Halo 4
 

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E3 2011: Halo 4 Announced

Microsoft announced this morning that it will release Halo 4 holiday 2012 for Xbox 360.

Microsoft made the announcement via a cinematic trailer at the end of its 2011 E3 press conference. Halo 4 marks the first proper Halo title created outside of creator Bungie, who signed off the series with 2010's Halo: Reach. Instead, Halo 4 will be the first major release from 343 Industries, Microsoft's internal Halo studio.

343i currently operates Halo Waypoint, a central hub for Halo content on Xbox Live. 343i also coordinated with developers Certain Affinity for Halo: Reach's Defiant Map Pack, and is working with Saber Interactive and Certain Affinity on this year's Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary, a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved using the Halo: Reach engine slated for this November.

President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, Don Mattrick, described the game as the "beginning of a new trilogy" in the franchise, signaling a return to the narrative of the Master Chief, who last appeared in 2007's Halo 3.

Halo 4 releases holiday 2012.

- Chief attached something to his magnum. Weapon attachments in?
- Chief had a jet pack. Bit of a retcon but I dig it.

Cortana looked different or am I crazy?

Yeah, she does get adjusted every game.

Glad to see they aren't going to completely go overboard with Halo after its peak.

Yeah, pretty straight forward releases. I wish 343 Industries luck!

Does this mean we won't be seeing the same 5 enemies from all the other games?

Cause that would be super.

That thing in space doesn't look Covenant or Forerunner, so I'm guessing Chief faces a new galactic threat.

I marked out for this...

Halo 4 might end up being a bit different than expected after Microsoft hired some new designers for 343 Studios to work on the project. Some of the new designers have key experience regarding the Killzone and Metroid Prime series.

Two people they hired were the Lead Designer who was also the Lead Level Designer for Killzone 3 and the Senior Designer from Retro Studios who worked on Metroid Prime 2 and 3 along with Donkey Kong Country Returns. Another person was hired to bring in the "Nintendo" philosophy in terms of game innovation and design.

http://vicariousgames.blogspot.com/2...orking-on.html

Hopefully this nintendo person isn't from the zelda department, or we'll just get the same game every year with updated visuals.

Oh wait, that's the first 3 halo games.

Wouldn't we just get a greener Master Chief? I'm sure Navi would make a great Cortana.

"HEY! LISTEN!"

The Halo 4 beta is expected to be included with the Halo Combat Evolved Remake game coming later this year and would be under the "Extras" menu for the game.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0GlWSmrpzv...cea+menu+3.jpg
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=132287
http://gamekyo.com/groupnews_article19975.html

That sort of thing works well. Hope they don't tie it to some silly preorder deal, though I'd probably preorder anyway since businesses pretend Halo sells out at launch (hasn't since Halo 3).

"It's right there on the shelf, give me that one!"

Will be odd to not have the arbiter in multiplayer. Kinda think covenant will have something to do with the game otherwise they would be taking half the vehicles and weapons out of the game.

I'm assuming Forerunner tech will be opposite humans this time.

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Nice, the maps seem Halo 3-ish, which is good. Love the soft jabs at Bungie concerning maps made from scratch instead of taking them from campaign. The art direction on the new armor (Chief and Spartan 4s) still seems wonky to me. The final HUD should be interesting if they're serious about the 'feel like a jet HUD' thing.

Noticing that mecha prop in that multiplayer map... I wonder what kind of vehicles they have in store...

Unlike Halo 3 and Reach (not sure if 2 ever had one), there will not be a multiplayer beta for Halo 4 according to 343 Studios.

Their reasoning is they feel the multiplayer will be good enough on its own and instead want to spend the extra time being focused on polishing up the rest of the game for its Fall 2012 release date.

http://www.screwattack.com/news/ther...er-beta-halo-4

They're going to have extended testing within the studio they say. Halo 2 didn't have a beta.

