a game!)

Concolusion

I'd say Halo 4 continues the tradition of epic storylines, beautiful graphics and music with the greatest feature being the multiplayer games that simply rock!

Oh, and Happy New Year folks! =)

Nokia Lumia 800 with WP7

Happy new year everyone! I hope this year will be happy for Nokia as well since it's pretty much the make-or-break year for the Windows Phone platform that Nokia is now relying on. The first flagship of this new era, the Lumia 800, has been out for a couple of months now already and I got my own early December, SIM-free/unlocked from Amazon Germany. Here's some of my thoughts on the device.


Design and screen

The reason why I wanted exactly this WP7 phone was the design. The phone is shaped out of single piece of polycarbonate and this approach makes it look simply elegant. The phone has sharp edges on top and bottom, but has rounding in the depth-axis and edges so it feels good in hand. Also the polycarbonate as a material feels surprisingly solid, and in cool temperatures it doesn't turn cold like metal bodies would. There's just a couple of buttons visible: volume, power and camera.

You can see some unboxing pictures to see what's in the retail package of Lumia 800.

One major part of the beautiful design of the device is the curved glass 3.7" AMOLED screen that unites into the body of the device seamlessly. The screen is strong Gorilla Glass so it shouldn't get scratches very easily. The screen is very responsive and the curving makes it pleasant to use. The ClearBlack technology on the AMOLED screen means that the black colors truly are black, unlike on backlit screen technologies. The screen also produces more vibrant and brighter colors than regular LCD displays. In bright sunlight, the screen is still very readable, unlike many other phones I've seen that tend to reflect the bright environment on their screen surface. When using the black theme on Windows Phone, it all looks absolutely brilliant.

But the screen has some lacks too. Despite otherwise excellent viewing angle the screen has a green/blue tint that is most visible when there's plenty of white background, like webpages and email app. The other downside is the pen tile technology used on the screen. It makes the WP7 standard 480x800 resolution look less than that. In fact, text is more readable and sharper on my HTC Radar that has lower pixel density due to slightly larger screen.

The greenish tint is visible in when viewed in different angles (Lumia 800 on the background, HTC Radar in front)


Camera

One main reason for me to get a Lumia 800 was the camera. The specs are good - an 8M pixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and HD video (720p). I wanted the phone to replace my old point-and-shoot camera.

Knowing Nokia's history with good camera phones the quality of the photos turned out disappointing. On mixed artificial light conditions the photos have an odd green tint and even on some day time photos the photos turn somewhat greenish. In some conditions there's even more odd, deep green or red square color spot in the middle. I have no idea how it can result such results since before pressing down the camera button, it looks good on the screen. From what I've read on the net, it is a software bug that Nokia has promised to fix. I hope this is the case.

Otherwise the photos are good quality. Maybe slightly blurry but ok in  general. The 720p HD video looks very sharp and correct in colors. The auto focus just has some hard time finding the right focus which makes annoying focusing moments on otherwise solid video. I recommend taking focus on your target once and then quickly change the auto focus setting off (this works well in long distance landscape videos).

You can see some sample HD video samples at my YouTube channel (The Dubai videos are all shot with Lumia 800). You can also view some Lumia 800 sample photos.


Software

One of the advantages of a Nokia device over other Windows Phone devices is the software. Microsoft and Nokia reportedly have a unique agreement that gives Nokia more freedom to do stuff with their phones.

Most important Nokia-only built-in software is the Drive application that is a fully functional, voice guided GPS Navigator. From what I have tested, it works well and the interface is very simple. It lacks in features though, but for basic use it's all you need. You can also download maps to your phone so that cellular data usage will be minimal. I hope that they will make the Drive application support full offline mode which could be useful abroad where you don't have a cellular data plan on use. There is also Nokia Maps, which is a pleasant mapping feature for pedestrian use.  It features point-by-point walking navigation, search for popular places and satellite and public transport map views.

Other major Nokia software is the Nokia Music app, but I haven't unfortunately used it much. It features a streaming Mix radio with different channels, mp3 store and a gigs near me finder. Music lovers probably will like it.

My favorite apps on Lumia 800, Foursquare and Sportstracker, utilize the neat metro style user interface of Windows Phone 7.5. Lockscreen and home view on the second row.


Performance an other

Lumia 800 works seamlessly and swiftly throughout. The processor is 1.4 Ghz which is high-end among WP7 devices. The other major specs are good too - 512 MB RAM and 16 GB storage that are enough for most of the people's needs. On some occasions the physical Windows buttons on the bottom of the device seem to be too close to the actual screen and cause unintentional presses.

The Lumia 800 comes with a plastic cover for the phone with the original packaging which is a nice move by Nokia.

The battery power seems quite weak. In active use the phone needs to be re-charged in less than 24 hours. In regular use it still manages just something like 1,5 days. It feels odlly short time and I  hope this is also some of the bugs Nokia will fix with an software update.

Some people might find it disappointing too that there is no front-facing camera nor NFC. Both of those features are present in the Meego N9 that initially introduced us to the magnificent polycarbonate design that Lumia 800 also has. For full technical specs, you can check out GSM Arena's Nokia Lumia 800 page.


Final notes

I can tell you, I waited for this phone for months very eagerly. I had something like 4 different pre-orders from websites in various Lumia 800 launch countries because Nokia decided not to release it in Finland in first wave.

The phone met most of my expectations but unlike the usual Nokia quality it had some lacks and bugs. This might be because of the amazingly fast schedule Nokia pushed a phone with a Windows Phone ecosystem - less than a year from the announcement to move into a totally new mobile environment.

After using the phone for about a month, I am, despite the bugs very pleased with the phone. It is pleasant to use, and the overall user experience couldn't be much better. If Nokia manages to fix the camera and battery oddities, great. Despite the lack in some hardware specs, it still is a very good phone. But you should try it before buying. I can imagine, for example, that the display isn't optimal for reading experience if that's what you mostly use your phone for. On the other hand, it's great for games and other media stuff.

Despite being named as the current flagship phone, Nokia probably has plans to introduce something even better in the near future. After all, the "800" in Nokias new naming method clearly leaves room for even more powerful flagship phones. The rumors talk about Lumia 900. We'll have to wait and see.

HTC Radar with WP7

I have now been using my HTC Radar for about a week and here's some of my thoughts of it in brief. I also added sample photos and couple videos for you to see.


Windows Phone 7.5 'Mango'

For the past few years I had been using Apple's iPhone 3G, a great phone, but badly outdated by now. I could've stayed in the iOS 'ecosystem' but decided to try something new - WP7. When I got my hands on the HTC Radar, it was my very first experience with the Microsoft developed mobile OS. Previously I had never seen or tried a WP7 phone anywhere, except for YouTube videos.

Considering the background, the switch from iOS was surprisinly easy and pleasant. Maybe it was because I'm tech-oriented guy. Nonetheless, the WP7 operating system is very nice. It's different from iOS or Android, and fits somwhere in between them, in my opinion. The logic is different from the two most popular mobile systems, but after a short while you'll get used to it. Most notable are the features of Live Tiles on the home screen and the Metro style UI.

Live tiles are more than the typical icons on iOS and Android because they show much more information. E.g. "Me" tile shows notifications from social media apps, calendar shows upcoming events, etc. etc. Metro style is in use in most of the apps, the logic is that different views inside the app are horizontally arrangend. You move between these views with familiar swipe gesture. Live tiles are colored according to the current theme color and it can be changed from the settings at any moment.

 WP7 application count is growing at fast pace with some 40 000 apps currently available at the Marketplace. Many of the most popular apps are already available, such as Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and WhatsApp. There are some nice "WP7 specific" things, such as pre-installed Office suite and of course Xbox Live that is really nice addition to a mobile device! It makes it's easier to keep up with Xbox Live friends and it's more fun to collect achievements from games on your phone rather than just playing them without such goals.

The Windows Phone slogan "Put people first" is apt. One of the cool features of the OS is "people hub" that integrates your contact info from all social medias and accounts into one place. Then, by tapping a person you can choose which way to contact him/her, whether it's a post on Facebook wall or SMS. You can also arrange people into groups and tap contacts to the start screen.

Some of the settings where rather hard to find or I wasn't unable to find them at all. Sometimes (mostly in the early stage) it was also difficult to understand that the physical "back" button on the phone itself also applies to moving within the applications.

Other than that, WP7 is easy to use, swift and - imho - looks gorgeous.


HTC Radar

General

My first impression of the phone was: surprisingly elegant. HTC Radar is packed in a neat, clean package with not too much of extra materials. Once I took the phone out of the box, it looked and felt great: the grey metallic body was quite sleek and it had a feeling of better quality than what I expected.

