In the following clip you get a taste of what the music will be like in Halo 4. I personally am enthralled with it. I think while it’s deviated from the original trilogy, it most definitely has a Halo feel to it. Though it seems more personalized. Allow me to explain.

At the following time frames, here are the feelings I get from the music:

Start (after Waypoint intro): Desperation with a sense of resolve. Chief has resolved himself to the idea that he is trapped on the Shield world, while Cortana is desperate to to do something about it (and her onset of Rampancy)

1:37: Determination and Heroic: Chief has found new hope. Possibly from the crash landing of the UNSC Infinity. He and Cortana know now know they have a chance.

2:22: A new resolve. They are going to make it.

2:30: Wait something isn’t right. Fear, unknown, danger. This is bigger, MUCH bigger than a Covenant threat.

As the track closes, I get a sense overall that Chief is still strong of mind. He knows what his reality is, even when it changes at the sight of the UNSC Infinity as well as the appearance of this new “old” enemy. To use a much clichéd word: Epic.

The music invokes a theme of Halo, while being Master Chief’s own personal story of this mission.

Very powerful!
Listen for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5d4YfR3unc

So what do you think? How does this music affect you?
-HFFL

I’m not talking gameplay wise, I’m talking story wise. What do you think about the back story of why Spartan IVs exist?

Given where the story is, it made sense to make the next-gen of Spartans from existing soldiers. The idea of using children as soldiers, while not new (it’s used all the time in guerilla warfare), is still appalling. We didn’t connect to that with Halo as it wasn’t mentioned in the games. Not until the novels were written did we really know the backstory of how they became Spartans.

With Spartan IIIs, they were similar to SIIs in some respects. Not as enhanced as their predecessors, they still have some augmentations that made them more capable that the regular soldier.

Those two programs were scrapped. Too expensive and controversial was the Spartan II program. The Spartan III program for near the same reasons.

Having the everyday (albeit exceptionally talented/skilled) solider being able to become a spartan gives hope to every soldier who wants to heed that higher call. As gamers we can see ourselves ascending to that higher calling too. The only SII we’ve been able to play as is Master Chief. I think we can agree that he’s a separate entity unto himself.

SIIIs came closer to being individualized. While we can modify our armor, we are still super soldiers to a degree. Something we mere humans can’t yet attain.

SIVs do give us that shot. Only the best of ODSTs and Marines are chosen. Some of us would like to think that we could do that. This helps to personalize the experience for we gamers. With the inclusion of Spartan Ops, we are “growing” along with our character. Now ranking up matters. It’s not just a number. (Well, not to we hard core fans)

I happen to really like the direction this is going. When I first heard it without any explanation, I was like, “huh?” Then after getting some clarification I was like, “oh.” Now it just makes sense in the evolution of the franchise.

-HFFL

Here’s what I’d like to see in Halo 4 Forge:

1) Theme based terrain: When selecting the map from the start you can choose if you want a Snow, Desesrt, Forest or Jungle map. All items with then be “skinned” to that base attribute to coincide with the theme. No multiple themes on one map though.
2) Terrain Editor: By far one of the most asked for features. The ability to create hills, valleys, rivers, etc., would be an amazing addition to Forge and would revolutionize the way we make Halo maps.
3) Weather: This is fast becoming one of the next most popular request. If we could set the maps to make it snow or rain and even further at timed intervals and/or intensity (blizzard versus a dusting of snow), that again would vastly change maps. Imagine having to fight on a blizzard covered map. It would be tough to see enemies, the snow whirling around may make it hard to hear anyone approaching. This adds another level of interactivity.
4) Time of Day change: If we could have filters to make maps look more realistically like dawn, full sun, dusk, and night, again those would change maps. The same map at full sun could be completely changed by adding just a night filter to it. The “Purple” or “Orange” filters in Reach can only slightly capture this, but neither are realistic enough to get the desired affect.
5) Bigger budget: Yes, we know the reason for the budget is to cut down on lag by too many objects being place on a map. I thought it was a bit ridiculous to only be able to place two lights on a map. I can think of many instances where having extra lights would have been awesome. It’s possible to do if you mod a map. I’ve seen it done on a racing map before. However, it shouldn’t take someone else modding to accomplish this.
6) Copy/Past: Instead of having to go back into the menu to get the same item you just used, if you could click a button on the controller to bring up the last used item, that would be fantastic.
7) Group Items: I can’t say how many times this would have come in handy. I’d love to be able to make a structure out of many parts, then group it and move it where ever I want and/or be able to copy it exactly without having to recreate it all over again.
8.) More vehicles: I was one of the many who were disappointed that we couldn’t place a Spade on the map. Sure, no firepower, but then the mongoose doesn’t either. A Spade could have carried two passengers and the driver. Heh, even a forklift would have been fun to have on a map. And those yellow carts. Just more interactive stuff.
9) More “set dressing”: This being those small or big items that make a map look more realistic. As mentioned, something as simple as a toilet…It could be funny to have on a map, but if you’re seriously making a bathroom, then why not? My big thing (and this would go more with the terrain feature) is trees and shrubs. I’d love to be able to create a forest or jungle. Can be as dense as I want it, within reason before lag would set it. Ridgeline is a great map. How much better could it have been if we could have moved or deleted all those trees already on it?
10) Interactive items: Think the bridge on Last Resort, or the gate on High Ground for instance, or the bay doors on Orbital. I’d love to have this kind of interactivity ability on a map. Making obstructions such as these for objective games would really add to gameplay. Racing to the laser on Last Resort was a thrill. So too was opening the gate on High Ground to set up someone waiting with a mongoose on the other side to ride a flag carrier to the score point. More of this kind of thing please.
11) Lighting: Already mentioned this, but I’ll be more specific. More lights to place would really add to maps. For instance, I’m creating a Lava map. I’m really limited on the lighting as I can only place two lights on the map. While I can use a filter to help add to the effect, the map just isn’t entirely what I want. I want that Lava glow in a lot more places on the map than what I can currently produce.
12) Particle Effects: Lava, Water, just to name the two most wanted. On that note, also the ability to raise and lower the height of said effects. Also, being able to include waterfalls or lava flows. We’d make a start point, flow points and an end point. Then the game would simulate that path with the effect. We could then adjust the points along the way to get the effect to flow how we want it too.
13) “Snap-to” feature: This would work great for racing maps where people want to put an object next to another. The piece would snap to the other piece, then you could adjust the XYZ axis according to the snapped piece, rather than the global XYZ axis (which can be frustrating)
14) Space Map: Why oh why did Bungie tease us with the Sabre, when it’s only playable in ONE mission? How many of us would have LOVED to have space battles. Sabres against Space Banshees! Sabres on Sabres. This could have been EPIC!

I’m sure theres more that isn’t coming to me at this moment. However, if these were added, I’m certain it would make Forging much more awesome experience. Not just for the Forger, but for those who would eventually play on those maps.

-HFFL

Fellow fan blog littleenglishhaloblog put up this wonderful post with screenshots of a Q&A that David Ellis did while on a flight back to Seattle (assumed).

littleenglishhaloblog 

Lots of good info to infer from this:
• There are more loadouts available than shown in the trailer
• The Campaign is playable from start to finish, however 343 will continue to polish it for the next several months
• Grenade impact damage is in
• Button swapping possible?
• Sounds like we may be able to customize the HUD a little. (hiding the center text display-for instance when getting a double kill or assassination) <–I like this idea a lot.
• New playable vehicle…
• Vehicle health has been changed from Reach, no specifics mentioned though
• More weapons not yet shown
• You can replay Spartan Mission in a different way
• There is a reason for the color differences between Prometheans

That’s a lot of good info there. Sure, not too specific, but enough to infer from.

Fellow fan and gamer ducain23 caught this animal flying in two scenes of the Halo 4 trailer that was shown at E3.

Pretty cool stuff. I hope we see even more animals in Halo 4.

I took the following screenshots and in most cases composited them for discussion.

Here is the UNSC Infinity in wireframe on the holotable. Beautiful!

Who is this girl? She reminds me of “Jack” from Mass Effect (inset):

Hmm, what is this ship? It’s not a Pelican, Long or Short sword, Sabre, or Falcon.

On the Left an Officer of the Infinity (maybe the XO?). His name is Campbell. Then the Captain of the Infinity, Del Rio.

