Halo 4′s Multiplayer ‘really pushes things forward’

The best Halo ever?

There’s only one week between the release of Halo 4 and Call Of Duty: Black Ops II, and with both 343 Industries and Treyarch innovating with multiplayer in all kinds of new ways, just how will the two blockbuster games compare?

With Infinity, Spartan Ops and Halo 4′s plethora of new modes (plus a really exciting new animated series) headlining the changes, we caught up with 343′s creative director, Josh Holmes, to find out just how Halo’s multiplayer is being reinvented…

X360: Halo 4 still feels like Halo, right?

“Absolutely,” laughs creative director Josh Holmes. “It feels distinct and yet there are elements in the game that are very intentionally familiar. There’s a core to Halo that we very deliberately wanted to preserve.

“We wanted it so that fans of the series that have been playing since the beginning could come to Halo 4 and feel like they were stepping into a familiar set of clothes, but at the same time be surprised by some of the new things that we’ve brought to the table.”

“I think that there’s an overall approach that we’ve taken, the way we’re telling the story or designing the multiplayer, that is very different and distinctly our own. I think that people will appreciate that as much as they recognise those similarities and connection points of the previous games.”

X360: Was it always the intention to coat Halo 4′s multiplayer with a narrative?

“It’s very ambitious,” boasts Holmes, “and it’s something we wanted to do that really pushes things forward. We wanted to create a game that was unlike anything players had experienced before and it’s one of the things we’re most excited about as a team.”

“We’re really seeing the experience come together now and there’s a whole [animated] series that runs alongside Spartan Ops and Infinity that tells the story of the ship and gives you characters to invest in and care about. Our hope is that even if you’re not a fan of multiplayer you can invest in the storytelling of the series itself and that will help bring more people to the Halo universe.”

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