Agreed. I really like the universe, and the stories that come from it. I just finished Glasslands, and before that the two Forerunner books( read 'em all but he comics), and am impressed with how deep they've gone.

We can thank 343 for that, as Bungie seemed to have no desire to make the Universe cohesive. This is why I am particularly excited about Halo 4, as 343's stated goal is to make it all work together. If they manage that, then it truly will be on a Star Wars level.

Dr. Halsey was in both the book Fall of Rerach and Halo: Reach the game, and so was Cortana, kinda. It was a copy of Cortana, not the real Cortana that is with the Pillar of Autumn. I understand what you mean, though. Halo Reach the game didn't follow the Fall of Reach story we knew, but that doesn't necessarily mean it invalidated all the fiction we know about. It actually didn't. Bungie just chose to tell the story of a set of Spartan IIIs that we, at the time, didn't even know exist (as of the book Fall of Reach anyway). They chose to add on more fiction for how Cortana knew the location of Halo after quickly leaving Reach. Apparently, there was some information excavated on Reach and then secured by Noble Team after they defended Halsey as she and a copy of Cortana analyzed all the information. Cortana's copy personally selected Noble Six as the one who would carry and protect her. It was essentially Noble Team that secured Halsey while she was left on Reach, and then essentially allowed her to eventually be escorted to where she would eventually be located in the book First Strike. I always assumed, from Fall of Reach, that it was that information found on that planet where the Chief first encounters a Hunter, that led to the discovery of the first Halo, but apparently that was just one piece of a larger puzzle. It's basically the story of Noble Team that tells us the real discovery and the details of that discovery which allowed humanity to have a chance in the war.

I understand they had to adjust the fiction somewhat to make it work in that game, but it did work. They basically changed some details of the Pillar of Autumn's departure from the planet. In the book, the Pillar of Autumn never went back to the surface of Reach, but in Reach the game, they clearly altered that part, and had the Pillar of Autumn first land in a secure location on, I guess, the other side of the planet that was first made secure by Noble Team, and then Noble Six passed on the copy of Cortana with the vital information. Noble Six would have went onto the Autumn as well, but he had no choice but to stay back and man the MAC gun to ensure the Pillar of Autumn's safe takeoff from the planet by destroying the massive Covenant Destroyer that would've annihilated the Autumn. As much as I liked that game, it was an example of what the problem with Bungie was. Sure, if you look into it deep enough, you can justify the changes to the fiction and make it work with the original Reach Novel, especially if you Read Halsey's journal that comes with the Legendary Edition. However, Bungie never really seemed as eager to channel the books into their games. It sometimes seemed as if Bungie's games were stepping on established aspects of the books. 343 says that doing that will be a focus of theirs. However, to Bungie's credit, they did slip in reference to the shield worlds in Halo 3 from 343 guilty spark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGq-Aitp2uU-#t=07m3...

I also greatly disagree that the lore is "laughable". You're right that just because there's a lot of something doesn't make it deep or good. There's a lot of depth and it's DAMN good, and anyone who reads most of this stuff would agree. The first two books in the forerunner trilogy, ghosts of the onyx, fall of reach, first strike, to a lesser degree the cole protocol, then there's the likes of Halo : Glasslands, and also halo Evolutions, the essentials of the halo universe. Nylunds short story in that set, the one telling the story behind the UNSC legend with a record of service perhaps even more impressive than the Chief's, Preston J. Cole, is simply amazing work. If you haven't read that story by Nylund, you should. Karen Traviss' story on when Cortana was in the clutches of the gravemind is also damn good, although probably not as good as Nylund's story, but I loved it. Greg Bear's work is pretty amazing as well, Phaethon. I would definitely give the Forerunner trilogy a shot.

If loving Halo is wrong, I don't wanna be right lol. Seriously, though, definitely give the 2 books in the forerunner trilogy and glasslands a shot. They are damn good. They took a universe that was already pretty damn awesome to begin with, and made things that much deeper. The forerunner books are especially great at this. I also agree that Bungie didn't seem to want to make the books and games a cohesive unit, and 343 seems to be really focused on that, which I really like.

"Subtle Intelligence"? Ouch!! To be honest, I’m just bored of all the unnecessary attempts to play down the excitement that Halo 4 has clearly generated.

