Halo: 4

[LoweGear]

Originally Posted by anon

"Would she scream "UTE UTE UTE" while playing games?"

Original twitter link



Do remember that Kana Ueda is a big Halo fan

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Original twitter link



Do remember that Kana Ueda is a big Halo fan

This is hilarious, because apparently she voiced Sadie in Halo ODST.

[blakstealth]

Originally Posted by LoweGear

Original twitter link



Do remember that Kana Ueda is a big Halo fan

What a b-baller.

[Hooves]

I was playing one mission where my friend and I were co-op Legendary it. I was on a Wraith and he was on a Scorpion, and I shot near a ghost that was passing by us. It flew at super-fast speed, spinning and smashed right into a rock. That was hilarious. Still, the new enemies definitely are tough. I have no problems killing Covenant in Legendary. It's the new enemies that end it for me.

[Rising Dragon]

Just got done with Legendary solo. It was made worse by having played it somewhat on Co-op on previously completed Legendary solo levels with my brother and breezing through formerly hellish locations.

Only seemed to make the remainder of Legendary that much harder.

[ReaperxKingx]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

Just got done with Legendary solo. It was made worse by having played it somewhat on Co-op on previously completed Legendary solo levels with my brother and breezing through formerly hellish locations.

Only seemed to make the remainder of Legendary that much harder.

Congratulations my friend, it wasn't so bad as the other Halo games right? You tried Spartan Ops yet?

[Rising Dragon]

Yeah I completed Spartan Ops Episode 1 days ago, and have already been through it on Legendary. Also hellish in level 3, but such is the way of Crawlers.

And no, Halo 4 has been the absolute worst Legendary difficulty I've played thus far. I still believe that Halo's developers keep trying to make every subsequent game's Legendary mode harder than the last, and it wouldn't surprise me if they accidentally made the game unplayable at Legendary at some point in the future.

[Alchemist007]

Heh, I remember beating Halo 2 legendary + thunderstorm, mythic, tough luck, and cloud. Just beat 4 on heroic and am starting a vanilla legendary run. Might try something similarly crazy afterwards though.

Spoiler:

I thought the game was quite good. After reading up a lot of stuff based on the books (I really should just read the rest, last one I read was Evolutions), it seems the content of the coming games may have to do with the precursors

Spoiler for Talking with the librarian in Halo 4, wiki quote:

She revealed to the Spartan that she had been guiding mankind throughout the millennia since their reseeding, providing a blueprint for their evolution, their technological advancement, their Spartan program, and even the MJOLNIR armor; all in an attempt to prepare them for what is to come. The Chief questioned her "Preparing us for what?" Before she could respond, they were interrupted by the Didact, and the Master Chief was forced to retreat, leaving the Librarian's cryptic warning unanswered.

I also believe Cortana is still alive, as Didact may be too since he was talking post-credits (though it may have also been a speech of his before he was locked in the Cryptum). John is to be developed more personally in this trilogy according to 343i, so I think Cortana will definitely be involved and this ending was more a dramatic climax that prepares us for the next evolution in their relationship. The Forerunners have that ability with the Composer to extract biological beings into data and recompose them as the Promethean warriors (because bringing them back perfectly was a flaw in the technology). But I think this may be some way for Cortana to manifest physically (as a human); Didact even called her the most advanced Ancilla (AI) he'd ever come across.

I'm optimistic to see where else 343i and the writers take this story. Halo 4 was a great success.

[grylsyjaeger]

Wait... Trilogy?

So there's going to be two more of these?

God. Let's see if I can get motivated to finish this first.

[Renegade334]

Originally Posted by Alchemist007

Spoiler:

I thought the game was quite good. After reading up a lot of stuff based on the books (I really should just read the rest, last one I read was Evolutions), it seems the content of the coming games may have to do with the precursors

Or

Spoiler:

the remainder of the Forerunners and Storm Covenant. After all, there are still a few other Halos out there, not to mention unexplored shield worlds.

Spoiler:

I also believe Cortana is still alive,

In the cutscene

Spoiler:

following the nuke's detonation, she said that "most of me is down there. I only held enough back to get you off the ship."

While it doesn't say outright she was going to die or survive, the simple act of leaving her remnants to float in space (the ship was blown to fist-sized debris, and I assume most electronics shared the same fate - and good luck finding Cortana's memory drive in that mess) would ensure her demise, as rampancy would continue unimpeded, to the point where she'd become utterly unsalvageable or inoperable.

