Halo 4: A Hero Awakens (10 Minute Singleplayer ViDoc)

Another very fascinating thing here is how well the 360 is able to render the motion capture technology that is being used for this game. A good example is the end of the video where Cortana gives her "don't make a promise" speech. You can really see an actual actress within the model there. I mean it looks alive.

I don't know how they're pulling this shit off on hardware this ancient. It rivals anything out there.


To be fair; Ninja Theory did incredible work when it came to the mocap and modeling in Enslaved. And that was a couple years ago now. It was easily the best example of this gen till this latest crop of gen-ending titles were shown off: Halo 4, The Last of Us, Beyond.

Regardless, nothing sells a visual narrative more, and I'm glad to see gaming really get on the bandwagon.
 
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Mmmm... them's some Cortanass!
 
Cant fucking wait. I'm so glad they finally grew Master Chief in more ways than one. It always bothered the shit out of me how stumpy he looked for a guy close to 7 feet.

Awesome stuff, although i did find the over-dramatic nature of the whole thing hilarious. "Lets explore the irony in cortanas humanity in this vid doc, ooh ahhhh". Fun to watch though.

Hell, even comedians talk highly and serious about their new projects. Why do these people have to somehow sell their hard work short? Because it is a video game?
 
I think the music in this ViDoc also deserves some recognition. Especially the bit that is very much reminiscent of the classic theme.
 
I cringed at that last line
Really? It actually made me tear up a little. Knowing the relationship Chief and Cortana have, Cortana's apparent vulnerability, and the skill with which the line was conveyed all combined together really hit me hard.
 
Hype. Looking really awesome. Based upon how Halo 4 performs, 343i either make or break their name. Cannot wait to see what they do next-gen but for now, Halo 4 looks delicious.
 
Holy shhh, games are starting to look like movies more and more.. awesome matte paintings, 3d set designs (blue-screen set designs)

I think these are one of the best grfx I have seen this generation, maybe even the best. And the acting WOW.

Bring it on!
 
I wanted to see actual gameplay, not cutscenes BUT from what I'm seeing, it looks superb. They've really stepped up the storytelling from the previous games. Looks a lot more dramatic and well-written. I really can't wait for this.
 
I many be wrong, but I think that shot and the one of Requiem immediately after were from the live-action Forward Unto Dawn series. They kind of had that CG look to me.

That said, if they were from the game like the rest of the footage I'm even more amazed by this game.

edit:
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this, right? I don't know, doesn't look in-engine to me.

They seem to use a lot of matte paintings, (background, earth etc) which free up cpu and gpu time, so you can have better lighting and better models in those shots. Smart.
 
Game looks good, but I'm disappointed we didn't see more actual gameplay instead of a bunch of cut-scenes.

Microsoft was not kidding when they said they formed the best team in the industry for Halo 4. Bungie was not able to achieve visuals like this with the series, but 343i did it with their first attempt.

This game is built off of Bungie's tech. One of the reasons why 343i are able to achieve these visuals is because of the years of optimization that Bungie has put into the tech. Other than the changes we can see, improvements to their content creation tools, plus a different art team, probably are the biggest contributing factors to the leap in graphical quality. That's not to say a similar leap wouldn't have happened with Bungie as we saw a huge leap between Halo 3 and Reach.

It's just the natural evolution an engine goes through.

And the detailing at medium and long ranges are better; the imposter system in Reach sapped a lot of detail out of things quickly.

Do we know that Halo 4 isn't using imposter tech? If anything that should have improved performance and allowed greater detail where it matters. Where imposters were used, the distance should have been far enough not to notice the lack of detail (battles in the background for ex.)

Bungie were just incompetent.

SMH, you guys are rough.
 
This game looks absolutely amazing! I just hope the multiplayer is as fun as Halo 2 or Halo 3 as I hated Halo Reach :'(
 
So damn excited for this. A new Microsoft store opened up in Orlando and it sounded like the launch night was going to be really fun, so I preordered the hell out of the limited edition.

The quality of this game looks unreal. Thanks 343!
 
