What does Halo: Nightfall, Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo 5 : Guardians have in common? Find out what we learned at San Diego Comic Con 2014 about the exciting news in the Halo franchise.
Halo: Nightfall is the newest live-action feature in the works by producer Ridley Scott and Prison Break creator Paul Scheuring. There will be 5 episodes that are to be released on a weekly basis and take place between Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. Nightfall will be view-able via online streaming on the Xbox One and included in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Actor Mike Colter (The Good Wife), who plays Locke, and Christina Chong (Episode VII), who plays Macer, join the cast for Nightfall and unveiled some important Guardians information during the live panel.
An outer world colony full of animosity and turmoil sets the stage for Nightfall. It is a place inhabited by humans who feel abandoned by the UNSC during the Covenant War. Relying heavily on outdated and salvaged UNSC equipment has created contempt inside this colony against the UNSC who have recently arrived for unknown reasons.
We learned that part of the Halo ring from space also plays a major role in the feature. It is somewhat of a “malevolent character” on its own and was mentioned by Frank O’Connor, Franchise Development Director of 343 Industries. The environment surrounding the story is important for many reasons and due to the beaten down and broken atmosphere of Nightfall, it creates the perfect setting that the Halo series needs to enter into the world that is Halo 5: Guardians.
Not a lot was mentioned about Master Chief, though we are all dying to know… but it is said that Locke has some sort of relationship with him and the Arbiter. We did learn that Locke will be a playable character in Guardians and information about the “Condor”; an accidental slip revealed from the panel informing us that this mid-ranged Troop Transport with hyper-space capabilities will be featured in Halo: Nightfall… as well as the awesome information that it was built on the set of Nightfall.
We also learned that Locke will sport some new Spartan armor in Halo: The Master Chief Collection which we may or may not see in Nightfall. What else do we get to look forward to seeing in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection you ask? Well, let me share with you what we learned about that!
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is available November 11, 2014 and is exclusive to the Xbox One console. The game includes all of the below mentioned games/items ON A SINGLE DISK… woah.
- Halo: CE Anniversary
- Halo 2: Anniversary
- Halo 3
- Halo 4
- All of the Halo: Nightfall episodes
- Beta access for Halo 5: Guardians
The biggest deal about the collection in my opinion is the remastering of Halo 2. You will have the ability to switch back and forth from the older graphics to the new graphics in an instant without affecting your gameplay in classic mode. The cinematics are being remastered as well and are currently being worked on by Blur Studios, those responsible for the incredible cinematics in Halo Wars. The co-op and multiplayer modes will also be remastered and playable via dedicated servers.
Some of the other additions to the Halo: The Master Chief Collection that are important to know are:
- All Missions will be unlocked so returning players can jump straight into their favorite levels from whichever game they choose.
- The Playlist feature is arguably the finest feature on the disk. The availability to choose missions from multiple games or specific game types will awaken the love you have for Halo that you forgot was inside you. Example: Vehicle only missions.
- Over 100 multiplayer maps available on launch. INCLUDING PC maps.
- Multiplayer Map voting will occur after each match and will include maps from all four games on the disk.
- Brand new achievements are being added.
- More skulls added. Making over 30 available.
- …and last but not least… the collection will run on 60fps AND 1080p!
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