As much as 343 Industries may not like it, there is, and has always been a large portion of Halo players whose interest begins and ends with the singleplayer campaign. There’s nothing wrong with being more interested in taking on computer-controlled Covenant throughout the fiction the developers have concocted, than facing the looming threat of online griefers.
But for Halo 4, 343 is doing everything they can to change up multiplayer, from adding a brand new co-op, story-based episodic campaign in Spartan Ops, to applying an overarching persistence via the UNSC Infinity. A new video walkthrough provides a closer look at how traditional multiplayer modes will work on the newest revealed map, Abandon.
The new video walkthroughs come courtesy of IGN, who got a chance to see the Abandon multiplayer alongside lead multiplayer level designer Kynan Pearson. A smaller 4v4 map, Abandon, like every multiplayer map within Halo 4, has been created with specific fiction and backstory. Compared to every other multiplayer map we’ve seen in screenshots and gameplay footage, it is clear that 343 has challenged themselves to not use the same aesthetic twice, and the swampy, overgrown style of Abandon is evidence.
Where the previously detailed Longbow map is built around a UNSC magnetic launcher, Abandon centers around a science facility, established to investigate ‘unfortunate circumstances.’ The title is fitting, considering the deteriorating man-made structures overgrown with alien plant life – not helped by the single player navigating the space in the walkthrough video. Whatever happened on Abandon, and whether it has anything to do with The Flood, it sure helps set the mood.
The same basic story of genetic research on live specimens gone bad was implied in the Lockout map, as Halo 2 players will recall, but the extent to which players will be exposed to each of Halo 4‘s map-fiction isn’t yet clear. Will Abandon’s attached meaning stretch beyond implications, or not? What is obvious is that the carnage encouraged by the small, uneven map’s layout will work exceedingly well for straight-up Slayer, or even the new Flood Mode as well.
The map is chock-full of seemingly random boulders and passageways, so those hoping to be effective on day one would be wise to study the walkthrough video at great lengths. And try to decipher exactly what mysterious creatures those are being studied in the facility’s lab…
If you’ve got any theories on their exact nature, or how you think 343 will bring the multiplayer maps into the larger fiction, we’re eager to hear them. The developers have made it clear that they’re already thinking years down the line, so keeping these hints in mind going forward may pay off later.
Are there any notable features or potential concerns you noticed in the walkthrough? Share them in the comments.
Be sure to check out the series of video walkthroughs released in the lead up to launch:
- Ragnarok Multiplayer Map Walkthrough
- Meltdown Multiplayer Map Walkthrough
- Adrift Multiplayer Map Walkthrough
- Complex Multiplayer Map Walkthrough
- Flood Mode Multiplayer Walkthrough
- Forge Mode Walkthrough
Halo 4 will be released on November 6, 2012, exclusively for the Xbox 360.
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Follow me on Twitter @andrew_dyce.
Source: IGN
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Yeah, I am one of those Campaign first types, which is WHY ODST was so good. And Reach was better. Halo 4 seems to be taking the right direction, its edgy, but its also fun (if the dubstep is anything to go by) and those 2 things are giving me lots of hope. But everything has been about Multiplayer…which is OK, but its not my reason for loving Halo. Halo 3 was a good story, lots of Campaign time (on Legendary) and the MP could be fun even with spammers and cheaters. But Reach was better Campaign….except it was SHORT! And then the MP was dodgy for a Halo 3 vet like me to come to grips with (I still mangle controls between games, button layout is frustrating) not to mention the change to the weapon powers…seriously snipers were a one-shot kill before, now a guy can survive a headshot if your bloom is a bit high, even if the bullet is dead on! No love there. So please, I know you want the MP community to love you 343 but remember that the Campaign crew were here first, and are the MOST LOYAL!!
Yeah Halo Reach’s campaign was badass. I too liked ODST. I didn’t at first, but after a couple more playthroughs I appreciated the deeper focus on narrative. But I feel like Halo 4 is going to have the best campaign yet.
I had trouble with Reach’s button mapping, too, but there’s an option to change the layout to Halo 3′s exact layout.
I agree, Reach and ODST both had amazing campaigns, but both were too short, in my opinion. Soloing Reach on Legendary made it much longer, though (especially on that last mission). I don’t have any doubt that the Halo 4 campaign will be just as amazing as previous games, if not more so.
Another thing I notice, SOOOO many people griping about the music in the trailers for the Promethian and Mantis trailers. I have ALL the soundtracks, and the extended stuff too, this is the RIGHT direction for Halo to go. I played all the Assassins Creed games so far and the one thing that kept making them better was the PROGRESSION. Ezio learns to FIGHT, and by Revelations he is seasoned to a point most developers NEVER manage to acheive. MC has a trilogy under his belt, and 2 spin offs that flesh out his universe, but if you play him from CE to Halo 3 the only change is his armor and the fact he trusts Cortana enough to risk going to the Ark to find her solution. Other than that the character has NOT grown! Now that 343i is working on it, it seems that the MC WILL grow, and having a edgy playful side to a lethal super soldier is to me a GOOD thing. The music is just ONE step in what I think will be a good direction, seeing how so far the Chief has not said a whole lot. That to me is by design, his character is supposed to be player open, so it becomes an experience shared BY the players instead of an experience the player is guided thought. But its time for some expansion, and a fresh attitude. I hope the “dubstep” or “electronica” will mix with the orchestral we are so familiar with to gain a new feel for the character.
God no. No dubstep, please. A new direction, sure. But dubstep will ruin the game for me.