So Halo 4 is actually looking pretty damn good

[Phlakes]

No, really. I always keep an open mind about franchises, and while probably a majority of internet users constantly talk about how series should just die already, I'm starting to warm up to the new Halo trilogy. First, watch this-


Pay attention to the music. You see (or hear, I guess) how it's almost completely different, but it still has hints of the classic Halo feel? And also getting rid of the almost cartoony style from 1-3 and becoming a lot darker, in a good way? Yeah, if the whole game follows that same principle, then to me, the new trilogy would be completely justified.

Now I know a lot of people will say that Halo should just end. But 343 was created specifically for more Halo, Microsoft won't lose any money, Halo fans get want they want, and people who aren't interested never have to play it, and most of all, 343 has an opportunity to take the series where it needed to go with 3, and even further, so I don't see a good reason for them not to make it, especially now.

If you haven't been following it, it continues only the Chief's story. The Covenant and the flood are out of the antagonist spot, very probably replaced by Forerunners. The game might take place on a forerunner shield world (basically a small Dyson sphere), which means you'll be using their weapons and vehicles, which would mean no more plasma rifles or ghosts or Grunt headshotting. And all of this is a very, very good thing under the circumstances. Franchises get stale when they put put the same thing every installment, but it looks like Halo 4 might have enough massive changes to practically reboot the series.

Also, the story plays off all the content, including EU, if you're a fan of all that.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Wow, looks like they're changing it up a lot! The buildings have a very Forerunner look to them (especially at 0:51-55) dead ringer for the silent cartographer building in Halo CE. There are some floaty things in the background which look like Engineers (0:44)

And at 1:11 there are 4 humanoid shapes at the bottom of the screen, and working ships, so the place isn't entirely deserted.

I'm still holding to the belief that the big eyeball thing is Unicron.

I just want to see the Master Chief and Optimus Prime teaming up to kick ass. All together now...

"YOU'VE GOT THE TOUCH" da daa da daa
"YOU GOT THE POWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRR"

 

[Erana]

Honestly?
It feels a bit Mass-Effect-ie to me.
The arcetecture is a bit rounded and more detailed for what I find to be distinctly Forerunner-ie.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

It looks alright so far but you really have to reserve judgement until later in the development cycle. This, to me, looked like advanced concept imagery. Very bad ass concept imagery but concept imagery none-the-less. I also really hope the Flood are 100% absent from this new trilogy. I hate those little bastards. Of course it would be very easy for 343 to fall into that stereotype of giving The Chief (and by extension, humanity) a hyper-advenced alien race to fight and a zombie/bug like third race to join in the fray. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Can't wait to see what the enemies will look like though.

 

[SeriousIssues]

It looks alright so far but you really have to reserve judgement until later in the development cycle. This, to me, looked like advanced concept imagery. Very bad ass concept imagery but concept imagery none-the-less. I also really hope the Flood are 100% absent from this new trilogy. I hate those little bastards. Of course it would be very easy for 343 to fall into that stereotype of giving The Chief (and by extension, humanity) a hyper-advenced alien race to fight and a zombie/bug like third race to join in the fray. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Can't wait to see what the enemies will look like though.

Chief can unleash the flood on the forerunners at the climax and bore them to death with confusing, dimly lit maze levels full of fleshy orange shit and crawlers.

 

[walrusaurus]

And also getting rid of the almost cartoony style from 1-3 and becoming a lot darker, in a good way? Yeah, if the whole game follows that same principle, then to me, the new trilogy would be completely justified.

The bright vivid visuals were one of the main things that set Halo apart from the metric shitton of sci-fi shooters. So no from where I'm standing: no, getting 'a lot darker' is most definitely not a good thing.

If i want to play a dark gritty space marine game, there are quite literally hundreds of titles that offer that.

that said I've had a lot of great times playing halo with my friends so i'll probably end up buying halo 4 regardless.

 

[Omega 380]

It looks nice and finally no flood. I'm looking forward to see how the Forerunners will be like, their weapons, etc. I kind of want them to make it a little like ODST because i liked that felling of loneliness that you had and that sometimes it would be wiser to just sneak past the enemies instead of fighting, but i'm sure that there can't be only that so i hope that at least the beginning has some of it.

And form what i remember the Forerunners consider humanity their 'sons' so i think they won't be the enemies or it will be a small part of them that will deem Chief and, consequently humanity, a failure and will try to kill everybody.

I would like to see improvements on the, hum, structural side(at least i think it is the structural side), i wound't mind if it was an open world kind of shooter(like ODST), and they need to make interesting places to go, sure the concept art looks nice but worth nothing if we just get a glimpse of the buildings them just wander through small corridors all the time.

 

[latenightapplepie]

That is an excellent concept art video, and I do love concept art.

Looks promising. The idea of a Halo game without the Covenant, or the Flood, is fascinating.

 

[SwishiestB0g]

Fiction wise, it's doubtful that it'd be the Forerunners, for a lot of reasons, but hey it'd be neat to fight them none-the-less.

The art direction is still very Halo though the music sounds more Mass Effect than Halo.
The ships were obviously not human or Covenant, but aside from being silver they don't match any of the Forerunner ships either. At one point early (Too tired now) you see a few dots floating in the air beside a structure, Sentinels perhaps?