This lady absolutely seems like an ODST to me. I’ve dubbed her Sergeant Marge!

Did anyone else catch the Didact’s symbol on a computer screen of the Infinity, at the end of the vid you see the frame to the right:

Now going into game footage.

This jungle is VERY lush and well lit. Just take a few minutes to soak it all in.

Elite DISINTEGRATED! Gawd, I can’t wait to use these weapons!!!

Promethean Knights are the spawn of Megatron! (And make for good Jack O’ Lanterns!!) And WTH, it has 10 fingers on one hand!

It doesn’t teleport, it Thrusts!

This shot of a scoped in light rifle is awesome. Also note that the clip holds 15 shots. The number states 45. That’s how many shots you have left. At this point Chief had already shot at one of the watchers. I suspect the full magazine will hold 60 shots.

Sweet looking VISR mode (Or is it Promethean Vision). Again, not the Scattershot has 5 shots before you reload and 12 left. Considering there are three shots missing, it’s reasonable to assume that the full mag has 15 shots total.

Now, is THIS knight good? He has blue lines instead of orange ones like the one above. Also, do we have two versions of a crawler? Or is this just a different mode of a crawler. Kind of like a transformer.

In this shot, see how the Covenant CSS cruiser is DWARFED by the UNSC Infinity:

Wow, Cortana has definitely gone rampant!

In this last shot it was hard to see if Chief was holding anything. I lightened it. Looks like he’s holding NOTHING. OMG? Is Chief dead?

Well, I hope you like the shots and some explanation regarding them.

-HFFL

HaloWaypoint has released the following information about gameplay in Halo 4.
Original link for info here (or you can just read it below…): Halo 4 Gameplay

OVERVIEW

Players can engage Halo 4 through a number of ways. In Campaign, players take the role of the Master Chief, the living legend of the Covenant War, a SPARTAN-II super-soldier wearing heavily modified GEN1 Mjolnir armor. Within War Games and Spartan Ops, players take the role of a highly specialized SPARTAN-IV super-soldier, deployed from UNSC Infinity and utilizing a state-of-the-art Mjolnir GEN2 armor system.

In both roles, players can leverage all of the expected abilities of a Spartan: power, speed, dexterity, and resilience far beyond that of a normal human. The player’s Mjolnir armor can also provide individualized specializations referred to as Armor Abilities, such as Hardlight Shield, Active Camouflage, or Jet Pack. SPARTAN-IVs can integrate additional armor modifications, such as Support Upgrades and Tactical Packages, which apply incremental yet valuable improvements to a Spartan’s combat functionality.

     ARMOR ABILITIES

Much like the GEN1 armor that preceded it, Mjolnir GEN2 Powered Assault Armor offers component modularity, which enables users to add physical hardware to their armor, dramatically modifying their combat faculty and performance. The impressive aspect of this attribute is that Mjolnir’s firmware is capable of detecting and translating non-native technology, including the technologies used by both Covenant and Forerunner infantry units, such as the Hologram or the Hardlight Shield.

     THRUSTER PACK

The M805X Thruster Pack, similar to other EVA-focused thrust modules, is a movement acceleration system that mitigates the user’s need for a fulcrum or pivoting articulation. This ability allows the user to move quickly and aggressively in combat, whether closing the gap between the user and an enemy or finding cover.

     HARDLIGHT SHIELD

The recently recovered Z-90 Hardlight Shield appears to be a photon emitter that can fuse particles of light into a rigid, dissipative barrier. For Spartans who choose to integrate it, the technology functions as a full-size aegis-class, anti-personnel defensive shield.

     PROMETHEAN VISION

The Z-5080 Vision Modification system, colloquially referred to as “Promethean Vision,” is a short-range full-spectrum enhancement package that enables users to detect shapes and movement through solid barriers. Coupled with the VISR 4.0 tech suite, this software is one of the most formidable leveraged by GEN2 armor systems.

     HOLOGRAM

The T-27 Decoy package, referred in shorthand as “Hologram,” is a responsive emulator that generates an extremely realistic holographic copy of the user’s physical form and movement. Once used exclusively by the Covenant, this decoy technology has now been reverse engineered for Mjolnir armor systems, and is used as a ruse in the field to trick enemy infantry and armor into revealing their position, thereby placing them at a disadvantage.

