Halo 4

"Wake Up, John"

-Halo 4's Tagline

Halo 4
Developer:	343 Industries
Publisher:	Microsoft Game Studios
US Date Release:	November 6, 2012
UK Date Release:	November 6, 2012
Genre:	First Person Shooter
Lobbies:	Campaign, Matchmaking, Spartan Ops, Forge, Theater)
ESRB Rating:	M
Platform(s):	Xbox 360
Money from sales:	No sales made

Halo 4 will be the eighth installment, and the seventh main installment(not including combat evolved anniversary) in the best selling Halo franchise. The game was first revealed on Microsoft's homepage hours before the start of their E3 press conference, due to a mistake by the editing department, which revealed Halo 4 and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. The game was officially announced at the end of Microsoft's E3 2011 press conference, and is the start of a new trilogy called the Reclaimer trilogy, developed by 343 Industries, Microsoft's new internal development studio.

The game is scheduled to be released on November 6, 2012, following the release of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary on November 15, 2011.

It has been confirmed that the Covenant will return, but 343 Industries has stated that they will be "the least of your problems." As of March 7, 2012, there are no plans for a Halo 4 Beta.

Halo 4

Halo 4 is the seventh installment in Halo and the First in a New Halo Trilogy. It is looking epic with Teaser Trailer released June 6, 2011. Halo 4 is based in the events following Halo 3.

This game has a unknown amount of levels. The gameplay is expected to be awesome and unique. The storyline is expected also to be awesome. All lobbies appear to be returning from Reach. Due to the recent and little change in console, it is going to be exclusive to Xbox 360. It is most likely a FPS. The date of it's release is unknown. The Trailer only said "Holiday 2012" This means it will come out 2012 but it doesn't tell us which holiday it is. However, speculation points towards the Winter holidays.

Anyway, enjoy this article on what little information we have on upcoming Halo 4.

Campaign Story

The storyline is starts off in 2557 where Chief and Cortana are onboard the Forward Unto Dawn and have been caught in Requiem's gravitational pull. During the crash, remnants of the Covenant board the Forward Unto Dawn and Master Chief fights to get off but not much after is known.

Later on, the UNSC Infinity is pulled into Requiem and crash lands. Master Chief moves to investigate, only to encounter hostile Forerunner defense AI's called "Prometheans." Three new enemies are encountered here, Promethean Crawlers, Watchers and Knights. Shepard is then knocked out after being surrounded by Prometheans.

A list of some of the levels have been revealed:

1. Dawn

2. Requiem

3.Forerunner

4.Infinity

5.Reclaimer

6.Shutdown

7.Composer

8.Midnight

Multiplayer

Halo 4's Multiplayer is a massive improvement to Halo Reach's Multiplayer. Xbox360's Xbox LIVE suits Halo 4. The Armor Permutations from Halo 3 and Reach are back in Halo 4 with massive upgrades and few new ones. The old emblems are back with even more emblems to choose from. A major downside is that for the large amount of armor permutations to be added, elites had to be removed from multiplayer. You can only play as Spartans now. The ranking system is different in that you start as a SR1, and rank up to SR50, unlocking new stuff along the way for your player card, emblems, spartan armor and weapon loadouts. Multiplayer has been renamed "War Games."

Here are the Armor Permutations:

ARMOR:

• Recruit
• Air Assault
• Aviator
• C.I.O
• Commando
• Dead Eye
• Defender
• EOD
• Enforcer
• Engineer
• EVA
• Fotus
• Gungnir
• Hazop
• Infiltrator
• Mark 6
• Oceanic
• Operator
• Orbital
• Path Finder
• Pioneer
• Protector
• Raider
• Ranger
• Recon
• Rogue
• Scout
• Soldier
• Stalker
• Tracker
• Vanguard
• Venator
• War Master
• Warrior
• Wet Works
• Scanner
• Strider
• Locus
• Contoured
• RG-63 Counter
• LG-50 Bulk
• Outer Plated
• XG-89 Narrow
• Over Locking
• Twin Plated
• GV-09 Locking
• Inner Plated
• XV-Shifting

