343's leading light Frank O'Connor has written a touching love letter to Halo 4 in the latest Halo Waypoint update, praising his team and thanking Halo fans for their support. It's a lengthy read, so we've chopped out a few paragraphs for your perusal.
Halo 4 is now "effectively" content-complete, and 343 is "applying the final layering of effects, technology, shaders, final performance tuning and as shallow as this sounds, the final graphic appearance". They're also working to squash "squillions" of bugs.
"In a crazy compressed timeframe, we've built a team from scratch (with the somewhat bizarre-but-cool advantage that they came from some of the best games in the industry, with new ideas and philosophies - because they loved Halo already), built a game we think is deserving of the Halo legacy, and created a culture built around a simple shared goal - to make an amazing Halo experience worthy of that game's history and achievement.
"It won't be perfect, that's impossible," he went on. "We have too many constituents and variables in our game, our audience and our community for that to ever happen. But I think the vast majority of people who've given us their trust and confidence, no matter how warily or askance, will find something in here that meets or exceeds their expectations.
"And for the cynics, an understandable position and one we respect, I think the game may surprise even you guys. Of course time and player experience will tell, but there have been many moments that deepened my confidence in where we are. Some of those moments were big ticket brute force Rubicons, and some small, personal moments."
"That sense of panic, of maybe being discovered, sent me fleeing my hiding spot and grabbing the very powerful weapon I had dumped in an Ordnance Drop as a honeypot. I did it too late. Exposed myself for no good reason (his PV sweep had not, in fact, revealed my position) and got sniped for my troubles.
"It's telling that a moment of failure, of loss, was just as compelling as one of victory."
Quite. Here are 11 things you need to know about Halo 4, assuming you don't know them already.
9 comments so far...
Thos. on 9 Aug '12 said:
"I tend to err on the side of terror and humility"? Pardon me? - when Frankie was at Bungie creating his Weekly Updates, they were the most over-the-top hyperbole I've ever read.
"...When I saw the new secret thing I can't talk about on Halo 2 I literally died of ecstasy. Luckily I was later resurrected, but I accidentally caught another glimpse and died again..."
(What's that? I'm just bitter that he transformed the tight, coherent story of Halo 1 into the utter shambolic mess of Halos 2 and 3? Where for most of the games you have no idea what you are trying to achieve? No - not me mate)
Decent_Jam on 9 Aug '12 said:
My Spidey senses tell me you don't share his optimism...
I think this will be a good game, whether it will get an instant purchase from me as previous games in the series is another matter. Multiplayer is a big factor.
05mknort on 9 Aug '12 said:
You couldn't follow the storylines of Halo 2 or 3?
Maybe watch the cutscenes? You know, those things that are like little movies, but at the end you get to shoot stuff!
They tend to help in the storylines progression even for the slowest of people.
ipsofacto on 10 Aug '12 said:
The Halo games are just immensely fun and are so successful because it's so easy to play with friends and there's tons of things you can do extra to just matchmaking with them. I can't wait for this game - they will have to have monumentally cocked up to ruin the fun that every Halo brings. I trust this hasn't happened
FishyGinger on 10 Aug '12 said:
I like the Halo series, thought Reach was very good and had a top ending, but the copy and paste of the library level was it, really did diminish the first one for me.
Thos. on 10 Aug '12 said:
Well no that's just not true, because I'm too ignorant to comprehend what's happening. So you probably need to rephrase your claim, as they do not help the very slowest of people.
Carpet Monkey on 11 Aug '12 said:
Halo game...... = instant purchase.
CRXxSkillzxXRC on 13 Aug '12 said:
I quite like how Halo 4 has come along. Sure, it won't be the same experience as the older games but I can imagine that this one will have many things that will make it just as great a Halo title as the rest. The only reason I got Halo Reach was because of the improved forge mode (I like creativity) and now there is so much more in forge like magnetizing objects and locking them while you're editing your world. There is also new abilities, VISR mode, new weapons, vehicles and enemies so in a way I am glad that this will be a new experience for Halo players because of the amazing things that 343 have done to the game but I am saddened by the fact that it probably will feel less like Halo and more like reach (Reach felt in no way like Halo, it should have just been called reach)
cyclekarl on 13 Aug '12 said:
I bet like most other Halo games it has a very weak and short single player mode with more emphasis being put into multi-player.