Official : Halo 4 First Look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6UAbizhsRo

Anticipation levels surrounding the debut unveiling of Halo 4 in San Francisco at Microsoft’s Spring Showcase were through the roof. Finally, the Chief is back and we thought we’d have a good chance to see whether 343 Industries has the moxie to carry Bungie’s elliptical torch on to new heights. Boy, were we wrong… Not wrong in the sense that the game looks like an utter disaster or as uninformed as when we saw one map for Halo: Reach at the same event 2 years ago. We were wrong because we didn’t really see that much of the game to evenly remotely form an opinion of the holiday 2012 title. Still, we were put on this planet to probe, and probe we did.

Halo 4 is the “beginning of an epic new sci-fi saga that will define the next decade for Halo,” said Josh Holmes, the game’s Creative Director, but it’s not just about more of the same and then some, 343 Industries is keen to start its own legacy in terms of creating Halo game and stamping its own mark on the franchise. How can 343 do that and keep fans of the franchise happy, you ask? Simple, it’s about balance according to Holmes, “How do we balance the respect that we have for the legacy of this game that we love so much with this desire to innovate and push things forward?”

Keeping and maintaining the game’s canon is an important part of that respect notion and it probably factored into why Master Chief is coming back. “He’s the heart and soul of the IP,” said Kiki Wolfkill (who must have the coolest name in the games industry), the game’s Executive Producer, but for the most part, it’s because, as Wolfkill says: “As gamers and players, we just missed him.”

Halo 4 is looking to explore Master Chief more as a character and 343 is not only looking at “what makes Master Chief click,” but the studio is looking to pull back the curtain on John and explore what’s going on behind the mask. That’ll include not just John and the Chief’s persona, but also his relationship with his closest friend and ally, Cortana, who Wolfkill points out, is probably more human than he is.

Master Chief’s had a bit of a makeover too in Halo 4, but it’s not just about the aesthetics, it’s about functionality – think Batman in the Dark Knight film. The in-game Chief we took a look at was not only shinier than ever before, but his armour redesign was all about making the 900lb Spartan more agile as well. There was some spiel about Master Chief’s HUD being a focus in Halo 4, but in our brief 2-second glimpse, it wasn’t clear what 343 had done with it, if anything.

It is a much prettier and more impressive game from a visual perspective though, with 343 opting for a much more detail-orientated experience. “There’s been dramatic improvements across the board in terms of the visual fidelity that we’re getting out of the game experience,” said Holmes. “All in service of the experience we’re trying to create obviously – that’s where we focused our attention.” It only took a few minutes of multiplayer gameplay footage to notice the more impressive particle effects, a new level of lighting and an element of vibrancy in the game visuals.

Storytelling and character development are a key focus for 343 Industries in Halo 4, with Holmes noting that it’ll be a “deeper, more emotionally impactful story.” Master Chief is going to be facing a “very ancient, very dark threat” that “will define him as a hero,” according to 343. Holmes noted that “in telling that story, we’ve really adopted a darker, more sophisticated tone for the game which ties into the themes of our story and the goals that we have there.” Remember though, Halo 4 isn’t just about being Halo 4, it’s about the “evolving saga” and being able to “connect [it to the] existing fiction.”

So let’s leave the theory behind for a minute and focus on more of the nitty gritty: the multiplayer after all, was the purpose of Microsoft’s “unveiling” at this year’s Spring Showcase. I use the term “unveiling” in the loosest sense, as it seemed anything remotely interesting or revealing was being saved for a later date.

“We really want to redefine what Halo multiplayer is and make it something that is indisputably Halo at its core, but is evolved in important and innovative ways,” said Holmes, again not giving anything away and speaking rather cryptically. “So from a gameplay standpoint, it’s really about creating something that stays true to that magical Halo feel, but is faster, more visceral and intense in all aspects of the combat.” More mystery there then. The one thing that did stand out though was when Frank O’Connor, the Franchise Development Director said, “We’ve created a fairly convincing reason why Red Spartans kill Blue Spartans,” although we’re not sure there needed to be a reason. The term “fairly convincing” doesn’t seem to exude confidence either.

Regardless of our cynicism, Halo 4 takes advantage of the new Spartan IV character model, who are the newest breed of Spartan warriors. These bad boys are fully customisable, not only from a cosmetic standpoint like Reach, but from a gameplay standpoint too, allowing players to make “gameplay enhancing choices, customise playstyle and [create] custom loadouts to take into battle.” In terms of concrete information, battle rifles are back, joining a “vast arsenal of weapons and abilities that will be available in the game,” says Holmes.

The main focus of the hands-off look at Halo 4 was to take a look at the game’s multiplayer, with 343 bringing a pair of multiplayer maps with them to give us a bit of a first look tour.

First up was “Warhouse,” which is a civilian manufacturing facility that exists in near space orbit above a gas giant. It’s a map with symmetrical design and tight spaces that range from corridors and catwalks to a large centre space housing a large Cyclop Mark II mech being assembled in the centre of the map.

As you’d expect in any Halo map, it’s littered with catwalks, grav lifts, outside areas and man cannons galore. Warhouse is a map that boasts more moving parts than any other Halo map to date as well, with the giant mech being assembled in the middle whilst the combat flows around it, steam bellowing out of pipes in the game’s metallic corridors and crates suspended from cranes swaying in the map’s gusty exterior. It’s a map that feels more alive than any other Halo map before and like every map in Halo 4, it’s a purpose-built space for competitive combat, which according to 343 allows for “optimal flow and optimal balance.”

The second and final map or our brief look at Halo 4 was Wraparound – which is too close to reach around if you’re asking us. Wraparound is a map that’s set on a Forerunner solar facility within a Forerunner shield world that generates artificial sunlight, providing energy for the world below. It’s a smaller, more focused map, serving as a good Team Slayer arena, with drop downs, inner catwalks and a circular core around the outer core in the middle. Unlike Warhouse, Wraparound is a lot less claustrophobic, with the bright artificial sun meaning it’s much more vibrant than Warhouse and with man cannons allowing you to jump back into the thick of it within an instance. In essence, it’s very Lockout in nature, especially in terms of its walkways and inherent openness.

Unfortunately for us – and you – it seems as if Microsoft is saving the first in-depth look at the Chief and his Halo 4 antics for this year’s E3, which truth be told is a rather bizarre decision considering the white noise phenomenon of E3 and the fact they have a captive audience in San Fran at their dedicated Microsoft event. At present though, Halo 4 is a lot of buzz words, PR gobbledegook and cryptic messages galore. I mean, if we hear the words “cinematic,” “own voice” and “visceral” any more times, we’re going to forcibly insert the Pillar of Autumn into Master Chief’s anus! That said, the classic battle rifle is back and it’s sure looking purdy, so at least we’ve got something to take away from this debut showing, right? Pewpewpew! Makes you wonder whether MS and 343 have something to hide though…

Halo 4 is scheduled for a holiday 2012 release.