Anyway, it's a possibility that for future installments of the new Halo trilogy,

Spoiler:

either, as Cortana surmised, MC would be paired up with a copy of her original source code -- or the Librarian could step in to act as a mentor/guide of sorts, perhaps even replacing Halsey, who has incidentally been relegated to the role of a cog in a machine she never even suspected to exist.

Spoiler:

as Didact may be too since he was talking post-credits (though it may have also been a speech of his before he was locked in the Cryptum).

The way he spoke suggests

Spoiler:

he was addressing some sort of court and was in the middle of a plea, so it's possible it's a flashback to his trial, right before he was convicted and confined to his Cryptum.

The cutscene where the grenade explodes in his chest shows that his body is still intact (he was still reaching towards MC when he teetered over the lightbridge's edge, then fell) - or appears to be, at least-, but it wasn't clearly shown whether he managed to teleport away before being sucked into the Composer's beam. Anyway, it looks like he's seriously wounded - that is, if he's not dead already.

Spoiler:

The Forerunners have that ability with the Composer to extract biological beings into data and recompose them as the Promethean warriors (because bringing them back perfectly was a flaw in the technology).

The Forerunners completely bungled up

Spoiler:

the data-to-matter reconversion/decryption process and I don't know if they ever had the time to perfect/fix their technology, since the Halos were being completed and almost readied for firing.

Spoiler:

But I think this may be some way for Cortana to manifest physically (as a human); Didact even called her the most advanced Ancilla (AI) he'd ever come across.

I'm not sure it'd safe to marry

Spoiler:

an inherently flawed data-to-matter conversion process with an AI whose source code is seriously fragmented and possibly corrupted because of rampancy. If anything, this unholy marriage could lead to Cortana's remains being even more digitally mutilated.

Originally Posted by grylsyjaeger

Wait... Trilogy?

So there's going to be two more of these?

God. Let's see if I can get motivated to finish this first.

When the first teaser trailer for Halo 4 (the one showing MC's body being stimulated back to life and the FUD drifting towards Requiem) was released at E3 2011, the guy onstage specifically announced "the dawn of a new trilogy for XBox."

So, yeah, two more to go.


Anyway, I'm very impressed with Halo 4's cutscene CGI; those are some of the most well-done graphics I've seen lately. Lighting, texture, facial animation - quite a feast for the eyes.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/TByBdJAUoD4

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

I wonder if Spartan Ops isn't actually a bridge towards H5's main storyline. 343i has already decided to stuff a lot of the H4 backstory (and circumstances that led to the events in H4) in the Forerunner and Kilo-5 novels, so maybe they're doing the same thing for H5, except this time it's with Spartan Ops?

That's a nice way to keep the fans on edge and make the wait for the next trilogy installment seem much shorter.

[Alchemist007]

Originally Posted by Renegade334

Or

Spoiler:

the remainder of the Forerunners and Storm Covenant. After all, there are still a few other Halos out there, not to mention unexplored shield worlds.

It seems too small a point to make in a trilogy (at least they've done this in this first game already), though I suppose it could be those types of locations in which some mysteries of the precursors are further explored, so who knows.

In the cutscene

Spoiler:

following the nuke's detonation, she said that "most of me is down there. I only held enough back to get you off the ship."

While it doesn't say outright she was going to die or survive, the simple act of leaving her remnants to float in space (the ship was blown to fist-sized debris, and I assume most electronics shared the same fate - and good luck finding Cortana's memory drive in that mess) would ensure her demise, as rampancy would continue unimpeded, to the point where she'd become utterly unsalvageable or inoperable.

Actually, I think

Spoiler:

most of her being destroyed would be one way to rid of her rampancy. Just leaving her core or whatever non-corrupt part left; maybe it wouldn't incorporate at all if she was to become a perfect biological incarnation. I don't think they'd pair Chief up except really temporarily with someone else. They've invested 4 games into this relationship.

I'm not sure it'd safe to marry

Spoiler:

an inherently flawed data-to-matter conversion process with an AI whose source code is seriously fragmented and possibly corrupted because of rampancy. If anything, this unholy marriage could lead to Cortana's remains being even more digitally mutilated.

Well you never know, she might be smart enough to fix it herself
There's tons of ways they could approach this, if they choose to (I suspect they will).

[Roger Rambo]

Did anyone see the episode 2 trailer for Spartan ops?


Dammit, UNSC scientists are dumb!

