Halo 4 Message Board

It's not often that video game artists make the headlines, but Kenneth Scott made a few this week when he left his post as art director at 343 studios. That's kind of a big deal for fans because he was in charge of shaping the series' visual identity. It's far from terrible news - his replacement, Sparth, is one of the best sci-fi artists on the planet - but now's as good a time as any to look back on some of Scott's fantastic work on the franchise.Read more...

Halo 4 is now a year old, and to celebrate the milestone, developer 343 Industries has offered a look at some of the content that didn't make it into the retail game for reasons ranging from simple collision problems to an overwhelming level of mind-rending horror.

The video (which can be found on 343 Industries' site) starts off calmly enough, with franchise director Frank O'Connor introducing what you would expect to be a staid look at content that would otherwise go unseen. Seconds after O'Connor fades from view however, things take a turn for the crazy. Rainbow Warthogs, moonwalking Master Chiefs and twirling robots abound. Character models twist and contort in unnatural fashion, guns fire vehicles instead of bullets, and untextured heads shriek terrible litanies thankfully muted by the clip's jaunty soundtrack.

The outtakes are by no means required viewing, but today, a week before the next generation of gaming kicks off in earnest, it's nice to take a moment to relax with the sort of insanity our favorite pastime can unwittingly spawn.

If you haven't checked out 343 Industries' take on Master Chief yet, Amazon has it for just $10.

We gave Halo 4 a big old five stars out of five when we reviewed it last year, Ludwig-117 deeming it, "one of the best games in the series and one of the finest shooters in years." All of which sounds pretty good for 10 bucks.

A limited edition, 12-inch tall statue of Master Chief will be available via McFarlane Toys starting December 6 for $295, the action figure and collectibles company has revealed. The statue depicts Master Chief as he appears in Halo 4 - or more accurately, how he appears on the game, as the pose seems modeled after the Halo 4 cover.

Each of the limited run of 1,000 statues will come with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Todd McFarlane, as well as three interchangeable weapons: the Assault Rifle, the Energy Sword and the Boltshot. The statue's official page does not currently offer pre-orders, so if you want to get your hands on Chief before the Covenant Didact other collectors do, you'll want to keep a vigilant watch on the McFarlane Toys site.

Each game rumour I hear gives me the urge to return to a previous life. To look at me, you wouldn’t have known that I was capable of such deception, but I led a dual existence for so long that I’m still not sure where he ends and I begin. He was someone else before we were joined, and he’s been someone else for the past few years, but I was probably him for the long – oh no, he’s waking up. Quick! Hide your secrets! Lock the gadget chest! You mustn’t let him – [squelchy sounds, ruffle of clothes, the room darkens]. Hello, Readers. The Spy is happy to make your acquaintance. Would you like to know about how Microsoft has Halo 4 running on a PC?(more…)

The battle for supremacy in Halo 4 that kicked off at the Rooster Teeth Expo earlier this month and continued at Gamescom will conclude at PAX Prime this weekend. The Halo 4 Global Championship Finals began yesterday at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, and they continue today. Tomorrow's finale will be live streamed from 4 to 6 PT.Read more...

The world's top Spartans will finish the fight for a grand prize of $200,000 this weekend at PAX Prime in the Halo 4 Global Championship Finals, Microsoft announced today.

If you're at PAX Prime, Microsoft is hosting the event in Benaroya Hall from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST until Sunday. If you're unable to attend, the rounds leading up to the finals will be streamed on TwitchTV today from 11:30 to 4pm PST. Spectators eager for the the final rounds can watch tensions mount via a livestream on Xbox Live and HaloWaypoint.com starting at 4 p.m. PST. The stream will be hosted by Major Nelson, Blair Herter and Jessica Chobot.

Microsoft has confirmed a Halo 4 Game of the Year Edition is slated to arrive in October. A spokesperson said the package will include additional DLC , and that more details will be announced "during the live stream of the 'Halo' Global Championship Finals this Sunday."

According to information provided to IGN by a tipster, this new version of Halo 4 will cost $50 and include the base game, the first season of Spartan Ops content, a War Games pass, the Champions DLC bundle and content that was exclusive to pre-orders and limited editions.

