REVIEW: Mega Bloks HALO UNSC Night Ops Gausshog

[JeffSaylor]

The Prometheans Don't Stand A Chance...

New from Mega Bloks’ HALO line up is the crazy awesome UNSC Night Ops Gausshog. With 239 pieces, not only is this set a total blast while building, it’s also a ton of fun as a finished product. Included with the vehicle are three collectible characters: UNSC Spartan Warrior Green, UNSC Spartan Pathfinder Green, and a Promethean Knight Lancer.

UNSC stands for the United Nations Space Command, a military unit in the world of the incredibly popular game, HALO. This Gausshog is a light-armor variant of the Warthog LRV, equipped with a 360 degree rotating Gauss Cannon and features working suspension and specially engineered floodlights. Those features are actually part of the toy’s design, but more on that later.

The Promethean Knight Lancer is a menacing creature with robotic components that make him quite a foe to our HALO Spartans. He is equipped not only with regular arms but with a Suppressor weapon and a Hooked Sword as well. The Lancer is also pretty well articulated with eleven points of articulation and other opening flaps and panels.

The two Spartan figures all have 11 points of articulation and sport unique individual sculpts. It would have been quite convenient for Mega Bloks to make generic bodies with different helmets and call it a day, but these figures are very much different indeed complete with different paint details to boot. The included weapons for the Spartans are a railgun and a shotgun.

The Gausshog vehicle, what can I say, is a lot of fun. Whereas some Lego creations are really compact and don’t give you a lot of space, the gausshog has large seating areas for your Halo Spartan guys to sit and also space to man the cannon in the back. This is a beast of a vehicle and with its built in suspension, should have no problem running over everything in its path.

Building the Gausshog, Mega Bloks provides a full color instruction booklet making it a breeze. The marbled building blocks are a neat feature, making the vehicle look that much more worn and weathered without additional paint or decals on our end. The jeep has an opening door for the rear for added convenience.

Decals are the last touch to make the Gausshog ready for play but there’s just one additional feature that makes this a stand out from the rest: lights and sounds! With a push on the hood, the authentic in-game sounds can be heard, with the sound of the Gausshog’s engine starting up. Another push activates the lights once again but with cannon sounds. Further pushes reveal even more sounds from the various weapons used in Halo.

Running at about $32.99 retail, the Gausshog is a must for HALO fans and also fans of awesome toys in general. I wouldn’t consider myself a huge HALO fan but anyone can appreciate some cool armored soldiers and a kick-*** jeep to drive around. Look for the Gausshog and other HALO vehicles wherever Mega Bloks are sold.

Review and Photography by David Yeh

Review Sample Courtesy of Mega Bloks

---