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Platform 360 Publisher Microsoft Game Studios Developer 343 Industries Release Date 11/06/2012

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9.5

Halo 4 review: the ghost in the machine

By Arthur Gies on Nov 01, 2012 11.01.12

Set several years after the ending of Halo 3, Halo 4 opens in the wreckage of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, the ship that the Master Chief used to escape the destruction of the Ark, an ancient command center capable of firing all of the Halo rings across the galaxy at once and destroying all sentient life in existence. The Master Chief is yanked from his cryogenic sleep to find the Forward Unto Dawn on the precipice of the massive artificial world Requiem and a Covenant expeditionary force waiting for it to open. Open it does, and the Chief and Cortana are pulled into Requiem, a world with, if you'll pardon the cliche, a sinister purpose. I'll leave the details vague, but Halo 4 explores the nature of the Forerunners, the extinct alien super-intelligence whose technological...

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Halo: Forward Unto Dawn comes to Netflix instant streaming

By Michael McWhertor on May 02, 2013 05.02.13

Netflix subscribers in the U.S. can now stream Halo: Forward Unto Dawn, 343 Industries' live-action series based in the Halo universe released last year. Halo fans have a myriad of viewing options for the series developed to promote the release of Halo 4 on Xbox 360. The series was released in episodes through Machinima's YouTube channel then sold through on-demand services like iTunes and Xbox Video and on Blu-ray and DVD. According to Instant Watcher, Halo: Forward Unto Dawn will be available to stream for the next two years, meaning if you haven't already watched the series, there's no rush. For more on the series, which takes place 25 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, read our interview with Frank O'Connor, Halo franchise development director at 343 Industries.

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Halo 4 multiplayer getting new player-created maps next week

By Emily Gera on May 02, 2013 05.02.13

343 Industries will introduce new Halo 4 player-created multiplayer maps to the game next Monday, in addition to a number of gameplay tweaks expected later down the line, the studio announced today. The update is scheduled to go live May 6, adding a number of Forge maps into various Halo 4 playlists; all of which are listed below. 343 Industries is also currently play-testing its weapons and vehicle balancing patch which, they add, is near launch. The studio also plans to stream its balancing work on Twitch throughout May. An exact date for this has yet to be confirmed. Added to SWATBlack Site by The Fated FirePlaza by Smexi BilzoShutout by SaLoT and NLTROOO Added to Rumble PitBlack Site by The Fated FireSimplex by SaLoTScythe by PA1NTSSerenity by DG IntensityOpus by SHIFTY time R...

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Halo 4 developer charts weapon tuning progress, invites player feedback

By Dave Tach on Apr 18, 2013 04.18.13

In this week's Halo Bulletin, 343 Industries' community Jessica "BS Angel" Shea discussed the developer's progress during the early stages of rebalancing Halo 4's weapons. Shea explained that 343 wants to share its "basic goals" with the community throughout the process before deploying the changes. "TL;DR: The below tweaks are nowhere near final. In fact, they are as far from final as they can be without being not final," she wrote. "Please recognize this is a work-in-progress, we will clearly communicate our final plan once we know it, and until then, we'll provide weekly updates about its current status." In the Bulletin, producer Andy "Bravo" Dudynsky characterized the "two schools of thought" about weapon tuning. One suggests reducing the power of primary weapons like the DMR,...

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Halo 4's customizable Forge Island map launches today

By Griffin McElroy on Mar 29, 2013 03.29.13

Forge Island, a free map for Halo 4 which is custom-built for the game's multiplayer map editor, is available today, well ahead of its previously announced release date. The map, which was first announced for an April 11 launch during 343 Industries' recent PAX East 2013 panel, provides cartographers with a canvas they've been requesting since the game launched: flat land. Forge Island is just that, a series of steppes that players can build up from without worrying about intersecting with mountains or bodies of water, as seen in the screenshot above. The map is available through the Xbox Live Marketplace on the console, but you have to search for it, as it doesn't appear to have been added to the Halo 4 hub at the time of this writing. It can be downloaded remotely through the XBLM...

