We've been taking a closer look at the next chapter in the Halo universe, Halo 4, over the past few days and today we wanted to bring you an in-depth look at Halo 4's brand new co-op experience Spartan Ops. Before we dive into Spartan Ops, however, a little background info on Halo 4's multiplayer modes is called for.
All multiplayer in Halo 4 has been given a context that ties into the rest of the game. Players in multiplayer are aboard a ship called the UNSC Infinity (pictured above). The Infinity acts as a combat simulator of sorts for Spartan IV soldiers, giving the competitive multiplayer action some more substance in the bigger picture.
At first glance, Spartan Ops might seem pretty similar to Spec Ops, a game mode featured in both Modern Warfare 2 and 3 but, while the two share similar features, there are quite a few differences that really set Spartan Ops on its own level. In Halo 4, you will be able to form a party of up to four players to battle your way through special co-op missions that blend survival with mission-specific objectives.
It is the content that comes in addition to these missions, however, where Spartan Ops really takes off. 343 Industries is designing special 'cinematic chapters' which are videos that tie into the events of Spartan Ops. These videos will be consistently updated post-launch, giving players even more reason to jump back into Halo 4 in case the super addictive online multiplayer portion wasn't enough. 343 Industries refers to Spartan Ops as an 'episodic co-op adventure', with new content being released every single week. This content will include new characters to be introduced to, a full overarching storyline and will even allow players to explore the game world outside of the UNSC Infinity.
"The Spartan Ops season is part of what you get with the package when you buy Halo 4. We want to keep players engaged and coming back week to week," 343 Industries’ Creative Director Josh Holmes explained to GameInformer. "We want to bridge that gap between players who really care primarily about storytelling and give them an opportunity to get their feet wet and experience multiplayer."
"By providing players the opportunity to constantly engage with new content that they can come back to, we ultimate have them moving between campaign, co-op and competitive, while weaving this high level story across it all. Providing that narrative arc across the whole thing really ties the experience together."
Spartan Ops also ties directly into competitive multiplayer in that the progress you make in ranking up your character can be carried over from one to the other. This encourages players who have been disinterested in competitive multiplayer to give it a try, as it may be less daunting knowing that you can build yourself up in a cooperative game mode before heading into the fray and getting your feet wet in competitive multiplayer.
We're getting excited for Halo 4 so be sure to stay tuned as we get closer to the November 6th release date. We'll have a ton of content, including videos, news and more as we get closer to the launch!
Comments