Halo 4

[SinisterAlex]

Re: Halo 4

Looking good. Can't wait till it drops!

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Halo 4

Awesome looking box art:

[EpicGingy]

Re: Halo 4

If I knew nothing about the game but saw that box art I would be instantly sold.

Best. Box Art. Ever.

[SinisterAlex]

Re: Halo 4

Halo 4 Limited Edition announced, no Legendary Edition planned.

http://halo.xbox.com/blogs/Headlines/post/2012/05/16/The-Halo-Bulletin-51612.aspx

Halo 4 Limited Edition

Available for preorder today, the Halo 4 Limited Edition maximizes your multiplayer experience and puts you in the boots of a Spartan-IV aboard the UNSC Infinity – the hub of your Halo multiplayer career.

The Halo 4 Limited Edition will be available at the estimated retail price of $99.99 and includes:


• War Games Map Pack Access

The competitive multiplayer modes of Halo 4 are known as War Games. The Limited Edition includes access to nine maps - three future competitive multiplayer map packs, each including three locations, available for download post-launch on Xbox LIVE. Yes, you read that correctly; you get nine maps in the form of future DLC with the purchase of the Halo 4 Limited Edition. Score!


• Specializations

Everyone will have access to select Specializations, but those that purchase the Halo 4 Limited Edition will receive the ability to unlock six Specializations early, available at launch on Xbox LIVE. You can use them, one at a time, to achieve higher ranks in your Spartan career. In addition to gaining access to new ranks, Specializations unlock new customization options. We’ll be releasing more information about Specializations at E3, so expect additional details about this particular feature then.


• UNSC Infinity Briefing Packet

The UNSC Infinity Briefing Packet includes a Spartan armor customization schematic, information about UNSC weapons, an introduction to the massive ship UNSC Infinity, and insight into what it means to be one of humanity’s finest warriors: The Spartan-IVs. Story lovers will especially enjoy this in-fiction offering that provides a glimpse into the indoctrination of Spartans aboard the Infinity.


• Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Special Edition

The Special Edition of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is a 90-minute extended version of the live-action digital series which will take fans back to the terrifying beginning of the Human/Covenant war, when the Master Chief inspired a young cadet who would eventually become a leader aboard the UNSC’s greatest vessel ever: the UNSC Infinity.

Digital content also includes in-fiction bonus content that expands the characters and stories of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, special featurette Bringing Gaming into Reality, and a behind the scenes look at the making of Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.


• Bonus digital content through Xbox LIVE

The Limited Edition includes the following bonus digital content through Xbox LIVE: unique in-game Spartan-IV armor skin, unique in-game weapon skin for the Assault Rifle, an exclusive in-game emblem, Xbox LIVE Avatar prop, and Xbox LIVE Avatar Spartan IV armor set.


Right about now you may be wondering, “If all those things come with the Limited Edition, what are they going to put in the Legendary Edition?” Here is the answer to that question: There will be two options available at retail for Halo 4 - the regular version of the game and the aforementioned Limited Edition. We decided to focus our efforts on a single special edition instead of numerous ones so you wouldn’t have to pick and choose between what ancillary items you want. Now your primary choice is whether or not you just want the game, or the game along with all the goodies. And we’re hoping we made that decision an easy one for you…

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Halo 4

Basically, they are selling the season pass with the special edition.

[Steel5]

Re: Halo 4

I'll probably get the limited edition just to have that DLC paid for already.

Also, the case for it looks awesome:

[EpicGingy]

Re: Halo 4

Since I can't get xbox live at the moment I just stick with the standard game pack. But man that case sure does look sexy...

[Flawless]

Re: Halo 4

Halo Bulletin

As the lights dimmed and we began watching what you’ll soon be seeing (and playing if you’re attending E3), our excitement level went from a slow simmer to a full, out of control, jumping-out-of-the-pot boil. We’ve been working on our E3 presentation and booth experience for weeks - and the game for years. While the reveals up to this point have been on the small side, we’re excited at the prospect of finally lifting our proverbial skirt and showing you exactly what we’ve got.

Don’t worry; we shaved our legs. And yes, that includes Frankie.

In an effort to not spoil any of the upcoming reveals (Spartan Ops and gameplay and new enemies, oh my!)

...

Geoff Keighley@geoffkeighley

Monday, don't miss the fist 10 minutes of Xbox briefing for Halo 4 world premiere. Sneak peek from my visit to 343:

<div style="background-color:#000000;width:520px;"><div style="padding:4px;"><embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:moses:video:gametrailers.com:730801" width="512" height="288" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" base="." flashVars=""></embed><p style="text-align:left;background-color:#FFFFFF;padding:4px;margin-top:4px;margin-bottom:0px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;">Get More: <a href="http://www.gametrailers.com">GameTrailers.com</a>, <a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2012-e3-2012/730801">E3 2012 - E3 2012: Halo 4 Xbox Evolved Promo HD</a>, <a href="http://pc.gametrailers.com/">PC Games</a>, <a href="http://ps3.gametrailers.com/">PlayStation 3</a>, <a href="http://xbox360.gametrailers.com/">Xbox 360</a></p></div></div>

...

