A Deeper Look at Halo 4 So Far Part 2

It didn't really make sense for me to continue updating my previous Halo 4 news blog, so I decided to start a new one. If this one gets too long then I'll start a third and so on and so forth. Here i'll post any new info, videos, and screens of Halo 4 as I come upon them. Today's salvo with be salvo will be void of any commentary as I'm pressed for time at the moment, though it's not entirely impossible that I might come back and add some in. So here we go.

Halo 4 War Games Gameplay (Multiplayer)

Halo 4 Infinity Multiplayer Mode

Halo 4 Spartan Ops Gameplay (co-op)

Halo 4 E3 Gameplay Footage

Screenshots and Images

 

 

 

That's it for now, I'll add more as it becomes available.

Sexism in Games and the Individual Mind

Human beings are, at our core, individuals. No person requires another person to live their life. Sure, it may be a lonely life, but one that is liveable none the less. We live in a time that affords a higher level of individualism than any other period in human history, there are literally people of all shapes, sizes, and colors. But at that core, there are two inescapable groups that human beings can be grouped into: male and female. Each group has a vast variety of flavors within it's respected sex, but men and women themselves are so inherently different that they will live their entire lives never truly undertsanding how the other side thinks and feels.

Kiki Wolfkill - 343 Industries

Sexism in games has been quite the hot topic in the gaming world lately and 1UP's own week long cover story was proof that this is a topic that many people have passionate opinions about. So the question for me is, "why is this topic important to people?" Well, at least for the 1UP staff, the answer is simple: they feel that women are treated or portrayed unfairly in video games. But are they? Well, let's take a look.

Lorraine McLees - Bungie

The easy answer is "yes, women are portrayed in a sexist way in most games and women themselves are subject to harrassment by men when playing games online". The problem is that things are never black and white. To say that "women are....", or, "men are...", is an insult to the individual. Nobody likes to be put into a box. Why? Because we are individuals. We don't like it when another person attempts to "classify" us.

Amy Henning - Naughty Dog

Which leads to my problem with the 1UP cover story; it's the opinion of men. Sure there was an article on the subject by a woman, but the rest were by men. Men are the most unqualified people to represent the feelings of women. Men can never and will never understand what it's like to be a woman. Only a woman knows what it's like to be a woman. But even then, we're talking about individuals. Two women may understand what it means to be a woman and how things like "being more in touch with your emotions" feel, but that doesn't mean that they will have the same opinions. On the contrary, they're just as likely to disagree as they are to agree.

Jade Raymond - UbiSoft

This is not a subject that I had put a lot of thought into in the past, to be perfectly honest. But after reading the articles in 1UP's cover story I began to think that maybe I needed to think about it more. But, as a man who accepted many years ago that I will never fully understand the opposite sex, I decided it would make more sense to ask women what they think about sexism in games. They are, after all, the center of the topic. But what I found was that, by attempting to find a blanket answer to my questions, I was insulting them as individuals, which is, in my opinion, worse.

Meagan Marie - Crystal Dynamics

Today we have more women than ever in the video games industry, but more importantly, we have more individuals than ever. This means that the amount of unique experiences available to us will continue to grow. The games that we experience are not the result of a man's mind or a woman's mind, but an individual's mind. What if the Dead or Alive games had been designed by teams of women, yet turned out exactly the same? I've talked to women whose views fall on all sides of the spectrum. Some love the way women are portrayed, some hate it. Some think that it could be better, while others don't care at all. But what I found the most is that women, just like men, don't like to be grouped together. They just want to be accepted as the individuals that they are instead of having other individuals constantly point them out, regardless of the reason.

Winifred phillips - Award Winning Video Game Composer

The conclusion? Woman, just like men, are individuals. To assume that all women feel oppressed or portrayed in an unfair light is to rob them of their individuality. And to say that today's gaming industry is sexist is to rob all of the hard working ladies in the gaming industry of the time and energy they spent to get to their respected positions. Men, at the moment, game more than women. This is not something that is up for debate, it is fact. But that doesn't mean it will always be so, and because of this women will, over time, take up more and more lead roles in the gaming industry. This will, most likely, bring more women into gaming. It's really a natural process. But more importantly, it's one that should be allowed to happen naturally and not be forced, because history shows that forcing these kinds of things never works as well as when it is allowed to happen naturally.

