Data Pads are in game hidden items in the campaign of Halo: Reach. There is one Data pad on each level, and they’re well hidden.

If you want to learn the locations of the data pads, check out the Halo Reach Data Pads Location page.

Well, we’d like to do it again, and we think we can make things a little more interesting this time. If Bungie decides to implement skulls in Reach, we’d like to start a massive skull hunt for Halo Reach… with prizes.

Head on over to our new Halo Reach Skulls page to see how finding a Skull in the upcoming Halo title will win you $100. You must be the first person to find the skull (so don’t let word get out until you’ve proven your first!), and you must be able to accept payments via PayPal.

That is, unless you’ve read through our Halo 3: ODST Firefight Strategy Guide. It’s full of handy tips and tricks to put you ahead of the game while all of your friends eat the Covenants dirt.

Trust us, this game is tough—and this guide will help you adjust to some of the changes from Halo 3. You’ll need to switch up your strategy a bit from the good’ol days if you wanna stay sharp and score big.

In Halo 3: ODST, there are 30 audio logs scattered across the Mombasa Streets. The transmissions can only be gathered by the Rookie at while exploring the night time city.

Each transmissions tells a part of a story—it doesn’t matter what order they are collected in. The Rookie can collect them at various stations/phones/equipment around Mombasa at night. Collecting the transmissions unlocks 4 achievements worth 125gs:

• Listener: Found the First Audio Log
• Tuned In: Found 3 Audio Logs
• All Ears: Found 15 Audio Logs
• Listener: Found all 30 audio logs

The Audio logs can be collected alone, or in cooperative play. The transmissions can only be discovered in the Normal, or above Normal difficulty settings.

The First 29 Audio Logs [SPOILERS]

This Section contains spoilers!

The story told through the audio logs is the story of a girl named Sadie, her father, and sub-routine of the Superintendent programmed by Sadie’s Father named Virgil. The events told through the logs take place during the Covenant invasion of New Mombasa.

While roaming the streets of Mombasa, keep an eye out for flashing lights, and an ear open for clanging coins, sirens, and phones. Listening and looking for these signals almost always is a sign for a nearby audio log. In total, you will find 29 audio logs in the Mombasa Streets (which is playable to it’s fullest extent after you reach the mission “Data Hive“.

It’s highly recommended you search for the first 29 logs before reading on.

The Final Audio Log

During the story told in the first 29 logs, we learn that commissioner has already killed Sadie’s Father by freezing him to death in the chambers underground that house the Superintendent.

If you play through the level “Data Hive“, you may recall encountering a helper in the level just before dropping down to floor nine. As you drop down, you can hear him on his radio getting overtaken by drones and listen as he dies.

That is, if you haven’t already collected the first 29 audio logs.

If you have the 29 logs, he’ll actually live on. Ahead of this drop is an area covered in ice. As soon as you finish off hostiles in the area, your buddy shouts, “Trooper hold up a second, I gotta check up on a little… Personnel Issue.”

The man runs ahead to a door where ice has enveloped most of the surrounding area. He bickers for a moment with Virgil, and the door opens. He warns you to stay outside and watch for hostiles.

We’re quite interested in what’s inside this room though. Follow him inside, and he begins to argue with you.

“Kinsler gave me real specific instructions. Make sure the docs dead… and make sure no one knows about it. Sorry friend, you know too much.”

At this point, he becomes your enemy. Take him out, and the final audio log is on the wall.

While there are a total of 10 Firefight maps in ODST, several of the maps are locked by default until their respective levels are completed in campaign mode.

The Unlockable Firefight missions and their respective missions in Halo 3: ODST are listed below:

• Alpha Site: ONI Alpha Site
• Chasm Ten: Data Hive
• Last Exit: Coastal Highway

It’s possible to play as Veronica (DARE), a female ODST who sports the Recon Helmet in Halo 3: ODST. The Recon Helmet is the only helmet that can be customized in color.

To unlock the Recon Helmet in ODST, you must complete the campaign in Legendary Mode. If it’s your first play through, you should get 4 achievements for completing campaign on the Legendary Difficulty setting for 350gs.

All of the Mythic Map Pack Skulls have been found in Halo 3!

This morning, we completed the search for Halo 3 Skulls by finding the Longshore Skull, Citadel Skull, and Heretic Skull in the new Mythic Maps.

The Mythic Maps will be released on September 22nd with the release of Halo 3: ODST. If you want to find the skulls yourself, do not click on the links above.

We’ll have more updates soon with additional information from ODST!

Just a last minute note here that I’ll once again be at the Penny Arcade Expo, and once again I’ll be keeping our Twitter feed updated with all the latest hooplah that will inevitably be going on there. A fair deal of it will probably be Grifball related, as I’m on a panel there for the “online sport,” due to me being an administrator over at Grifball.com and the official Grifball league.

The updates should start coming in later today when I hop on my flight to Vancouver and then Seattle, and the gaming stuff (with the exception of a possible dinner/party with whoever’s there tonight that I might know) should start updating tomorrow morning when I sneak into the exhibition hall a couple hours ahead of the enormous line of gamers.

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