As you all should know by now, the classic Halo CE map, "Chill Out", is being updated and added to the roster for Halo 3. That fact, along with a few tantalizing screenshots, is all we've said on the matter thus far. In keeping with our tradition of teasing our fans and flaunting our early access to new content, along with the obvious desire to build up hype and feed your hunger for Cold Storage, we recently played an internal humpday against our old rivals, the "Wonder Triplets."  The full results are below but let's just say that last I heard, it was still pretty hot in hell and no pigs have been seen flying.

The Line-Ups

Community Team

• soisoisoisoi = Lukems, (aka The guy who always seems to have a BR, Sniper and Rocket and be standing in a regenerator field.)
• Shishka1 = Shishka! Guy who runs the Halo 3 matchmaking stuff.
• Sketch = Sketch, duh.  Schmoozer and PR type guy. Luke's unofficial boss.

Our dream team lineup returns with Shiska, Luke and myself forming the upstairs community roster.  I have to put a caveat out there that I have not had time to play Halo 3 much at all in the past few months. As such, my once slightly above average skills have atrophied a bit and I wasn't really sure how that would translate in this critical match.  Thankfully, it wouldn't prove to be a problem. In fact, playing against the "Trips" is one of the most empowering, uplifting Halo experiences of my life. Now I know how those hardcore professional players must feel when they go into a social matchmaking playlist.

The Wonder Triplets

• AgendTinman = AGDTinman, Bungie artist
• C4rnnn One = Carlos, aka The guy who looks like just like the creepy bad guy from "No Country for Old Men."
• Stoshy = Stosh.  The guy who left out the shotgun on the Cold Storage map and who takes blame for all mistakes, period.

I'm not entirely sure how this team got the endearing moniker of "Wonder Triplets" but it probably goes back to the time we were playing against them on a pre-release version of Ghost Town where Stosh and Carlos thought it'd be a great idea to get into a Mongoose and drive around, at which point I recall telling Luke, "Oh, here comes the Wonder Twins on their Mongoose again."  And thus, a legend was born. Technicaly Tinman just kind of fell into that category by association but that's the way it goes.

Game One - Team Slayer

You'd think we would start out rusty or take some time to hit our stride, but that's the great thing about playing the Trips, no warm-up is needed. Here's a visual recap of some highlights from the match.

The Blue Team did a good job sticking together but not even the warm embrace of a Regenerator can keep Stosh alive.



The Needler can be really effective in the wide open areas... when in the hands of a skilled opponent that is.



That's Luke with the Rocket. If it was in play, chances are it's in his hands.



Luke + Regenerator > Stosh + AR



Run Stosh, Run!

Final Results :  Red Team  50,  Blue Team 28  (Steaktacular!)

Luke led the winning team with 21 kills compard to Sketch's 16 and Shishka's 13. On the Blue Team, it was TinMan leading the pack with 11, followed by Stoshy with 9, Carlos with 8.

Game Two - Team King

This would prove to be a very close match, with the lead changing places many times before the the final point was won.

The concentrated chaos of King results in a lot of flying bodies. In this case, Carlos' body.



Oh look, it's Luke and he's got the Sniper Rifle and Rockets. And Active Camo. Imagine that!



Stosh gets sweet justice on Shishka in the Flood containment room.



Shishka puts the smack down on Blue Team.



That Flood pureform has a nice view of Stosh's demise.



Smack. Down.

Final Results:  Red Team 200, Blue Team 176

Despite a strong mid-game rally and a dozen lead changes, the Red Team recovers to hold on and win by a hair.

Game Three - Lowball

This game was actually played a few days later and as a result, we switched the team colors around. In these pics, The Community Team is playing on Blue, the Wonder Triplets are Red. Would the change in colors help change the outcome?

The Blue Team more or less controlled this corridor the entire match. No you can not has my skull.



This encounter would prove to end unfavorably for Shishka.



You are the wind beneath my wings.



Luke demonstrates that the skull beats BR at this close range.



The Red Team did a great job sticking together... they just didn't have the Oddball at the time.

Final Results : Blue Team 25, Red Team 15

This match was actually a lot more lopsided than the score indicates. For starters, we actually thought we needed to hold onto the ball for 100 seconds each before switching people. In reality we only needed 25 seconds each. So, for the first 200 ticks we more or less just sat in the upstairs hallway, denying entry to anyone on the Red Team who tried to penetrate.  Shishka held it for 112, Sketch had 108 and then we realized Luke only needed a mere 25 to win.

On the Red Team, it was Tinman leading the charge with 15.  Stosh never touched the ball once.

Game Four - Team Slayer

I know, we generally only play three official games. But since the fourth one was so lopsided and honestly, not entirely fun, we figured we would play one last game to give the Trips a shot at redemption.

In the opening seconds Sketch beats the Red Team to the overshield and then we wipe their team.



Luke with Rockets. Again. Adding two more to his opening spree of 11 straight kills.

Final Results : Blue Team 50, Red Team 31.

We managed to win this one but the Red Team denied our Steaktacular. Luke's opening hot streak catapulted us to a fairly easy win, despite fairly strong showings from AgdTinman (12 kills) and Carlos (11 kills). Poor Stosh came in last with 8 kills, all the while blaming their loss on his teammates.  Clearly they self-destructed from within. 

I for one hope that the Wonder Triplets are still willing to play us again in the future. I imagine it has to wear down a team to lose game after game but hey, things can only get better.  And as someone who seldom gets to play as much as I would like and maintains a rather rusty skillset, I need these guys as opponents to boost my ego!

Thanks to everyone, especially the Trips, for their help in this fun promotional exercise.  We'll have more to say about Cold Storage in the very near future!