Halo Concept Art: Halo 4 Weapons UNSC/Forerunner

Following up on yesterday’s weapons of Reach, we’ll take a look at some of the weapons of the UNSC and Forerunners in Halo 4. I’d suggest pulling up both windows to compare the weapons/art.

First the UNSC weapons:

halo_4_battle_rifle_by_josh_kao
The BR is back! Much to the happiness of fans, 343 put the BR back into Halo. The design is sleek. The cool greys of the art make this weapon feel like a cold hard machine of war.

halo_4_battle-rifle-arctic-skinNew to Halo are weapons skins. Above shows the Arctic weapon skin for the BR. This was available through pre-ordering from Gamestop. It became available through the Halo 4 Game of the Year edition. There were some really great skins to come out of Halo 4. I hope in the next game skins can be recolored as well.

halo_4_bomb_coupling_by_paul_richards
A concept of the nuke and on the underside of the Broadsword.

halo_4_bomb_warhead_sm_by_paul_richardsA more fleshed out and color version of the nuke. There is some good use of shading and highlights here.

halo_4_missle_bomb_01_by_paul_richards
Here are some of the base concepts of the bomb.halo_4_magnum_by_josh_kaoThe magnum’s basic shape hasn’t changed drastically from Reach to Halo 4. It’s still very recognizable as the standard UNSC Magnum.
halo_4_railgun_concept_by_josh_kao
The Railgun is new to Halo, with Halo 4. I like the look of this and the feel of power. It does remind me of some of Bungie’s UNSC ship designs.

halo_4_saw_concept_by_josh_kaoHere we have the SAW. The squad automatic weapon. It looks very much like the old Tommy-guns of the early 20th century.

halo_4_saw_thumbnails_by_josh_kaoConcepts of the SAW. I like the version we got in the final.

halo_4_turret01_by_paul_richards

halo_4_turret02_by_paul_richardsThe auto-turret in Halo 4. This is most prevalent in Dominion. Though not a large shell based turret, it has the look of a Howitzer from the mid-20th century.

From greyscale to color to detailed concepts these show the progression of design and color choice.

Let’s take a look at some Forerunner weapons.

halo_4_forerunner_incineration_cannon_by_josh_kao
The Incineration Cannon, arguably the most powerful handheld weapon in all of Halo, this concept is similar to the in-game version. The addition of red lights into the final version gave it a much more powerful feel.

halo_4_forerunner_m90_mega_cannon_by_albert_ng
This is a beautiful rendering rendering. Not much more I can say about it. I’d love to have this as a print.

halo_4_forerunner_suppressor_by_josh_kaoThe Suppressor is the Forerunner’s Assault Rifle. This design is very futuristic. VERY Forerunner. 

halo_4_light_rifle_concept_by_josh_kaoThe Light Rifle is another of the sleek elongated weapons. I like the design. The thing that is different with this weapon than most others is the hovering scope.

halo_4_scattershot_concept_by_josh_kaoThis is the Forerunner’s rapid fire shotgun. More bulky than other Forerunner weapons, this is a great weapon for up close combat. Now doesn’t this kind of look like the UNSC Infinity with a trigger grip?

halo_4_forerunner_portable_automated_turet_by_albert_ngAnd finally for this article, the Forerunner automated turret. This weapon, while not terribly effective, does keep enemies at bay. That allows you to take down those enemies. It’s a different design and a little bit of a departure from what we know. VERY cool design.

Tomorrow we’ll start to take a look a various concept art from places in Reach. Followed by Halo 4 locations.

-Sal

 

Halo 4 campaign screens and hijinks.

Last Friday, after the epic day of Halo 5 Guardians news, I sat down to play the whole Halo 4 campaign straight through with friends, MixMaker117, Dijabouti, and SESpider.

“Mix” recording it all using Elgato and took some screens from the vid. Here are some of those screens, followed by a short vid with some fails and hijinks. As always, click pics to make bigger. Enjoy!

H4 Cryptum hole
This is the space below the Didact’s Cryptum, when you first encounter him.

H4 Infinity Jungle
The lush jungles of Requiem. I really love the look and feel of this. I think 343 did an amazing job here.

H4 Stalactites
Then we have these stalactites. Great detail!

H4 Mantis v CoviesAboard the UNSC Infinity’s out deck, taking on the Covenant. I really enjoy this part of that mission. Blasting Covenant foot soldiers, Phantoms and Banshees out of the sky!

H4 On the EdgeI’m on the left here, with Dij next to me and Spider next to him. BTW, all screens were taken by Mix.

H4 Punching LaskyThat Lasky can sure take a punch!!

H4 About to get blown upIt’s about to get “blow’d up!” LOL

H4 4rnr liftHere is one of several Forerunner lifts. It’s beautiful in it’s lighting and detail. Another place were 343 really did a great job of design.

H4 Infinity edgeI showed the fellas this peak by which to see the UNSC Infinity better. So we stopped and took a picture before blowing up more stuff. I’m in the middle here.

H4 Johnson Easter EggDid you know Sgt. Johnson is in Halo 4? At the beginning of the mission “Shutdown” kill all of the UNSC personnel. At that point, Johnson will appear with Shotgun in hand, trying to blast you away. He’s quite good at it too! We lured him up the ramp to the awaiting Pelican. Then someone killed him… Alas, Johnson dies in just about every Halo game, LOL.

H4 Cortana ummmUm, Cortana, that’s not a normal field inspection.

H4 Halo RingEven though we do not get to visit a Halo ring, it’s still nice to see it form afar in the campaign.

H4 The ComposerFlying in with our Broadswords to take down the shields! I’m SO glad that space (flying) missions were included in Halo. Starting with the Sabre in Reach and now the Broadsword in Halo 4. I hope those continue in Halo 5 Guardians. (And from what I suspect, they will and even more so.)

H4 Didact bubbleThe evil Didact readying the Composer. Or is he waving “Hi” to us?

H4 Chief sucking his thumbWaaaa, I don’t wanna fight the Didact, says Chief while sucking his thumb! (Alternate LASO ending!! not

H4 Use the Force DidactUse the Force, Didact! Honestly, when the hell did the Didact get force powers? Likely he’s just manipulating the metal within Chief’s armor.

And now for the hijinks vid:

I’ll be making another Halo 3 campaign run soon with the fellows. Expect screens and vid then too.

-Sal