Halo 4 Release Date

So far we do not know the halo 4 release date, 343 industries are guarding that secret for a while perhaps until a full trailer comes out with final content of tested game-play. And thinking about testing,  let's not forget that 343 industries are yet to commence the internal beta for Halo 4, so there's a bit of a way to go. As mentioned in previous discussions There will be no public beta like there was with Halo Reach. This is important to realise because there are already mountains of twitter account, websites and other bogus nonsense out there all too eager to claim some personal info of yours or worse some of your hard earned money.

Back on topic, the key thing to look out for will be another Vidoc or perhaps the announcement trailer sometime in the summer. So expect a few months to pass before we get another small (or big) bite of juicy information

Once we know the date you will know. Promise.

March Update

Once again we arrive at the monthly update. So how things are progressing in this blog?

Firstly the series of posts along with video footage of How to Use Vehicles Effectively has finished. If you haven't checked it out go to the archive or the Basic and Advanced page to learn more and increase you skills.

Next up on the agenda will be to take a look into game types, although this may ultimately be one post or two long, it will be very helpful for those who don't know what is what so as to get a general breakdown of current and perhaps future (meaning Halo 4) game types and hoppers etc...

And that leads nicely onto my third point, 343 industries has recently released a First Look ViDoc to the general public. This gives you some brief samples of what the ongoing development is like. Of particular interest will be the graphical and audio improvements which add that atmosphere and depth to any game experience. But of even more important factor for most gamers is the news that the Battle Rifle will be back.

343 also unveiled a couple of Halo 4 multiplayer maps, which will be separate from the campaign and thus built from the ground up, which is great. The two maps on show are Warhouse and Wraparound. Watch the video for more detail on them.

I also advise you to look around youtube for breakdowns of the ViDoc to discover all the little details that you may have missed out.

More details to come on Halo 4 soon.

Armour Abilities: How They Work - Part 3

As everybody knows by now, when Halo Reach hit the shelves back in Sept 2010, and having sampled the beta myself in May 2010, the newly included armour abilities were introduced into the game.

The idea behind armour abilities is to give a player a certain advantage in battle. And to fit in with the story of Halo Reach, the planet Reach was primarily a military fortress world where new technology was being developed. Hence we get these armour abilities. From the next game in the series point of view the armour abilities are a more refined version of the deployable, and 1-time use, equipment from Halo 3.

Now, there are several armour abilities you get to choose from when you begin a match in Halo Reach. These armour abilities are preset by the gametype and match you are playing.

The armour abilities include:

• Sprint
• Evade (elites)
• Armour Lock
• Jet Pack
• Medic (drop shield)
• Camouflage
• Hologram

We'll take each armour ability at a time, describing how it works dynamically, and then a brief note on how to use it to full effect.

Note: all armour abilities have a cool down time once used, which replenishes automatically, some take longer than others. And you get the choice to switch which ability you want to use each time you respawn. So you can keep changing them each time if you want.

Copy and paste over. In part three of this article we will look at the last two of the Armour Abilities. We'll talk about Camouflage and Hologram.


CAMOUFLAGE


Camouflage is an armour ability that renders your character somewhat invisible to the eye. When activated two things happen, you become invisible and the radar gets jammed. The reason for this is for balance so even though you may not be seen, an enemy will know you are nearby.

Things to know about Camouflage. When pressed the ability meter will begin to drain. The rate of drain depends on how fast or slow your character is moving. Camo is more effective when moving slowly and drains the meter much slower. You can fire when camouflaged but the more you do the more visible you will become.

Using camouflage can work well with melee weapons like the sword or hammer, or even the rocket launcher or sniper rifle. You can sneak into position, or stay in a really open place where no one usually travels and still be safe. Camo can be used to distract a whole team when attacking or defending. One player pops their camouflage and the other team will lose their radar to the jamming effect, thus disrupting their flow and co-ordination.


HOLOGRAM


Hologram projects an image of your character when activated. The hologram moves across the terrain to wherever you have pointed your reticle. Holograms serve to confuse your enemy into wasting shots, or distracting them while running away or towards them.


Things to know about hologram. Only one hologram can be activated at a time. The ability recharges quite quickly. If a hologram has not disappeared before a new one is deployed, then the old one will vanish when the new one is activated.

Hologram is mostly used in team sniper games. Hologram is the bane of snipers because not only does a shot become wasted, but your position is revealed as well. A trick that many use when closing in on someone is to send a hologram right at them, this can confuse their aim if done correctly, as both the hologram and the players tend to merge in and out of each other.

So that's all for now on armour abilities. I hope you have a good idea of how they work now and how you can use them to good effect in your online matchups.

Halo 4 Related Info and Videos

Now I know this has broken away from the Halo Reach advance tips sections that is on going. But I want to make this place also about all kinds of Halo related things. So, seeing as Halo 4 is due out near the end of next year I want to keep you up to date with the latest info and hot details that Halo 4 will offer you.

These videos are some of the coolest info about Halo 4. And if you haven't seem them yet there always worth a look:

[Be warned spoilers for previous titles follow this video, read at own discretion]

This first one is the E3 Teaser Trailer from 2011:

So in this video we see the Chief being re-awakened from his cryo sleep chamber after the events of Halo 3, where the Chief and Cortana are stranded  after the ark explosion at the end of the game, in what was left of their derelict ship.

Supposedly the game will pick up what happens next, and may even introduce to the gamer the forerunners themselves, who have been alluded to throughout the series. The forerunners of course are the ancient and intelligent race that built the Halo array, the ark and other technology in the halo universe.

It will be interesting to see if they will be unveiled within the game directly. But we will have to wait and see about that.

Check back tomorrow for the next video.