[360] Halo 4

[CeeKay]

well, it's been announced, and we cann all guess what the Master Chief will be encountering, right?  I was getting burned out with Bungie, so I'm looking forward to seeing what 343 can bring to the table.

so, speculation?  they're obviously returning to familiar territory unless there's some twist right at the beginning.  I wonder if we'll see more of The Flood, or if we'll have a new foe.

[leo8877]

IN!

If it's a new trilogy, I'm guessing it's a new enemy they'll be introducing.

[Caine]

Please, not the flood, not the flood, not the flood.

[CeeKay]

Please, not the flood, not the flood, not the flood.

it'll be THE COVENANT FLOOD!  Flood with shields and blasters!

[Caine]

Please, not the flood, not the flood, not the flood.

it'll be THE COVENANT FLOOD!  Flood with shields and blasters!

The whole thing makes me wonder, where and when this game takes place and as it's assumed you end up in a foreign system, not part of the known universe, how much like halo will this be without the usual aliens and marines fighting it out. 

[kronovan]

Please, not the flood, not the flood, not the flood.

it'll be THE COVENANT FLOOD!  Flood with shields and blasters!

The whole thing makes me wonder, where and when this game takes place and as it's assumed you end up in a foreign system, not part of the known universe, how much like halo will this be without the usual aliens and marines fighting it out.

Actually, to date many of the Halo games have taken place in the known Universe - in fact Earth has been involved to some extent in 3 of the games. Really only 1 and 2 were in completely uncharted territory. In the Halo universe, Human colonization is widespread to the extent that there's rebelious galaxies. I think in 4 we'll get some more insight into the background of the Engineers. As well, the most recent Evolution anthology books have covered some of the variety amongst the brutes -there's a fair amount of different races- and they're resulting tensions/conflicts, so I think they may well include that.

[metallicorphan]

i hope it has cutscenes as good as Halo Wars cutscenes,they were great....not really seen any cutscenes from these guys yet

[The Grue]

They should stop while they're ahead.

[CeeKay]

They should stop while they're ahead.

that's never stopped anyone before!

[EngineNo9]

They should stop while they're ahead.

that's never stopped anyone before!

Especially when you can squeeze the market with a new game every year!  Since we don't have a "milk it" emoticon, I guess this will have to do:

[CeeKay]

[kronovan]

What my dream for the next trilogy would be is for 343 to do what Bungie wanted to do originally with the franchise - make it action-RPG along the lines of Mass Effect. But we all know there isn't a chance in hell of that ever happening, even though it would be awesome. If 343 Studios comes up lame on the execution of Halo 4, I'd be content with the shooter franchise ending and them just continuing with the Halo Wars series. That  it's now been over 2 years since the 1st Halo Wars and yet no announcement again at E3, makes me skeptical we'll even see a sequel.

[Caine]

Please, not the flood, not the flood, not the flood.

it'll be THE COVENANT FLOOD!  Flood with shields and blasters!

The whole thing makes me wonder, where and when this game takes place and as it's assumed you end up in a foreign system, not part of the known universe, how much like halo will this be without the usual aliens and marines fighting it out.

Actually, to date many of the Halo games have taken place in the known Universe - in fact Earth has been involved to some extent in 3 of the games. Really only 1 and 2 were in completely uncharted territory. In the Halo universe, Human colonization is widespread to the extent that there's rebelious galaxies. I think in 4 we'll get some more insight into the background of the Engineers. As well, the most recent Evolution anthology books have covered some of the variety amongst the brutes -there's a fair amount of different races- and they're resulting tensions/conflicts, so I think they may well include that.

so you think this will more alike to ODST with rank and file vs MC?  unless they bring him back, he was adrift in an uncharted system when halo 3 ended.  or maybe another prequel ala reach?

[disarm]

so you think this will more alike to ODST with rank and file vs MC?  unless they bring him back, he was adrift in an uncharted system when halo 3 ended.  or maybe another prequel ala reach?

someone obviously hasn't watched the new teaser...

[kronovan]

Please, not the flood, not the flood, not the flood.

it'll be THE COVENANT FLOOD!  Flood with shields and blasters!

The whole thing makes me wonder, where and when this game takes place and as it's assumed you end up in a foreign system, not part of the known universe, how much like halo will this be without the usual aliens and marines fighting it out.

