Dammit, almost spilled my drink.
IMO, 343's handling of news and features related to the game, has been less then satisfactory.
Let’s go back and look at what we got so far promoting Halo 4. It was announced in 2011 with a
CGI teaser and it will be the start of a new trilogy. For a long time after that we got tidbits and short videos (like the audio recording) from the waypoint bulletins. Nothing real mind-blowing happens, which can either be related to them focusing on Halo: CE Anniversary, production on Halo 4 was still ongoing (some stuff was still rough) or Reach and Halo brand services were being transitions to 343. During this time it was understandable that not much info came out regarding Halo 4, it was a hectic time with a lot happening – I will cut them some slack on that.
Then Halo fest happened and we got
the opening panel video plus
the concept art trailer. At this point we still have not seen Halo 4 in motion, just a lot of talk about what they are trying to do with the game. Still buzzwords and all, it was enjoyable and sparked some speculation and discussion. Then the long drought happened, again small tidbits coming from bulletins and GAF. Around march we got the first two in-game campaign screenshots of Halo 4.
Then the Spring Xbox Showcase happens and the
Vidoc Halo 4’s First Look is released. The video itself has some good stuff: we see two multiplayer maps, maps will not be recycled from the campaign, introduction of Spartan IV’s, motion capture being done, new audio team building the sounds from scratch and more. All sounds really great and it looks utterly fantastic. We then got another drought.
Halo 4 then graces the cover of Game informer’s April issue.
We get tons of information and here is where it also starts to go wrong. The article itself has a wealth of information: Spartan Ops is discussed, new multiplayer mode “Regicide”, drop-in for multiplayer, the armor abilities and much of the cosmetic changes to the hud and overall game. None of what is written makes much sense and people get confused and pissed (rightfully so, in my opinion). We get some clarifications on GAF (of all places) and soothes some minds, but people are still confused. Promised
Sparkast with clarifications, while it brings new info to the table, it is all too confusing.
After the article and Sparkast nothing really big happens: Game Informer has some videos that shows some stuff (nothing big though), reveal of the composer, the Conan O’ Brian appearance, Limited Edition revealed, the cover art trailer and release date. The Barn-gate happens, the funniest thing to ever happen to Halo. Then the big thing happens: Halo 4 10 minute on-stage demo, minds are blown at how great it all looks. After that we got a bunch of full length multiplayer MLG videos.
While I support 343 intentions of keeping the single-player under wraps, I am baffled by how they have handled the multiplayer side of it all. I know they want to keep certain things a secret, but at least be upfront on what is known quantity; even on the most basic things we have to struggle to get an answer. Hopefully it is a learning experience.
Marketing for this game has been all over the place, the first two Vidoc’s were actually pretty great, even though they were condensed they felt more upfront on the game. Also the way info has been coming out has been so uncoordinated, there is no balance to all of it.