So long as it works launch week, what with the crazy shit that went down with other FPS games during launch week. I hope glaring glitches can be found as they're very annoying. Little things can be fixed after the fact.

Gameinformer's cover story this month is Halo 4. If anybody can snag a copy and put up a list of key points that would be cool. If not I guess I'll give it a try.

There's been some new details released from 343 Industries' Halo 4 (found in the newest issue of Game Informer). Here's a rundown, and what I think of them:

• Spartan Points: Like the credits in Reach, you earn these points in multiplayer and use them for transactions. You can get new armor pieces, but more interesting is getting new Armor Abilities. This brings Halo closer to modern FPS systems, as ongoing play rewards with better gear. I'm fine with this, since I'm used to the grind of all these shooters by now.
• Infinity: This is the name of Halo 4's multiplayer mode, which will likely be played as it's own brand as far as stat tracking is concerned. Wouldn't be surprised if it had it's own title screen. With this new title, I wonder if it means Spartan Points can not be earned in single player/co-op, as credits were in Reach.
• Spartan Ops: A new co-op mode that essentially replaces Firefight. This mode is to rival campaign, and will have new episodes months after release. I like this idea, though I'll miss the arcadey nature of Firefight. Watch kiddies consider this a rip on Call of Duty's Spec Ops due to the name. Note: Halo 4's campaign is still co-op ready, so if one happens to prefer the main story with their friends, they can do that. I love options to death.
• Red vs Blue: An explanation as to why red spartans fight blue ones finally comes to light; it's a training program for the Spartan 4s. Obvious really. They battle in a giant hologram field akin to the Danger Room, which explains how they fight in different locations. This doesn't really change anything in the grand scheme of things, but now we know. I wonder what the deal for multi-team matches where other colors are used, or am I being anal? :-()
• Default Sprint: Sprinting is now a default ability of all players. Saw this coming. I dig it.
• Armor Abilities Return: The Armor Abilities from Reach make their return, including Camo, Jetpack, and Hologram (YES). New to the gang is X-Ray vision, which let's you see thru- well you know. Betting X-Ray mode will cut off your radar for balance reasons. Also betting campers will be pissed at the newest initiative to make their lives a living hell.
• No More Elites: Perhaps Scarlett Witch got pissed at those dinosaurs because they are gone gone gone as an option to use. I can care less, as I never enjoyed the bastards. Bye dinosaurs.
• Custom Loadouts: Unlike how Reach regulated loadouts according to map and gametype, you can now edit your own and take it on your quests for pwnage. You choose your primary and secondary weapons (gonna assume power weapons will not be selectable), Armor Ability, and grenade types. And on that, it seems there's more than frag and plasma grenades now (2 more). I wonder is Spike Grenades make a return. I like this, because it's a natural evolution of loadouts and more inline with what I expect of shooters today. I hated having to locate Plasma Grenades when they really weren't any more lethal than frags.
• Regicide: I don't know if this is a new Free For All rule or a separate game mode, but basically the leading scorer has a bounty on his head that increases with each kill. I guess you get more Spartan Points for slaying this mass murderer, similar to a feature in Red Dead Redemption. It's possible the bonus is actually match points, but I doubt it (as it would truly make it a new mode of play). I need more information, but I dig it so far.
• Distraction Medal: Apparently there's a new medal for distracting a player who gets killed by a teammate. I would love to know how the game can decipher whether you really did that tactically or not. It might end up like the melee medal, something that happens so often I wouldn't deem it worthy of acquiring a medal for. Sure you should know how many time you whacked somebody in a game for interest, but a medal? And really... most kills in any FPS game is due to a player focused on somebody else. A FFA game will give out Distraction Medals like they're made of grass.
• Drop Pod Weapons: Weapons no longer start in the map, but randomly(?) drop throughout the match. This is to mix up players who time their power weapon spawns. This is sketchy, since Halo is all about map control and keeping taps on certain weapon spawns paramount. This makes me think power weapons (like the Sword, Rocket Launcher, etc) will be available for Loadouts. Not to mention how this sort of thing would look in an indoors map, I'm just aesthetically minded like that. Hopefully this isn't random and it does have a cycle or logic to it, but if it does and players figure it out anyway - the change is moot. Not digging it.
• Instant Respawn: When you die you can immediately rejoin the match with a button press. This will speed things up, but I'm sure there's many reasons why respawn time is important for an FPS match. Namely objective games where putting a player out for a few seconds is a key bonus for slaying him. This feature may be gametype specific, but we have to wait and see. half and half on this.
• Joining Games: You can now join games in progress, which means the joy of joining a game moments before it ends has arrived to the Halo series. Perhaps you can see how far a long a game has gone, as with Reach's queue screen, and see if it's worth arriving to. What this really does is facilitate the Spartan Point grind in that you may not care for seeing a match start to end so long as you 'scored some money' anyway you can when you join. This does alleviate uneven teams from quitters/disconnects, but I figured Halo typically had enough games going at a given moment that one doesn't need to join games in progress to get some action. Maybe I'm being too hard on this otherwise standard feature, and in the end it won't mean too much. It may also help people squad up for lobbies.

