Halo 4

Available on: Xbox 360

Halo 4’s new trailer dissected: The most tantalizing screens and quotes

How will Master Chief’s next game look, sound and play? We’ve gone through Halo 4’s newest video frame-by-frame for clues, and captured over 50 screens for your analysis

Words: Charlie Barratt on March 5, 2012

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Halo 4’s new trailer dissected: The most tantalizing screens and quotes

“We want this to be our Halo game.”

For almost a year, all we’ve had is the single trailer. All we’ve had is the single scene of Master Chief reawakening from his cryogenic slumber and escaping with Cortana from the exploding ship. All we’ve had beyond that is rumor and speculation.

Now, finally, we have more. So much more. With the release of a “first look” Halo 4 making-of documentary this morning, and the power of the pause button, we have over 50 new screens – everything from multiplayer gameplay to cutscene animation to the Chief chillin' behind the wheel of an upgraded Warthog – and dozens of developer quotes to obsess over.

Start our slideshow to see them all!
“We’re working within the constraints of what makes Halo Halo…”
“… but trying to make every aspect of it bigger and better.”
“We’re really delving into Master Chief’s humanity, exploring what makes him tick as a character.”
“Fighting for something that is really important, where there’s something very big at stake... those are themes we carry forward”
“We wanted to introduce a threat that is beyond anything Master Chief has faced before.”
“It also gives us an opportunity, with that threat, to add new gameplay.”
“The backstory of the Spartans, and of Master Chief in particular, promises all this hyper-athletic speed, mass, weight and power.”
“You’re supposed to be this guy in a super suit, and you should feel like a superhero in it.”
“All weapons, vehicles and enemies have been updated graphically.”
“We wanted the armor to look and feel functional.”
“The Battle Rifle is back. It’s the old burst-fire, precision weapon.”
“We’re absolutely creating multiplayer levels from scratch.”
“These are not play spaces that are recycled from the campaign.”
“They’re purpose-built with competitive in mind.”
“The Spartans in multiplayer are Spartan IVs – these are the newest breed of Spartan.”
“We’ve created a fairly compelling and fairly convincing reason why red Spartans can fight blue Spartans.”
“Wraparound is a looping arena-type structure…”
“… with lots of verticality, up-and-down combat.”
“Warhouse is an abandoned military base…”
“… with this very giant mech being constructed in the center of it.”
“We’ve tried to create a more cinematic approach to the experience in everything that we do.”
“We have a completely new audio team building all of the sound effects from scratch.”
“We’ve already recorded a hundred tracks of music.”
“Artistically, the number of assets that are going into this is way more than any other Halo game.”
“It’s still Halo, but it has its own voice.”

For over two dozen more Halo 4 screens, including extra multiplayer shots and extra Master Chief, keep clicking through our gallery with the "Next" and "Previous" buttons above.

Watch the whole trailer here!
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ThatFanInThePeacoat - March 6, 2012 7:45 a.m.

It seems like 343 Industries is trying to flesh out Master Chief more. I like that. As someone who has been following Halo since ~2002, Halo 4 needs to really be something on its own in order to catch my interest. I have to admit that my inner fanboy is screaming: "Forerunners! I want Forerunners!"
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jmcgrotty - March 6, 2012 6:27 a.m.

I know I'll take flack for how I word this, but... While I am not a fan of Halo (though I own 1, 2 and 3) and despise the cretins that play FPS'ers, this thing is gorgeous. For the sake of the industry, I hope it turns out looking this good when it is released.
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AGENTJORRRG - March 5, 2012 7:44 p.m.

The problem with games like Halo or Gears or any big franchise is that you've already given it a pre-emptive 9 in your head. Has Halo ever actually been that great?
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FlyinHawaiian13 - March 5, 2012 7:48 p.m.

It had to be great in the first place. Also these games are typically better because big name publishers won't let them fail. You can hop on the hate train all you want, but games like Halo, Gears, and Uncharted are great because their development team is given all the resources they need because they know the game will make money.
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AGENTJORRRG - March 5, 2012 8:04 p.m.