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Halo 4 and Gears of War map packs, XBLA titles playable at PAX East

By Alexa Ray Corriea on Mar 20, 2013 03.20.13

Upcoming add-on multiplayer map packs for Halo 4 and Gears of War: Judgment and handful of Xbox Live Arcade and mobile titles will be playable at Microsoft's Xbox 360 booth at PAX East this weekend, according to a post by Major Nelson. Attendees can stop by booth #524 on the main show floor for the first public opportunities to play Halo 4's Castle Map Pack and Gears' Maxim Map Pack. Castle adds three expansive maps with new environments and nine new achievements. The Maxim pack adds two free Maxim-sponsored maps, "Haven" and "Capitol," and a new "Execution" mode. Gamers can also get their hands on real-time strategy title Age of Empires 2: HD Edition ahead of its April 9 release on Steam, as well as XBLA titles including zombie survival-horror game State of Decay, physics-based...

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Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Blu-ray/DVD combo pack listed on Amazon UK

By Dave Tach on Mar 11, 2013 03.11.13

A Blu-ray/DVD combo pack for Halo 4's live-action tie-in series Forward Unto Dawn is available for pre-order on Amazon's U.K. website. According to the description for the "Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Deluxe Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo," the discs contain over 100 minutes of bonus content including behind the scenes materials, interviews with the cast and crew and more. The package also contains a set of Halo 4 "art cards" and a poster. It is listed for release on May 27, 2013. Forward Unto Dawn was released last December separately on Blu-ray and DVD in North America. Those included audio commentary by the developers at 343 Industries and director Stewart Hendler, visual effects models and more. The live-action Forward Unto Dawn web series follows UNSC cadets and their encounters...

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Halo 4 Castle Map Pack launches April 8

By Megan Farokhmanesh on Mar 11, 2013 03.11.13

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Voting open online for the Game Developers Choice Award

By Dave Tach on Feb 19, 2013 02.19.13

The virtual ballet box is open for the Game Developers Choice Audience Award and accepting nominations today through 5 p.m. ET March 1, according to the official website. Voters need to select a game from a list provided and enter an email address, from which you'll be prompted to confirm your vote. The list of nominated games includes: Assassin's Creed 3 Borderlands 2 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Dishonored Dust: An Elysian Tail Far Cry 3 Fez FTL: Faster Than Light Gravity Rush Halo 4 Hero Academy Hotline Miami Journey Kid Icarus: Uprising Mark of the Ninja Mass Effect 3 PlanetSide 2 The Room Sound Shapes Spelunky Spec Ops: The Line Trials Evolution The Unfinished Swan Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward The Walking Dead XCOM: Enemy Unknown ZombiU In late...

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Journey and The Walking Dead win big at the 16th annual DICE awards

By Jenna Pitcher on Feb 08, 2013 02.08.13

At tonight's 16th annual DICE Awards, PlayStation exclusive Journey won eight of its eleven category nominations, including Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction and Outstanding Innovation in Gaming. The Walking Dead won four of its eight nominations, including Adventure Game of the Year, Downloadable Game of the Year and Outstanding Character Performance of protagonist Lee Everett (voiced by Dave Fennoy). Halo 4 won two of six nominated categories, including Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity and Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering. The Academy's Peer Panels evaluated more than 100 games, a peer panel for each category, with 63 nominated for awards. Voting for the awards was online and anonymous. "For the past 16 years, the D.I.C.E. Awards have...

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GDC to feature postmortems on Myst, Crystal Castles, Pinball Construction Set and X-COM: UFO Defense

By Dave Tach on Jan 29, 2013 01.29.13

This year's Game Developer's Conference will feature four Classic Games Postmortems, including developers of "some of the industry's most influential landmark titles," according to a press release from the conference's organizers. The Classic Games Postmortems will involve Franz Lanzinger, the original designer and programmer of Crystal Castles, Robyn Miller, co-director of Myst, Bill Budge, developer of Pinball Construction Set and Julian Gollop, who helped design, program and draw X-COM: UFO Defense. "The four titles are so diverse and each one helped shape new game genres that are still popular today," said Meggan Scavio , GDC general manager. "It's always fascinating to see original design documents from influential titles resurfaced and to hear from the creators of iconic titles...

Halo 4 Releases
North America
  • Xbox 360
    • Released 11/06/2012
    • Publisher Microsoft Game Studios
    • Developer 343 Industries
    • Score 9.5
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