Halo 4
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Two new Halo 4 enemies give away their position on McFarlane toy box
Two new enemies for Halo 4 have been outed on the back of a Series 1 McFarlane toy package, dubbed the "Crawler" and "Watcher," a photo from All Games Beta shows. The box includes images of each new enemy: The Crawler looks like a hellhound stuck its head in a vat of boiling yellow glow-stick liquid, while the Watcher appears to be a moth-mounted, flying beetle creature.343 Industries better throw a leash on these Halo 4 image leaks before All Games Beta renames itself to "Official Halo 4 Pictures For Everyone Always, Enjoy."
Titan Books publishing Awakening: The Art of Halo 4 in November
If you prefer your books to be light on those word things, you might want to join us in our favorite pastime – perusing books with lots of pictures in them. Titan Books will produce such a collection of images centered around Halo 4, called Awakening: The Art of Halo 4.It's a hardcover tome of concept art from 343 Industries highlighting "characters, weapons, vehicles, and environments" from this year's installment in Microsoft's popular franchise. "This collection will provide a detailed look at the art created specifically for Halo 4, with commentary by the creative team at 343 Industries," the announcement reads.Awakening: The Art of Halo 4 will be available at your favorite Bookatorium in November, which conveniently happens to be when Halo 4 launches.%Gallery-153658%
Halo 4 heading 'Forward Unto Dawn' with new live-action web series [update: teaser image]
It wouldn't be a Halo launch without a tremendous media campaign, and Halo 4 looks to be no different. The weeks leading up to the Master Chief's return this November will be filled with a new web series entitled "Forward Unto Dawn," according to Variety. Representing Microsoft's "largest investment" in live-action ever, the series will be shown on Machinima and Halo Waypoint.Details around the series still lie dormant – perhaps buried in a Forerunner facility – with Microsoft aiming to shed more light on the project at the San Diego Comic-Con this July. Using our own pervasive powers of prognostication, we're going to predict that Spartans figure into the series somehow.Update: Microsoft has passed along an image to promote the series and, sure enough, it looks like the Chief will be making an appearance. Check out the full image in the gallery below.%Gallery-154354%
New Halo 4 shots reintroduce Grunts, Elites, and ... guns?
Are you sitting down? Are you fully braced? You should probably brace yourself for this shocking news: Halo 4 will have Grunts, Elites, and guns. Yes, it's true, Master Chief will once again be blasting through suicidal Grunts and proud Elites in his battle against ... well, we're not really sure.But these latest shots, freshly leaked on AllGamesBeta, assure us that at least two of Halo's classic foes will be returning in Halo 4. We're holding out hope that the Flood manage to miss this round. Please, 343 Industries? Pretty please?Regardless, the screen above also indicates it's been over three years since the Chief's last contact with his former UNSC buddies. That's quite a bit of sleep. Enough to call it hibernation, even! And now we're picturing space bears in hibernation. Thanks, Halo.%Gallery-153658%
Halo 4, starring Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter as professional crate movers
Ahead of tonight's episode of Conan, Team Coco went ahead and posted the full nine-minute Halo 4 segment starring 343 Industries' Kiki Wolfkill and Frank O'Connor. Conan's got pitches for his low-key role as "dude who moves crates in space during war," as well as a variety of subtle costume ideas. See it all for yourself just above.
Halo 4 awakens Master Chief on November 6
Microsoft and 343 Industries announced this morning that Halo 4 will launch worldwide on Tuesday, November 6. The news comes one day after teasy tweets from Microsoft's Major Nelson indicated some form of collaboration between Microsoft and everyone's favorite freakishly tall late night host, Conan O'Brien, which sparked rumors of a potential launch date reveal.Microsoft studios corporate VP Phil Spencer offered lofty goals alongside the launch date announce. "With Halo 4 leading the charge, we're confident 2012 will be the most successful year in Xbox history," Spencer said. He also pointed out that Halo 4 is just the beginning of Microsoft's renewed relationship with the Chief. "We are beginning a new saga with Halo 4 and embarking on a journey that will encompass the next decade of Halo games and experiences." Just no more cat helmets, Phil. That's all we ask.Additionally, Halo 4 will appear in some form on tonight's episode of "Conan," which Microsoft described as nothing more than a "special segment."Update: Red vs Blue created the charming short above to announce Halo 4's release date. Enjoy!
