The latest news about the Halo series of games from Microsoft
Author: iTrentz
From Game Informer:
As the co-creator of NBA Street and co-founder of Propaganda Games, Josh Holmes may sound like an odd choice for the creative director of Halo 4. Starting out testing sports games at EA, Josh is a 15-year veteran of the gaming industry and he has worshipped Halo for 10 of those years. We asked him to share his first memories of playing Halo: Combat Evolved, what he sees as the pillars of the Halo series, and what changes he would like to make to the formula. Watch the video via the link below and let us know what you think in the comments.
This weekend, for every game you complete in the Anniversary FFA playlist, you have a chance at winning a 34,300 credit bonus. So if you’ve been eyeing something in the Armory or you just like the sound of credits jingling in your virtual pocket, you have until Sunday at midnight (Pacific Standard Time) to take advantage of this weekend’s Super Jackpot. Stop reading, and go get some!
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From Rooster Teeth:
Jack and Geoff treat you to a delicious pile of failure in the form of Halo: Reach gameplay clips. Enjoy with a fine wine.
Editor’s note: Language is mature. Proceed with caution.
Last week, for our Friday Caption Fun festivities, you provided quips for an image featuring a sniper-in-a-box. Here are the top captions you left for that particular image!
“When ODST Drop Pods started costing too much,
the UNSC had to use whatever they had to deploy their troops…” –Xenoblade013
“The Covenant was overjoyed to hear that Santa had taken them off the naughty list;
then came Christmas morning.” –BONECRUSHERCODY
“In 2552, the shooting gallery targets shoot back.” –Necropaxx
“Without the reliable source of cardboard on Installation 04,
Solid Snake had to improvise using other types of boxes.” –CornCob McGee
“Jack the Spartan finally understood why his squadmates joked that a box was the best place for him to snipe.” –Hotrod192
“When the Active Camo nerf went live, snipers were forced to find alternative methods of camouflage.” –Antman687
“One of these things is not like the others.” –SGT Lemon 25
“Camping: It’s a legitimate strategy!” –BobBoy9O
“Step 1: Cut a hole in a box….” –Coux73
Now that we’ve wrapped up that picture, let’s start a new one. Up for your captioning pleasure this week is an image featuring a rather unusual Halo vehicle. Soak in the screenshot, then leave your witty and relevant quip in a comment. Off you go!
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Author: TympanicMetal
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From MixMaker117:
A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. What they found was a dark secret that took out the ancient Forerunners. Enjoy this Halo/Prometheus mashup trailer, edited by MixMaker117.
Office of Halo Intelligence, or OHI for short, is a semi-regular diary-type feature brought to you by various members of the Halo 4 development team. Sotaro Tojima, Audio Director for Halo 4, kindly agreed to write the seventh entry. We hope you enjoy an inside look at the making of our next title!
From the 4.11.12 edition of the Halo Bulletin:
I’m so excited to announce the Halo 4 music composer, Neil Davidge, finally, today! It was hard for me to keep the exciting news secret for 15 months.
Back in 2010, I was looking for a music composer who could establish the epic score for Halo 4. But it wasn’t going to be enough to just have great music; I wanted to establish something fresh and new for Halo 4’s score. I needed not just strong talent but also a strong passion for exploring new, less traditional avenues with music.
I had a vision for the overall Halo 4 music production that I think of as “Digital and Organic”—something very much inspired by the game script. With that vision in mind, I explored Electronica and heavily digitally-processed–based dance music to find that new sound. I also had to respect the game’s previous orchestral experience, while still trying to find something new.
But of course Halo games traditionally have strong, weeping melodies to drive the story, so we needed someone who could capture that, but with a very new sound. My prior experience also drove me to look for someone who could create a great-sounding percussion track.
After spending almost a year looking, I finally found a composer from the Bristol music scene who could fulfill all of those requirements and match my vision perfectly. That’s Neil Davidge, of course. And I just fell in love when I listened to his percussion tracks.
When we met up, it was perfect—I discovered that he was a huge fan of the Halo series and had an equally strong passion for matching the next Halo score with his technique and experience. He was also willing and, indeed, enthusiastic to have strong communication, collaboration, and tough iteration with 343 to build something really special with Halo fans in mind. We were exactly on the same page! For me, there was no reason to look any further.
His music on his past works was already great. But with his strong passion for exploring epic music, I’m convinced that his Halo music will be different from his any past work. I believe the music he composed will make people excited.
Please enjoy the music and see his passion in this very special soundtrack sample!
-Sotaro Tojima
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From Game Informer:
This is a trailer for Game Informer’s month of exclusive Halo 4 video content that can be found at www.gameinformer.com/halo4. Check back frequently for updates throughout the month.
Yesterday morning, amidst a flurry of behind-the-scene videos, live chats, and soundtrack samples, we revealed the identity of Halo 4’s composer. If you find yourself wanting more information about Neil Davidge—an award-winning composer, record producer, songwriter, and musician—the following interviews shed additional light on the man behind the music. Dive into the articles, and enjoy a little more insight into the person creating the soundtrack for Halo 4.
Rolling Stone – Exclusive Stream: Massive Attack Producer Scores ‘Halo 4’
SPIN – Massive Attack Producer to Feel Your Halo, Halo
Complex – Introducing “Halo 4″‘s Composer: Massive Attack’s Neil Davidge On Continuing A Legacy
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From Game Informer:
Sotaro Tojima talks about his early composing work for Castlevania and what it was like to work on the audio team for four Metal Gear Solid games before moving on to be the audio director for Halo 4.
