With 343 having officially taken the reins of the Halo universe from the old masters at Bungie, it seems that we’re finally starting to get little trickles of information about the upcoming sequel, Halo 4. On top of the recent news that Massive Attack producer Neil Davidge will be scoring the game, 343 has also given some juicy ammunition to Game Informer over the last week.
While there are new screenshots and other bits to take away from the reports of the Game Informer story, the most curious bit is what lies in store for Halo 4’s co-op. Yes, the campaign will still have 4 player co-op. However, it seems that Firefight is getting the axe – or the gravity hammer, perhaps. That’s right, Firefight is history, but in its place, 343 is providing Spartan Ops, an episodic 4 player co-op campaign with its own story. The most interesting part of all of this, though, is that 343 plans on releasing regular free updates to Spartan Ops, allowing players to devour its content in a weekly format almost like that of a TV show, with new gameplay to experience with each one.
I have to say, this is some interesting news. While I think that booting a (now) series staple like Firefight is probably the wrong move, Spartan Ops will provide a welcome new flavor into the franchise. I love the idea of regular episodic content, as it’s something that nobody has done just yet. Which is odd, considering that this generation is finally ready for something like that.
What do you guys think of the idea of Spartan Ops for the Halo 4? Would you like to see more games experiment with regular episodic content like this? Go!
Source – CVG
This sounds very cool and unique, I was impressed with the whole GI article. Except for one thing. They are removing the current respawn system in favor of a Call of Duty style “hit X to respawn” system, along with removing power weapons in set places on the map. I can deal with custom loadouts, but that kinda pisses me off. I hope that aren’t turning the Halo formula into something more friendly for COD and BF players.
I think that they’re better off removing firefight. Surely this is a sign that they are their own design team and not just a Treyarch/Infinity Ward esque duo where there’s little to no discernable difference between the two games? No, I think it’s a good move by 343 showing us what they can do themselves.
And the idea of episodic weekly content? It’s interesting, but as you say Eddy, it IS an unknown quantity this generation. Therefore I shall reserve judgement.
These guys have one of the hardest tasks in recent gaming history, no matter what people will complain. Im rooting for them, its just unfortunate that every review is going to end up spending a paragraph talking about how Bungie did it better.
Episodic content sounds cool, what sounds cooler is giving the community the tools to make it. If they can combine forge and Infamous’s level builder they have a game that will never end.
Still 100% on the fence on Halo 4, but my gut says I won’t miss firefight if I do pick it up. I’d be ecstatic to see someone finally pull off episodic content successfully and show that it can be done, so I guess I have some investment. Hope they pull it off.
I think this will be kind of cool. A new way to look at multiplayer, so I’m game to give it a shot! The thing(s) that really worry me about H4 though are mostly the mechanics. They haven’t shown anything on the mechanics of the game. Hearing things like “similar to call of duty” when reading the Game Informer article about the game is NOT what I want to hear. Halo 4 has promise, and we have to see how well the story element will go. But as far as multiplayer as a whole, I need mechanics before I can really judge. I’m hoping the game feels more like Halo 2 & 3 rather than Reach. We will see though. Here’s to hoping.