New Halo 4 Screenshots, Video, and Details

Microsoft started off their E3 2012 conference with a quick glimpse at the next entry in one of their defining franchises: Halo 4. Thanks to a ton of new content released today, we can get an even closer look. Over two dozen screenshots, a new trailer showcasing the new Infinity multiplayer experience, the new Commissioning Experience video, and some exclusive gameplay footage. All of the awesome content, along with some new information about the game, is just a click away.

First, we’ve got some new screens of Master Chief and other shots of Halo 4’s main campaign, playable solo or with up to four players online. If you’re not too familiar with how the campaign is going to play out this time around, here’s the details:

Brace for a thrilling, action-packed adventure deep inside a mysterious new world to confront the gravest threat humanity has ever faced. Harness a vast arsenal of futuristic human and alien weaponry, abilities, and vehicles as you step back into the boots of the Master Chief and wage a desperate war against an overpowering new nemesis and a deadly new class of technologically advanced foes — the Prometheans — that will challenge you to employ innovative new combat tactics.

Next, we get a glimpse of Halo 4’s PVP experience with some screenshots from War Games.

The competitive multiplayer modes of “Halo 4,” known as War Games, take place on the combat deck of the UNSC Infinity and revive the visceral and immersive experiences that “Halo” multiplayer is famous for. Featuring 10 diverse and action-packed new multiplayer maps at launch, “Halo 4” introduces a broad variety of immersive new game modes and strategies to help you progress your Spartan-IV career, while delivering an experience that’s distinctly “Halo.”

All of Halo 4’s multiplayer action is centered around the UNSC Infinity. A brand new trailer offers a closer look at this new experience.

The hub of the “Halo 4” multiplayer experience is the UNSC Infinity — the largest starship in the UNSC fleet that serves as the center of your Spartan career. Here, you’ll build your custom Spartan-IV supersoldier and progress your multiplayer career across all “Halo 4” competitive and cooperative game modes. As you advance your Spartan career aboard the largest starship in the UNSC fleet, your multiplayer experience will be embedded in the fiction of “Halo” like never before, where your progress and game choices affect your appearance, your arsenal and your role on the battlefield.

At the cross section between Halo 4’s single player campaign experience and its unique online multiplayer is Spartan Ops. Spartan Ops is a new addition to the franchise that combines a continuing storyline with intense online gameplay. These screenshots show a small sample of what that looks like and an exclusive gameplay video gives even more depth.

Through a weekly series of cinematic episodes, Spartan Ops will tell the continuing story of the UNSC Infinity, following the events of “Halo 4.” These episodes will center on the UNSC Infinity leaders and crew as well as a new team of Spartans — Majestic Squad. These cinematic episodes will provide the backdrop for the weekly Spartan Ops gameplay missions. Playable in single-player or cooperatively with up to four players, Spartan Ops lets you explore the corners of Requiem in objective-based missions and help uncover the secrets of the mysterious Forerunner world. A massive-scale adventure that builds off the “Halo 4” story, access to Spartan Ops is included with “Halo 4” at no additional charge — effectively delivering two campaign experiences in one game.

And finally, we close all of this Halo 4 goodness with the brand new cinematic Commissioning Experience video: