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First Halo 4 GI information (Spartan OPs, multi, etc) [Update: Campaign/More Details]

OP said:
True native 720p with FXAA
I am very much looking forward to this. I just hope they were able to keep the same visual effects the other Halo games were able to achieve by running at a lower resolution.
OP said:
Cortana has chosen a new visual identity whilst the Chief has been sleeping.
But the question is why did she change her appearance? Also, they better have the same voice actor!
OP said:
The FUD eventually crash lands on Requiem, a planet enclosed in a massive Dyson Shell.
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't this similar to a plot point in one of the Halo books?
OP said:
Firefight is absent and it is stated that there are no plans for it to return.
I am not sure how I feel about this. On one hand it sucks to lose a feature found in the past two Halo games. On the other hand I am not sure how popular the feature was in the entire community.
OP said:
Spartan Ops missions are not DLC, they are included in the overall Halo 4 package but it is unclear if the content is available on the disc or must be downloaded separately.
So, while the Spartan Ops missions are not DLC... they might be DLC? I think somebody need to explain to them that DLC means 'downloadable content'.
OP said:
Returning Armour Abilities include Hologram, Jet-Pack and Camo. A new ability to see through walls was shown and Sprint is now a baseline ability all players will have access to at all times.
I am generally okay with this but I just fear that the Forerunner Vision ability could be overpowered, though it does fit the narrative that the multiplayer takes place in virtual reality.
OP said:
Additionally, power weapons are introduced into a game on a random timer and appear at random drop points on the map.
This is sure going to piss off the longtime Halo arena and MLG fans. They are generally not fond of random events happening on a map.
OP said:
Joining In-Progress Games
I see this as another step at making Halo closer to Call of Duty. It continually seemed that Halo is one of the last major multiplayer game franchises that was dedicated to traditional match mechanics but with this it will join the popular trends found in Battlefield and CoD.
OP said:
There will be a podcast. Nerves will be soothed. Things explained. Items clarified.
They need to hurry up with a podcast. I could see many people overeating to this news and believe me, news spreads fast on the internet.
 
I trust Frankie.

2388_400x600eyfv4.jpg


"Frankie is adorable like a young Audrey Hepburn."

I couldn't have said it better myself.
 
Here's a summary of the non-multiplayer stuff.

  • Halo 4 is set in 2557 - four years, seven months and ten days since the FUD was split into two and the finale of the events of Halo 3.
  • True native 720p with FXAA
  • New HUD, features subtle paralla movement during athetic actions and additional visual cues indicating that you are actually wearing a helmet.
  • Chief, Cortana and other characters animated with the assistance of motion capture.
  • Cortana impending rampancy will be a critical theme as will be exploring Master Chief as a person.
  • Cortana has chosen a new visual identity whilst the Chief has been sleeping.
  • The Covenant, at least Elites and Grunts, return but are not the primary enemy.
  • The FUD eventually crash lands on Requiem, a planet enclosed in a massive Dyson Shell.
  • A new faction from Reqium is introduced. Like the Covenant they will have unique and different enemy types, weapons and equipment. "If anything, they're kind of elevated in terms of their intelligence and complexity relative to the Covenant."
  • Huge, alive environments - a piece of concept art depicts a floating air squid in a jungle setting.
  • The skybox is filled with massive pillars reaching down from above and the surrounding view is painted by the inside of the Dyson Shell.
  • Game is split between Campaign and Infinity - the new term of the entire multiplayer experience seperate from the Camapign.
  • Multiplier directly and in-directly ties into the Campaign.
  • Multiplayer features Spartan IV's - adult volenteers taken from the the best of special ops soliders, equippe with a new version of the Mjolnir armour (lightweight variation) and deployed onboard the UNSC Infinity.
  • The UNSC Infinity is the largest ship the UNSC has ever created. Over three kilmetres long, it was designed with cutting edge technology and features some additional technological enhancements provided by the study of Forerunner technology - including faster and more accurate slipspace travel.
  • The UNSC is deployed on a top scret mission into deep space but will cross paths with the Master Chief during the campaign.
  • The Spartan IV's onboard train in the Infinity's "combat deck" (think holodeck or Danger room). The deck and simulate any known environment and plays host the the multiplayer games players are familar with.
  • Firefight is absent and it is stated that there are no plans for it to return.
  • New Co-Op mode called Spartan Ops for up to four players in online Campaign-esque missions.
  • Spartan OPs introduces new movies sequences and missions on a weekly basis which tells the story of the UNSC Infinity's mission and battles the new Spartan IV's face.
  • Spartan Op missions are objective based and feature new content, events and locations each week. Spartan Ops missions also reward Spartan Points and feature selectable difficulty levels like Campaign.
  • Spartan Ops missions are not DLC, they are included in the overall Halo 4 package but it is unclear if the content is available on the disc or must be downloaded separately.
  • Weapons in the overal sandbox include Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, DMR, Assault Carbine, Covenant Carbine, Shotgun, Rocket Launcher, Sniper Rifle, Magnum and Plasma Pistol. There are numerous unrevealed, new weapons.

And Multiplayer details summary.

  • Loadouts are composed of a primary and secondary weapon, a grenade type, armour ability and modifications. It is unclear how the modification system works or what things it modifies or how.
  • Returning Armour Abilities include Hologram, Jet-Pack and Camo. A new ability to see through walls was shown and Sprint is now a baseline ability all players will have access to at all times.
  • FFA Variant, Regicide. Lead slayer is "King" - each of the King;s kills raises his "bounty". The bounty is claimed by whomever kills the King.
  • In Team Slayer (not confirmed for other gametypes), players can respawn instantly after death if they choose. Additionally, power weapons are introduced into a game on a random timer and appear at random drop points on the map.
  • Medals are turning including new medals for "revenge kills" and for causing a distraction.
This is exciting! It all sounds awesome. I'm very pleased about all of this. Hopefully 343i stick to their guns with all of the changes + additions.
 
Yeah, but "catch up on the story" could mean "shitty recap video, lololol sux4u latecomers." Maybe. I'm hoping this is cleared up in the podcast.

Article specifically mentions you can replay all missions to your hearts content on any difficulty setting you desire.
 

Monocle

Member
True, but I don't see why they would do that.
There always has to be a lump in the pudding. Maybe the death of Firefight will cause enough anguish to balance the cosmic scales, and the rest of the game will be perfect and awesome, and I'll get to keep my ops missions.

Article specifically mentions you can replay all missions to your hearts content on any difficulty setting you desire.
Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngg if true. I'm all about the Halo campaigns, and Spartan Ops sounds like a potentially brilliant twist on campaign co-op.

http://www.abload.de/img/2388_400x600eyfv4.jpg

"Frankie is adorable like a young Audrey Hepburn."

I couldn't have said it better myself.
Rofl, brilliant. Saved.
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
I really hope 343i is able to do some wizardry and not compromise too much on physics or scale, or anything to get those amazing graphics.

Damn that looks good. And if the image quality is great it will look fantastic. (90% of why console games often look "bleh" is IQ.)


And as for the multiplayer changes, sounds good to me. I love Halo, but if I want to play Halo 3 or Reach multi, I can play them. People hate change, no matter how much they try and rationalize the jumping to conclusions they do, most of it stems from not accepting change.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Article specifically mentions you can replay all missions to your hearts content on any difficulty setting you desire.
Wait, what? Are you saying Halo 4 has every campaign mission from every previous Halo game?
 
D

Deleted member 81567

Unconfirmed Member
You guys are overreacting so much. You really think 343i will release a broken game?
 

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
Honestly, I'll believe them when they give a 100% straight denial/make 100% completely unambiguous statements on both issues.

Yup, a bit of dancing around going on there. But Frankie did give a bit more than I expected, going as far as tackling the randomness issue as one that does not seem to be as reported in actuality.

Spartan Points are the worst offender. Even in concept, functional unlockables should get the fuck away from my multiplayer game.

My general outlook at this point is I'm loving the SP stuff and disliking their MP direction as far as unlocks and "CoDification" of things go to try and fuck with some fundamentals to widen the audience. Yeah they have to get a lot of their audience back, but not through removing the even footing that made Halo Halo.
 
D

Deleted member 81567

Unconfirmed Member
What the hell are you guys talking about?
 

Monocle

Member
I really hope 343i is able to do some wizardry and not compromise too much on physics or scale, or anything to get those amazing graphics.

