Halo: Master Chief Collection Revealed

While we knew something Halo-related was on the way and Halo 5: Guardians wasn’t coming until fall 2015, we hadn’t been able to dial into what exactly was going to be talked about at Microsoft’s E3 presentation today in Los Angeles.  But now we know what was only rumored previously: Halo: Master Chief Collection is confirmed for November 11, 2014.  The package will include 1080p editions of Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 4 all running at 60 FPS.  In addition to the campaigns, we’re told that the new collection destined for Xbox One will also include all of the maps and many of the game modes from all four games.  The map count will total over 100 since there was DLC for Halo 2, 3 and 4.  It wasn’t completely clear whether you’ll play all maps and modes from a centralized matchmaking system or whether you’ll be partitioned into individual game lobbies for a particular game.  We think this will be a consolidation effort but we’ll have to confirm that.

The games looked amazing and included a sneak peak at Ridley Scott’s Nightfall mini series that is slated to launch with the collection and the package includes an early beta access to the Halo 5 multiplayer – scheduled to open up in December 2014.  There was a small tease of in-game footage of Halo 5: Guardians and all we can say is “daaayum”.  343 Industries weren’t kidding when they promised incredible graphics.  There isn’t a dedicated video of that footage just yet but you can hit up gametrailers.com to see bits of the press conference or watch the entire E3 briefing from Microsoft on your Xbox One or Xbox 360 consoles if you’d rather.

E3 Events Kick Off Today With Microsoft’s Press Conference

A friendly reminder to those that are able to tune in: Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference goes live at 9:30am PST.  You can watch it live either via e3expo.com, Spike TV, or directly from Xbox Live on your 360 and One consoles.  We’re expecting to see Halo, Gears of War, Fable, Sunset Overdrive and some indie games on display today on top of perhaps a few brand new IPs.  We could also see some new Call of Duty coverage though we hope there isn’t a heavy amount of time devoted to it since there’s so much to hear about from Microsoft.  It’s an exciting time and this week will be filled with gameplay demos from all the big dogs.

Halo 5 To Have Live-Action Web Series Prior To Launch

Microsoft are said to be in the works of a new set of episodic content for the web that will run prior to the release of Halo 5.  This is basically the same approach Microsoft took with Halo 4 to generate hype and interest in the iconic FPS’ return, where the series known as “Forward Unto Dawn” was released in weekly chunks (five in total).  That series had a tie into the story being told in Halo 4 which made it more than just a marketing tool and we should expect something similar when approaching Halo 5.  But there’s a cool detail that makes the forthcoming live-action web series more intriguing than its predecessor.

Scott Free Productions will be heavily involved with the production which is run by Ridley Scott, producer for the award winning movies “Gladiator”, “Alien”, and “Black Hawk Down”.  Scott is supposed to be an executive producer over the series which will certainly ensure greater quality over the entire project.  According to a news source known as The Wrap, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan may have been tapped to work as the director.  Sergio served as an assistant director with Steven Spielberg on several movies.  Overall the entire project sounds like it’s destined to be as good, likely better, than its predecessor “Forward Unto Dawn”.  It won’t be a big budget series but it could net some additional funding since Forward Unto Dawn did mildly well when distributed as DVD/Blu-Ray, YouTube, and Netflix which all allowed the project to recoup some funds invested.  No official word on when we can expect this new project to hit our screens but it’s likely going to be another 4-6 week lead in front of the coming Halo 5 title which holds lots of promise from what we’ve heard & seen so far.

Still No Official News On Halo 5 – But Graphics Will Be “Amazing”

343 Industries and Microsoft recently posted a job opening for a graphics engineer on the Microsoft careers website, stating that the company is looking for someone to join the team for Halo 5’s development.  According to multiple listings, 343 are expecting to pick up someone with impressive graphics engineering experience that will promise Halo 5 to look “amazing” in order to “awe” the gamers that see and experience it.  Microsoft at E3 2013 promised 1080p and 60 FPS graphics performance, putting a thorn in the side of all the naysayers saying that the Xbox One isn’t capable of 1080p games.  While it’s true several games were scaled down in terms of native resolution at launch, both the PS4 and XB1 have suffered from graphical setbacks due to graphic developer newbie syndrome.  No, that’s not a real thing, but the idea is that the talented people behind the graphics engines and optimization didn’t have time to learn how to code for the new consoles in 1080p so they sacrificed the native 1080p in some cases and ran with something that guaranteed smoother performance, like 720p or 900p.  The Xbox One has a more complicated hardware set, something that worked against Sony last generation, but after going over our first raw Xbox One hardware and graphics analysis a while back (podcast: http://youtu.be/reNiLYDpXoc), we learned that the Xbox One is every bit as capable as the PS4.  Devs will just have to learn how to best use the hardware.  Only a few exclusive titles like Forza 5 have run at a native 1080p so far, but TitanFall will likely join the ranks once it goes live on March 11 (though we have yet to see anything close to the final product visually).  We always hoped that Halo 5 would be another great step forward graphically, like Halo 4 was.  But Microsoft and 343 have continually impressed upon the incredible graphics side of Halo 5 through numerous interviews and press releases.  It would seem that Microsoft seek to reclaim the throne of greatness that Halo and Halo 2 held back in the original Xbox days.  I’m sure we’re all salivating at the chance to see some developed footage, and E3 2014 is likely the place we’ll get our first glimpse at Master Chief in his new digs.