Chief looking boss:

[EpicGingy]

Re: Halo 4

I'm looking forward to finally seeing who the main enemy of this trilogy will be. This E3 conference is gonna be so awesome

[Flawless]

Re: Halo 4




...

Frank O’Connor talks about Halo 4

“I can tell you it picks up right after the events of Halo 3, Master Chief and (his ship’s artificial intelligence character) Cortona are lost in space,” said O’Connor.

“They passed through a slip space portal and end up in an unknown region of space, and they come into an orbit around a very mysterious world, which looks artificial from the exterior, at least,” says O’Connor, careful about what he will reveal.

“We’re going to pay that off. We’re very committed to making sure that our story continues the narrative and is absolutely true to the universe. We’re not trying to reset anything”

“The Chief isn’t suddenly going to be spouting monologues and speaking volumes more than he ever did in the past, but you’re definitely going to be learning more about him as a person.”

O’Connor says that there will be more focus on exploration of the new planet.

As well, there will be a new game play mode called Spartan Ops and a new online addition that embraces a free episode downloads.

Spartan Ops is “a co-operative multiplayer experience, with really significant story components, with what we think is a really innovative, almost broadcast model, where every week you’ll get a new episode of fiction and in that new episode will be five playable sequences. That’s actually really exciting, and the story itself is really meaningful and ties back to the campaign and is kind of a through-line for the narrative.”

“To be perfectly blunt, we’ve got higher fidelity cinematics and better technology, so we’re able to tell stories in a much more compelling and I think convincing way,” O’Connor says.

Frank O'Connor on Halo 4 – 'Spartan Ops could run for years'

The idea of Spartan Ops as an episodic adventure is an interesting one. What was the thinking there?

Well, we talked about some of the independent components of that separately. We talked about what would be a cool co-op experience, what would be a cool fiction ... but ultimately, it came down to this conversation we had a few years ago about, what is a really interesting water cooler experience as it relates to video games? People will typically buy a new game, they'll talk about the big set-pieces in that game, and then they'll move on to the multiplayer component, and often just stop talking about it.

We wanted gamers to have a continual water cooler conversation that revolves around shared gameplay experiences. So if you have four people working together to get through these missions and then watching and experiencing fiction at the same time ... it's not that you have to go and blow up a reactor and then you watch a cinematic sequence of a reactor blowing up; it's real characters with really significant universe-changing events going on in the narrative.

We have the Spartan Ops story mapped out, at least loosely, for a few years. The first season is very rigid at this point and we know where this story goes. If it's successful, if people enjoy it, we have a narrative arc that can last for years, with a known beginning, a middle and an end.

So if we're talking about multi-season interactive episodic content, there's quite a cost to developing that. Will you be charging at some point?

The first season is absolutely free if you buy either the special edition or the regular edition - that's a really significant amount of content; it's being compared to an entire campaign on top of the one that ships with the game.

Yes, it's a lot of content and yes it's an expense, but we think it's worthwhile. Halo has long tradition of doing innovative things: Halo 2 had Xbox Live multiplayer; Halo 3 had social and sharing aspects. It's a tradition that goes back to the first game and we wanted to continue that spirit of experimentation. But this works, it's fun and it's testing really well. It's going to be interesting to see if those water cooler conversations emerge organically and naturally. We have our fingers crossed that they will.

With the War Games online multiplayer content, a few gamers have voiced fears that the customisable load-outs and character progression elements are moving the series closer to Call of Duty. How would you allay those fears?

One thing I've learned over 10 years of working with video game communities is that trying to allay fears is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. You just have to believe in what you're doing. I've been in this industry for twenty years, and most of the comparative systems that people think are being ripped off or borrowed from one title have been around in the industry for longer than I have.

It's not so much that we're doing completely new things or that we're taking things from other games, it's just that, every time we go through the process of making a new Halo game, we have to evolve it to move it forward – otherwise you just increase the resolution of the successful maps and put out the same game every year. That wouldn't work, that would be terrible business.

So you have to evolve the game naturally and sometimes fairly radically. Some of the things we've done would seem fairly trivial to the average man in the street, but they make a really significant difference to players who take this stuff seriously. And of course, in the vacuum of not having played it – or in our case, they haven't even seen a lot of it – there's this panic and resistance to change.

Typically we find that, as long as we do our jobs correctly and ensure everything is balanced and fun and makes sense for our game, which has a very specific heart to it, then eventually even the most resistant players will figure out what's good and what's bad for them, and then pick their matchmaking style based on those premises. Eventually, they adapt.

[DukeC]

Re: Halo 4

Halo 4 looks beautiful. The playable cinematic/cutscene moments are definitely something new.

[Flawless]

Re: Halo 4

Mentioned in the E3 thread, but I got serious Metroid Prime vibes from that footage.

[Steel5]

Re: Halo 4

Looked great, Halo meets Metroid Prime a bit.

[Flawless]

Re: Halo 4

So good. Need to get another 360.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1Em1MiiqT9A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

...

[Steel5]

Re: Halo 4

Some B-roll footage
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hbZ3FlcNGpU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/764n0Mq2hpg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>