Halo 2’s Lockout will have some changes to mix up the game play

Pax 2014 has seen some more details on Halo 2's Anniversary Edition being released.

Game Informer reports on the new Lockout map for the Halo 2 Redux:

“After breaking down the game’s sound, the panel dove into some of the multiplayer updates focusing specifically on the recently revealed Lockout. I played the game yesterday, but the game felt so familiar that I didn’t notice some of the changes, or in other cases, I just didn’t get a chance to interact with them. The corner of the ramp leading from the area with the darkened hallway up to the sniper perch, for example, has been pushed out a little bit, creating a point of cover on the way up and a new place from small skirmishes.

Other changes include the glass in the middle of the battlefield can now be broken, though it must take a significant amount of damage first. A clip of the new Lockout showed a Spartan tossing four grenades on it before it broke. Also, a handful of stalactites now hang above a few key points in the map, and they can be shot down to kill people camping on the sniper perch, for example. Using Forge, these new additions can be removed if you so choose.”

Max Hoberman, a Halo 2 alumni and an original designer said of the map “Lockout was hands-down the most popular small arena-style map in Halo 2. We’re thrilled to be bringing this fan-favorite back, and are paying close attention to the details and subtleties that made the original great while also making a couple of very careful, very calculated enhancements.”

Other changes to the new version of Halo 2 included a completely re-recorded sound track that features the return of guitar maestro.

Comparison of Halo 2 original and new cinematic trailers - it's amazing what can happen in ten years

Here's a side by side video of the trailers of the original Halo 2 game compared with the updated graphics. What Certain Affinity and 343 have pulled off is amazing. This is even more impressive than the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary effort!

Is this the saddest moment that ever happened in a Halo game?

Is this the saddest moment that ever happened in a Halo game? It's the moment in Halo 4 after Cortana and 117 have dealt with the Didact and the Chief realises that despite all he went through in Halo 3 to save her from the Didact and the seven years they spent lost in space together, he is actually about to lose her.

From Halo: Escalation #8

It's been an honour, John.

First look at Jameson Locke from Halo: Nightfall

It's now official that Mike Colter is playing the lead in new Halo show Nightfall. The 1980s kid in me is reminded of GI Joe's Roadblock (one of the best characters from that franchise!)

Here's some official guff from 343 Industries:

We are excited to announce that Mike Colter, best known for his role in CBS's critically acclaimed drama “The Good Wife,” will star in Halo: Nightfall as Agent Jameson Locke.

Halo: Nightfall is a live-action digital series that introduces Jameson Locke, a pivotal new character in the Halo universe, who plays a key role in Halo 5: Guardians. Taking place between the events of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, this is an origin story that will lend insight and understanding into the character he becomes in Halo 5: Guardians.

Led by world class talent such as executive producer Ridley Scott, Scott Free TV President David Zucker, and director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Halo: Nightfall will take full advantage of Xbox One’s seamless blend of high-quality visuals and storytelling and rich interactivity, connecting the games and the series in innovative new ways.

Right click and same the image and use it as wallpaper!

Every single Gears of War cinematic in one You Tube video

A keen Gears of War fan has put together every single cinematic from every single piece of Gears of War content so that they can all be watched over one 6 hour hit. That's some pretty impressive content design that has been released since 2006.

The Prophets call me Arbiter and other things.

Halo 2 Anniversary Trailer, Coagulation Reimagined, and the Gungoose Gets Guns

Halo 2 Anniversary was never just a prettier version of Halo 2. The whole project carried a strange double charge: nostalgia for one of the most important multiplayer shooters ever made, and a new layer of lore designed to pull Halo 2’s story forward into the next era of the franchise.

This promo material leans right into that tension. You have the Arbiter hinting that all may not be as it seems with the Master Chief, terminals promising hidden story, Coagulation reimagined for a new generation, and, because Halo multiplayer always needs a little vehicular nonsense, the Mongoose returning with guns strapped to it.

Concept art of Coagulation reimagined for Halo 2 Anniversary, taking one of Halo’s great wide-open vehicle maps and giving it a cleaner modern presentation.

The Arbiter, the Terminals, and a Bigger Halo Mystery

The trailer is the hook here. It features the Arbiter suggesting that not everything is settled when it comes to the Master Chief. That matters because Halo 2 Anniversary was not simply polishing old cutscenes. It was also using new terminal material to reframe Halo 2 through a wider lens.

The terminals in Halo 2 Anniversary dig into Thel ‘Vadam, the role of the Arbiter, Covenant history, and the larger political and religious machinery behind the Covenant’s collapse. That makes sense. Halo 2 was already the game that cracked the Covenant open from the inside. The Anniversary terminals gave that fracture more shape.