New Halo For Xbox One Details Due Out Soon

Halo 5 (working title) was officially announced last year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, CA with a super-slick cinematic reveal trailer that had initially fooled onlookers by appearing to look a bit more like a Destiny trailer at first.  Suffice it to say that before the end of the trailer everyone quickly realized they had gotten a surprise Halo-sized bomb dropped on them as Microsoft officially announced the expected sequel to the very successful Halo 4.  Halo 5, as it is being called at the moment, is officially set for a 2014 release as confirmed by Josh Holmes, an executive producer within the Halo team (343 Industries/Microsoft Game Studios), published a post on the official Halo Waypoint web portal saying that “we shows a hunt of what we have in store at E3 last year and we’re excited to share more in the not-so-distant future”.  The not-so-distant future could be a month or perhaps five, when E3 2014 rolls around.  343 may even give us another little teaser trailer with some light background information before E3, with the big gameplay reveal debuting at the event itself.

It’s hard to make any educated guesses here as these big press shows are usually strategically designed for certain, more-pertinent content display.  If there are other games that Microsoft really want to get on our radar they could be more selective about what kind of Halo details are spilled, which is why I would presume to see some more content pre-E3 with a small 3-5 minute demo of what we’ll have to look forward to later in 2014.  Without an official release date, the September-November window is hugely popular for game launches, especially Halo.  Former Halo developer and owners Bungie have their highly anticipated Destiny title set for a September launch.  If Microsoft is thinking strategically, Halo 5 (or whatever it will be called) will make a debut closer to the big shopping season like they have in the past to avoid potential spotlight fights.  Launched 2 large-appeal games could be troublesome if Destiny ends up being a bit of a juggernaut as a multiplatform title and would steal a lot of thunder from Halo.  It would make more sense to come in a month or two later when some of the initial hype has died down as we aren’t currently aware of any other potential large-budget, big-draw games launching this holiday season.

Before you go, check out a little concept art that was also given to tease the masses of what’s to come.  The picture here shows a location known as “Sparth”, an “early exploration of a new location that features prominently in a little game project we’re tinkering with…” as Mr. Josh Holmes went on to say over at Halo Waypoint.  Whether this so-called project is directly related to Halo 5 isn’t clear.  But what is clear is that the massive space cruiser known as “Infinity” that made its debut in the Forward Unto Dawn semi-short film and was featured in Halo 4 is sitting above this “Sparth”.  Any conjecture would simply be pointless, unless anyone is invested enough to read the Halo books where this newly-informed location may have come up before?

Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, Halo Spartan Assault Launching in December

For Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 users, Halo: Spartan Assault has been accessible for several months now.  However, the top-down 3rd person shooter is coming to Xbox One this month.  It will essentially be the same game in most aspects, with a few tweaks and additions.  First, the graphics will be better by bumping the resolution to a full HD 1080p.  Next, 343 Industries is releasing the Xbox One version with the Hydra DLC that adds on five additional missions over the starting 25 that you get when purchasing the game.  Inside the campaign, new weapons and armor abilities will be available as well that weren’t included in the W8/WP8 editions.  Lastly, a five-mission Co-Op is being added that pits two players against long-time enemy The Flood.  Now you might be enticed to spend another $14.99 to play this on your Xbox One, but before you pick it up later this month know that you’re entitled to a 66% discount if you should purchase it on the Xbox One using the same Windows ID on your phone or PC.  Basically, if your Xbox Live gamertag/account is the same as you’re using on Windows 8 or Windows Phone you should see the discount automatically.  That’s a lot of good news for those looking to build their game catalog on the new console.

Also making waves is the new Max: The Curse of the Brotherhood game available now via Xbox Live.  Max: The Curse of Brotherhood is a classic action-adventure game using the side-scrolling play-through style. At its core it is a platformer filled with puzzles.  The game features a lot of silly and charming elements that give it a very wide appeal, allowing young and old gamers alike to enjoy the adventure to be had.  Max must start on a quest to save his brother who is kidnapped to a hostile world.  His only chance to succeed is to stay courageous and use the powers of his marker to manipulate the environment.  The Curse of Brotherhood is available now for $14.99 on Xbox Live as a digital download.