Halo 4 - Spartan Ops Episodes 6-10 Trailer

Soap Opera fresh, Spartan approved

One of the largest differences I noticed in Halo 4 from its Bungie predecessors was a heavier reliance on dialogue and quality of cutscenes. I'm not sure if Master Chief spoke as much through the first three Halos as he did in this one.

This brings us to Spartan Ops, 343's attempt at making Halo as dramatic as possible.  The episodes, which are done as well as the cutscenes in the main campaign, show us a Requiem 6 months after the events of Halo 4. The Covenant are still active on the Forerunner planet, and you are a part of a Spartan team deployed to clean up the mess.

All of the missions are short; maybe 20 minutes if you take your time/die a lot on Heroic and all have different objectives that are story driven from the episodes. It's pretty cool stuff, and it's totally free if you have Halo 4. If you're looking to refresh your love for Halo with some friends or alone, go check out Spartan Ops.

Halo 4 Spartan Ops - Episodes 6-10
Xbox 360
Release: Jan 21, 2013 (Today!)
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: 343 Industries

Halo 4 - "Scanned" Launch Trailer

There is WAY too much ancient evil in the universe

I don't think people realize how big of a deal it is that David Fincher and Tim Miller were involved in the production of this trailer. The director of Fight Club and The Social Network doesn't team up with a visual effects lead of X-Men and Where the Wild Things Are for anything. This goes to show that video games are really starting to break into the Hollywood workforce as a medium that is beneficial to work in. It's no surprise; with video games being one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the world, it's surprising that we haven't seen more big names in the credits for trailers or the games themselves.

This CGI/live action short shows us that Halo is a big deal. Big enough that some serious players in the industry are willing to attach their names to it. Or that they'll do anything for the right price. I'm going with the first option.

Halo 4 "Red vs. Blue" Trailer

Talkin' bout November 6th

Rooster Teeth has really found a gold mine with their flagship web series "Red vs. Blue", and 343 is making an excellent choice using them in their advertising. I will now never forget November 6th, 2012 as the release date for Halo (how could I anyways?).

Most of the RvB goodness is in full effect here: Griff sarcastically questioning everything, Simmons kissing ass, Sarge being generally clueless and brutish, with the bonus of a Blue spy session. My only question: Where the hell was Caboose!? He's easily the most entertaining member of the Blue team (although Tucker making uncomfortable sexual jokes never gets old) and having him in the video would have been awesome.

Nevertheless, using RvB to promote the new Halo is a brilliant choice, and lots of their fans will be very happy about their inclusion.