VISORS:

• Recruit
• Solar
• Frost
• Midnight
• Cyan
• Blindside
• Sunspot
• Verdant
• Legendary
• Operator
• Pioneer
• Pathfinder
• Engineer
• Stalker
• Rogue
• STANDARD MAPS:

• Adrift. Although this CAA Mining vessel was refitted as an ordnance transport, damage sustained during the Battle of Kholo has condemned it to an inescapable slide down the gravity well of a gas giant. Onboard, its automated systems continue unabated, their operations executed in eerie futility as they drift ever closer to destruction.
• Abandon. On the remote world of Erebus VII, at the very edge of human-occupied space, an ONI research facility which was once teaming with researchers now lies eerily vacant. Although the hostility of this world had been initially considered by its team leaders, it is tragically clear that a great many 'things' had simply not been taken into account.
• Complex. With the presence of numerous hostile entities on Requiem, ONI rigidly enforces a "Persistant Field Resilence' mandate requiring that all science detachments (1) maintain onsite weapon caches (2) optimize the site's layout to meet ONI spec for defensive emergencies, and (3) retain an escort of well-trained military personnel.
• Exile. Miraculously, the survivors of the UNSC Diadochi's violent crash managed to not only recover provisions from the vessel's debris field, but also use it as a makeshift shelter for several years. When rescue and recovery teams arrived, they were surprised to discover a healthy, burgeoning community thriving within the ship's remains.
• Haven. Resting high above Requiem's surface, harmonic-resonance platforms appear to facilitate the monitoring and management of the shield world's solar preservation system. These elaborate machines enable artificial planets to support their immense populations of indigenous life.
• Longbow. The frigid climate and unique gravitational conditions on Concord's northern polar region provide an optimal perch for Longbow Station's channel-based mass drivers. Before the Covenant War, the UEG launched deep space monitoring relays from here in an effort to study far-flung star systems.
• Meltdown. While most Forerunner technology appears to support safe usage over immense passages of time, the failure of specific systems can cause a cascading effect which dramatically impacts a site's foundational composition. This frigid moon's icy conditions once served to control a Forerunner reactor's intense heat, but those days are now long gone.
• Ragnarok (Valhalla remake). Some scientists believe that the Forerunners placed spire beacons with deep chasms to protect them from offworld debris and other external threats, while others believe they used the steep environment's natural harmoics to amplify signals when firing deep into space.
• Solace. According to data retrieved from these installations, Forerunner stellar engineers, colloquially dubbed 'plasma jockeys,' were capable of suspending the perilious death of certain stars. Due to the tremendous volumes of energy involved in this process, such endeavours were rarely entertained, much less executed.
• Vortex. The Forerunner structure's that occupy Requiem's equatorial caverns appear to generate power by harnessing its violent squalls. Onsite personnel believe that a full understanding of such a technology would offer the UEG substantial amounts of affordable, clean energy. Nevertheless, its internal mechanisms remain enigmatic.

CRIMSON MAP PACK.......December, 2012

• Wreckage.
• Harvest.
• Shatter.

MAJESTIC MAP PACK.......Febuary, 2013

• Landfall.
• Monolith.
• Skyline.

CASTLE MAP PACK......April, 2013

• Daybreak.
• Outcast.
• Perdition.

The Battle Rifle as it appears in Halo 4

Armor Abilties are confirmed to be returning, but Armor Lock is not and Sprint is now built in and no longer an ability. 343 has also confirmed that Multiplayer will reveal a backstory and a reason for the Reds and Blues fighting each other, saying they are Spartan IV's training in the UNSC Infinity's combat simulator.