I'm not trying to hate, I just don't understand the love* I don't think these big titles are typically better, I just think they are marketed better. Halo 1, for example, is a pretty generic shooter except for regenerating health. It's an average game, as far as I can tell, but with an impenetrable story, so what's the deal? Just because it has more resources doesn't mean it's better. Some of the best, most innovative games since 2000 have been made by a handful of people. Actually, I think a guarantee of profit works in the games detriment! Publishers like to keep the games the same over and over and churn out as many as possible as quickly as possible. They play it safe for the sequel dollar. *except for Uncharted, which is pretty awful
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CaptCOMMANDO - March 6, 2012 3:04 a.m.

They are good games. It's solid game-play with pretty graphics. And a lot of people have fun. Does that not equate a 9?
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igothitwithabulb - March 6, 2012 8:37 a.m.

But you also have to keep in mind, everything Halo 1 did at the time was brand-new. This was coming off of console shooters being as basic as Perfect Dark, where controls were complex and not nearly as intuitive as PC controls. Halo was the game that standardized dual-stick control, regenerating health, split-screen multiplayer, carrying two weapons at once, hitting the enemy with your gun, vehicles on maps, and tons of other innovations that are in every modern FPS now. Of course it feels standard to us, but it wasn't always this way.
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EwoksTasteLikeChicken - March 5, 2012 2:52 p.m.

“We’re absolutely creating multiplayer levels from scratch. These are not play spaces that are recycled from the campaign.” YES, YES, YES!!! I HATED THAT ABOUT REACH I LOVE ALL THE BACKSTORY THAT BUNGIE USED TO PUT INTO THEIR MAPS! *jizzes all over computer*
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Zeos - March 5, 2012 2:49 p.m.

Damn that gave me a boner.
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kistler - March 5, 2012 2:37 p.m.

i'm hoping for an open beta
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ZidaneAlcor - March 5, 2012 1:11 p.m.

As Godly and beautiful as this is, I really hope I'll be able to customize my Spartan's look, a la Reach. I know it's not much, and rather trivial, but I adore cosmetic customization... Just a little something to set me apart from my teammates... Other than that, the only other thing I have to say is SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY.
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TheHalfanese - March 5, 2012 1:55 p.m.

Agreed - I'm a sucker for customization, honestly. I don't think they'd take a customization feature out of this game when it has already been well-established in Reach and CE Anniversary. That'd just be a step backwards to me.
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D0CCON - March 5, 2012 3:03 p.m.

Looking at screen 16 of 52 makes me think they'll keep the customization. That clearly isn't the chief, so that means there will be multiple Spartans in the story, customizable armor in the multiplayer, or both.
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DictatorStan - March 5, 2012 4:53 p.m.

That is what every single Spartan in the multiplayer segments looked like though. I'm positive they won't can customization though.
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TheHalfanese - March 5, 2012 12:06 p.m.

My God, I was skeptical about this at first, but now I'm practically sold on the look of the Spartan IVs alone. It's looking great so far!
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MetroidPrimeRib - March 5, 2012 11:27 a.m.

MILK ME HARDAH MICROSOFT MILK ME MOAH
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SveedishFeesh - March 5, 2012 10:01 a.m.

A reason as to why Red and Blue Spartans fight? Sounds interesting, especially since the multiplayer models will be Spartan IVs, whatever this may mean differently... Also, Cheif's going to be fighting Forerunner remnants. I'm calling it.
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CrashmanX - March 5, 2012 11:22 a.m.

Well Spartan IVs were essentially the stripped down version of the Spartan IIs like Master Chief. They're not supposed to be as strong or fast. Their armor is also supposed to be A LOT weaker, but it had a active camo built in (Not a very good one). So I dunno.
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CrashmanX - March 5, 2012 12:36 p.m.

Er Spartan III's were supposed to be like that. My bad.
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JADENkOTOR - March 5, 2012 7:02 a.m.

Heres to hoping you can get in that badass Mech Suit.
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