They also helped bridge the story toward Halo 5: Guardians. That was the clever bit. The remaster could honour the past while also placing new clues for where the franchise was heading next.

Lore note: Halo 2 was always the Arbiter’s game as much as Master Chief’s. The Anniversary terminals understood that and used him as the key to explore Covenant history, religious control, and the long shadow of the Prophets.

Coagulation and the Blood Gulch Bloodline

Coagulation is not just another multiplayer map. It is part of Halo’s sacred vehicle-map lineage. Blood Gulch became a legend in Halo: Combat Evolved, Coagulation carried that spirit into Halo 2, and every return to that canyon-style layout brings a little of that old red-versus-blue chaos with it.

The appeal is simple. Two bases. Open terrain. Vehicles. Snipers. Rockets. Flag runs. Terrible driving. Heroic saves. Banshee nonsense. Warthog betrayal. The map is basically a machine for producing stories that sound stupid until you were there.

Reimagining Coagulation for Halo 2 Anniversary meant more than sharpening textures. It meant bringing back a whole style of Halo multiplayer: wide, readable, vehicle-heavy, and built around the glorious stupidity of trying to cross open ground while half the other team is looking straight at you.

The Gungoose: The Mongoose Finally Learns Violence

Also announced was the return of the Mongoose, the little speedster first introduced in Halo 3. Except this time it had guns.

Affectionately known as the Gungoose, this is exactly the kind of sandbox tweak that sounds silly until you imagine the multiplayer possibilities. The original Mongoose was all speed and vulnerability. Useful for flag runs, quick movement, and getting your passenger killed in hilarious fashion. Adding mounted weapons turns it into something more aggressive without losing the reckless charm.

It is still not a tank. It is not a Warthog. It is not trying to be sensible. It is a small, fast, armed vehicle designed to make bad decisions more exciting.

The Gungoose gives the Mongoose a more aggressive role in Halo 2 Anniversary multiplayer. Same reckless speed, now with guns.

Why This Fits Halo 2 Anniversary

Halo 2 Anniversary had a tricky job. It needed to respect one of the most beloved games in the series without freezing it in amber. The campaign could lean on remastered cinematics and terminal lore. The multiplayer could bring back classic map DNA while still adding enough new toys to make the sandbox feel alive.

That is where the Gungoose fits. It is not a betrayal of Halo 2’s identity. It is a small burst of Halo sandbox logic: take a familiar vehicle, add a dangerous twist, and let players do something brilliant or incredibly dumb with it.

Between the Arbiter-focused terminal material, the remade Coagulation, and the armed Mongoose, this promo package understood the job. Honour the old fight, add a few new mysteries, and give multiplayer fans another excuse to shout at each other across a canyon.

Halo: Broken Circle to be released that ties into Halo 2

Simon & Schuster is proud to announce a new Halo novel from John Shirley, releasing on November 4, 2014!

Witness an untold chapter in Halo lore as John Shirley's Halo: Broken Circle takes us to the dawn of the Covenant and the fateful first bargain between the Prophets and the Elites. Broken Circle will explore an Elite splinter group rebelling against the Covenant in its earliest days, a brave Prophet caught in the machinations of the new Covenant leadership, and the root of the betrayal that would ultimately shatter the Covenant during events seen in the blockbuster Xbox game Halo 2.

So who is the dude in the Spartan Suit in Halo 5?

Who I am ?

UPDATE: THIS IS AGENT LOCKE

When Halo 5 was announced you couldn't help but notice the Master Chief was top and tailing with a character wearing a Spartan style armour. The blue glow across their visor simply made me think that this was Cortana who was now  Guardian and was about to embark on another epic adventure with the Chief. I thought cool, and moved on.

Till I spied this article at The Secrets Within today via HBO which discusses the places that Halo 5 may take place. Sanghelios, anyone? What a curious thought! Maybe the Chief had to go pick up the Arbiter for a mission! Were it so easy!

That article lead me to this. An unequivocal statement by a key Halo developer that the character in Halo 5 is NOT Cortana.

For everyone speculating about the mysterious Spartan in Halo 5: Guardians, he’s not Palmer (or Cortana!). He’s a NEW character. :) #Halo
— Josh Holmes (@JoshingtonState) May 16, 2014

So a whole new character. It's not Cortana. It's not Palmer. And I guess it's not Jun if it's a new character either.

So who could it be? I have no bloody idea - I hope it's not simply another human soldier, I want their to be some wonder about this guy. Like we are all wondering now....

One wonders if it will be a tie in to Mike Colter's character from the new Halo series...

