In the gaming world, one of the biggest franchises around is without doubt the Halo series. The fourth installment to the series is greatly-anticipated, and it has been revealed today by Microsoft that Halo 4 will offer a sleuth of multiplayer options, including a weekly “Spartan Ops” episodic series.
Many of the more successful titles within the gaming spectrum boast a strong storyline element, and Halo is no exception to the rule, capturing the imagination of fans who’ve become engrossed with the Master Chief. The Spartan Ops will be a continual series of episodes released on a weekly basis, telling the story of UNSC Infinity spaceship along with its crew.
Each week, there will be a presumably short cinematic motion picture, after which you’ll be assigned a series of tasks and missions. It won’t cost a cent to join in the fun, and you can play Spartan Ops either by yourself or in co-op mode, which, in my experiences with Halo titles, is infinitely more fun.
Much like the Call of Duty franchise, gamers will naturally flock to every next edition, no matter what the premise, but it’s good to see Microsoft will be keeping things fresh and offering a little extra dimension in order to improve on Halo 4’s predecessor. The software maker could have easily rested on its laurels and still made a killing, but with a lot riding on the Xbox console with regards to Windows 8, it’s good to see Steve Ballmer’s company doing their bit to entertain as well as simply shift copies.
As well as Spartan Ops, there’ll also be a “War Games” mode, which will be a little more like the traditional Halo multiplayer gaming experience that has worked so many times previously. Set to take place on the “combat deck” of the UNSC Infinity, they will, in Microsoft’s somewhat vague words, involve “visceral and immersive experiences,”
In War Games mode, you’re probably looking at paying a few extra bucks for the map packs, but if the game turns out to be as exciting as the build-up suggests, they should be worth it.
You can pre-order the Limited Edition of Halo 4 for a cool $100, which includes three map packs as well as a plethora of new customization features.
Excited? We certainly are, and Halo 4 will be dropping on the Xbox 360 on November 6.
(via Kotaku)
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