I will find this issue of Game Informer and see there's anything I can add to these details, sorry for the third party account. So far I like what I hear, and the things I don't like will probably blow over once the full game is in my hands. I love Halo and hope 343 Industries nails their first try (of a planned trilogy).

the same things you are iffy on coincide with mine.

the drop pod weapons could make for some very uneven games if that's how they are gonna roll for the whole multiplayer experience. plus, the metagame of weapon battles are great.

i can just instant respawn being used by dipshit randoms and costing me games. i am iffy on this instead of fully against it

joining games is mehhh. i can just see jumping into a 45-20 game and the like. hopefully it will be an option you can select.

everything else sounds nice. but they may be making some rough changes to multiplayer. hopefully they put out enough beforehand to quell my fears.

x-ray i am up in the air with. could be great. could be shot down by invisibility. may not even be the best choice in armor ability.

new medals: who gives a shit? maybe it is time they have a fun or two to get. first strike is always a top medal, even though it isn't that much of an achievement. not a big deal to me.

When's it due out?

This Fall, I think.

Based on some details, this should be the last game to feature Cortana and apparently she's now considering as a "mortal"-like being.

Also confirmed is episodic DLC content is being planned to be released each week for the co-op but will be free.

http://www.screwattack.com/news/halo...%99s-mortality

AIs have short life-spans? Bullshit.

This news of her impending death was common knowledge for Halo fans, or at least the ones who are versed with the universe.

More than likely she will be 'saved' somehow and uploaded to some android body so Chief could finally rail her.

I made this thread?

This.

Yeah.

Which will come off as very silly, no matter how it's portrayed.

Super soldier battles aliens with hot sounding female AI/girlfriend in a series of battles that leads to partnering up with the initial enemies, facing off against zombie-fungus things, blowing up a few ring worlds, eventually meeting a giant plant thing.

Cortana acquiring a tangible body for romantic/side-kick services would not surprise me at this point.

Not knocking Halo's canon, but I don't hold too many things sacred with videgame stories.

As long as Mario can jump and Link keeps getting called Zelda I'll be happy.

Release date will be November 6 and more details and footage will be shown on tonight's episode of Conan O'Brien show because a member from 343 Industries is a guest tonight.

http://www.screwattack.com/news/halo-4-has-been-dated

This makes me milk
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.c...4concept02.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.c...4concept16.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.c...4concept10.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.c...4concept07.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.c...4concept05.jpg

Not really feeling the look of the armor for the multiplayer.

Yeah... Just yeah.

Really? I think it's really nice, they'll obviously have the original Halo armours too.

No.

