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.

How I Would Make Halo 4

With E3 starting tomorrow, and the amount of information on the newest and most anticipated games about to skyrocket, I thought it would be fun to jot down what Halo 4 would look like if I were at the helm. As a diehard Halo fan, I've spent plenty of time thinking about what Halo 4 could and should be like. So here's a list of things that I'd love to see in Halo 4, the day before Microsoft's E3 press conference.
Bring Back Dual Wielding
The one thing that I've missed the most since Halo 3 is dual wielding weapons. Dual wielding - introduced first in Halo 2 - adds so much more to combat. For instance, different weapon combinations provided players with varying results. If you wanted a combination that tears through enemies' shields and opens them up for a headshot from a teammate carrying a human rifle or pistol: use dual plasma weapons. Or if you want to cover both medium and short range: Combine a Plasma Rifle or SMG with a Mauler. Even a Plasma Pistol with a Magnum for precision headshots could make quick work of any enemy in the right situation.
All of these examples, I believe, highlight the importance of dual wielding in Halo as a gameplay asset. I've always thought combat in Halo Reach suffered from not having the extra depth provided by dual wielding -- despite the addition of Armor Abilities.  I'm hopeful that one of the announcements coming out of E3 this week will be the return of dual wielding to Halo's sandbox, and hopefully not as some kind of perk or modification. If dual wielding makes a comeback, it should function as a regular gameplay mechanic similar to Halo 2 and 3. I've said multiple times that my confidence in 343i lies in the belief that the studio truly understands what Halo fans want, so I hope they don't let us down on this one.

An Open World Environment
One of the things that really made the original Halo: Combat Evolved so great was it's huge play spaces. The way that Bungie started you off in the claustrophobic confines of the Pillar of Autumn, only to have you crash land on the giant open areas of Halo gave players a great contrast to the typically linear paths and tight corridors found in other first person shooters. Bungie tested the waters of a real open world game space in Halo 3: ODST, but stopped just short of taking the idea all the way.
But I think 343i has the opportunity to really take Halo to the next level by offering a truly open world experience, one that let's players pick their own path and easily return to previous areas instead of being locked out after completing a mission. The best comparison I can give would be Metroid Prime, but with more combat. Metroid Prime did an amazing job of creating a world that you really grew familiar with; one that was brimming with secrets just waiting to be unlocked. Halo games have that same mystique and could benefit from that kind of experience.

 

Introduce Super Abilities
I know that 343i has already expressed that they are adding in "super hero moments" to Halo 4, but I just want to explain how I'd like to see them implemented into the game. Adding in interactive cutscenes or quick time events are things that I don't necessarily mind -- anything that gives the player some form of interaction over simply being a passive experience is fine by me, but only if it's available in regular gameplay. If the only time that the Master Chief does any of these cool things is in a QTE, then that doesn't feel as impressive.
Adding in cool abilities similar to what is seen in the Crysis games would not feel out of place in Halo. Super fans of the series already know what the Mjolnir armor is capable of from the novels, so adding in some kind of usage or energy meter that allows the Chief to run faster, jump higher, increase shield density, jetpack, perform special maneuvers, or any number of super human abilities would really add to the gameplay. Having these abilities play out in multiplayer through the use of some form of perk system wouldn't be bad, but I think that Crysis multiplayer proved this superhuman template can persist in multiplayer without incident.

Every Spartan Could Use a Teammate
There is a very good chance that the Master Chief could come into contact with other Spartans in Halo 4. Maybe even members of Blue Team, a Spartan squad comprised of some of the Chief's best friends. I think Halo 4 would be great if 343i were to have other Spartans join the Chief and accompany him through parts of the campaign as AI companions. Imagine the insane moments and cutscenes that could play out with a small squad of Spartans at your disposal. And, better yet, if they kept with tradition and added 4 player co-op along with the ability to actually play as main characters and not generic no-name Spartans, that could make for some great co-op interactive cutscenes.
I really felt Bungie dropped the ball in Halo Reach by not letting players assume the roles of the different Noble team members in co-op campaign. The fact that the different members of Noble Team were each so unique and had their own special abilities and weapons made me feel that they were wasted potential. Just imagine playing as Jorge with his huge gun, or the possiblity of using Emile to tear through the Covenant with his blade. Playing through a co-op campaign with friends assuming these roles could've made for some truly amazing moments. So if 343i were to add other named Spartans into campaign, the possibility of letting co-op players take on these roles would really take that mode to the next level.