Sure, it sorf of looks like the most of the usual smartphones out there, but itlooks great anyway. It's almost identical in the size with my iPhone 3G (Radar: 120.5 x 61.5 x 10.9 mm, iPhone: 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm) with a little taller and slimmer design.

Setting up the phone was easy by following the on-screen instructions. Sadly though, my SIM-card didn't have any contact so I had to manually insert people who were not on my Facebook or Window Live services. I hope the transition to my next phone will be easier, though I doubt it.


Screen

The screen in HTC Radar is 3.8" in size and with the WP7 standard of 800x480 pixels it gives a very nice resolution of around 246 ppi. To me, it was a positive surprise to realize how sharp the screens in the smartphones are these days. The text is so sharp that you basically don't see the pixels anymore. Also the viewing angle is great (comparing to my old phone).

The glossy surface of the damage resistant Gorilla Glass display looks and feels great, although it reflects lamp lights etc. in "right" angles. The automatic brightness level setting seems to work well and I like to keep it on.


Camera

The camera on HTC Radar is a 5 Mpx with a F2.2 lens that gives a bit more wider angle and better low-light photography than perhaps the average cameras on other phones (it's getting more common I think, though). The photo quality is OK: looked up close the pictures are quite blurry on flat surfaces, but for any online use they scale down to be great. Photos taken on daylight can also qualify for regular print photos, but not any larger print than that I think. But what I really love is the simplicity of taking a photo: even when the phone is in lock screen, you can start the camera quickly by pressing down the camera button.

Once in the camera mode, you can either choose to take pictures with the physical camera button, or tap on the screen to focus and shoot on a specified target. You can also access the many options and settings of the camera while in the camera mode. I especially love the Panorama mode that helps you take panorama pictures by stitching 3 photos into one as you turn your camera horizontally. Very easy and great way to capture landscapes etc. Click the link to see some of my HTC Radar sample pictures

HTC Radar can also capture 720p HD video that seems to be quite good in quality. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to really test it in life, but you can see some of my not-so-great test videos on YouTube: HTC Radar HD video sample 1 | HTC Radar HD video sample 2

HTC Radar also has a front facing camera, but that I haven't had a chance to test in any way. Guess it'll be useful if you like to make video calls.


Software

The phone came pre-installed with some HTC specific apps, but I haven't found them that much useful since there are many other apps that can take their place (weather apps, photo editing tools). But when getting started, they were a good addition.

Talking about the photo editing apps, it's great how easily you can edit the photos on your phone. Once you've taken a picture on your phone you can directly open it in your favorite image editing app from the camera roll. Then, after editing the photo is saved in Saved pictures folder.

One absolutely great thing is the easy of sharing pictures and videos into social media: just tap on the share action and you can choose to which services you wish to share that picture, whether it's Facebook, Twitter, email or SkyDrive. One thing to notice: the built-in share feature compresses the images into smaller size, so if you want to upload the full resolution image, you need to use specific app of that service, e.g. Facebook. Many of these share and other features are part of the WP7 system and it has been just a thrill for me to find and use them on this my first WP7 device.

One of the not so great experiences is the syncing the of the phone with my computer that happens to be a Mac. There is an Mac application for this use and the interface is nice and easy to understand, but when syncing it uses iPhoto which I don't use, and getting iTunes music to the phone seems to be blocked because of some DRM things. But you can get files off the phone with direct file download, which I tend to use now. It's a shame the phone doesn't shop up on desktop as a USB memory or a connected camera like the iPhone does.


Some final thoughts

The price tag for HTC Radar is very compelling, since it's a mid-range smartphone and not the flagship phone or even flagship WP7 phone of HTC (Titan is). There are some lack of hardware: the processor isn't the best of all with 1Ghz but it's enough to run almost everything very smoothly. The only case so far I've had a slight lag is on some games with alot of stuff going on. Radar doesn't have a compass either, so some apps will miss it.

On the other hand, HTC Radar has most of the stuff a modern smartphone should have: great screen, good camera with HD video, GPS, front facing camera, tons of sensors for games and apps to use etc. etc.

For regular use HTC Radar has all you need, it looks and feels good and it's nicely priced. WP7 is worth trying and if you don't require the most top-notch phone, HTC Radar might be a great choice for you.


You can find detailed technical specifications of HTC Radar here: http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_radar-4131.php