[Rising Dragon]

Spoiler for Cortana talk:

343i went on and on about how Cortana was this really special AI who could potentially avoid Rampancy. You even find data in-game about it, such as the starting area of the Requiem level containing a computer that has Halsey mentioning how Cortana deleted her own self-destruct virus and how the 7-year lifespan may not apply to her, and that despite being her architect she doesn't understand why.

Add in how long she held off Rampancy--over a year, and with at times her lifespan shortened by certain events, like her first insertion into Halo's library (the novels mention how the sudden influx of data somewhat shortened her lifespan) and the Gravemind trying to induce Rampancy on her by force-feeding her its vast wealth of information.

You don't keep doing all that and not do it in a story. I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the last of Cortana yet. My brother theorizes she's in the Forerunner Domain.

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

Did anyone see the episode 2 trailer for Spartan ops?


Dammit, UNSC scientists are dumb!

To be fair, most Forerunner technology tries to be helpful for Reclaimers and such. It's only very, very recently that Forerunner tech is dangerous to humans.

EDIT: Dear 343i, if you didn't want me to cheat with the Ghost, you should've given it a overheat and done a damn better job of keeping me from taking it inside buildings. ._.

[Alchemist007]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

Spoiler for Cortana talk:

343i went on and on about how Cortana was this really special AI who could potentially avoid Rampancy. You even find data in-game about it, such as the starting area of the Requiem level containing a computer that has Halsey mentioning how Cortana deleted her own self-destruct virus and how the 7-year lifespan may not apply to her, and that despite being her architect she doesn't understand why.

Add in how long she held off Rampancy--over a year, and with at times her lifespan shortened by certain events, like her first insertion into Halo's library (the novels mention how the sudden influx of data somewhat shortened her lifespan) and the Gravemind trying to induce Rampancy on her by force-feeding her its vast wealth of information.

You don't keep doing all that and not do it in a story. I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the last of Cortana yet. My brother theorizes she's in the Forerunner Domain.

I almost forgot about this, though it seems from in game evidence (from the various errors Cortana made), she wasn't immune to it but was probably a stronger AI in general. Again evidenced by the comment Didact made about her.

[Rising Dragon]

Well, as far as Rampancy-induced AI deaths go, that's apparently caused by a lack of a suitable container, since their filesize grows exponentially. Presumably to avoid that Cortana simply needs a large enough computer to expand in to reach metastability. One other human AI has accomplished this. Other avoidance of Rampancy may be referring to a lack of hostility towards humankind?

Spoiler for Final Level events:

After all, on the race to the Didact at the Composer's core, the rampant personality copies of Cortana, which are the most likely to go batshit insane, only urged him on and eventually helped stop the Didact.

[Alchemist007]

Spoiler:

I wonder if you could rephrase 'rampancy' as 'evolution?' Perhaps the errors she made are more her evolution conflicting with the parameters she's been programmed with. As could be the case with other AIs.

[ReaperxKingx]

Well the Halo Books said an AI can only be a true living being or entity by going through Rampancy, this is the final stage of Rampancy. It is called Metastability. So maybe that is what 343 is aiming for, and why all the spoiler tags? Rampancy isn't really a new thing in Halo Universe.

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by ReaperxKingx

Well the Halo Books said an AI can only be a true living being or entity by going through Rampancy, this is the final stage of Rampancy. It is called Metastability. So maybe that is what 343 is aiming for, and why all the spoiler tags? Rampancy isn't really a new thing in Halo Universe.

Hell. The idea of Rampancy significantly predates the Halo universe. It was pioneered by Bungie's previous FPS, Marathon by almost a decade.

[ReaperxKingx]

I wonder what is Chief's next armor? Chief's armor is already old by Halo standards. The Spartan IVs had the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor Second Generation and there is another improvement of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor first generation called the Mark VII. SO I am think either one of those, more likely the Mark VII due to the fact Dr. Halsey made it so Chief may favor it over the Second Generation.

[Rising Dragon]

Originally Posted by ReaperxKingx

Well the Halo Books said an AI can only be a true living being or entity by going through Rampancy, this is the final stage of Rampancy. It is called Metastability. So maybe that is what 343 is aiming for, and why all the spoiler tags? Rampancy isn't really a new thing in Halo Universe.

The spoilers are for those who haven't completed Halo 4 yet and found out the whole Cortana thing.

EDIT: Good lord, the Episode 2 levels on Legendary are insane.