It really seems as though the excitement here is like an insult to those who don’t feel the same way.

I have to say, I’m at a loss here because I genuinely don’t understand what the problem is? What difference does it make if some people are passionate about something that you are not?

halo games short..compared to everything else the past 5 years there the FPS equivalent of game of thrones in epicness.

With the 3 latest books to be released before Halo 4, there's a lot of cool things that this new trilogy starting with 4 can potentially touch on.


Forerunners (obviously), Precursors, The Composer, Librarian, the Didact is already more or less confirmed, Shield Worlds, the Domain (maybe the Chief and Cortana might experience this somehow).

There's a number of plot points they can touch on in this story, and that's just to start. There are quite a few plot points from stuff that transpired in Halo: Glasslands, and clearly one of those things is already included in Halo 4, The UNSC Infinity, all the incredible technology it carries, and the Spartan 4s that are onboard that highly advanced ship.

I still don't think that voice was the Didact- I'm thinking it was the Master Builder. That or a Precursor. You know the flood will be in seeing as the flood has been alluded to as the "test" of a species by the Precursor from the Forerunner books. That voice doesn't sound very Warrior-servant-y...

Can we all go back to berating Optimus? I enjoyed that

So did I. It makes me the center of the universe. I'm Lebron, you're all just my roleplayers. Even stars such as Phaethon are but a mere footnote in my legacy. You all just never forget it. :P

Well, there has already been confirmation from Frankie that there wouldn't be any flood, at least he definitely confirmed this for Halo 4. This doesn't mean that we won't learn more about the flood and their possible connection to the precursors as a crucial part of the story, but he confirmed that we wouldn't actually fight them in this game. I could easily see this changing in future games, though.

The reason why I'm very convinced that the voice is probably the Didact's, is because of what was said on the official blog updates regarding Halo 4. Straight from 343, they say the voice is of someone who will become the Master Chief's first true rival. Now, I would expect Master Builder Faber to be dangerous, but he strikes me as too much of a pampered, high council, paper pusher, politician type to be a rival to the Chief. It would make him not at all that different from the role the High Prophets in the Covenant played. Then again, he is a Forerunner, and they are advanced well beyond current human knowledge, so perhaps even a non-warrior such as himself has the technology or means at his disposal to be a formidable opponent for the Chief, and it was suggested that (book spoilers) the Master Builder didn't know how to properly use the composer, which probably just means he abused its capabilities in his own perverse way, so perhaps he turned some of his followers, or fellow forerunners, (possibly even himself or the original Didact) into the kind of Promethean Knight AI warrior that we see in the SP demo using the Composer. It was suggested to be a machine that can turn forerunners into AI, and it can apparently also do the same to humans. It also even made it so that those infected by the flood could still serve a basic purpose, and not necessarily rampage like the flood normally does.


Remember, we still don't know the fate of the original Didact, the one that was actually found in the Cryptum. Perhaps the Master Builder, seeking to make the Didact obey him completely, used the Composer on him to turn him into an AI warrior of some sort that would only follow his orders. Having the legendary Didact under your complete command would be a most formidable weapon, indeed.

Sorry, 343 isn't Bungie, and so far, all signs point to that being a very good thing. Still, very amused that you seem so invested in the game's story disappointing just because you can't stomach the thought that people are actually excited about it. There's nothing more sad than hoping something turns out bad simply because you don't feel the same way. It's one thing to be skeptical, and it's another to hope for a bad outcome and seemingly take pride in that outcome for nothing more than to be able to throw it in people's faces afterwards. In fact, it's pretty damn pitiful.

Shield Worlds.
Planned trilogy from the start, unlike the original Halo trilogy.
Humanity's first encounter with the forerunners, the creators of the Halo rings and the Shield Worlds.
All of humanity believes the chief to be dead.
Precursors might make an appearance, as it's clearly suggested they weren't completely wiped out by the Forerunners, and there's a lot of mystery still surrounding their connection to the flood, and their ambtions.
Cortana is finally entering the stages of rampancy, and that will be a major part of the game's story, which should provide some strong development opportunities for the Chief and Cortana alike.