Spartans will find some additional items in their wardrobe today, as 343 Industries has issued the "Champions Bundle" DLC pack in Halo 4.

For 800 MS Points ($10) you'll get: the "Bullseye" pack, which includes two new multiplayer maps, a new "Ricochet" game mode and some sports-themed armor; the "Infinity Armor Pack," a collection of new armor items modeled after past Halo games; and the "Steel Gun Pack," which coats your weapons in some shiny new metals.

343 Industries is also offering these three DLC packs piecemeal, though purchasing the full bundle guarantees 18 additional exclusive in-game items and one cheaper price tag.

343 Industries will push out a title update for Halo 4 this Monday, August 19, ahead of the launch of the game's Champions Bundle DLC, which is scheduled for the next day. The patch, in addition to ending the current Global Championship online qualifier, also adds two new Support Upgrades: Recharge, which reduces the amount of time it takes for your shields to recharge, and Survivor, which automatically ejects the player from any vehicle on the verge of exploding.

The update also adds Spartan Ops levels to matchmaking, specifically two chapters from Episode 1 (The Challenge, Sacred), one chapter from Episode 2 (Gagarin) and two chapters from Episode 5 (Spartan Miller, Nothing Can Go Wrong). Meanwhile, the game's Crimson Map Pack will be removed in preparation for the arrival of the Champions Bundle.

Prepare to laugh, cry, and be amazed in this week's Top 10 Halo 4 Kills of the Week.

Part 20 of IGN's video walkthrough for Halo: Spartan Assault. Mission D-5: Defense of the Enemies Airbase.

Part 17 of IGN's Video Walkthrough for Halo: Spartan Ops. Mission D-2: Liberation of Faraday.

Part 18 of IGN's video walkthrough for Halo: Spartan Assault. Mission D-3: Assault on Covenant Landing Zones.

Part 19 of IGN's video walkthrough for Halo: Spartan Assault. Mission D-4: Escape from Faraday.

Part 16 of IGN's video walkthrough for Halo: Spartan Assault. Mission D-1: Escape from Southern Fields.

Part 15 of IGN's video walkthrough for Halo Spartan Assault. Mission C-5: Superstructure Stand-Off.

Part 15 of IGN's video walkthrough for Halo Spartan Assault. Mission C-5.

Part 14 of IGN's Video Walkthrough for Halo Spartan Assault. Mission C-4: Infiltration of the Covenant Perimeter.

Part 13 of IGN's video walkthrough for Halo Spartan Assault. Mission C-3.

Part 13 of IGN's video walkthrough for Halo Spartan Assault. Mission C-3.

Part 7 of IGN's video walkthrough for Halo: Spartan Assault. Mission B-2: Reactor Field Relief.

Part 6 of IGN's video walkthrough for Halo: Spartan Assault. Mission B-1: Siege of Faraday.

Level A-5 of Halo: Spartan Assault. Part 5 of IGN's video walkthrough.

Level A-4 of Halo: Spartan Assault. Part 4 of IGN's video walkthrough

Level A-3 of Halo: Spartan Assault. Part 3 of IGN's video walkthrough.

Level A-1 of Halo: Spartan Assault. Part 1 of IGN's video walkthrough.

Level A-2 in Halo: Spartan Assault. Part 2 of IGN's video walkthrough.

Halo 4 live-action web-series Forward Unto Dawn is up for an Emmy - no, not a tech Emmy, the real primetime deal. It's going up against the likes of HBO's The Newsroom and CBS' Elementary for this year's Main Title Design honor.

The Main Title Design category rewards work that goes into title sequences, so we should doff our cap towards German 3D animator Polynoid, who collaborated with Halo 4 dev 343 industries on the intros for the five Forward Unto Dawn episodes.

Machinima and Microsoft first released the series on YouTube last year, leading into the launch of Halo 4, before bringing it to Blu-ray and Netflix. If you've not seen it and you've got 90 or so minutes to spare, we'd say it's worth the watch, and not just for the titles. As for the Emmy, the winner will be revealed at this year's ceremony on September 22.

Forward Unto Dawn—the live-action episodic Halo 4 webseries that premiered last year—got nominated for an Emmy Award. It’s for Outstanding Main Title Design, yeah, but that statue still looks real nice on your mantle.Read more...