Only small doses of information are known about the multiplayer of Halo 4 at the moment. However, several short clips of gameplay of "BR Slayer" have been shown (a team-based Slayer gametype with the newly-designed battle rifle serving as the primary weapon) on maps Wraparound and Warhouse. These gameclips confirm that the Battle Rifle is returning, and surprisingly, the DMR as well. It retains its ammo capacity of 36 Rounds from Halo 2 and 3 is still a 3-Round burst system, similiar to its previous designs. Several aesthetic changes to the Battle Rifle have been made, similiar to the changes done to the assault rifle from Halo 3 to Halo Reach. 343i also confirmed that weapons and vehicles carried over from previous halo games will also be visually modified "in service of the experience they're trying to create."

Similiar to the Spartan-III's in Halo Reach, in Halo 4's Multiplayer the player takes control of Spartan-IVs. Similiar

A Spartan-IV

to Halo 3 and Reach, armor customization has been confirmed from gameplay, which revealed the large scale of artistic variety between the armor variants. Additionally, it has been confirmed that gender customization is also returning. It has also been confirmed in Halo 4, Red and Blue Teams will have legit reason for fighting each other. The UNSC Infinity contains a highly advanced simulator that Spartan IVs use as a training arena to stage fights and battles in holographic environments.

Additional changes from Reach's multiplayer include a modified score tracking system, with kills now confirmed to be worth 10 points with Multiplayer games now going up to as much as 400 points. The health bar reintroduced into Halo Reach has once again been removed, leaving just the shields, which also means Health packs are now nonexistent. The radar is now "two-dimensional", and doesn't use the Reach system (if enemies are below you, the red dot indicating them is transparent, while if their on the same level as you or above you then their red dot is a strong color) Now, instead it just uses strong colored dots no matter the hostiles/friendlies location.

The new DMR and the map, Wraparound

Numerous gametypes have returned including Capture the Flag, Slayer, renamed Infinity Slayer, Big Team Slayer, renamed Infinity Big Team Slayer, Oddball, King of the Hill, Team Slayer Pro, Team SWAT and Team Snipers. New gametypes include Regicide, Dominion, Extraction and Flood. Flood is just Infection 2.0, Regicide is a newer version of Juggernaut, Dominion a replacement for Invasion and Extraction just Capture The Flag, except you must extract them and they are cores, not flags.

Another thing that has returned, whenever the player acquires a killing spree, overkill, assassination, sniping spree etc. the kills will be confirmed by blue writing in the middle of the screen, as opposed to halo tradition, where it is off to the side. Killcams have also been introduced, along with specializations and custom loadouts, allowing you to modify your spartan with weapon upgrades, armor abilites etc.

To combat camping and spawn killing, ordnance drops have been introduced. To encourage dynamic movement of games and prevent players camping at weapon re-spawn points, Halo 4 will now accommodate random ordnance drops in matches. This feature is available as either "Infinity Ordnance", where weapons, grenades, or power-ups are dropped on to the map for all to use randomly throughout the game, or "Personal Ordnance", where a choice of personal power-ups can be earned by a player via performance during a game, and dropped onto the map, through killstreaks. Unlike killstreaks however, you do not lose the kills put towards that ordnance drop.

Customization for your spartan's weapons is now also possible. Instead of picking up the weapons on the map, you can have a precreated loadout with those weapons. However, you must unlock them through spartan points, and to get those spartan points, you must rank up. You will start off with a Battle Rifle, Pistol and nothing else, you must obtain the rest. You get six seperate categories:

• Primary Weapon
• Secondary Weapon
• Grenade
• Armor Ability
• Tactical Package
• Support Upgrade

A Primary Weapon can be any of the following: Storm Rifle, Battle Rifle, Assault Rifle, LightRifle, Suppressor, Covenant Carbine and DMR. A Secondary Weapon can be a Magnum, Plasma Pistol or Boltshot. This can be changed if you choose the Firepower tactical package, where a primary weapon can be equipped as your secondary. Grenades can be Frags (default), Plasma or Pulse. Armor Abilities can be Hologram, Hardlight Shield, Jetpack, Thruster Pack, Promethean Vision, Regeneration Field or Autosentry. A tactical package can be a shield upgrade, firepower upgrade, mobility upgrade, Fast Track, Grenadier, Resupply, Requisition, Wheelman or AA Efficiency.