Keep the Large Scale Combat
In Halo: Reach, Bungie gave us some amazing space combat in the mission titled, "Long Night of Solace". If handled properly, 343i could take that mission and build upon it by adding large scale maps which allow for high speed dogfights and air-to-ground combat. Adding loads of new vehicle and turret types could really help to balance out the power of things like tanks and jets. Even having certain gametypes that up the number of players to 32 or more could be fun if done right. Also some new vehicle types like mechs could be really cool.

Guns, Guns, and More Guns
As a first person shooter, guns are arguably Halo's most important feature. Back in the early days of Halo each gun merely filled a role; the Pistol, the Shotgun, the Sniper rifle, these were all just a means to an end. But in recent years, with the popularity of games like Call of Duty and Battlefield skyrocketing on consoles, the player's desire for choice has increased. Weapon types have changed and evolved over the years in Halo, even if players haven't noticed. For instance, Halo: CE's Assault Rifle, the MA5B, is not the same as Halo 3's MA5C. The MA5B - one of my all time favorite Halo weapons - has a higher rate of fire, holds twice as many rounds (60), and has a deeper, "throatier" sound than the MA5C.
343i could really take advantage of this and tweak the different models with varying rates of fire or attachments to make the weapons feel vastly different from each other. Having multiple SMG's, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, and Launchers would really make Halo 4 feel fresh and new while still keeping a recognizeable feel. And of course new weapon types are needed. As for what those should be, I'll leave that to the experts. My only advice to them would be to think outside of the box and to not feel confined to that same old weapon category paradigm. One game that always impressed me with it's unique weapons was Prey. Sure, it still had weapons that could easily be classified into typical categories, but they all felt so unique that it was barely noticeable.

The Next Level of Forge Mode
When Halo Reach came out, Bungie really upgraded the Forge Mode by adding in fixed and phased modes. Whereas Halo 3's Forge Mode was glorified Lincoln Logs, the new one gave the players the ability to construct some truly awe inspiring levels, letting players carefully define object placement and adding a massive sandbox environment known as Forge World. In order for Halo 4 forgers to feel confident in 343i, they need to include a new and expanded take on Forge and one that's possibly bigger and better than the one found in Halo Reach.
But what would be even better than that? Custom terrain. At this point the only place to go with Forge mode is up. If 343i could add the ability to create your own landscape then the possiblities are truly endless. Or even adding in a "professional mode" that gives players options on par with modeling on 3DS Max. I'm not saying that it needs to be that complicated, but the ability to create custom terrain and landscapes paired alongside custom structures, characters, and even weapons and vehicles, could give Halo 4 a Forge following that would be unrivaled. I understand that this is asking a lot and that resources required for this type of thing are astronomical, but I have full confindence that Microsoft can accomplish it.

 Well that's all I've got for now. Next week is E3 and I'm sure we'll see a lot of the questions surrounding Halo 4 answered, but I'm hoping that some of the things in this list are acknowledged as real. I feel confident that 343i is crafting a Halo game worthy of the name and with any luck one that is the start of a new and special era in the Halo universe. I can't wait for next week.

Original 1UP.com cover story

Mass Effect 3 Final Thoughts *Major Spoilers*

With all of the contraversy surrounding Mass Effect 3's ending, I knew the outcome of the game before I ever played it. Having finally finished the game, I now wish that I would've waited until I'd finished it myself before seeing what all the fuss was about. The most consistent response that I kept seeing ahead of actually playing it myself was, "amazing game, but that last 20 minues suck". I mostly agree with this. Mostly.