The SP Demo already showcases signs of the improved storytelling. We even get to see a very nice example of the Covenant caste system in action. There's also very effective use of scripted events to help with the storytelling. All the cool stuff you hear about the Chief's mjolnir armor in the books, like the different view modes, or the nice HUD capabilities such as the picking up of external video signals, or the nice touch of having Cortana appear before the Chief in a small hud window in specific instances, or the on the fly collaboration between Cortana and the Chief, like you hear about in the Fall of Reach, showing up in a subtle, but still effective way, when Cortana herself switched the Chief's visor mode to get a better view of all the threats that were surrounding the Chief; it's in this game in full force. They aren't just saying they are bringing more of the books to the game, like has been said in the past, they are actually proving it. Even that huge ass orb that came up behind the Chief, then sped its way over to the Infinity could be a Contender-Class forerunner AI, or even a metarch-class forerunner AI.

I know the section on display in the SP demo was a specifically scripted section for the purpose of advancing the story, and that kind of constant, second by second, input from Cortana won't be like that in EVERY section of the game, but the fact that we can look forward to story progression moments like this, is already a huge step up from previous Halo games. Cortana in that SP demo felt like much more of an AI companion than in any other Halo game before it. And that wasn't even one of the longer, story focused cutscenes.


We'll get to learn more about the UNSC: Infinity, the most advanced ship ever built by humanity, which was first mentioned in the book Halo: Glasslands. Your hope that it trounces all over the books is already off to a pretty bad start, solely based on that SP demo, if you ask me. Oh, and that same USNC Infinity mentioned in the book also has the Spartan Fours that are supposed to be onboard, just like the book suggests it should. Another thing that should be pretty exciting, is the fact that the Chief, for the first time that we've ever witnessed in the games, is going to fight alongside other Spartans, something that has only ever taken place in the books. And another thing that is often in the books, but doesn't always translate as well to the games, is the kind of hyper athletic, badass supersoldier feats that the games haven't had enough of. According to Frankie, they are trying their best to drive home that the Chief is a badass supersoldier in this game, and it might mean nothing to you, but it does to other people.

So, again, everything you hope to be the case, isn't proving to be the case so far. As someone else said, nobody is expecting an oscar worthy script here. All we expect is an epic entry in the Halo universe with enjoyable gameplay, and an enjoyable story. We aren't expecting Friedrich Nietzsche writing out of Halo 4's story. The Same 343 that puts out the books, and the 343 that makes the game, are all under the same exact banner. There is more synergy and crossover collaboration between the two parts, book and game, than was ever the case with Bungie, and it shows already with what little 343 has revealed of the campaign. Even the Gameinformer cover story also backs this up. Quit hating, 343 respects the books, and Halo 4 so far showcases that. :)

They're even giving the MP a fiction related justification tied to the UNSC Infinity... :P

Well, to answer your question honestly, it was through this very forum that I was convinced I should read the Halo books. Phaethon being chief among the culprits :P It was a good while back when I believe the combination of Acert, Phaethon, and I think Simon as well, learned that I had never played a single Halo game before. People were especially stunned that I had never really played Halo: Combat Evolved. I had never really seen enough from the games at a quick glance for them to grab my interest on their own. Eventually, I was convinced by Phaethon and one other person that the books were definitely worth checking out, and it might spark my interest in the Halo games. I was skeptical, but I bought Halo: Ghosts of the Onyx, loved it, and then Phaethon told me that Fall of Reach, in his view, was the best one, and then I read that, and that was all she wrote. I was hooked to the Halo Universe from that point on. Suddenly, something as simple as the chief's armor and the fact that he could even wear it, something that I had never given two craps about whenever I saw the games, suddenly seemed all the more impressive to me, because I had no idea it was actually such an impressive piece of technology. Before I just looked at the Chief as some boring guy in a piece of powerful armor with a shield. The books changed that perception. And because Ghosts of the Onyx was my first book related experience with the Halo Universe, I sorta got a healthy dose of the Halo universe from multiple perspectives, which significantly increased my respect for what the Halo Universe represents in its entirety, outside the more limited scope of the games .

To shorten the answer: I wanted to see what all the fuss was about with the Halo games, and really find out why I should be excited about the upcoming Halo 3. If there were ever any proof that the books, and their continued release, are clearly good business, I would have to be a prime example. If it weren't for the books, I would have no interest in the Halo games.