Damn that looks good. And if the image quality is great it will look fantastic. (90% of why console games often look "bleh" is IQ.)
I'm worried about the frame rate. Look what happened with Anniversary.
 

Overdoziz

Banned
That was Saber Interactive's work.


Armour Abilities (Armour Lock, Jetpacks), Bloom (terrible uneven gameplay), way too much reliance on forge maps (Really? Every voting section is filled with them) and retconning story stuff.
Let's not forget loadouts.
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Reach was far from broken. If you didnt like the changes, fine.

However there are tons of Halo fans out there who loved every second of Reach. Multi and Sp.
 

jett

D-Member
I'm surprised the new guys decided to change the core of Halo MP, you'd figure they'd try to cater more to the established audience.

You guys are overreacting so much. You really think 343i will release a broken game?

We don't really know anything of 343i to be honest.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
I'm surprised the new guys decided to change the core of Halo MP, you'd figure they'd try to cater more to the established audience.

They want Halo on a growth path again, since the last few outings after 3 (Reach included), while selling well, were heading in the opposite direction.

I imagine the business side pressure is pretty high this time around.
 
From the community thread:

The magazine scans were always going to come out the day after the cover debuted, that almost always happens. We can't talk about the story in detail, because it is GI's exclusive. I will say that some of the things that "invested, emotional" players are "raising eyebrows slightly at" are being very misinterpreted ("random" weapon spawns for example) but we will be able to clarify some of those things in due time.

Some of the other features, abilities, are also being discussed with no context (not your guys' fault, obviously) and frankly, a video of TS would probably allay many of the especially hysterical reactions, but we're not there yet.

We haven't seen a single reaction we didn't expect (apart from the Dax love story) and we will clarify a lot of this stuff 100% in the coming weeks and months. SOME of the things in here won't be properly understood outside of a holistic experience (modes, progress, fictional setting, etc) but I am going to say one thing and leave it at that:

It feels like Halo, it does NOT feel or act like the other game(s) it's being compared to. Again, without playing it, you can't be blamed for jumping to certain conclusions.
 

Cranzor

Junior Member
This sounds like Reach but worse, and I didn't care for Reach at all. They know what the community likes and I'd say most of the community dislikes armor abilities. With that in mind, what are they thinking when they put them back in? The game was better off without them and you think they would recognize that. I'm going to wait before I judge it though. Maybe they are going to have a classic option in multiplayer or something.

EDIT: Just saw what Frankie said. I'm going to wait until everything gets explained before I judge it.
 

MMaRsu

Member
They want Halo on a growth path again, since the last few outings after 3 (Reach included), while selling well, were heading in the opposite direction.

I imagine the business side pressure is pretty high this time around.

That's probably because After 3 they didn't come close to the MP it offered. And going back to it but adding in new types of gameplay but offer more customization etc, but lose all forms of armor upgrades, perks or however you want to call them, that would bring back a big amount of the lost playerbase.

They are very seemingly interested in gaining new fans through implementing stuff that has been done in WORSE games like Call of Duty etc like join in progress, power weapons, loadouts, instant spawns ( gross ) etc.

This game might sell as much as Halo 3, but I doubt the oldschool Halo fans are gonna wanna play the MP much by the sound of things. In all honestly it sounds disgusting to me ( the MP that is ).

I actually REALLY enjoyed the Reach MP, i played a ton. But AA did not make the game better imo, and the endless forge maps goddamn. I also like knowing where the shotgun is on a map, or anything else that I can actually count on. More randomness in competitive games sucks.
 
D

Deleted member 81567

Unconfirmed Member
I don't usually come in Halo threads, or the Community thread, but what the fuck was wrong with Reach?
 
Shut your mouth, Halo 2, Halo 3 and ODST where awesome.


Was talking about Reach numbnuts.


And no, Halo 2 and Halo 3 were no where even close to being as awesome as Halo CE MP.

They ruined the magic that made Halo CE MP amazing adding stupid shit like aim assist, bullet magnetism, and hitscan.

It's funny that everybody is bitching about Halo becoming like CoD when in reality CoD became like Halo by adding those features lol.
 
They want Halo on a growth path again, since the last few outings after 3 (Reach included), while selling well, were heading in the opposite direction.

I imagine the business side pressure is pretty high this time around.


reah was changed , that is why sales were down.
 
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