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