Again fiction wise, I'm thinking it's a shield world, makes sense, though to open a shield world, as I understand it, from the inside was one extremely hard and too very foolish.

In a couple of books they mention Precursors, the species before the Forerunners, might be them.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Concept art isn't much to go on.

HALO COULD be good. It's only real problem is it was an incredibly generic console shooter with weak sound foley, other then that it was a well designed and produced game. Maybe the new developers will make improvements.

I mean, it's hard to go wrong when your protagonist is a 7 foot all super soldier in armor that makes him superhumanly strong thats trained in every fighting art known to man.

PS: That music sounds like District nines, especially once the horns kick in at the second half.

Again fiction wise, I'm thinking it's a shield world, makes sense, though to open a shield world, as I understand it, from the inside was one extremely hard and too very foolish.

Despite my limited knowledge of Halo, doing extremly hard and very foolish things is Master Chiefs job description, yes?

 

[Tony2077]

i like it because there are so few sci fi series still around so many modern ones or for a while ww2 ones

 

[Blueruler182]

No. No. Just... no. The music isn't nearly as good as Marty O'Donnel's music, that's a major letdown. And I completely disagree with the idea that darker is better than cartoony, especially in this day and age, not that the original trilogy, and least of all Reach and ODST, were cartoony. I mean, how many more realistic shooters need to be shoved down my furking throat before I can just be a Spartan god absorbing lasers and mowing down enemies? I can play CoD if I want CoD, or Bad Company, or Battlefield, or any other furking shooter to come out since Modern Warfare came out if I want a gritty realistic shooter.

Here's realism. I go to a warehouse two cities away to work from 7:30 to 4 and limp my way back to the bus each day. Sounds like a boring game, except for the forklift, and Halo already has forklifts!

I do have faith for the Halo franchise, though, and I'm hoping to god that 343 doesn't run the franchise into the ground. Shut up whoever says it's already there.

 

[OdyCay]

theres multiple humans in though pics are there surviving marines or something! but wait in one of the books some spartans are traped on that planet thing in the end that could be were he is. *gasp* !!!!!!!! omg!
+ who will the enemeys be since the covenant is gone it could be the flood though.

 

[ultrachicken]

...sure the concept art looks nice but wort nothing if we just get a glimpse of the buildings...

Typo or incredibly lame pun?

OT: I think the concept art is looking pretty nice. There's something alluring yet terrifying about that giant glowing eyeball, and same goes for plenty of the structures. I think that if the series stays colorful and vibrant, yet adopts a more serious tone (eg. Reach), the new trilogy could be fantastic.

 

[ultrachicken]

No. No. Just... no. The music isn't nearly as good as Marty O'Donnel's music, that's a major letdown. And I completely disagree with the idea that darker is better than cartoony, especially in this day and age, not that the original trilogy, and least of all Reach and ODST, were cartoony. I mean, how many more realistic shooters need to be shoved down my furking throat before I can just be a Spartan god absorbing lasers and mowing down enemies? I can play CoD if I want CoD, or Bad Company, or Battlefield, or any other furking shooter to come out since Modern Warfare came out if I want a gritty realistic shooter.

Here's realism. I go to a warehouse two cities away to work from 7:30 to 4 and limp my way back to the bus each day. Sounds like a boring game, except for the forklift, and Halo already has forklifts!

I do have faith for the Halo franchise, though, and I'm hoping to god that 343 doesn't run the franchise into the ground. Shut up whoever says it's already there.

Realism never made it into this discussion before you showed up, only dark and grittiness. No reason that a dark game can't have the protagonist soak up bullets and fire lasers at giant robots.

 

[Omega 380]

...sure the concept art looks nice but wort nothing if we just get a glimpse of the buildings...

Typo or incredibly lame pun?

OT: I think the concept art is looking pretty nice. There's something alluring yet terrifying about that giant glowing eyeball, and same goes for plenty of the structures. I think that if the series stays colorful and vibrant, yet adopts a more serious tone (eg. Reach), the new trilogy could be fantastic.

Just a typo, i corrected it.
Edit: I didn't saw a pun there, could say what pun it was?

 

[artanis_neravar]

Wow, looks like they're changing it up a lot! The buildings have a very Forerunner look to them (especially at 0:51-55) dead ringer for the silent cartographer building in Halo CE. There are some floaty things in the background which look like Engineers (0:44)

And at 1:11 there are 4 humanoid shapes at the bottom of the screen, and working ships, so the place isn't entirely deserted.

I'm still holding to the belief that the big eyeball thing is Unicron.

I just want to see the Master Chief and Optimus Prime teaming up to kick ass. All together now...

"YOU'VE GOT THE TOUCH" da daa da daa
"YOU GOT THE POWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRR"

"WHEN ALL HELL"S BREAKING LOOSE YOU"LL BE RIDIN' THE EYE OF THE STORM!"


OP: Yes I am really looking forward to this, but my guess is the precursors for the main bad guys.

Spoiler: Precursors and Halo: Cryptum

In the book Halo: Crytpum it is revealed that the Forerunners (along with humans) were created by the Precursors who disappeared long ago. At the end of the book a living precursor is revealed and described as appearing very similar to the gravemind.