It’s Monday and that means it’s once more unto the Multiplayer breach, dear friends. This week we challenge you to keep that winning spirit up by racking up a cool 25 victories in Multiplayer matchmaking. So whether you choose Swat, Grifball, CTF or something else entirely, there’s a nice bundle of credits waiting for you at the end!
CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS – 18,343cR
Win 25 games in Multiplayer Matchmaking this week.
Don’t forget to stop by the forums on your way to epic wins:
Weekly Challenge Thread
It’s Monday and that means it’s once more unto the Multiplayer breach, dear friends. This week we challenge you to keep that winning spirit up by racking up a cool 25 victories in Multiplayer matchmaking. So whether you choose Swat, Grifball, CTF or something else entirely, there’s a nice bundle of credits waiting for you at the end!
CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS – 18,343cR
Win 25 games in Multiplayer Matchmaking this week.
Don’t forget to stop by the forums on your way to epic wins:
Weekly Challenge Thread
Office of Halo Intelligence, or OHI for short, is a semi-regular diary-type feature brought to you by various members of the Halo 4 development team. Chris Lee, the Lead Producer on Halo 4, kindly agreed to write the sixth entry. We hope you enjoy an inside look at the making of our next title!
From the 4.5.12 edition of the Halo Bulletin:
Oh hi, OHI fans! It feels great to finally be able to talk about the work the Halo 4 team is cranking out. We have hundreds of passionate folks working to make this an unforgettable experience. It’s crazy to think that when many of these people decided to join 343 and build H4, we couldn’t even tell them what they would be working on. We told them the project would take place in the Halo universe, that the project was ambitious, and that we wanted to make something special… something that would live up to the Halo legacy. They took a chance, moved their families, left their friends, and joined us in Seattle. And from the chills I get when I listen to our music to the adrenaline rush I get from playing in the multiplayer playtests, all while the project is forged under the pressure of building something we want millions of Halo fans to love, I can tell you that we are indeed well on our way to something special.
This past month the proof of this was seen in our internal network test. We created a slice of multiplayer gameplay, got it running smoothly, and polished it to bring it much of the way to H4 ship quality across the board. Then we added new backend tech pieces, network optimizations, and game modes. We did this to ensure we would learn everything possible about how H4 will perform over home networks once we release it into the wild. I won’t say anything else about all these networking technical bits and pieces now, but I am sure you will get an update from the awesome H4 service team (codenamed Section 3) one of these weeks….
Hundreds of people contributed to the various components that went into the build. It was amazing to see a concept artist play a Spartan that he painted on digital canvas months before, one that a character artist meticulously modeled by hand in high resolution for weeks, and a tech artist rigged with artificial bones, and an animator brought to life with lethal combat animations. A complete cycle of concept to realization. We are in a phase where most of the concepts and ideas are making their way from hearts and minds into tangible experiences. It’s one of the most exciting times on a project.
We played the internal network test build for weeks, testing game modes, testing networking conditions, and collecting balance data. During the development process, playing through build after build and seeing the constant iterations, you can get into a groove where you are always looking for ways to improve. It’s hard to step back and look at how far you have come. It was a feeling of great accomplishment to see the team fighting for playtest kits so they could play the game more.
But there is still a lot of work to be done. We are focusing on the next internal network test build, more iteration, more polish, more awesome, so we can finally deliver the game into your hands. I know it has been said before from OHI, but we can’t wait to show you what we’ve been playing.
-Chris
This is Action Figure Hands from Halo Wars OST.
The .rar file contains a .midi and a .pdf.
Arranged by Mortenkul at yourube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLrh9NUFeD4
He improvised in the video, but the imrpovised chords are not in the sheets.
If you have problems opening the .rar file, just post a comment.
Difficulty for the average pianist is 3/10
Author: xDrummerWorldx
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From Firestorm12:
Halopen Films’ latest machinima release, “Medieval Stories: The Warriors Three,” is an odd little comedy. It’s about an ordinary game of Reach, but… well, it’s narrated by an eccentric medieval bard who seems to have found his way to modern times and tells stories of Halo matchmaking with a mix of archaic language and anachronisms aplenty. Told you it was odd. Nonetheless, we hope you enjoy-eth it!
Editor’s note: Language is mature. Proceed with caution.
Medieval Stories: The Warriors Three – A Halo: Reach Machinima
Halo is a fictional universe. However, sometimes we catch sight of things in real life that remind us of our favorite science fiction video game franchise. This particular series, titled Halo in Real Life, showcases those very moments. Enjoy the subtle Halo references sometimes spotted when out and about in the real world, and if you have a picture you’d like to submit for possible future inclusion, send it to bsangel[at]halowaypoint.com!
As seen and captured by Austin
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From MythicTyrant:
The fifth installment of Tyrant’s Halo 3 Legendary Walkthrough is now live, and this week we tackle a new foe to the game, the Flood, as they spread through the small town of Voi in the mission “Floodgate.” Can the Master Chief put a halt to the sudden Flood infestation? Or is the world doomed to fall to the might of the deadly alien parasite? Find out in the latest installment!
From Smyf:
Smyf here, with three more high resolution wallpapers to prepare you for the launch of Halo 4. This batch is for PC, iPhone and iPad. Enjoy!
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From Paul B:
This is Episode 5 of my Map Walkthrough Guide series covering all the maps that launched with the Anniversary Map Pack. This week the focus is Hang ‘Em High. Enjoy!
Hang ‘Em High Walkthrough – A Halo: Anniversary Gameplay and Commentary Video