Limited Edition revealed along with its cover with the real benefit being access to future maps for free and a small advantage over regular users in multiplayer.

http://www.egmnow.com/wp-content/upl...-4-Limited.jpg
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...ion-announced/


Also revealed is the game will introduce a new playable main character with Master Chief being playable for the majority of the game. Also revealed is for 5 weeks in a row, a new episodic co-op mission will be released for free.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...hero-revealed/

Cover art:

http://images.vg247.com/current//201...lo4_full_1.jpg

Has 343 said anything about Forge World or their own version of it yet? Haven't been following info on the game to much. Gonna be a huge let down for me if it's not in the game/similar to Halo 3's forge.

They said Forge in back, but did not give details on whether they improved or at least kept all of Reach's upgrades.

New screenshot of Cortana and a mix of 4 other screens were released.

http://www.egmnow.com/wp-content/upl.../Halo-4-41.jpg

http://www.egmnow.com/wp-content/upl.../Halo-4-51.jpg

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...4-screenshots/

It seems 343 wants to joke about the quality of leaked vids. Make no mistake, though, this footage is legit.

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Based on leaks from the beta, a few new things could have been revealed.

Its mostly just new loadouts, perks, armor abilities, and the possibility some Covenant vehicles retuning for the game.

http://www.screwattack.com/news/leak...layer-features

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Weapons seem like they have more "weight" to them.

Armor Abilities:

- Promethean Vision: Something like Batman's Detective Vision and x-ray, it highlights enemies through walls.

- Thruster Pack: A teleport move that thrusts you forward or back a few meters. Get your nightcrawler on.

- Tactical Shield: A shield you hold Captain America style that protects you and whoever's behind you. Likely the replacement for Armor Lock but we'll see.

Assassinations:

- There are new assassination animations that look pretty brutal. You can also do them from the front now. One move was a fucking spear to the ground followed by a knife kill.

Killstreak Rewards:

- After a certain number of points, you can choose via dpad from a number of power weapons that drop on to the map.

Excited.

Lots more comparisons of Halo 4 with the Metroid series since according to Destructoid even the soundtrack shown off so far has a Metroid-like feel to it and its mostly due to the mysterious nature of the Promethians for the game similar to the Chozo in the Prime series.
http://www.destructoid.com/e3-halo-4...d-229035.phtml

Good, very good.

So, is it safe to say that Halo fanboys don't approve of the word "killstreak" in Halo?

I haven't been in any dedicated forums but I imagine they would be displeased.

I'm mostly okay with how they handled it. I can tell you right now this game will harder to play.

Wouldn't be the first time Halo has "borrowed" something from Call of Duty considering Reach used a sprint feature similar to CoD and class-type system for multiplayer.

Don't remember if ODST had any influences from other games besides Gears of War 2 for the Firefight mode.

Sprint, classes, and survival modes are not native to CoD or Gears.

Forerunner Shotgun "Scattershot":

http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery...cattershot.jpg

New Covenant Carbine "Storm Rifle":

http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery...torm-rifle.jpg

Sticky Grenade Launcher:

http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery...-detonator.jpg

I know it's MLG so it might put some of you guys off but it's full match gameplay none the less. Enjoy.
http://tv.majorleaguegaming.com/play...ve-look?page=1

Yeah fuck MLG but this is some good stuff here.

Drawing comparisons to Metroid Prime isn't a bad thing, as Prime is fucking amazing.

Some new details were leaked from surverys sent by Microsoft.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...ons-plus-more/

If Clans are back that would be cool.

Would love to see new vehicles, and for that matter new big maps.

Halo 4 is going to pull a "Reach" and limit playable access to the game for Xbox 360 4GB and Arcade owners.

The game has a mandatory 8GB install required to play the multiplayer but wasn't specified if it will allow partial access for those without space (ex. campaign only like Reach).