Rieko Kodama - Sega

The solution? Individuals are responsible for any wrong doing on another individual, therefore these situations should be handled by individuals. If you see someone being treated in a cruel of unfair way, and you feel the need to intervene, then do so. I certainly do. As an individual you have the right to make that choice. What we shouldn't do, however, is assume that our opinions represent that of a whole group of people or attempt to rescue a group of people who, by all intents and purposes, do not need rescuing. All the evidence you need of this is to look at the response from women on this subject.

Tina Sanchez - Infinity Ward

I almost didn't write this because I honestly feel like this very blog can be viewed as doing the exact thing that I am talking about: taking away a woman's individuality by writing about where they fit in the video games industry. From my experience many women that game don't want to be thought of as "girl gamers", there are obviously those that do, but I've talked to many that want to be just "gamers". Many people don't like to be singled out, no matter the intention. But by constantly beating this drum we are categorizing these women as victims and "women/girl gamers". And by doing this we are taking away their individuality and cramming them into a box.

E3 Day 1 Aftermath: Halo 4 Gameplay Footage

Day 1 of E3 2012 has officially come to a close and I couldn't be happier. The one game that I was most interested in seeing - Halo 4 - had an amazing showing. The overall response seems to be extremely positive, even from non-Halo players. 343i has seemingly done the impossible and created what appears to not just be a good Halo game, but one that has the potential to be the best yet. And this is coming from a seasoned Bungie fan. Of course, it could just be all the excitement from finally getting to see the game in action, but never the less, what was shown blew me away. So to make sure we get off on the right foot, if you haven't already watched the new halo 4 gameplay footage, click on the video below:
Amazing, right? The first thing that I noticed were the graphics, this is easily one of the best looking games I've ever seen. The amount of detail in the Master Chief is insane. It's hard to believe that this is running on the Reach engine, and not because I think that Reach was a bad looking game, quite the opposite. But because this game looks so much better. If the whole game looks that good then we are in for an incredibly visceral experience.

In the video we see the largest ship in the UNSC's fleet, the UNSC Infinity, being pulled into a Forerunner Dyson Sphere, or shield world. These are artificial planets created by the Forerunners to protect themselves from the effects of the Halo ring's blast. Similar to a Russian Matryoshka doll, these shield worlds are essentially planets encased in a giant shell. Once inside, the world looks like any other with natural terrain and weather.

The Master Chief is already inside the shield world when the UNSC Infinity is pulled in and watches as the ship calls out for help before crashlanding. We have to assume that the Master Chief and Cortana came to be inside the shield world in the same way that the Infinity did, considering we see them apparently being pulled in at the end of Halo 3. After watching the ship go by, a large sphere appears above the Chief - presumably cloaked before - and races off after the ship. This appears to be some form of Foreunner technology left to look after the shield world, similar to how the Sentinels and Monitors were the caretakers of the Halo rings in previous games.

Next we see the Chief looking out over a cliff as Covenant forces rush toward the crashed Infinity. We also see the large Forerunner sphere hovering motionless above the ship. How the Covenant are already on this shield world is a mystery. The only thing I can think of is that in the previous Halo 4 footage we learned that Cortana wakes Master Chief from Cryo sleep because the Covenant are boarding what's left of their ship. So maybe they followed them here. Either way, these Covenant didn't get the memo that the war is over.

One of the first things you notice that makes Halo 4 stand out amongst it's predecessors is the heads up display (HUD). Previous Halo games have slowly inched toward this, but Halo 4 really makes you feel like a head inside a helmet. The outer edges of the helmet can be easily seen and there is a slight glow around the edges of the faceplate. Something I really thought was cool is how Cortana - along with other characters - shows up in a small window on the inside of your HUD when talking to you. This really helps you get a feel for who you're communicating with rather than them simply being a voice in your head.

The first combat encounter of the demo really impressed me for a number of reasons. First is the way the Covenant troops are acting toward each other before spotting the Master Chief. In the books the hierarchy of the Covenant is explained in great detail, and not just rank, but also how the different races interact each other. The Sangheili (Elites) tolerate the Unggoy (Grunts) because despite their complete cowardice, they are deadly in numbers and useful as cannon fodder. The kig-yar (Jackals), who were a spacefaring race of pirates before being bullied into the Covenant, also don't care for the cowardly Grunts. This plays out in the first encounter when we see a Jackal run over and bump into one the Grunts, followed by the Elite hitting another Grunt in the back as if beckoning him forward.

