Just under a week until E3 2012, and already, there have been several leaked images of Halo 4, as well as a mysterious video showing off gameplay. From an Italian Halo site [halouniverse.it] 8 screenshots have surfaced, showing new Halo 4 gameplay and menu screens, also showing new Armor Abilities and so called ‘Tactical Packages’. Screenshot analysis after the jump.
NOTE: These low quality screens come from a Pre-Release build of Halo 4, so some of these features are subject to change. and if you intend on keeping Halo 4 a surprise, i advise you to look away NOW.
Analysis
The first screen used for the post shows the list of Primary Weapons, which are the Assault Rifle, BR, DMR, also the return of the Covenant Carbine from Halo 3, as well as the new Storm Rifle which is sid to be similar to the Plasma Rifle, and Shotgun. Wait? Shotgun as a Primary Weapon? that doesn’t sound good to me, all I see is people running around maps and going crazy with it.
This screens shows off the Loadouts Menu, and shows that players will have up to 5 different loadouts, each with 6 customisable options. These include primary and secondary weapons, Grenade type, Armor Ability, Tactical Package and Support Upgrade. Althought the last two options are completely new to us, i wonder why the DMR is a secondary weapon, we can also see a new Ability named Autosentry, and a Tactical named Firepower, interesting.
This is the possible Armor Abilities menu screen, showing off all available AAs, including old and new ones which are:
- Autosentry: Described as an Automated Turret which can be deployed in the battlefield.
- Promethean Vision: The new AA discussed in the Halo 4 issue of GameInformer, Promethean Vision allows players to see through walls, but also distorting the colors on the screen
- Regeneration Field: One of the new AAs we havent heard of yet, it will probably be a Bubble Shield/ Regenerator crossover.
- Hologram: Also discussed in GameInformer, it may follow similar to Reach’s hologram, with a few tweaks
- Hardlight Shield: One of the new AAs, an image was leaked showing a spartan holding a forerunner looking shield (See Below). Not much can be derived from the image, although i can see something like the Boom Shield from Gears of War 3
- Active Camouflage: Also similar to the Hologram, it may be a tweaked version of Reach’s.
- Thruster Pack: It will most likely be similar to the Jetpack from Reach.
The Tactical Packages are a new addition to Halo 4, and brings the question “How will these affect gameplay”. Not much is known about these Tacticals but they don’t seem like they will greatly change the gameplay, and might act as weak “perks“. These include:
- Firepower: “Firepower allows use of two primary weapons”, this might explain why the DMR was in the secondary weapon slot. Probably similar to MW2’s Overkill Perk.
- Resupply and Grenadier:These might give the player an extra ammo clip or grenade at spawn.
It is unknown how the next 3 armor abilities will play, so here are my wild guesses:
- Awareness: It will probably be similar to a Crysis 2 perk, where your armor starts beeping if there is an invisible enemy near you. It will probably apply to Promethean Vision as well.
- Shielding: This Tactical worries me, i can see it being similar to CoD4’s Juggernaut perk
- AA Efficiency: I have no clue how this Tactical will work, it can probably alter your current Armor Ability, or it can hide you from other AAs e.g. Promethean Vision and Autosentry
Next screenshot shows the Assault Rifle in use, nothing new in this screen.
This screenshot shows a new weapon, which looks similar to the one in the Halo 4 Teaser at last years E3. Dubbed the “rocket pistol”, we already have an idea of how this gun might play.
Showing off the amazing scenery, this image shows how much detail is put into the maps, and how it may be a cross between Halo 3 and Halo Reach in terms of fighting space. A new weapon is also shows, I’m guessing its either the Storm Rifle (the successor to the Plasma Rifle/Repeater), or the Covenant Carbine, or probably something completely new that we dont know about yet.
This screen shows the ordnance drop where, after a certain event (amount of kills, timer, or completely random) players are given the option to drop 1 out of 3 power weapons on the map. Also, the pistol in this screenshot looks very different.
The final image shows a player using the Railgun on a new snowy map, and also shows a Ghost, which looks similar to Halo 3’s ghost rather than Reach’s. The next image shows the same map, from a different point of view.
Again, the image and video quality is awful, but at least we can see how 343 is doing so far. My opinion about Halo 4 so far? I actually like what i’m seeing, although there are ALOT of changes to multiplayer, and the inclusion of new AAs and Tactical Packages and Support Upgrades are going to change up the gameplay, the game looks promising. 343 Industries seem to know what they’re getting themselves into, hopefully they can fully explain some questions about the game at E3, such as the Ordnance drops and Spartan Ops.