Yeah everyones jumping to it being the Didact, but i'm thinking MasterBuilder or someone else???

Haha, yes it is. I remember it so vividly. It's almost like it was yesterday. :)

I see where you're coming from, Grift. Don't get me wrong, I do respect Bungie, but I do also get a sense that they possibly may not have been the best team to take the Halo franchise to the next level, and might have indirectly been holding it back from achieving even greater potential, and there's really no shame in that. It is what it is, sometimes a change is necessary and for the better. More often than not, it's for the worse, but 343 is doing a very good job so far. Yes, as you say, they are showing an ability to borrow where bungie lead, but they are also showing an ability to lead where some felt bungie was lacking.

Bunie did a fantastic job bringing the franchise as far as they did, making it as successful as it is, but they seemed forward thinking on many aspects, but then, also very backwards on things that, by default, should have been common sense to make Halo a better, more immersive experience, speaking strictly of the SP campaign experience, of course. There were a lot of things that I felt Halo could have been doing better since the moment it touched the 360, and as much as I loved and enjoyed the games, and as much as Bungie clearly attempted to remedy some of these things with Reach (A game I absolutely love, by the way), it just never ultimately felt like Bungie were reaching far enough to properly exploit the potential and the advantages that I feel Halo holds over most other FPS titles, which is that it has characters and a universe that a lot of people genuinely give a damn about, and are more emotionally invested in and willing to read about than some other first person shooters. It never made sense to me why exactly COD4 felt more intense and epic than Halo 3 did. Why the deaths of Miranda Keyes and Johnson didn't feel as if they were done any justice, or as much justice as a nameless soldier whose name I can't remember in COD4.

Mass Effect (which I'm not implying is an fps), for example, shouldn't be able to just come in and already seem to be doing a lot of these basic things better than Halo is.

I doubt it's a talent issue, so maybe it was just one of priority instead. I always felt as if, because Bungie wanted to somehow maintain its credibility with the original fans of the first two games, and didn't want to rock the boat too much, knowing they'd sell like gangbusters regardless, they never took enough risks with the core Halo SP formula. They innovated and went big in key areas that I applaud them for, but never in the areas that would reach out and attract people that aren't already among the converted. Halo 4, I feel, speaking strictly from the SP demo, seems like it's the most genuinely attention grabbing next gen Halo game we've seen, solely based on how it looked while being demonstrated, and not necessarily because of the game we all know it to be, which is the next big Halo game. Graphics help, sure, but the improvements I feel go well beyond it merely looking prettier. The way the Chief quickly spins around and then slowly tilted his head up at this massive orb like thing, clearly second guessing firing a single shot at it, was very well done. The way that thing sped off. Without even knowing what that thing can do, you almost knew the Chief was at its mercy, and it treated him as such. It acknowledged his presence about as much as a boot would acknowledge a tiny insect.

This is by far the most enthusiasm I've ever carried into a Halo title, but that's because no Halo game has ever had this much potential to directly tie into so many major story threads from the accompanying Halo fiction in the books, and, to me, no Halo game has ever looked this exciting.

The last 3 books, the first two books in the forerunner trilogy and Halo: Glasslands, so far have multiple fictional elements that are more or less already confirmed to play a factor in Halo 4, and that's huge for somebody like me that's so into the books. With Ghosts of the Onyx, I believe heading into Halo 3, the situation was quite different because Ghosts of the Onyx's timeline spanned before and after every single game game up to that point, and even continued past the end of Halo 3, so there was much less of a chance that many of the things that were in that book would have a significant role in the events of Halo 3. I was nonetheless excited, but Halo 4 is new territory for the Halo games, from the perspective of story in the games merging with story in the books. Just the changes to the way they tell the story... I mean, look at the SP demo, you really get a metroid prime vibe from it all, but I also kinda get an Avatar vibe as well when the first promethean crawler appeared in front of the chief and called out for others. It reminded me of the scene in Avatar when the main character was surrounded by very similar looking creatures, and had to be saved by the blue girl. Also, the part where the elite just gets vaporized as it comes at the Chief, and the way the interaction between Cortana and the Chief is much improved without turning the Chief into some guy that makes long, boring speeches. It's all the little touches about Halo 4 that I'm liking, especially Cortana herself stating that she's switching the Chief's visor mode and then actually doing so, or her basically giving a cool little play by play of all the action as it plays out through most of that obviously story based section, even telling the Chief to watch out when the Promethean Watcher sent the Chief's grenade flying right back at him. It's the packaging of the entire presentation that I'm so impressed with. It really gives off a vibe similar to the books. Moving from a book to a piece of interactive media like videogames, you miss the cool, nicely worded details from the books, and I don't miss it so much when it's handled the way it is in that demo. It's basically doing story based QTE, but without the QTE. 343i are allowing the player more control than normal in these kinds of situations. Cortana is essentially saying what the player at times is thinking, it's a nice little immersion trick. It makes you feel more attached to Cortana, so I can imagine how weird shit's going to get later when she starts going apeshit.