Actually, to date many of the Halo games have taken place in the known Universe - in fact Earth has been involved to some extent in 3 of the games. Really only 1 and 2 were in completely uncharted territory. In the Halo universe, Human colonization is widespread to the extent that there's rebelious galaxies. I think in 4 we'll get some more insight into the background of the Engineers. As well, the most recent Evolution anthology books have covered some of the variety amongst the brutes -there's a fair amount of different races- and they're resulting tensions/conflicts, so I think they may well include that.

so you think this will more alike to ODST with rank and file vs MC?  unless they bring him back, he was adrift in an uncharted system when halo 3 ended.  or maybe another prequel ala reach?

Nope, I think it'll truly be the next chapter, but that it'll go deeper into Covenant territory as opposed to an unknown Universe populated with new alien races and civilizations. I think we've seen the last of the Flood, but I'm thinkning it might delve deeper into the fanatical theocracy of the Covenant and feature more artifacts and lost installations of the Forerunners. The books hint at their being much more to the Convenant than what we've seen to date in the games, and with all 343 has invested in it I can't see them leaving it just yet.

[Caine]

so you think this will more alike to ODST with rank and file vs MC?  unless they bring him back, he was adrift in an uncharted system when halo 3 ended.  or maybe another prequel ala reach?

someone obviously hasn't watched the new teaser...

yeah, it makes more sense now.  

although part of me still wishes it was the whole "MC becomes the character in Marathon" thing that was hinted at at some point after halo 3.  

so now we just have to wait to find out what the hell that thing was at the end.  

in any case, count me in with this one.  looking forward to another enjoyable legendary run.

so, if this is further than the human civilization has gone, we should expect this to be more of a solitary run and gun and it's all going to be covie weapons and vehicles. 

[whiteboyskim]

Personally, I think the first trilogy sucked hard enough that a second is unwarranted. I realize that mine is the minority opinion in this regard.

[kronovan]

so you think this will more alike to ODST with rank and file vs MC?  unless they bring him back, he was adrift in an uncharted system when halo 3 ended.  or maybe another prequel ala reach?

someone obviously hasn't watched the new teaser...

Are you referring to todays E3 teaser, because it showed sfa. All that was depicted was MC being awoken by Cordana, his MJOLNIR armor rebooting and then him grabbing Cordana's chip while the 'Forward Unto Dawn' came apart over what looked like a Forerunner or Covenant installation. Not much insight into what the next game will be about.

[leo8877]

so you think this will more alike to ODST with rank and file vs MC?  unless they bring him back, he was adrift in an uncharted system when halo 3 ended.  or maybe another prequel ala reach?

someone obviously hasn't watched the new teaser...

Are you referring to todays E3 teaser, because it showed sfa. All that was depicted was MC being awoken by Cordana, his MJOLNIR armor rebooting and then him grabbing Cordana's chip while the 'Forward Unto Dawn' came apart over what looked like a Forerunner or Covenant installation. Not much insight into what the next game will be about.

I think his point was that it was very clearly a direct sequel to Halo 3.  There's no question about whether MC is back or if it's a prequel or sequel.

[Turtle]

That's forerunner, or other. The only Covenant stuff that was that large was repurposed forerunner stuff anyway. It could be the Pfhor for all we know.

I am really, really hoping that 343 does a better job of telling a story within the game proper. Bungie's a great studio, but they can't really tell a story beyond "space marine kills aliens, saves humanity". At least, not unless they completely pause the action and have you read through pages of terminal text. It's like they missed the last 10 years in terms of weaving story into the gameplay.

Very enjoyable gameplay in the series, but I consider books and extended universe a story crutch.

[jersoc]

I hope they change things up a bit. Make it less on rails, able to carry more than 2 guns, definitely need new enemies. I hope the random friendlies are more smart in their abilities, especially the driving aspect. Give us more space battles because no one makes space battle games anymore.

if they fall back on the same old then /yawn.

[ATB]

Personally, I think the first trilogy sucked hard enough that a second is unwarranted. I realize that mine is the minority opinion in this regard.

Pretty much agree. The writing was terrible.

New studio might bring hope though.

I bet the main boss is a sentient sunflower this time.