I'll never get the complaint against people taking to their craft with an utmost seriousness, and not hiding that fact. You think grand to do grand.


Tell that to the politicians. I just thought it was fluffy, thats all. Place drama where it shouldn't be too much and you'll end up with The Hills. This is an extreme example of course but I'm just saying things can be taken too far.

If you dont know cheesy, then you dont know cheesy.
 
I am just telling it like it is; a disgrace to every Xbox Bro out there.

Let's be fair here.Faces in Reach were much better than in Halo 3 and Halo 4 is pretty much built on Bungie's tech.Of course there are some improvements in art and tech but this is what you get if you have amazing team and time.
 
Oh my....

Looks incredible. Really looking forward to this.

Quick MP related question - has Theatre mode been confirmed yet? Not seen any info on it. I'm sure it's a safe bet that it's in, but just wondering if it's been 100% confirmed by anyone.
 
thoughts as i watched the video.

1) Kiki Wolfkill is such a badass name.

2) 10 minutes of Master Chief Closeups ? Although, wow, the work they've done is amazing. I like how massive he looks next to humans...

3) ...who OMG, look just incredible. The guy on the left at 8'13" - 8'15" especially, for a moment i wasn't sure i was looking at the game or motion capture actors performances.

4) not nice bringing halo 3 up for comparison and putting Bungie to utter shame.

5) Cortana is hot.

6) ok, so there's maybe 3 seconds of new gameplay in here. Environments do look stunning though.

from a technical and artistic standpoint, 343 have done an amazing job.
Halo 4 looks absolutely amazing.
 
Looks awesome ....... the 360's swansong before nextgen next year.


One thing, all the pretentious shit about the story and the characters .... these people need to get over themselves.

It's a game about shooting guns .... lol.
 
Looks awesome ....... the 360's swansong before nextgen next year.


One thing, all the pretentious shit about the story and the characters .... these people need to get over themselves.

It's a game about shooting guns .... lol.

LolNo

Just because you like to play dumb games with no story or depth doesn't mean people who take their work seriously should "get over themselves"
 
Looks awesome ....... the 360's swansong before nextgen next year.

One thing, all the pretentious shit about the story and the characters .... these people need to get over themselves.

It's a game about shooting guns .... lol.
The fuck? Halo lore and characters are the best thing about the series. Even the stuff hinted in Halo 3 was facinating.

Shooting is just one part of the whole package.
 
Looks awesome ....... the 360's swansong before nextgen next year.


One thing, all the pretentious shit about the story and the characters .... these people need to get over themselves.

It's a game about shooting guns .... lol.

This video is about the story and characters though. Not the shooty gun bit.
 
Looks awesome ....... the 360's swansong before nextgen next year.

One thing, all the pretentious shit about the story and the characters .... these people need to get over themselves.

It's a game about shooting guns .... lol.
I'm not gonna slam your post because I can't necessarily blame you for feeling this way considering the other games told their respective stories to varying degrees of success. However 343 is and has gone through lengths to tie together all of the canon across the board not just from the games but from all the extended media(books, comics, anime shorts, etc.) So as a whole they are trying to really emphasize the importance of the story they want to tell.
 
I'm not gonna slam your post because I can't necessarily blame you for feeling this way considering the other games told their respective stories to varying degrees of success. However 343 is and has gone through lengths to tie together all of the canon across the board not just from the games but from all the extended media(books, comics, anime shorts, etc.) So as a whole they are trying to really emphasize the importance of the story they want to tell.

I admire their desire to try and tell a story within a FPS, I like the Halo Universe but it was the pretentious twaddle they were spouting in the video that irked me, obviously not the story itself (game is not out yet).

So to reiterate, I like Halo, the Universe and the games ....... what I found lolworthy was the pretentious, overinflated language and tone of the video in regards to the story they wished to tell in a game in which the greatest tool for interaction is a gun.

I love FPS games, I love good FPS games (which obviously includes Halo) and I enjoy the Halo characters and Universe.

But this video to me smacked of the same tone as the Polygon video.
 
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