Personally I would love it the story followed more of the path set in Halo 4 that any return to Earth, dealing with politics caused by Earthly men, visiting the Arbiter or some such - the Guardians sounds like some entities we need to meet!

Halo 5: Guardians concept art

Halo 5: Guardians Concept Art, Red Flags, Mystery Figures, and the First Hints of a Stranger Campaign

I missed this the first time I read Frank O’Connor’s comments on the Halo 5: Guardians announcement. On a second read, the interesting bit was not only what he said about the game. It was what he quietly slipped into the post: a new piece of Halo 5 concept art.

At the time, that was enough to send Halo fans into full forensic mode. This was before we had the finished campaign, before the full Master Chief versus Spartan Locke marketing push, before the Guardians themselves became the title’s looming Forerunner mystery. A single image could still carry the weight of a dozen theories.

And this one had plenty to chew on.

Early Halo 5: Guardians concept art, released during the announcement period, packed with strange environmental clues and plenty of room for fan speculation.

The Red Flags Are the First Weird Detail

The red flags stand out immediately. Halo concept art is often full of Forerunner geometry, UNSC hard surfaces, Covenant curves, alien skies, and ancient machine architecture. Flags are different. They suggest occupation, settlement, ritual, faction identity, or at least some kind of lived-in territorial claim.

That is why the image was so intriguing. There are not too many red flags waving around on pristine Forerunner structures. Flags feel human, ceremonial, political, or religious. They imply that somebody has arrived, claimed space, and decided the landscape needs a symbol planted in it.

That mattered because early Halo 5 speculation was already circling around the question of where the series could go after Halo 4. Requiem had opened the Forerunner door again. Cortana’s fate had emotionally wrecked the Chief. The Didact had pushed the story into ancient-war territory. Halo 5 needed to show whether the next step was going to be clean military sci-fi, deeper Forerunner myth, or something stranger.

Lore note: The flags are interesting because they make the space feel occupied rather than merely ancient. Halo’s Forerunner environments usually feel buried, sealed, or awakened. This image feels like someone has moved in.

The Giant Figure Behind the Flag

Then there is the giant figure behind the red flag. The old post called him “the giant dude,” which is honestly fair. That is exactly the kind of thing a Halo fan notices first. Big shape. Upright posture. Too large to ignore. Probably important. Possibly hostile. Definitely worth staring at until your eyes invent a theory.

With hindsight, it is tempting to read every early Halo 5 image through the finished game’s major pieces: Guardians, Prometheans, Fireteam Osiris, Blue Team, Sanghelios, Meridian, Genesis, and Cortana’s new role in the Created conflict. But concept art is often more suggestive than literal. It may express tone, possibility, geography, or world-building before the finished story locks everything into place.

That is why this image still works. It does not give the game away. It gives you texture. It says Halo 5 is not just going to be clean corridors and familiar UNSC decks. There are outposts here. Dust. Flags. Watchers. Flying shapes. A world that looks like it has already been altered by someone else’s arrival.

Flying Squiggly Things, Because Halo Loves a Weird Sky

The flying shapes in the background are another tiny detail that helps sell the image. Halo skies have always mattered. The ring overhead in Combat Evolved. The Covenant carriers over New Mombasa. The glassed skies of Reach. The enormous Forerunner structures in Halo 4. Halo likes to remind you that the sky is never empty.

Here, those flying squiggly things make the scene feel alive without making it familiar. Are they wildlife? Machines? Drones? Atmospheric decoration? Something tied to the local environment? The image does not explain, and that was part of the fun.

The best Halo concept art often works this way. It gives you just enough recognisable military sci-fi to feel grounded, then adds something slightly wrong in the distance. The viewer starts building lore before the game even arrives.

The Earlier Halo 5 Art by Sparth

Keen fans may recall the first piece of Halo 5 art to be released. That earlier image, associated with Sparth’s striking design sensibility, leaned into scale, mystery, and the sense that Master Chief was moving through a much larger unknown.

This later image feels less lonely but more politically charged. The red flags change the language. They make the environment feel claimed. The giant figure changes the scale. The flying shapes make the space feel unsettled. Together, the image points toward a Halo world where ancient mystery and active occupation are starting to overlap.

Design note: Sparth’s Halo work often understood the power of scale. The player should feel small, but not lost. That is very Halo: one soldier, one horizon, one impossible structure, and the sense that history is staring back.

Halo 5 is Guardians

Do you remember playing Halo 2 mulltiplayer and you died when you got hit by some random train or died in some weird kind of way and you were informed you were killed by the Guardians?

Well guess what Halo 5 is called? GUARDIANS.