Even the Spec Ops mode will be locked unless a new HDD or USB drive is used to create the space. 8GB is also the minimum for Spec Ops and will rise once the DLC packs start arrive after the game is released.

http://www.destructoid.com/microsoft...g-230627.phtml

Some forge details finally, thank you RTX

• Players can jump into map without any load, including dynamic lighting.
• Objects give name and details on geometry when grabbed.
• Bridges and other repeating objects are now built in a fraction of the time through duplication.
• You can also easily duplicate objects (via down on d-pad) and can connect objects via a magnetized grid.
• You can now lock objects in place.
• All Forge objects look closer to the form in multiplayer maps.
• Player trait zone can be created which dictate player speed, gravity, damage absorption and other Spartan traits in a defined area. Example: A player makes a jump that he couldn't before he adjusted the gravity and speed traits.
• There still will be no undo/redo features due to networking issues

http://www.destructoid.com/rtx-halo-...d-230900.phtml

Videos: http://www.destructoid.com/rtx-exclu...e-230910.phtml

Very nice.

Can't wait!

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Limited Edition was accidentally leaked by Microsoft's product page but an official announcement will be occurring soon.

http://www.egmnow.com/wp-content/upl...4-console2.png
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...-360-incoming/

Never understood this 'light-up' controller thing.

I assume it means they changed the colors of the LEDs around the "home button." Like the design.

All Human Weapons:

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Very awesome sex great.

I discuss the weapons shown in my latest blog update. So you don't have to click (as anyone not name Kalyx doesn't get the shit I do for shilling his site/page/blog/whatever), here's the bulk of it here:

Assault Rifle: It would not be Halo without this iconic little bullet sprayer. Seems to work like it always did, a close-mid range weapon best used spraying and running for that good old melee kill. I always loved that it showed you how many bullets you have in your clip. Never mind that the game’s HUD does that, the gun will show you! I don’t think I’ve ever looked at that counter to gauge when to reload. Ever. Looks cool, though.

Magnum: We all know what the question of this thing will be: Is this… the pistol, or a pistol? Well the vid seems to show off head shots so I imagine it’s on par with the TU Magnum in Halo Reach (343 did the TU patch for Reach). It has a nice balance in Reach without being absolutely stupid like in CE. I mean, if people are going to converge on one weapon…

Battle Rifle: The Battle Rifle is back, baby! The old work horse of Halo 3 returns seemingly unchanged and just as accurate and reliable as it’s always been. The burst fire shots make this a go-to for almost every imaginable encounter (save for extreme close or long range combat… or running into a Wraith). But this brings to mind an interesting issue with the USNC sandbox…

Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR): …The DMR is still in Halo! So… we have two rifles that have proved to be the common weapons for variable threats. It’ll be interesting to see which rifle comes out as the community’s main. Of course, the DMR is more or less the Halo 2/3 version of the Covenant Carbine, and it came down to personal preference in which rifle to choose. I think it will come down to preference again.

Rocket Launcher: Well… It blows you up. Shoot at their feet. Watch for splash damage. It now leaves a sniper rifle-like smoke trail behind the projectile. There you go.

Shotgun: Something about this weapon makes me wanna say “Get some!” whenever it kills somebody. I don’t know if it had a damage boost, but I’m noticing it is offing people in one shot from quite a distance. Perhaps we’re seeing guys get wasted after their shields are depleted. We’ll see this November.

Sniper Rifle: That thing is loud. They are not playing around with audio this time, and the sniper rifle really shows this off. There’s an interesting icon through the scope screen that shows your range (upper-right). This would help in leading your shots, but I’d think Halo 4 is using hit-scan because Halo Reach did. Interesting.

Sticky Detonator: This spiritual successor to the grenade launcher is a favorite of mine so far, mostly because I loved the GL. This one is remote detonated (where the GL had a killswitch), and even has a way to tell you people are in proximity of the grenade. The applications for objective games are obvious, especially with vehicles.