Halo 4's multiplayer introduces 'Regicide' mode, 'Forerunner vision'
Halo 4's various competitive multiplayer modes will feature new ways to slaughter your friends, as well as refreshed versions of old classics, according to a video interview with lead multiplayer designer Brad Welch at Game Informer.One of the new modes, Regicide, is a free-for-all deathmatch in which one player is the "King," and all other players must attempt to usurp his/her throne. Killing non-King players rewards points as per usual, although not as many as are gained by killing the King, who has a substantial bounty placed upon their heads. Said bounty increases with every successful kill the King accrues during the match, until their demise.Welch also detailed Halo 4's ranking and unlockable abilities system: Players earn XP as they win, eventually leveling up and being rewarded with Spartan Points, which are in turn spent on new armor abilities. "Forerunner vision," which grants the ability to see through walls, as well as "hologram and active cammo" were named specifically, though we expect that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Halo 4's music composed by Neil Davidge [update: samples]
With Bungie moving away from the Halo series, audio lead Marty O'Donnell is gone as well, meaning that Halo 4 will probably sound different. Edge revealed the identity of the new, non-O'Donnell music team today: composer Neil Davidge, formerly of Massive Attack, and orchestrator/conductor Matt Dunkley (The Dark Knight, Black Swan, Inception)."Hopefully the Halo fans will see that we're being respectful," Dunkley told Edge, "but we've also taken it somewhere else, and maybe onto a higher plane. If you're always trying to reference back, you're not creating new things.""It's a new journey, it's a new story, it's a new arc," said self-professed Halo fan Davidge, "and so I feel like my job is not to revolutionise or reinvent but to continue the evolution, and I have a slightly different voice to those guys."Update: Check out a "ViDoc" about the new composers above. And listen to some samples after the break.
Nielsen: Assassin's Creed 3, Halo 4 most anticipated console titles this year
You guys are so predictable, except when you're being unpredictable. This year gamers are most excited to play Halo 4 (which still doesn't have a release date) on Xbox 360, Assassin's Creed 3 on PS3 and Madden NFL 13 on Wii, Nielsen reports from a recent study.What baffles us is how low BioShock: Infinite rates (9th on 360 and 8th on PS3) and how eager PS3 owners are to play Prototype 2 -- it ranks 7th for PS3 gamers and doesn't even hit the top 10 on Xbox 360. We won't even discuss what business Battleship thinks it has being in 3rd place for Wii gamers.Nielsen aggregated the scores based on eight "key customer metrics," such as "awareness" and "purchase interest." We are now certainly "aware" that we can't guess the general consumer's mindset, when all we hear about is how they have no "interest" to "purchase" another game ever again, but mainstream, full-price titles crowd the most-anticipated list. Check out the complete list here.
Introducing Halo 4's Cortana
You have to wonder why Master Chief – essentially a sexless cyborg – has a voluptuous female counterpart, but it's a bit late in the Halo franchise to be asking such questions. Instead, we simply accept that the Chief's virtual partner-in-heroism will once again return in this fall's Halo 4, and now we know what she looks like (care of the latest Game Informer cover reveal, as seen above).Given the conclusion of Halo 3, we were kinda expecting the Chief's blue buddy to have a straitjacket wrapped around her projected avatar, but perhaps that and more will be explained when the game arrives later this year.Oh, and for comparison's sake, we've dropped an image of Halo 3's Cortana just below the break. Her newer likeness is kinda ... less blue? A bit? That's all we got.