Colour me intrigued.

343 Industries' Bonnie Ross has announced the Halo 5 title today:

I’m happy to reveal that “Halo 5: Guardians,” the next installment in the legendary saga of the Master Chief, will launch on Xbox One in fall of 2015. In the tradition of every “Halo” game since its debut in 2001, it is a massive and exciting project.

“Halo 5: Guardians” is a bigger effort than “Halo 4.” That applies to the content and scope of the game, as well as the technology in what’s now a brand new and more powerful engine. Certainly there are some core elements carried over from prior games, but we’ve invested a huge effort in retooling our tech to take full advantage of the Xbox One’s hardware and ecosystem to create worlds and experiences worthy of next-gen.

It’s a game that will hopefully demonstrate the talent, learnings and abilities of the 343 Industries team. A game that will incorporate the things we learned from “Halo 4” about technology, aesthetics, performance and scale – and perhaps more importantly, understanding and embracing a community of gamers who love what lies at the heart of this game, and the limitless potential of the “Halo” universe.

Here's the full announcement by Bonnie.

And here's the official Halo 5 Logo:

Marty O'Donnell has been fired from Bungie

If you ever played any of the Halo games  right up to Reach you will have listened to the wonderful music of Marty O'Donnell. He's one of the pillars (among many) who built Halo into a massive game franchise and in doing so helped put Bungie on the map.

And now just prior to the release of Destiny, Bungie's board fired him. Here's the tweet of his announcement:

I'm saddened to say that Bungie's board of directors terminated me without cause on April 11, 2014.
— Marty O'Donnell (@MartyTheElder) April 16, 2014

We don't know the full details but scuttlebutt across the net suggests a dispute with the board over pay.

Bungie has posted on their site:

"For more than a decade, Marty O'Donnell filled our worlds with unforgettable sounds and soundtracks, and left an indelible mark on our fans. Today, as friends, we say goodbye. We know that wherever his journey takes him, he will always have a bright and hopeful future.

We wish him luck in all his future endeavors."

Which is a mere kiss off. 

One can imagine Bungie's legion of fans will be pretty unimpressed with this decision.

One can also guess that Micheal Salvatori will pick up the reins as he has been O'Donnell's counterpart for many years now. 

Cliff speaks about Gears being sold.

It's a month after he first posted it, so for those late to the party, Cliff's thoughts on the sale of Gears of War. 


-

Friends,

Waking up today I was drowning in a deluge of emails, tweets, direct messages and smoke signals.

My former employer has sold the Gears of War IP/franchise to Microsoft and my friend Rod Fergusson is going to be working on it.

To be honest, I don’t think the franchise could be in better hands. Heck, Rod’s Twitter handle, to this day, is “Gears Viking.” Gears is just as much Rod’s baby as it was mine. He’ll take good care of her. (Rod, I owe you a girly drink at GDC.)

Phil Spencer went out of his way to give me a phone call to inform me of the transaction last week. Phil, you didn’t have to do that, you’re a gentleman. I appreciate it; that goes a long way. 343 knocked it out of the park with Halo and I think Black Tusk will do a fantastic job with Gears.

I suppose this puts the nail in the coffin of the question “Will Gears ever come to Playstation?”

Safe to say that’s not likely to happen. (Besides, it gives me something to look forward to on Xbox One besides Titanfall and Project Spark…oh and more Halo, of course.)

Now that that’s out of the way…

I’m not going to move to Vancouver and work on it.

I’m not going to consult on it.

My headspace is in the future now, not the past. I have come to realize that until you give people something new to focus on they will obsess about the past. (good problem to have!)

To those of you who love Gears, I love you as well, and I appreciate your support through the years. The fandom, the cosplay, the tattoos, it all means more than any amount of money could ever mean.

These recent events have steeled my resolve to make something entirely new.

Time for new cosplay, new tattoos, new fandom.

Fingers crossed there will be news soon.

Stay tuned.

Love,

Clifford

Halo 5 concept artwork released by 343 Industries.

It’s been fair while since the new Halo game teaser was released to eager fans and now Josh Holmes has finally given us a bone, here is some concept artwork of “ an early exploration of a new location that features prominently in a little game project we’re tinkering with…. “. Which obviously means Halo 5. Not that Halo 5 is actually called Halo 5 yet.



The artwork is by “Sparth” who has done a fair bit of design work for Halo as Lead Concept Artist. Josh announced that Sparth is now Art Director for 343 Industries which means Sparth's Halo vision will be an even more strong influence on the franchise.

I’m guessing but this appears to be some kind of ‘ship yard' or a hangar port. What do you think?