You can get 11 Support upgrades: Ammo, Dexterity, Sensor, Awareness, Stability, Explosives, Wetworks, Gunner, Ordnance Priority, Nemesis and Drop Recon.

Spartan Ops

With the announcement that Firefight will not be included in Halo 4's gameplay, 343 Industries announced that to replace the loss of this feature, a new episodic co-op series will be introduced called "Spartan Ops". Spartan Ops will feature weekly releases of missions on Halo Waypoint that will be free to download, and will follow the story of SPARTAN-IVs as they complete vital missions on Requiem, six months after the conclusion of the campaign. Three Episodes have been announced, along with the first Season containing 50 Missions.

Season 1

• Chapter 1 Departure. Land Grab. Sniper Alley. The Challenge. Sacred. Core.
• Chapter 2 Artifact. Clean Up. For Science. Hacksaw. Pelican Down. Gagarin.
• Chapter 3 Catherine. The VIP. Galileo. Spartan Mountain. Shootout in Valhalla. Hunting Trip.
• Chapter 4 Didact's Hand. Hairy Call. Rally Point. Random Transport. The Chase. Didact's Gift.

Forge

Forge has been confirmed to be returning to Halo 4 and even footage has been released. These videos are centered around what may be a new version of Forge World or completely new map, and details the major improvements made on the mode. You can now lock and unlock objects to prevent the possibility of accidentally moving it out of place, objects now glow when you hover the cursor over them and you now have player trait boundries, allowing you to make low gravity areas, invisibility areas, overshield shields etc. Three new-Forge World type maps will be making an appearence in forge and the budget has been increased to 1,000,000 although many items are more expensive then their reach and halo 3 counterparts. Another improvement is lighting. Any object you place now cast shadows on the environment. It was also announced that you can set the theme for the map, although at the moment, most information on it is a little vague. Finally, there will be no undo feature and no weather settings.

The three maps are:

• Ravine (Forge World Remake). When ONI dispatched its first expeditionary group to this sector, it was believed that these impressive citadels were individual constructs strategically organised to protect this portion of Requiem. Teams on the ground now believe that they are actually the ramparts and battlements of an impossibly large structure below the surface of the sea. Forge only.
• Impact. This observation outpost was established to examine the site of spectacularly violent meteor collision recorded by a ONI patrol drone in 2547. When researchers first arrived, they were startled to find a non-native fragment of the impacting agent had actually survived as was of unknown alien origin. More recently, interest in the site has grown as the fragment has been proven to have originated from long before the earliest of known Forerunner artifacts. Forge only.
• Erosion. With hundreds of human colonies now razed in the wake of the Covenant War, the UNSC has dispatched large numbers of advanced pioneer groups to survey potential new worlds. The discovery of Eudemon X49-05 was considered lucky, but concerns remain about the moon's structural integrity. Forge only.

Theater

Theater remains largely unchanged, with the same standard controls for filming, playing, pausing, moving around, fast forwarding etc. Although largely untested, it is possible that Theater may have finally implemented backtracking, the opposite of fastforwarding, instead of backward skipping. Although the possibility is low, it may have been implemented.

Pre-Order Bonuses

It has been confirmed that no Legendary Edition will be available for Halo 4, however a limited edition will be available upon pre-order. Here are the bonuses for a pre-order of the game:

• EB Games/GameStop gains you the Forest pack that comes with a skin for the HAZOP armor.
• EB Games Canada gains you the Arctic pack that comes with a skin for the Battle Rifle.
• Best Buy gains you the Raptor pack that comes with a skin for the Venator armor.
• Amazon.com gains you the Web pack that comes with a skin for the CIO armor.
• Play.com gains you the Deadeye pack that comes with a new helmet.
• Microsoft Store gains you the Pulse pack that comes with a skin for the the GUNGNIR armor.

Limited Edition

A limited edition of the game was announced by 343 Industries on May 16, 2012. The Limited Edition is set to be launched on November 6, 2012 at a cost of $99.99. 343i confirmed that there are no plans to launch a legendary edition.

