[360] Halo 4

[Ralnakor]

I still pop in from time to time. Still need my forum fix from time to time .

 

[Handleit_44]

...

Frank O’Connor talks about Halo 4

“I can tell you it picks up right after the events of Halo 3, Master Chief and (his ship’s artificial intelligence character) Cortona are lost in space,” said O’Connor.

“They passed through a slip space portal and end up in an unknown region of space, and they come into an orbit around a very mysterious world, which looks artificial from the exterior, at least,” says O’Connor, careful about what he will reveal.

“We’re going to pay that off. We’re very committed to making sure that our story continues the narrative and is absolutely true to the universe. We’re not trying to reset anything”

“The Chief isn’t suddenly going to be spouting monologues and speaking volumes more than he ever did in the past, but you’re definitely going to be learning more about him as a person.”

O’Connor says that there will be more focus on exploration of the new planet.

As well, there will be a new game play mode called Spartan Ops and a new online addition that embraces a free episode downloads.

Spartan Ops is “a co-operative multiplayer experience, with really significant story components, with what we think is a really innovative, almost broadcast model, where every week you’ll get a new episode of fiction and in that new episode will be five playable sequences. That’s actually really exciting, and the story itself is really meaningful and ties back to the campaign and is kind of a through-line for the narrative.”

“To be perfectly blunt, we’ve got higher fidelity cinematics and better technology, so we’re able to tell stories in a much more compelling and I think convincing way,” O’Connor says.

Frank O'Connor on Halo 4 – 'Spartan Ops could run for years'

The idea of Spartan Ops as an episodic adventure is an interesting one. What was the thinking there?

Well, we talked about some of the independent components of that separately. We talked about what would be a cool co-op experience, what would be a cool fiction ... but ultimately, it came down to this conversation we had a few years ago about, what is a really interesting water cooler experience as it relates to video games? People will typically buy a new game, they'll talk about the big set-pieces in that game, and then they'll move on to the multiplayer component, and often just stop talking about it.

We wanted gamers to have a continual water cooler conversation that revolves around shared gameplay experiences. So if you have four people working together to get through these missions and then watching and experiencing fiction at the same time ... it's not that you have to go and blow up a reactor and then you watch a cinematic sequence of a reactor blowing up; it's real characters with really significant universe-changing events going on in the narrative.

We have the Spartan Ops story mapped out, at least loosely, for a few years. The first season is very rigid at this point and we know where this story goes. If it's successful, if people enjoy it, we have a narrative arc that can last for years, with a known beginning, a middle and an end.

So if we're talking about multi-season interactive episodic content, there's quite a cost to developing that. Will you be charging at some point?

The first season is absolutely free if you buy either the special edition or the regular edition - that's a really significant amount of content; it's being compared to an entire campaign on top of the one that ships with the game.

Yes, it's a lot of content and yes it's an expense, but we think it's worthwhile. Halo has long tradition of doing innovative things: Halo 2 had Xbox Live multiplayer; Halo 3 had social and sharing aspects. It's a tradition that goes back to the first game and we wanted to continue that spirit of experimentation. But this works, it's fun and it's testing really well. It's going to be interesting to see if those water cooler conversations emerge organically and naturally. We have our fingers crossed that they will.

With the War Games online multiplayer content, a few gamers have voiced fears that the customisable load-outs and character progression elements are moving the series closer to Call of Duty. How would you allay those fears?

One thing I've learned over 10 years of working with video game communities is that trying to allay fears is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. You just have to believe in what you're doing. I've been in this industry for twenty years, and most of the comparative systems that people think are being ripped off or borrowed from one title have been around in the industry for longer than I have.

It's not so much that we're doing completely new things or that we're taking things from other games, it's just that, every time we go through the process of making a new Halo game, we have to evolve it to move it forward – otherwise you just increase the resolution of the successful maps and put out the same game every year. That wouldn't work, that would be terrible business.

So you have to evolve the game naturally and sometimes fairly radically. Some of the things we've done would seem fairly trivial to the average man in the street, but they make a really significant difference to players who take this stuff seriously. And of course, in the vacuum of not having played it – or in our case, they haven't even seen a lot of it – there's this panic and resistance to change.

Typically we find that, as long as we do our jobs correctly and ensure everything is balanced and fun and makes sense for our game, which has a very specific heart to it, then eventually even the most resistant players will figure out what's good and what's bad for them, and then pick their matchmaking style based on those premises. Eventually, they adapt.

 

[Leftwich]

This might be my next shooter. Hopefully VSN follows suit.

 

[DannyD]

I still need to finish Halo 3.

 

[Swarley]

I still need to finish Halo 3.

So you haven't beaten Halo 3, and you haven't played a Gears game....what in the world do you play???

:edlover:

 

[ThomasTomasz]

This might be my next shooter. Hopefully VSN follows suit.

Gotta admit, Spartan Ops has me intrigued.

 

[Twigg4075]

So you haven't beaten Halo 3, and you haven't played a Gears game....what in the world do you play???

:edlover:

I haven't finished Reach. I think I'm one or two chapters shy.

 

[Handleit_44]

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

I haven't finished Reach. I think I'm one or two chapters shy.

You should just for the final-final scene/level.

 

[Handleit_44]

 

[Handleit_44]

 

[mgoblue2290]

I was under the impression this game had nothing to do with the Covenant.

 

[flav]

new HUD looks awesome

 

[Handleit_44]

50 Spartan Ops missions over 10 weeks for free

...

 

[Golden Taters]

I can't wait for Halo 4, but my expectations are extremely high, so I hope I won't be let down.

 

[Swarley]

Hey Handle, are you going to get an Xbox and roll with Strike Team through the campaign?

:lalala:

 

[ThomasTomasz]

The Spartan Ops has great potential.......I hope they don't mess it up.

As long as I can access Living Dead as a 24/7 playlist, I will remain happy with my Halo online experience.

 

[Handleit_44]

Hey Handle, are you going to get an Xbox and roll with Strike Team through the campaign?

:lalala:

Most likely not... if I were to EVER get another Xbox, I'd get it because of Forza.

Damn that game looks sexy. :wub:

 

[Swarley]

Most likely not... if I were to EVER get another Xbox, I'd get it because of Forza.

Damn that game looks sexy. :wub:

Go to the store right meow, get one, and join our league.

:bobbyv:

 

[Twigg4075]

This game is only a few months away and I honestly couldn't care less. I have no interest at this point. I don't know why? I started losing interest in this series when Reach released. I bought it day one and still haven't finished the campaign to this day. This comig from a guy that has the Master Chief replica helmet from the Halo 3 CE in his basement.