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Halo 4 update adds new Support Upgrades, Spartan Ops to matchmaking
343 Industries will push out a title update for Halo 4 this Monday, August 19, ahead of the launch of the game's Champions Bundle DLC, which is scheduled for the next day. The patch, in addition to ending the current Global Championship online qualifier, also adds two new Support Upgrades: Recharge, which reduces the amount of time it takes for your shields to recharge, and Survivor, which automatically ejects the player from any vehicle on the verge of exploding. The update also adds Spartan Ops levels to matchmaking, specifically two chapters from Episode 1 (The Challenge, Sacred), one chapter from Episode 2 (Gagarin) and two chapters from Episode 5 (Spartan Miller, Nothing Can Go Wrong). Meanwhile, the game's Crimson Map Pack will be removed in preparation for the arrival of the Champions Bundle.
Halo 4 Spartan Ops ep. 9 trailer is a librarian rodeo
You don't often hear the words 'librarian' and 'rodeo' close to each other, but this trailer for the ninth episode of Halo 4's Spartan Ops, out February 11, pulls it off, leaving us with the pleasing image of riders shushing each other as they desperately try to stay saddled. %Gallery-178226%
Halo 4 Spartan Ops ep. 8 trailer exposes the dangerous life of scientists
If video games have taught us anything, it's that the life of a scientist is always in jeopardy. Their labs are invaded, their projects go awry and, as illustrated in the latest Spartan Ops trailer, aliens try to murder them. It's no wonder STEM education is so important – our scientists keep dying.%Gallery-177675%
Dr. Halsey lays the smack down in this Halo 4 Spartan Ops episode 7 trailer
If Halo 4's Spartan Ops has proved anything, it's that Dr. Halsey is not to be trifled with – and as the trailer for episode 7 above proves, she's not above smacking a fool.
Halo 4's Spartan Ops episodes due Jan. 21 and 28, Feb. 4
343 Industries outlined the first three weeks and episodes of Spartan Ops' return to Halo 4, starting as scheduled on January 21 with Episode 6. The next two episodes of the co-op campaign are coming on January 28 and February 4. After that, two more as-yet-undated episodes will conclude the first season, the likely word of pertinence being 'first.'343 Industries is also releasing matchmaking updates alongside the Spartan Ops episodes. Joining episode 6 on January 21 is a new 'Forge Test' playlist which rotates around some of the smaller Forge maps like Relay. Pioneer and Pathfinder specializations are also being unlocked then. Accompanying the following episode on January 28 is a Grifball playlist, along with Engineer and Stalker specialization unlocks. February 4 brings the Team Doubles playlist, with maps limited to two teams of two, as well as Rogue and Tracker specializations.
Halo 4's Spartan Ops returns Jan. 21
Halo 4's episodic co-op campaign Spartan Ops returns January 21. The series goes on hiatus next week to make way for Mountain Dew and Doritos presents Halo 4 Infinity Challenge. January will bring the final five episodes of the season. Place your bets now if there'll be a second season. Spoiler: There will.
Halo 4 Spartan Ops goes on hiatus next week, 'Infinity Challenge' begins
Halo 4's episodic co-op campaign Spartan Ops will go on hiatus next week, concluding in January with the final five episodes of season one. Microsoft is also teaming up with Virgin gaming on the "Halo 4 Infinity Challenge," which has a V8-powered 2013 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor (pictured), along with an appearance in a future Halo game, as its grand prize.Those interested in participating in the Mountain Dew and Doritos presents, in association with Seven Eleven and Harvey's RV World, Halo 4 Infinity Challenge can register at www.halo4infinitychallenge.com. The tournament begins December 17 and will track War Games and Spartan Ops leaderboards, with over 2,800 prizes available. The qualifier phase will run until January 10.After the qualifier section, players will be tiered into three groups, with the final phase taking place the week of January 12. Leaderboards will be reset at this time to award the top performers in each tier. No word yet if the new Ford F-150 handles like a Warthog.
Making Halo 4 Spartan Ops with the group behind the Dead Island trailer
The Halo 4 Spartan Ops episodes don't just magically appear; they're painstakingly crafted by Axis Animation, the same studio that created that memorable, heartbreaking trailer for Dead Island in 2011. Take a peek at the process in the above video.
Halo 4's Spartan Ops: Episode 4 out Monday, teaser out right now
The next episode of Halo 4's Spartan Ops campaign lands Monday morning at 2 a.m. Pacific, but you can watch the teaser trailer right now if that's what you're into. Episode 4, "Didact's Hand," appears to have a lot of holograms, more political intrigue and more moral relativist drama. Also, aliens.
One million players have completed Halo 4's campaign
The official Halo Waypoint blog has shared a number of stats and figures from Halo 4's first week, revealing that over a million people have already completed the new game's campaign since launch; six percent of which have finished the game on its "Legendary" difficulty setting.All of that campaign playing took up 13.5 million hours of gameplay; however, War Games was actually the most popular game mode, with four million users clocking 16 million hours of competitive multiplayer within the first five days of launching. 1.9 million hours were spent playing Spartan Ops, Halo 4's ongoing episodic co-op mode.And if you're wondering just how much overall death Halo 4 has caused, 343 says that 4,590,416,285 kills took place in all of the game modes within the tracked five-day period. That's over 4.5 billion kills, between fellow players, the Covenant, and the new Prometheans. With all of that killing, it's no wonder the planet is called Requiem.
PSA: Halo 4's Spartan Ops: Episode Two out now
Halo 4's post-campaign campaign Spartan Ops flipped the switch on its second episode this morning. The Spartan Ops episodes are merely being unlocked weekly, with previous episodes still available, so don't worry about rushing to them before finishing the Chief's campaign.Microsoft hasn't posted an official release schedule for future episodes, but the company told us last week it plans to continue with weekly unlocks for the ten announced episodes.
Halo 4's Spartan Ops: Episode Two available next Monday
The next free episode of Spartan Ops, the co-op campaign which takes place after Master Chief's accomplishments in Halo 4, will be available next Monday, November 12, at 3AM Pacific. The first episode is accessible now in the game's multiplayer section.Microsoft tells us it's sticking to the plan of launching the ten announced Spartan Ops episodes weekly, but stopped short of saying that it'll always be Monday at the same time as episode two.There is some serious CGI-candy to be found in Spartan Ops if you haven't checked it out yet.
Halo 4 Spartan Ops trailer features Spartans, ops
A fresh trailer for Halo 4's Spartan Ops mode has surfaced on the web. The trailer shows off some gameplay as well as a few of the cut-scenes from the episodic series of cooperative missions. It looks like the Covenant are at it again – despite that whole "truce" thing – and the UNSC has deployed a fresh batch of Spartans to take care of business. Check out the trailer above.
Halo 4's Campaign, War Games and Spartan Ops in latest screens
Halo 4 comes with three capacious modes: Campaign, in which Master Chief faces a new Forerunner threat; War Games, a mixture of competitive multiplayer modes; and Spartan Ops, an episodic and story-driven series of four-player cooperative missions.We have new screens from all three modes right below. Be sure to check out Chief's new opponents, the Prometheans – not to be confused with the Protheans from Mass Effect – and "Solace," a vibrant new battleground for competitive matches like Capture the Flag (yes, that guy above is shooting with flag in hand) and Halo 4's frantic spin on territory tussles, Dominion.%Gallery-166233%
