First Look at Halo 4

[DoctorFinger]

It's not even St. Patrick's Day, and the holiday season is already getting a bit crowded. Today we get our first look at Halo 4 in this developer diary from 343 Studios. This time around Master Chief isn't just a stoic hero, he's the focus of the story, and as a result he's getting a shiny new character model. 343 also promises more originality on the multiplayer levels, instead of the recycled environments and narrative-less structure. Not a ton of info is revealed, but it's a nice teaser for things to come.

Expect Halo 4 this fall exclusively on the 360.

[ClannerDelta]

I have little to say, but "Kiki Wolfkill" is a fucking awesome name.

[Reverant]

Joystiq has some more information on the game. There'll be a progression system with class loadouts and unlocks. The cynic in me thinks MS wants to take back some of the CoD marketshare with Halo 4, and they'll do it by aping that series.

[CES]

Originally Posted by Reverant

Joystiq has some more information on the game. There'll be a progression system with class loadouts and unlocks. The cynic in me thinks MS wants to take back some of the CoD marketshare with Halo 4, and they'll do it by aping that series.

Both were in Reach.

Edit: Frankie might be Development Director here but he's still just a Scottish yob. Note the can of Tennants in the background.

[Zanzibar]

The worst news I saw from this is that Marty O'Donnell is not doing the music. They'll probably use some of the same themes from previous Halo titles but as we saw from Halo Wars it's a struggle to match music to the Halo world unless you're named Marty O'Donnell.

[Deadend]

I no longer enjoy Halo games, so I hope those that do are happy with this.
Just something about the core feel and look of the games that I can't enjoy at this point.

I still like the universe and story, I just hate playing them at this point.

[digitalErich]

Well, they sure did tell us how great Halo 4 will be.

[Entropy]

I can never keep track of which games it's cool to rip on...is Halo one? I'd hate to be awkward guy in the thread that gives the game the benefit of the doubt.

I really enjoyed Halo Reach and Halo ODST. If this is more of the same then that's a good thing...this video seems like standard pre-release hype...not sure why I'm gonna hold this against them since for the most part the series has been enjoyable.

[digitalErich]

Nope, I still like Halo, at least for the single player and co-op. I haven't really played a Halo MP game past the first month of release since 2.

I was just giving this shit for talking this huge game while they show off renderings

[Wolvie]

Originally Posted by Krispy

Let me sum up this video for people who haven't seen it yet,

WE ARE MAKING HALO FUCKING EXTREME. EVERYTHING IS BIGGER. EVERYTHING IS BETTER. WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF ART ASSETS WE MADE. THIS SHIT IS FOR REAL.

This looks so desperate. Please think we are relevant!

This made me laugh. What does Bungie have that we don't? 343 is pretty too!!!

I love Halo, I do, but I am still not sold on 343 yet. I'll buy Halo 4(barring some horrendous reviews), but I'm not convinced about it yet. I hope it's good... but I got an feeling of uncertainty about it.

[bean]

The things that made Halo great back when the original came out are still the things that make modern FPS great: great story, music, voice-acting, tight controls, meaingful and fun vehicle sequences, fun weapons that have meaningful different mechanics from other weapons, and outstanding multiplayer (both co-op and versus).

Honestly, even though the formula hasn't change, there are many game developers who simply aren't able to deliver; the exceptions are most-often realistic shooters (CoD + BF3) that are hit-and-miss with their story-telling and who offer very short single-player campaigns due to a focus on multiplayer.

So if this gets great reviews AND is released on PC (not going to buy another Xbox 360 this late in the console cycle for ANY game), I'll be happy to play it.

[Karak]

Originally Posted by Wolvie

This made me laugh. What does Bungie have that we don't? 343 is pretty too!!!

I love Halo, I do, but I am still not sold on 343 yet. I'll buy Halo 4(barring some horrendous reviews), but I'm not convinced about it yet. I hope it's good... but I got an feeling of uncertainty about it.

I have had a feeling of uncertainty for every single game I have ever bought. However, these games have notoriously rewarded me by maxing out the accounts in my funbank. I except the same here.

Also their team is insane, the number of fans working on it is great, I hope the director can keep them focused. I also love the push to original assets, which I am assuming will make sure that level to level there is higher variation.

[Karak]

Holy Christ 3:15-3:20 that audio!

Man alive. I can only hope that kind of thing is ingame.

[digitalErich]

It's also worth noting that this is PR for a game in a series with arguably the most famous ad campaign in the history of gaming.

Short of a Nolan directed short with a Dr. Who crossover, nerds are going to complain about adds for a new Halo.

[OldJadedGamer]

Meh, not a fan of when new devs take over established franchises and the Halo world is lost it's appeal to me. Halo 2 was awesome since there was nothing else like it at all on consoles but now there are bigger and better things and I just don't think the series holds up.

[MagGnome]

I still remember when Evil Avatar became Halo2Fansite.com for well over a year. I don't miss those days.

Zeal...where are you now?

[Yeti2005]

Looks pretty damn good. I'm sure anyone who likes Halo will NOT be disappointed but by the same token I doubt this game will sway the haters.

[Uatu]

Originally Posted by MagGnome

I still remember when Evil Avatar became Halo2Fansite.com for well over a year. I don't miss those days.

Why not? If I remember, that was around the release of Halo 3, which was the peak of the series (and pretty much the FPS along with MW1). You literally had to be hitting your dick with a hammer trying to not have fun (or be one of those sad PC and or PS3 only people) to not be excited for the launch of that game.

I only hope a new FPS can generate that excitement again. I personally miss it, as everything on the horizon is looks pretty meh.

[Blue]

There's a difference between being excited about a game and talking about it rationally and Zeal. Did you ever meet Zeal? I would rather eat glass than deal with him.

[MagGnome]

It was the release of Halo 2, not 3. There was coverage of Halo 2 seemingly every day on the front page, and Zeal and other fervent fans of the series were obnoxious in their zeal (heh) to promote the game and talk about it at every opportunity. It was almost impossible to avoid. Evil Avatar felt like a Halo 2 fansite, and it went on for several months. I remember that at the time it caused quite a rift, as many people were put off by the nonstop hype. Keep in mind that it started long before the game came out and continued for a while after the release.

This has no bearing on the quality of the Halo series. From all accounts Halo 2 was a very good game (with apparently a rather poor ending). It was the level of hype that made myself and others uncomfortable.

Edit - Wow...that was about 8 years ago now. I'm getting old!