Wow, I missed this. LOL

As you can see by my countdown to the right, Halo 4 is less than 200 days away. While it’s still a bit out, it’s starting to feel closer now that we’re in the 100s instead of 200s.

Can you feel the excitement? Well can you? LOL.

-HFFL

Okay, so we are all still wondering what these Ops will be like. Will they have objective based missions? Will they be like Firefight? Each week there will be a new “Episode” of Spartan Ops that will essentially be a cutscene. As well there will be 5 missions tied to that episode that up to four players can play.

This means that you and up to 3 of your friends can play these missions. Now we ask, does this mean we can replay those missions weeks later? Are the missions something we have to download? These are questions not yet answered by 343. However, I’d suspect that you can replay those missions.

Tied to the missions are Spartan Points, as in Multiplayer. With those you can buy new armor and build specific loudouts to your liking sans power weapons. Sorry folks, no Rocket Launcher or Sniper loudouts, unless that is what the gametype is.

While delving into Spartan Ops, I started wondering how long will it last? Has 343 thought beyond Halo 4 for this or will it be solely for this game? Will it even last until Halo 5 comes out?

These are compelling questions that need to be answered to give us a look into the future of Spartan Ops. I’d hope 343 has this planned to last through the whole of the new trilogy. However, if it’s found that people either don’t like this mode or don’t play it a lot, it may spell an early demise for Spartan Ops. At the least I can see it running through until Halo 5 is launched.

Since I mentioned Halo 5, let’s consider that it’s likely 2-3 years away from Halo 4’s launch. So we’re looking at between 100-150+ episode. Many TV shows don’t last that long. It’s really an ambitious project that 343 has undertaken. This is what leads me to believe that the episodes themselves will be very short. I’d guess between 5-10 minutes tops. Anything more would really put a strain on the team at 343 in charge of Spartan Ops.

The missions themselves could be something as simple as a Firefight type mode for a couple of them, while others could be an objective, which would require a little bit more programming.

It’s exciting to think what Spartan Ops could be. Likewise, I hope 343 hasn’t bitten off more than they can chew with that kind of schedule.

In any event, I think we’re in for a fantastic new mode in Halo. One that I hope we fans on the whole will support and give 343 a reason to keep it in the game and continue with a weekly schedule.

Thanks for reading as always and post a comment if you liked the article.

-HFFL

The following have just been found today. They were originally posted on NeoGaf (the forum Frank O’Conner likes to frequent).

These may or may not be final renderings, however I think it’s safe to say they are very good.

I actually like the more textured Grunts and Elites. The look of both are more bad-ass in my opinion.

The one shot with Cortana has me just a little concerned as she’s not translucent. he should be some what see-through.

Also, is it me or does the grunt have a slight similarity to Urdnot Wrex from Mass Effect?

In any event, I do like the way things are looking for the Campaign side of Halo

Check out this pic of the new OXM cover:

Hmm, so I wonder what the weapon is. Frank O’Conner has stated it’s not a grenade launcher but is “AWEsome” (Spelled with caps just like that).

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/04/18/spartan-ops-the-bold-new-co-op-of-halo-4.aspx

Gameinformer releases a new video of two of 343’s team talking about Spartan Ops.

We can look forward to a new episode of Spartan Ops each week. Tied in with this will be 5 missions per episode. Also, however you progress your Spartan in Spartan Ops is to carry over into Matchmaking. Now what that means is still a guess. Likely your credits you earn, rank, new armor and such.

I got two good screenshots from one of the Conan Halo 4 vids.

In the first one you can see the BR zoomed in. The black text in the upper right corner of the zoom says “Optical Weak.” Hmm, curious what that means.

This next shot shows the full view. Note the medals in the bottom left. As well, we have that annoying text that shows kill streaks, but now it’s in the middle (I hope that is something we have the option to turn off). Likewise, note in the bottom right corner the “500 pts.” I presume that’s the points awarded for the killing spree. Finally, see the name of the game in the bottom right corner. It says, “MONIGHT TEAM SLAYER.” Not sure what that is. The video was shot before Monday, so that isn’t likely what it refers to.

Still, cool to see any new content for Halo 4.

In case you didn’t catch it, tonight (4/1712), Frank O’Conner and Kiki Wolfkill were on Conan’s show. Now much was really revealed, but a funny sketch ensued.

Conan’s site for Halo 4: www.teamcoco.com/halo4 There you can find 4 videos. Two of the skit, the other two are behind the scenes. Enjoy!

http://teamcoco.com/video/conan-halo-remote
http://teamcoco.com/video/halo-remote
http://teamcoco.com/video/halo-soundbooth-1
http://teamcoco.com/video/halo-soundbooth-2

-HFFL

P.S. In cased you missed it, there was a shot of a partially rendered view of the “loading dock.” BTW, the ship Frank mentions is actually the UNSC Infinity.