Weapons, Vehicles, Characters and More!

Dual Wielding is no longer available.

The Weapons of Halo 4 are....

Human Weapons:

• Assault Carbine
• Railgun
• BR85HB Battle Rifle
• M363 Stick Detonator
• M365 Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR)
• M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher
• M45D Tactical Shotgun
• Spartan Laser
• M6H Magnum
• Fragmentation Grenade
• MA5D Assault Rifle
• 99-S5 Sniper Rifle
• M739 Squad Automatic Weapon

Covenant Weapons:

• Plasma Grenade
• Energy Sword
• Plasma Pistol
• Needler
• Fuel Rod Gun
• Covenant Carbine
• Storm Rifle
• Beam Rifle Type II
• Gravity Hammer
• Concussion Rifle

Forerunner Weapons:

• Light Rifle
• Scattershot
• Suppressor
• Incineration Cannon
• Binary Rifle
• Boltshot
• Pulse Grenade

The Vehicles of Halo 4 are....

Human Vehicles:

• Warthog
• Pelican Type II
• Mongoose
• Unnamed UNSC Vehicle
• Falcon
• Scorpion
• Mantis

Covenant Vehicles:

• Banshee
• Phantom
• Wraith
• Ghost

The Characters of Halo 4 are.....

Human Characters:

• John-117 (Master Chief)
• Cortana
• Captain Andrew Del Rio
• Thomas Lasky
• Commander Palmer
• Majestic Squad
• Shadow Squad
• Fireteam Crimson
• Dr.Catherine Elizabeth Halsey
• Gabriel Thorne (Spartan Ops Only)
• Sergeant Pete Stacker

Storm Covenant Characters:

• Jul'Mdama

Forerunner Characters:

• The Didact

The Armor Abilities of Halo 4 are....

• Active Camouflage
• Autosentry
• Hardlight Shield
• Hologram
• Thrusterpack
• Promethean Vision
• Regeneration Field
• Jetpack

The Specializations of Halo 4 are....

• AA Efficiency
• Awareness
• Firepower
• Grenadier
• Resupply
• Shielding

Halo 4 Soundtrack

Halo 4's soundtrack has taken a massive turn away from Marty O'Donnel's style, and onto a more 'romantic' and 'epic' approach. Neil Davidge, the new man in charge of the Reclaimer Trilogy's soundtrack, has released the soundtrack with the game and stated that he wanted it to still feel like Halo, but for it take a different approach as well, and step into the unknown as for it to evolve and become something even greater. 2 tracks that have returned from previous games and been remixed are "Never Forget" and, of course, the Halo main theme.

Trivia

• Halo 4 is the first Halo game by 343 Industries that is not a re-release.
• Halo 4 is the second Halo game to not include the Plasma Rifle, the other being ODST which had the Brute Plasma Rifle, and this game has the Storm Rifle to replace it.
• This is the first Halo game to show the faces of Forerunners, not just their armor.
• Halo 4 does not feature dual-wielding even though it does follow after Halo 3, which did include dual-wielding.
• Halo 4 is the first Halo to give a storyline as to why the Red and Blue teams of Multiplayer are fighting.
• Halo 4 is the first Halo game to not include Firefight, since its introduction with Halo 3: ODST.
• Halo 4 was released on November 6, 2012, the same date as the presidential election.
• Halo 4 is the second Halo game to include voices from Rooster Teeth Productions. The other game to include this was Halo 3.
• Halo 4 was first leaked early from its initial reveal at E3 2011 an hour early by www.Xbox.com, along with Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, the Halo title that would later be released that year.
• Like Halo: Reach, Halo 4 is rated M for Mature, for Blood and Violence.
• Halo 4 is the first game by 343 Industries to not have Sangheilli return for Matchmaking, War Games or Forge

Trailers

Halo 4 Trailer (E3 2011)

Halo 4 Announcement Trailer

NEW Halo 4 Trailer! - Microsoft E3 2012 Press Conference

The Official Live-Action, Gameplay and Cinematic Trailers