Halo 4 'Warhouse' multiplayer map concept art and info deployed
Warhouse is a massive mining ship, one of the multiplayer maps available in Halo 4 when it ships later this year. On the outside, there is a beautiful space vista to distract you while a Spartan sneaks up behind you and bashes your billion-dollar helmet in with his Battle Rifle. Inside, there is a giant half-built mech to distract you while -- well, while the same thing happens.Warhouse is a working title for this map, 343 says in the latest Halo Bulletin update. It's a smaller, symmetrical map designed for Slayer gametypes. "We wanted this playspace to be similar competition-wise to older symmetrical maps in previous Halos, so we sought influence from those, and also from the industrial close-quarters combat in more recent games," the 343 blog post reads.There are a series of small pathways connecting various areas of Warhouse, allowing for what 343 hopes are many surprising encounters. You know, like that time that Spartan sneaked up behind you and -- well, you get the idea.%Gallery-151868%
There is no Halo 4 beta or Halo4beta site
There are no plans for Halo 4 to receive a public beta, 343 Industries announced in a Q&A with franchise development director Frank O' Connor. He answered a slew of fan questions about Halo 4, revealing that it would be possible to play Grifball, that there would not be a color-blind mode (though considerations for that audience have been made in art decisions), and a few other tidbits. Check out the full factsheet here.In related Halo 4 news, Microsoft recently won a legal battle against the bogus website Halo4beta.net, but as there won't be a Halo 4 beta we don't expect it to be put back into official use any time soon. Microsoft has also filed a complaint against Halo4beta.biz.
Halo 4 bringing the Battle Rifle back, introducing unlockable abilities in progression system
Few fictional weapons can drum up their own cult following. The cadence and rat-tat-tat ruthlessness of Halo's Battle Rifle is unmistakable no matter which side of the barrel you're on. It's a death sentence in the right hands, punctuated by an ellipsis of bullets ... and painfully described in overwrought, armament love letters built on phrases like "ellipsis of bullets." As far as iconic Halo bits and pieces go, the Battle Rifle seems almost as inextricable as Master Chief.And yet the cyborg with humanity at heart skipped enough games for Microsoft to make a big deal out of his return in Halo 4. The new (ish) franchise custodians at 343 Industries are in a tight spot, where they have to shape a message not only around what's new, but what's coming back. The Battle Rifle's return is an easy way to establish the latter, then, especially to those fans who couldn't wrap their heads around the weapon's disappearance in the first place.Speaking to Joystiq in an interview last year, former Bungie game designer Jaime Griesemer saw the weapon as a piece of deadly nostalgia. "It's not just a weapon, it's the weapon," he said. "For a skilled player, they spend most of their time using that one weapon. If you never miss, it's the most effective tool in the toolbox. So for them, Halo 3 is the Battle Rifle. All their Halo emotion and experience is tied up in it. So it isn't surprising to me when people react that way."How daunting must it be to work in a space where a video game gun can reach beloved status? It's no wonder Microsoft is being sensitive and cryptic about Halo 4, which introduces what could be the biggest, most widespread (and controversial) change to the multiplayer in years. According to 343, Halo 4 will add customizable loadouts and abilities that are unlocked through a progression system.%Gallery-149446%
Halo 4 to feature one heavy Master Chief
When we all saw the teaser for Halo 4, our first question was: "What is up with that armor?" Last time we checked, he didn't have a jetpack. Could Master Chief actually be Barry Steakfries?Nope, it's all part of 343 Industries' plan to update the Master Chief's armor for Halo 4. A blog post on Halo Waypoint discusses the "800 pounds of tank and jet fighter" strapped to Chief's frame. "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."Despite Chief's bulk, 343 describes him in Halo 4 as "a nimble yet heavy superhero." His design will contrast against the bulky Spartan armor design seen in Bungie's last effort, Halo: Reach. "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."In short, 343 is aiming to better convey his physical weight to the players -- and it sounds like his movement and characteristics will reflect that. Whether it'll come with a more complex, busier HUD remains to be seen.