[Sparhawk]

What my dream for the next trilogy would be is for 343 to do what Bungie wanted to do originally with the franchise - make it action-RPG along the lines of Mass Effect. But we all know there isn't a chance in hell of that ever happening, even though it would be awesome. If 343 Studios comes up lame on the execution of Halo 4, I'd be content with the shooter franchise ending and them just continuing with the Halo Wars series. That  it's now been over 2 years since the 1st Halo Wars and yet no announcement again at E3, makes me skeptical we'll even see a sequel.

The original Halo was going to be a strat game that was  like their best game franchise, "Myth."

[kronovan]

What my dream for the next trilogy would be is for 343 to do what Bungie wanted to do originally with the franchise - make it action-RPG along the lines of Mass Effect. But we all know there isn't a chance in hell of that ever happening, even though it would be awesome. If 343 Studios comes up lame on the execution of Halo 4, I'd be content with the shooter franchise ending and them just continuing with the Halo Wars series. That  it's now been over 2 years since the 1st Halo Wars and yet no announcement again at E3, makes me skeptical we'll even see a sequel.

The original Halo was going to be a strat game that was like their best game franchise, "Myth."

Yup I remember hearing that too, and after that they considered making it an Action-RPG for a while. At least the strategy game concept materialized with Halo Wars.

[CeeKay]

What my dream for the next trilogy would be is for 343 to do what Bungie wanted to do originally with the franchise - make it action-RPG along the lines of Mass Effect. But we all know there isn't a chance in hell of that ever happening, even though it would be awesome. If 343 Studios comes up lame on the execution of Halo 4, I'd be content with the shooter franchise ending and them just continuing with the Halo Wars series. That  it's now been over 2 years since the 1st Halo Wars and yet no announcement again at E3, makes me skeptical we'll even see a sequel.

The original Halo was going to be a strat game that was like their best game franchise, "Myth."

Yup I remember hearing that too, and after that they considered making it an Action-RPG for a while. At least the strategy game concept materialized with Halo Wars.

The evolution of Halo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN9vO_gRzoI

[pr0ner]

Personally, I think the first trilogy sucked hard enough that a second is unwarranted. I realize that mine is the minority opinion in this regard.

Minority opinion might be an understatement.

[CeeKay]

video from Halofest showing off a wall with Halo 4 concept art: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6Jcm4uRb1U&NR=1

[Harkonis]

Personally, I think the first trilogy sucked hard enough that a second is unwarranted. I realize that mine is the minority opinion in this regard.

Minority opinion might be an understatement.

minorities are allowed to be right though. 

[pr0ner]

Personally, I think the first trilogy sucked hard enough that a second is unwarranted. I realize that mine is the minority opinion in this regard.

Minority opinion might be an understatement.

minorities are allowed to be right though. 

Talk about a delayed response!   

[metallicorphan]

Halo 4 is first part of the Reclaimer Trilogy

The next three Halo games, designed to take players on a decade-long journey, are collectively called the "Reclaimer Trilogy", a panel of 343 staff told an audience at Halo Fest this evening.

The planet both Master Chief and Cortana are seen heading towards at the end of Halo 3 when completed on the Legendary difficulty, and at the end of the Halo 4 E3 2011 trailer, is a "very mysterious" Forerunner planet on which we will see a "different aspect" of the alien architecture than we've seen in previous games.

More in the link

[Turtle]

Let's hope they actually put story in the games themselves. Since it's not Bungie doing it, I have good hopes for this.

Books and other media should fill in gaps, not as a crutch for the game's story itself.

[happydog]

Let's hope they actually put story in the games themselves. Since it's not Bungie doing it, I have good hopes for this.

Books and other media should fill in gaps, not as a crutch for the game's story itself.

I hope for just the opposite. I like the minimal story in the game, with books and other media providing a full story line along side the game. Only because I don't care for much story in my games.

[CeeKay]

a bit about the Halo 4 Master Chief.  scroll down a bit, it's right after the toys blurb.

