Master Chief is back from deep sleep for fresh firefights with old foe the Covenant - a military alliance of aliens - and to explore the new jungle landscapes of a planet created by a mysterious - and very violent - race known as the Forerunners.
Super fans and spectators were treated to an epic aeronautical show as the Glyph flew over the River Thames past some of the world’s most iconic landmarks. Dynamic effects wowed crowds as they enjoyed the spectacle of one of the largest lighting art performances ever flown under a helicopter.
Kiki Wolfkill, Halo 4's startlingly-named executive producer, believes part of the solution is to transcend the genre's bullets-and-lasers roots.
Medal of Honour: Warfighter screenshot Medal of Honour: Warfighter based its missions on real events, but failed to impress the critics
"For us, we were specifically shooting for a level of emotional investment in the characters and what you were doing," she tells the BBC.
"Master Chief is clearly a hero but, some would argue, he was a little too much of a two-dimensional hero.
"What we really wanted to explore was what it takes: What is the sacrifice that you have to make, what are the vulnerabilities and challenges and fallibilities that actually make up a real hero?
“The Glyph flyover makes the seemingly impossible world of science fiction a reality, a 50 foot symbol of the Didact hovering in the skies of a major capital city, seems a fitting way to herald the next chapter of this phenomenal blockbuster franchise.”
“Halo”: Fast Facts
The Halo franchise has generated nearly $3 billion in sales since launch
More than 46 million units of Halo games have been sold worldwide
“Halo: Reach” generated more than $200 million in sales in the United States and Europe in the first 24 hours of its release, eclipsing all previous 2010 U.S. entertainment launches, including the three-day opening weekends of Hollywood blockbusters “Iron Man 2”, “Alice in Wonderland” and “Toy Story 3”
First-day sales of “Halo 3” reached $170 million in the U.S., breaking all previous single day entertainment launch records, and breaking the record held by “Halo 2” ($125 million)
Since the launch of “Halo 3,” players have generated more than 120 million pieces of user-generated content from within the game
More than 5 billion hours of “Halo” gameplay has been logged by players while connected to Xbox LIVE
“Halo 4” is the start of a new saga in the “Halo” story which is set to cause a sensation when it hits stores today on Tuesday 6th November 2012. Acclaimed film director David Fincher, the creative visionary behind Hollywood thrillers such as "Fight Club" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", produced an action-packed launch trailer for the game and American talk show host Conan O’Brien and actor Andy Richter are voicing two of the game’s characters. The “Halo 4” Original Soundtrack was composed by award-winning producer and composer Neil Davidge, long-term co-writer and collaborator for music production outfit Massive Attack.
Key Glyph Facts
· The Glyph measures 50 feet in diameter and weighs 3.2 tons
· This is one of the largest and brightest man-made flying structures to ever be flown by helicopter.
· A team of over 50 designers, engineers and fabricators created the Glyph.
· It took approximately 8 weeks to design and construct: 2 weeks to design with the engineers, 4 weeks to build the aluminum structure and 2 weeks to apply the LED lighting.
· There are 455 LED light strips mounted onto 37 panels and a total of 113,096 LEDs of a pure orange color consuming 20 KW of power!
· The dynamic lighting effects are all powered and controlled from an onboard electrical and computer system, which was remote controlled from a boat following the Glyph.
The helicopter flew at a height of 600 feet with the Glyph suspended 350 feet above the River Thames.
Developed by 343 Industries exclusively for Xbox 360, “Halo 4” ushers in the return of its hero, Master Chief, in a newly envisioned sci-fi adventure. Set nearly five years after the events of “Halo 3,” “Halo 4” follows the Master Chief as he ventures into a mysterious new world and discovers an overpowering ancient evil that threatens to annihilate mankind.