The next thing I noticed was the way it looked while scoped with the Battle Rifle. Immediately noticable is that the scoped area is square, rather than the typical circle, which makes sense considering the scope on the Battle Rifle in Halo 4 is square. Another new addition is that the HUD space outside of the scoped area is darkened. In previous Halo games this area was simply blurred. The darkening actually made it feel more like the scope was a function of the HUD compared to previous games. After taking out the two Grunts and the Jackal, the Elite pulls out his Energy Sword and charges toward the Chief, only to be vaporized moments before reaching him.

After making his way through more of the dense jungle, the Chief comes upon what could be mistaken as robot dogs. But they do have a name: Promethean Crawlers.

These Crawlers appear to come in packs and seem farely easy to kill, exploding into a gush of orange goo upon death. Cortana assumes that these must be some form of defensive AI's, something akin to the Sentinels from previous games. We also get to see the Chief use the Assault Rifle for the first time. It's doesn't sound as puny as in the AR in Reach and Halo 3, although the 32 round magazine means that it still isn't Halo: CE's MA5B.

Immediately after the encounter with the Crawlers, the Chief is pounced on by a bipedal creature that is aesthetically similar to the Crawlers, and apparently has a orange glowing skull behind it's helmet.

These are called Promethean Knights. This is presumably what vaporized the Elite earlier as it appears to have some form of energy rifle on one arm and what looks to be an energy blade on the other arm that it uses to knock the Chief on his rump. The Knight then seems to spawn another creature from it's back. This enemy is known as a Promethean Watcher. It is a flying enemy that provides support for the Knight by firing an energy weapon at the Chief and providing some sort of shield for the Knight.

In what was one of the more interesting moments of the video, the Chief attempts to throw a Plasma grenade at the Knight only to have the Watcher snatch it out of the air and sling it back at the Chief. Upon killing the Knight, it vaporizes in the same fashion as the Elite had earlier. The Watcher appears to flee after the Knight is killed. Cortana informs the Chief that the Knight dropped something which turns out to be the energy rifle that was attached to it's arm. When picked up, the individual pieces of the weapon appear to come apart and then reconstruct. Cortana informs the Chief that this is Forerunner tech.

The weapon, dubbed the Light Rifle, is a single shot energy weapon that also has a scope function.

In the next encounter the Chief gets to try it out on some more of the Promethean Crawlers as well as another Promethean Knight and Watcher. In what appears to be a glimpse into new gameplay possibilities, the Chief throws a grenade at one of the Watchers, but instead of giving it time to throw the explosive back, he quickly destroys the Watcher thus detonating the grenade and killing several of the Crawlers below. He then turns his attention to two of the Crawlers and another Knight. The Light Rifle makes quick work of the Crawlers killing each with a single shot and after a few body shots, vaporizes the knight with a zoomed headshot.

This Knight drops another Forerunner weapon, this one known as the Scattershot. Functionally it appears to be a shotgun type of weapon. Immediately after picking it up another one of the Knights comes flying at the Chief and he easily puts it down with one blast from the Scattershot. In the next scene we see Cortana switching the Chief's visor to the previously dubbed "Forerunner Vision", now called "Promethean Vision". Promethean Vision appears to be a visor mode that has enemies show up as bright red, even through solid objects. The Chief appears to be surrounded and the gameplay segment ends with one of the Promethean Knights lunging at the Chief.

Next we get a series of short clips that involve a close up fight with an Elite, the Chief standing with a group of ODST's, something that looks like a mech, more creatures that look like Forerunner AI's, and a Warthog driving out of a huge UNSC land vehicle. During all of this we see Cortana talking about how she's 8 years old and how AI's begin to deteriorate after 7. Toward the end we see an angry Cortana screaming that she will not let someone leave the planet. The video ends with a mysterious voice saying, "I have long dreamt of this day, Reclaimer".

And the last bit of info we can pull from today came from the short Halo 4 Smart Glass demo, in which we are given a quick few seconds of multplayer gameplay. But in those few seconds we can see some sort of new launcher weapon, as well as an assassination being performed.
I'm sure we'll learn even more about Halo 4 as the week goes on and I for one can't wait to find out even more about this amazing game.