Right before the game released I had the unpleasant surprise of realizing that I'd accidentally deleted my Mass Effect 2 save file, and considering I've been playing with my Shepard from the first game, I had to play through Mass Effect 2 again. I have to admit that it was nice playing through the Mass Effect 2 with all of the DLC from the start though. I mostly made all of the same decisions as I had in my original play through, but I did make some changes. Upon completing Mass Effect 2 again, and loving every second of it (and completing every single mission possible), I had to wonder if it was even possible for Mass Effect 3 to top it.
The short answer to that question is "YES!".
There are multiple areas where Mass Effect 3 trumps it's predecessor; graphics and shooting controls were two big ones for me. Going from Mass Effect 2 directly into 3, I  immediately noticed how much better the game looks. The amount of detail in the character's faces is extraordinary. I kept finding myself waiting for the next time I ran into a former crew member just so I could see all of the extra definition in their faces. The lighting effects appear to be much improved over Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 as well.

The most welcome improvement to Mass Effect 3 for me personally are the shooting controls. Although Mass Effect 2's controls weren't bad by any means, but they could get a little cumbersome in tense firefights. Mass Effect 3 manages to alleviate this problem with subtle tweaks to the aiming mechanics that produce a shooting experience that could go toe to toe with more dedicated shooting games. The cover system can get frustrating in crowded areas, but that's something that most games that have a cover system suffer from.

But Mass Effect's bread and butter is it's story, something that I've been fully invested in since before the first game shipped. One of my absolute favorite things about Mass Effect 3 is the inclusion of characters and themes from the novels into the game. All three of the novels thus far have told a separate story from the games, with only mentions of Commander Shepard's exploits. It could be argued that the novels are the story of Kahlee Sanders as she is the only person to appear in each novel as a main character; though Anderson has predominant roles in "Revelation" and "Retribution".

Mass Effect 3 players will remember Kahlee Sanders from the Grissom Academy mission that saw Shepard meeting up with Jack again. Kahlee Sanders was the woman that ran the school and was mentioned as a possible love interest with Anderson. In one of the possible conversation branches with Anderson, a man named Grayson is mentioned, he too is from the novels. Kai leng is also from the novels and the part where Anderson talks about shooting him in both legs happened in the book "Retribution".

But the part that everybody seems to be so divided over is the ending. Now, the way I see it, the whole game can be considered "the ending", but it's the last 20 minutes or so that has everyone so riled up. Before I ever played the game I watched videos of the ending because I let my curiosity get the best of me. I was sure that the "indoctrination theory" was what was really going on and that it simply went over most player's heads. And I still believe that after finishing it myself....to an extent.
The part where Shepard is running toward the beam and gets shot by Harbinger, I believe that this is the part where it becomes a battle between Shepard's will and indoctrination. But where it gets weird is when the battle ends and reality sets back in. It seems to me that when Shepard lies down on the lift, right before the child scene, is when reality sets back in. But I'm not really sure because there are so many things happening afterward that don't seem to make sense. It's possible that the entire ending sequence following the point when Shepard is hit by the laser beam is in his mind, which is what I actually hope is the case. Otherwise there seems to be quite a few inconsistencies.

But overall Mass Effect 3 does an excellent job of bringing all of the stories that have evolved over the course of the series to a satisfying conclusion. And the fact that now, after three games of choices, the game could be so different from what I experienced, has me wanting to play the whole trilogy again. The feeling of despair and a galaxy at war is conveyed with master precision and not once did I ever feel like it was forced or fake. I've already started a second playthrough just so I can do things a little differently and see if I can get a better result than the first time I played it.

The only dislikes I have with the game are more nitpicks than actual complaints. I may be alone in this, but I actually enjoyed the code hacking and symbol matching mini games used for unlocking doors and safes in Mass Effect 2. And I couldn't even begin to tell you how many hours I spent scanning planets. The complete removal of the puzzles and the over simplification of planet scanning made me a little sad. There's also the much smaller cast of team members available. Nothing against Mass effect 3's characters (I absolutely love Javik), but I really loved the large and diverse group available in Mass effect 2. But like I said, these are mostly nitpicks since they didn't really affect the overall game experience.

Bioware has crafted it's finest game yet in mass Effect 3, which is why it's such a shame that the final moments ended up being so confusing. Hopefully the upcoming "Mass effect 3: Extended Cut" DLC with shed some much needed clarification on the game's ending. But regardless of what the actual ending turns out to be, nothing can change the fact that Mass Effect 3 is an amazing game worthy of any self respecting gamer's time.