Halo 4's Master Chief steps boldly into the physical realm
We first got a look at Halo 4's Master Chief with this epic picture of him being born from an exploding robot womb, and the physical version made by McFarlane Toys stays true to that rendition, right down to the placement of the chink in his armor. If Microsoft approves this prototype, Halo 4 will mark a departure from previous armor designs, which have generally offered more coverage around Master Chief's vital organs, and more mobility around the neck and shoulders. Because that's what armor should do.For example, the Halo 4 version offers a squishy black bullseye over Master Chief's heart, while in Halo 3 that area was covered in sturdy green armor. The bicep patches in the above design look large enough to carry your emblem of choice (unicorn), but not to stop advanced-technology bullets from piercing your skin as previous armor versions do. Also, he's fighting a galactic war, not practicing advanced yoga -- there is no reason for that much uncovered space on his hips.Microsoft will decide if this prototype is close enough to in-game reality before it launches in the fall as part of McFarlane's Halo 4 lineup, which will include brand new weapons, characters and vehicles. This year McFarlane also plans to drop two new product lines based in the Halo universe: Micro Ops, which offers classic figures at 1:100 standard size, and Halo Avatars, 2.5-inch physical renditions of Xbox Live avatars.
Halo: Archetype fan-film teaser introduces the first Spartan
Usually, being the first to do something is a good thing. In the case of Halo: Archetype, a fan-film chronicling the first Spartan to don the MJOLNIR armor, it just means you're the guy who gets shot at most.
Microsoft files complaint over fake Halo 4 beta domain
Believe it or not, there are evil people on the Internet who use misinformation and deception to steal from the innocent and well-meaning. We know, we couldn't believe it either, but it's the truth, as recently demonstrated by an outbreak of fake Halo 4 beta test invites.343 Industries' creative director David Ellis was quick to debunk the bogus site, but the URL used in the phishing scam (halo4beta dot net) is still out there, tempting fate with its Halo-oriented name and un-Microsoftness. Who knows what nefarious maleficence the domain could be used for if left in the wild, so Microsoft has filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum in order to have the domain name transferred to its ownership.In situations like this, the company filing the complaint has to be able to prove that the domain in question was registered maliciously in order for the Forum to decide in its favor. Under the circumstances, we feel like global fraud will probably be malicious enough to sway things in Microsoft's favor.
Halo 4 beta invites are all fake (so far)
Abe Vigoda's not dead, that bridge in Brooklyn isn't really for sale, and there isn't actually an Easter bunny or a tooth fairy. Oh, and that invite to the Halo 4 beta you just got? It's not real either, says 343 Industries' content editor David Ellis. That doesn't mean there won't be a beta, but there isn't one yet. Santa Claus, though? Totally real.
PSA: Halo: Glasslands novel out today
Halo: Glasslands, the novel first announced all the way back in 2009 (remember Dollhouse? No?), is now filling the shelves of your favorite book seller. The book promises to continue the story of Ghosts of Onyx, and will detail events that take place after Halo 3. The press release mentions plenty of plot details, though frankly, none of them match up to the torrid love affair suggested by the Glasslands cover. Granted, there probably isn't an actual human-on-Covenant relationship in Glasslands, but that's what fan fiction is for, right?
Why Halo 4's Warthog can be seen but not driven in Forza 4
It's nifty that Forza Motorsport 4 will allow players to examine the Halo 4 Warthog in "Auto Vista" mode, but we doubt we're alone in wondering why you can't actually drive it. According to developer Turn 10's Dan Greenwalt, implementing the UNSC's iconic ground transport is much more complex than it sounds. Speaking to Eurogamer, Greenwalt explained that the technology used in the Warthog simply doesn't exist in any of Forza's other cars – notably its "crab walking" four wheel steering – meaning Turn 10 would have to build it from scratch. It's not that the Turn 10 team is incapable, Greenwalt noted that they have the specs, but it would be "a big investment" in order to support a single vehicle. The final straw, apparently, is that there's no way to simulate the Warthog's tires. All of Forza's tire physics are based on real-world tires, meaning that each tire in the game should react to road conditions in a (very) realistic way. Said Greenwalt, "they didn't give us tires from nanotube technology from 2525."
