More production shots from Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn.  It’s lookin’ pretty sweet.

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn

Set against the backdrop of a United Nations Space Command (UNSC) military academy, a group of highborn cadets are training to be the next generation of soldiers in the UNSC’s ongoing war with insurrectionists in the outer colonial planets.

Bungie may have departed from the franchise but Halo is going strong.  An absolutely fascinating take on the lore is happening in 343 Industries’ Halo 4 this November, but October 5th sees the start of an amazing looking five-part web series molded by professional Hollywood talent both behind and in front of the camera all in the hopes in delivering a supplementary experience on par with the quality of a theatrical film.

Halo 4 concept art.

Halo 4 (Xbox 360 - November 6th, 2012)

A handful of shots from this month’s featured blow-out of Halo 4 information in Game Informer magazine.  343 Industries sounds as if they’re attempting to remain faithful to Bungie’s work (a safe bet — boring, but safe), yet little nuggets like the studio integrating story elements and meaning into the multiplayer grab my attention.

Call of Duty’s biennial developers, Treyarch, have taken slow, plodding (but steady) steps to molding their own distinctive CoD experience with each release and I predict 343 Industries may beat the same path with this new Halo trilogy; staying very close to the source material until the studio gets comfortable with taking chances.  Personally, even though we may only be up to number four in title, there’s been enough Halo entries and spin-offs for me to want to see 343 just go absolutely crazy with the series.

Either direction it takes, if it’s authentic Halo in all of its sci-fi shooting glory, Xbox Live is sure to be alight with activity.

Meet Master Chief (Again)

343 Industries has settled on a design they’re happy with, so introduce your eyeballs to the Chief as we’ll see him in Halo 4 — positioned as part one of a greater story arc dubbed ‘The Reclaimer Trilogy.’  Here’s a blurb on the studio’s philosophy behind the redesign:

Typically, from Halo to Halo, the Master Chief’s armor has changed and adapted, and there have been fictional reasons why. With Halo 4, we’re taking a different approach and focusing on the storytelling aspects of art from the design standpoint. We don’t do that everywhere in the game, but we wanted to take this opportunity to really focus on him as a human being.