320°

Halo 1 to Halo 4: 56 Images Showing The Evolution Of Halo

"Halo 4 comes out on November 6th for the Xbox 360, and we know for a fact that the game looks incredible, and is a massive boost as far as the visuals are concerned. However, let’s take a look back at all the amazing Halo games to have been released so far; no no, don’t worry, you don’t have to read a lot of text here, just enjoy the splattering of 56 images we have for you that shows the series’ evolution from Halo 1 which came out a decade ago to Halo 4 that will release soon."

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gamingbolt.com
telekineticmantis4208d ago

well microsoft understands their hardware compared to the beginning of the gen.

gameseveryday4208d ago

Indeed. The change in visuals and design from Halo 3 to Halo 4 is simply breathtaking.

InactiveUser4208d ago (Edited 4208d ago )

A lot of the pics are CGI cutscenes and concept art.

Halo 4 - 4 of 7
Halo CE Anniversary - 4 of 7
Halo Reach - all 7 of 7?
Halo ODST - 4 of 7
Halo Wars - 3 of 7
Halo 3 - at least 5 of 7

Grap4208d ago

@EeJLP-
u do realize that all of it is in game engine?

Intentions4208d ago

@EeJLP

They're all in game and some of the images are from an old build of the game.

Kohven4208d ago

@EeJLP...Shut up. Please.

humbleopinion4208d ago

I'm sorry to say this but EeJLP is mostly right. This Gamingbolt article (like most of their stuff) has some pretty miserably chosen pictures that supposedly represent the quality in each game.

And these choices are weird, since all Halo games (Except for Halo Wars which uses CGI) have all the cutscenes done in realtime by the engine. And from Halo 3 onwards you can see amazing screenshots better representing the actual game thanks to the theater mode. Why didn't they simply include these? You can't see how well the actual game evolved based on concept art shots.

Yet somehow the people at Gamingbolt chose to include in the comparison stuff like concept art and even screens from promotional CGI ads (from the Halo 3 superbowl ad). It seems like they try to nullify how much the engine advanced because you can't really compete with those pre-rendered CGI shots for Halo 3.

@EeJLP- good analysis. A few corrections however:
In Halo Reach Images 2 and 3 are also done real time in engine so that's 4 out of 7 shots from the actual game. In Halo Reach you can choose the adjust the look of your spartan helmet and armor, so Bungie can't pre-render each helmet configuration in a video. I think that the 6th screenshot is also from actual game and not from a cutscene, simply captured with a free roaming camera.

In Halo 4 screenshots 1 and 5 are from the actual engine as well. They are not concept art but part of a cutscene (and if 343 stuck to the same approach as Bungie did before, they are done in real-time as well). If you look for similar images you can find a supersized identical image which clearly shows it's not concept art.

shivvy244207d ago

you do realise there were halo games between 3-4 but yes reach and 4 has a leap in graphics

otherZinc4207d ago (Edited 4207d ago )

@EeJLP,

Sure, however, what difference does it make what the pics look like?

One thing thats indisputable is the fact that Halo has evolved better than any shooter in history.

If you've actually played all Halo's you wouldnt be ridiculous enough to write such a comment:
Halo 1: had indestructible vehicles
Halo 2: they would explode
Halo 3: brought us Forge, more physics, 4 player co-op
Halo Wars: gave newbies insight into RTS play
ODST: gave us Firefight
Halo Reach: brought us running, jet-packs, & more...
Halo 4: is going to be incredible from everything shown...

I could go on all day of the many changes made to Halo games that other shooters still dont perform to this day in 2012!

I disagreed with you on all post though you were correct in the pics. However, if they showed gameplay or described gameplay from Halo 1 through 4; the differences are better than every shooter, period!

AllroundGamer4207d ago

@EeJLP- bubble + for stating the truth and you got balls to state something like that here with all the Halo fanboys :)

@Grap and Avatar movie was also in engine right? :D

TheRealSpy4207d ago (Edited 4207d ago )

funny, cuz every time you say something like this about a ps3 exclusive you lose bubbles, get marked as trolling, and nobody ever tells you that you have "balls."

he is right about some of the pics though. but that doesn't take away from the clear evolution reflected in the pics that are in-game.

my favorite pics are the ones from halo 2. you forget just how amazing that game looked for the last generation. probably why all those trolls said halo 3 didn't look that good. even though it was a big leap, it could have been larger if the first xbox wasn't as powerful as it was.

btw, this was posted on reddit already: http://imgur.com/a/gybri ...all the images on one page.

humbleopinion4206d ago

Are you guys serious !?