[metallicorphan]

a bit about the Halo 4 Master Chief.  scroll down a bit, it's right after the toys blurb.

what am in looking at here CK?,i can see the article on the toys(square Enix figures)on page 2,and 'Toy Fair 2012' at the top of page 3,can't really see anything about toys on the first page and the articles after those two one is about a webcomic and the other is about Grunts wearing traffic cones for hats

Talking about the Chief in Halo 4,this is the artwork teaser poster for Halo4,looks pretty cool doesn't he?




whereas these are the figures for Master Chief,obviously doesn't want to turn his head left and right anymore,and look at all the spaces inbetween his armour now,shoulders and hips

[CeeKay]

what am in looking at here CK?,

not sure what you mean by pages, I only get one whole page with everything on it.  there's the Toys Fair 2012 section, and right after it:

The Halo 4 Master Chief

While it’s exciting to get a glimpse of the Halo 4 Master Chief in toy form, nothing will compare to when you finally see him in-game. I’ll never forget the exact moment his design started coming together; when inspecting the smaller details of his armor, such as the scarring on his chest piece, suddenly gave insight into the depth of his character; when suddenly… the Master Chief was the Master Chief.

While I can’t share pictures with you quite yet, I can share some general philosophy behind his design. And Kenneth Scott, Senior Art Director, will do the same a little bit later in this Bulletin.

Typically, from Halo to Halo, the Master Chief’s armor has changed and adapted, and there have been fictional reasons why. With Halo 4, we’re taking a different approach and focusing on the storytelling aspects of art from the design standpoint. We don’t do that everywhere in the game, but we wanted to take this opportunity to really focus on him as a human being.

In Halo 4, we are interested in doing something the franchise does well on the book side, and that’s helping shape the narrative. Halo is a compelling and deep universe, and we want to tell the story of this bio-engineered super-soldier.

One of the Master Chief’s most notable physical characteristics is that he’s wearing 800 pounds of tank and jet fighter. So we pulled that design into the armor and HUD. When you play Halo 4, it’s important you understand that you’re more than just a gun on the screen. To give you that feeling, we have represented that weight with player physics, without interrupting crosshair and shooting accuracy.

When we first looked at the Chief’s armor, we studied what was done in Reach. We knew he needed to be understood as a nimble yet heavy superhero, and contrast that with Reach armor design that was more on the bulky side. Our goal is to hit that sweet spot where we represent what is fictionally true about the Chief while making sure you feel like you’re a super-powerful human being when you're playing him.

There’s a lot of dark history in the fiction, but the Master Chief has always been an aspirational character. In fact, the Chief’s looking up is important to understanding his character. What’s interesting is that we have an opportunity to use that understanding of the Chief to tell different stories with subtle physical cues. As we develop the visual ID, the Chief’s current head-tilt is in an interesting territory where he’s typically looking up into the danger that he needs to conquer, but the camera tilt is potentially posing a question. Is he looking up, or is the camera tilted so that he’s actually looking down?

[metallicorphan]

huh,that link took me to a different page at first,now its taken me to the right one

EDIT:okay that link took me to the news section at first..weird

I am sure whatever MC looks like,it wont matter too much with it being a FPS,i like the line about them adding the 800lbs to the physics of the game though

[kathode]

Bumping this up as we are finally starting to put some in-game stuff out there.

Video:
http://t.co/8Ez2LaIS

Screens:
http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/Universe/detail/halo-4-master-chief-gallery/8c0254fc-3dc5-464e-b9ef-0c6c924abcab#imageNumber=3

[Purge]

Windows 8 Halo theme please.

Looks like 343 isn't just pushing out YAHG (yet another Halo Game).

I look forward to it.

[Kagath]

Windows 8 Halo theme please.

Looks like 343 isn't just pushing out YAHG (yet another Halo Game).

I look forward to it.

Nah, W7 instead!

Looking good so far. My brother and I just went through all games except 'Wars' (never tried it yet) and loved almost every minute of them. Looking forward to more.

[metallicorphan]

Windows 8 Halo theme please.

Looks like 343 isn't just pushing out YAHG (yet another Halo Game).

I look forward to it.

Nah, W7 instead!

Looking good so far. My brother and I just went through all games except 'Wars' (never tried it yet) and loved almost every minute of them. Looking forward to more.

Halo Wars:I suck at those kind of games,but i was enjoying it until an hour later i just kept getting owned everywhere,i will say this,that the cutscenes for Halo Wars were very nice

I still need to play through Anniversary,and with my Xbox 1 now dead,i guess i will have to use my 360 for Halo 2...or MS/343  could do a remake for that as well,so all Halo games would be on the 360