Saw: Hello! A light machine gun in a Halo game. I can dig that. The thing with LMGs are their clip and accuracy; and I can tell you the Saw has a clip of 72 shots based on the footage, and the recoil is way too damn good. It’s accuracy looked better than the Assault Rifle, which is terrifying. Seriously I didn’t see any kick at all, it just… sprayed death. This may be a replacement for the dismounted HMG for suppressive/cover fire, at least for infantry combat. Short of running to a vehicle, I see very little reason to spray with anything else with this monster around. We’ll see if its balanced for the sandbox.

Spartan Laser: Get your Scott Sommers on with this vehicle killer. Ya know people would say the drawback is the charge time before the shot, but aside from that being an obvious balance requirement, I kind of like that buildup before completely obliterating whoever I’m aiming at. But alas, there may be something even stronger than this godly device…

Rail Gun: Okay wow. This seems to be the infantry counter-point to the Spartan Laser. It doesn’t seem strong enough to waste a vehicle, but it downs an enemy in one shot with – and I’m guessing because the footage was fast, a quarter charge time of the SL’s charge. That’s pretty crazy. It has a similar effect to a Gauss Warthog’s cannon, except you’re walking around with it. This could be a game changer for sure.

343 Studios reveals the class specifications at Gamescom with just the first two available at launch and the rest added in at a later date.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...ions-detailed/

I like what it takes to get there.

Achievements list was recently leaked. Majority are the generic beat a level or standard stuff found in every game but several are spoilers.

Apparently the Lone Wolf achievement is worth less in Halo 4 than in Reach which might be a possible indicator of how tough or not Halo 4 will be compared to past games.



http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...list-revealed/

According to 343 Studios, concerns about the game being short isn't an issue since while the game has fewer missions than previous Halo games, they are a lot longer.

To put it in perspective, Spartan Ops mode alone is longer than Halo ODST was.

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...n-halo-3-odst/

I don't think how long a Halo campaign is would be a concern to Halo players. Campaign is a very secondary thing with this series.

I'm sure they still care, though.

Campaign has always come first for me in Halo.

Also Kalyx, I hope you are playing the campaign for the transformers games, despite your aversion to single-player. I just finished War For Cybertron, and it was one of the most epic, enjoyable experiences I've had this generation.

I loved WfC's single player, it was a fanboy's fucking dream. I here FoC is even more epic, so as a fan of the franchise I will check it out.

I'm kinda bummed we couldn't enjoy WfC together, with coop out of FoC.

From what I've read though, lack of co-op in FoC is because of more individuality between the playable transformers.

My one big complaint about WfC was that the characters didn't really play all that differently from one another, outside of comparing flying alts with ground. So that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

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OH MY GOD!

Previous videos haven't really make me want to play Halo if i'm honest, like I thought they were cool, but it didn't make me want to jump on Halo straight away.
This however... FLAGSASSINATION!

Did you notice the flag guy had a pistol out? Nice.

No I didn't :eek:. Not sure what I think of that...

Should be cool, assuming you still have a speed debuff while holding the flag.

New Ball Mechanics:

Oddball/Griffball: Ball can be passed (just like grenades). Good throws and catches gives you extra points (credits not gametype points). This changes these modes a lot.

New ball assassination, a nice uppercut.

Griffball: Sword kills will strip the ball from the holder, essentially a steal.

Griffball: No more explosions, Griffball is its own mode now, not an Assault gametype.

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Kalyx, are you gonna get this video game?

Fuck yes. I was gonna call it when I heard Bungie moved on but what 343 is doing so far is very interesting (though in some cases hazardous to the Halo experience). Halo has a simplicity to its actual gameplay and they're adding a lot of mechanics to it that raises eyebrows. If it falls apart I move on, but I'm down for this experiment.

Images of the Prometheans and their weapons were released recently with 8 new enemies and 7 weapons in the batch.

http://d1vr6n66ssr06c.cloudfront.net...-enemies-4.jpg

http://d1vr6n66ssr06c.cloudfront.net...-weapons-6.jpg

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...mies-revealed/

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