The only Halo game I was never remotely excited about was ODST, because I saw it as a cheap cash in on Halo's popularity, even though I hear it managed to do a lot of things well, and Marty outdid himself with the music.

And my reading the book to see what all the fuss was about was, in itself, evidence of the fact that the Halo games by themselves, one upon a time (not now), couldn't really keep my attention on their own merits, not because they weren't good, but because they weren't my style of game. I always viewed Halo games, just like I still view bioshock now, as 'man, that game looks like it's really damn good, but it's not my kind of thing.' The Halo books changed that for me. Now, I can sit through a Halo game and they can hold my attention, because I have a greater appreciating for the universe. Funny as it is, I needed to do a similar thing with Mass Effect, which is why I bought that first Mass Effect book before the first game came out, because it was sort of a departure from the kind of rpg I usually like to play. When it comes to sci-fi games, I guess it might be that I just need a little extra convincing, unless the game's demonstration really gets me excited to want to play it for myself.

Dear god the wall of text!

I wrote up a long post, but I guess in the end I see where you're coming from. I do believe, though that 343 is putting some impressive and unique stamps on Halo that is unique to them, and are doing more than just a few things better than I believe Bungie did them. This doesn't in anyway mean that this will end up a better Halo game than previous Halo games, but there is a lot to be excited about so far.

I'm really liking the storytelling devices that 343 are incorporating into the well known Halo package so far, and if they can find the right balance between those scripted and story focused gameplay sections and the traditional sandbox gameplay that we know and love, they can really have something special on their hands with this game. I can't describe how much I liked the way Cortana was actively relaying information to and communicating with the chief so consistently as the situation developed. The way the Chief was picking up outside audio and video signals. The sound of Cortana nervously warning the Chief of incoming danger, her commentary on the new enemy that you're facing isn't an organic right as you're in the heat of the battle. It adds something so unique to the immersion of Halo. The atmosphere delivered was really solid stuff, and it was all without the need of a cutscene, too, which made it all the better.

I'm also digging the art, the impressive sound design, the hit detection that I've been dying for since before Reach. Knowing with more certainty that my shots are hitting enemies now in the campaign will raise my enjoyment that much more. Because you never want to get the feeling that you're just letting off shots that aren't accomplishing much.

It's the combination of all the little things that have me so excited. For example, I love listening to the sounds being made by the chief's armor as he's moving. Make it more believable that you are wearing an extremely heavy, technology advanced piece of armor -- mission accomplished :P

And, yes, 343 has some DAMN big shoes to fill, especially the guy handling the music. I don't envy him at all. And, true, it's fair to say that we have no proof at all yet that 343 are somehow better storytellers than Bungie. There is a trap that is easy to fall into sometimes when you see what's new. It becomes all too easy to forget to appreciate the old.

There's a subtle little storytelling trait that I've always loved about Bungie. They were able to tease things that got folks like me excited, but seemed very controlled and restrained with going too far, which isn't always easy for any storyteller to do. It is possible that Bungie held back certain things in Halo 3, so as to give Microsoft something to work with in the future.

I loved the way 343 guilty spark just dropped in that nugget in halo 3 about believing the ark was on a "shield installation" :)

Indeed so far so good from 343, SP and Spartan Ops are looking awesome.

Haha, is that baseketball? Love that movie.

People seem to be loving the fact there is no longer any fall damage and more spawn points in Halo4 on the forums.http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/7764/article/ha...

ComiCon Image. Sexy....