TACTICAL PACKAGES

The technological advancement to Mjolnir GEN2 offers Spartans a seamless integration of armor mods to improve their proficiency during battle. Among these are Tactical Packages: software updates that increase Spartans’ combat readiness and responsiveness when configured within their loadout. While Tactical Packages may appear to be marginal in their overall benefit, the pervasive use of them by combat-experienced Spartans argues otherwise.

     SHIELD PACKAGE

Through a modifying bypass of standard performance regulators, the Shield Package reinforces personal energy-shield emitters, resulting in a substantially higher shield-recharge rate. After taking damage, Spartans will notice their shields recharging at a quicker speed than others who have not opted for this package in their loadout.

     FIREPOWER PACKAGE

By alternating redundant magnetic streams at the rear of a Spartan’s armor, the Firepower Package overrides regulated loadout limitations, allowing users to carry two primary weapons simultaneously. For Spartans who prefer heavier or longer-ranged firepower over close-range versatility and speed, this package is typically considered imperative.

SUPPORT UPGRADES

With the recent proliferation of Mjolnir GEN2 armor comes the leveraging of a variety of armor mods, capable of enhancing a Spartan’s combat performance in the field. Critical to these are Support Upgrades, ad hoc technology-based enhancements to a Spartan’s armor functionality when introduced into their loadout. Support Upgrades focus on augmenting combat resiliency during engagements, specifically over protracted firefights and combat scenarios.

     AMMO UPGRADE

The Ammo Upgrade overrides default Mjolnir safety and capacity protocols allowing Spartans to exceed suggested ammunition loads in the field. This upgrade is highly recommended for close-quarters engagement roles and any encounters that require excessive ammunition expenditures.

     SENSOR UPGRADE

Although it violates general UNSC relay transmission regulations, the Sensor Upgrade increases both the range and sensitivity of the standard motion sensor. As it is most frequently utilized by stealth operatives and infiltration specialists, this upgrade provides heightened locational intel of all nearby enemies.

     AWARENESS UPGRADE

Facilitating relatively minor adjustments in an armor system’s HUD-distributed display mechanics, the Awareness Upgrade integrates the default motion sensor into all known scoped weapon smart-links, both native and exotic. Spartans engaging in long-range combat or sniper operations often rely on this upgrade to provide them with basic motion-sensor data while sighting an enemy from afar.

PLAYER PROGRESSION

Through both War Games and Spartan Ops, personnel can effectively rank up, unlocking items, such as armor kits, components, and skins, for use within their custom loadouts. What’s more, Spartans earn points while ranking up that they can use to purchase items to improve their combat performance and abilities in the field.

ARMOR CUSTOMIZATION

As personnel within the UNSC’s Spartan branch advance in rank, they earn a wide selection of armor sets and individual pieces, which they can mix and match to reflect their personal tastes. In addition, they can outfit their armor with alternate skins to elaborate their field presence and identity. Some of the rarest armor sets and components can only be received upon completion of specific in-game Commendations, Challenges, or other Waypoint goals.

ORDNANCE DROP

During the course of War Games simulations and Spartan Ops, drop pods can deploy ordnance into the field. Once on the ground, these pods are marked on the heads-up displays of all nearby personnel who can then acquire the weapons or power-ups for use against enemies. In some simulated matches within War Games, Spartans can earn and manually call in their own ordnance drops.

Several new shots of the mission at the lava bridge in Spartan Ops have been released by HaloWaypoint! (Click to make bigger)

Aren’t they beautiful!!!

I made a map inspired by this two days ago. Whew, now that these pics have hit, I’m going to make THIS lava bridge.

I got inspired tonight to make this. I was just finishing my night of gaming when it hit me. The Didact Cryptum graphic released in the Press kit is what brought the inspiration on. From there I put it all together.

Here is it, followed by the Original Star Wars poster it was parodied after:

I think it turned out pretty darn good, if you ask me. Please, if you put this on your website, give me credit for the poster as: By Chris Salerno (halofanforlife.com)

-HFFL