The one person here that actually states the facts and bothers to look things up is get marked for trolling, while people who write stupid things like "it's all in-game" about photos which are clearly markes as concept art are gettings so many agrees!?

I'm sorry people, but your blindness is making you miss the whole point: The Gamingbolt article should have been the one to blame. EeJLP- just pointed it out.

What the article actually does it NULLIFY how much the Halo series advanced between games, because when you compare an in-game photo from Halo 4 to a CGI sequence from Halo 3 to a concept art photo from Halo Reach, you can't properly see how much the ACTUAL ENGINE has advanced.

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 4206d ago
OC_MurphysLaw4208d ago

I love these kind of gaming evolution articles. I am always amazed by the evolution of some of the longer series. I wish more sites would do these kinds of comparisons instead of the "which sku/version looks better" fanboy articles.

Summons754208d ago

Really amazing to see the differences. It kinda urks me that they put in Halo Wars when it wasn't even made by Bungie or (obviously) 343I. Sure it was a good game but they should have stuck with the main entries in the series. Still a lot of good memories with Halo, from the year it was released to now.

3-4-54208d ago

Yea..It was made by a developer much better than bungie.

Ensemble Studios.

SJPFTW4207d ago

yahh they are so good they got disbanded LOL

ChunkyLover534208d ago

We've come a long way, hard to believe there was a time when Halo CE was the epitome of great graphics. When that game released people were going nuts because it looked so good.

aviator1894208d ago

Wow, huge differences between Halo 3 and Halo 4. Even Reach pales in comparison.

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50°

Master Chief Became More Than A Machine In 343's Halo

In Halo 4, 5, and Infinite, Master Chief became a more nuanced, human character.

In spite of the Halo series’ struggles, 343 deserves praise for adding nuance and characterisation to the ever-beating heart of Halo - The Master Chief. Playing through Infinite, it's abundantly clear that the events of the current and previous trilogies have irrevocably changed the iconic hero. He’s no longer the ‘blank slate’ that was previously presented by Bungie. He’s a fatigued, damaged and fallible protagonist, and one who is meandering through currents of grief, while reveling in his newfound agency. Giving the Chief a compelling and meaningful voice was no small feat, and 343 should be proud of that victory.

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thegamer.com
kingnick405d ago

This article completely misses part of the appeal of the original iteration of character in the original game trilogy. It was the Chief and Cortana vs an entire alien collective. The blank slate Bungie displayed in their games was genius, he was an mysterious hero a wide audience could identify with because he wasn't as clearly defined as most characters.

The books added a lot of lore and backstory but most Halo players just want a fun game with exposition that doesn't get in the way of gameplay, it's why the Cortana level in Halo 3 was derided.

Not every character has to be a damaged soyboy, a soldier has to suck it up and do his duty.

BandarHub405d ago

A lot of people give the 343 version of Master Chief a lot of slack.
But Fundamentally he is still the same character, he just has a couple more dialogues. He has not changed in terms of attitude.
"Not every character has to be a damaged soyboy, a soldier has to suck it up and do his duty."
And that's what he has done at the end of the day, he did his duty. Watch his partner die, and was ready to destroy the weapon in Halo infinite....he is still the same soilder that everyone remembers

Halo Infintes one was a nice balance between both.

slate91405d ago

Chief and the halo franchise became a joke under 343

Sciurus_vulgaris405d ago

The 343i Master Chief has is based on the books. However, in Halo 4-Infinite, the Master Chief overtime become. gradually becomes more willing to show some emotion.

Obscure_Observer405d ago

"However, in Halo 4-Infinite, the Master Chief overtime become. gradually becomes more willing to show some emotion."

Which is awesome! I love how Master Chief become more John and less soldier.

Sciurus_vulgaris405d ago

I didn’t even notice my typos,lol

50°

Halo's Identity Problem Began With an Admirable Mess

It’s a law of nature that eventually, every long-running game franchise will have a particular entry that gets dinged for straying too far from what made it so fun in the first place. Your Super Mario Sunshine, your Dragon Age II, Assassin’s Creed III, and so on. Whether or not that opinion changes more favorably over time, the initial specter of negativity will forever hover it. Microsoft’s Halo is no exception, except that negative specter hasn’t hovered over one particular game, but one whole studio.

The3faces525d ago

True Halo 4 was a sign of 343i's incompetence and the decline of Halo.

180°

10 Years Later, Halo 4 Proves Itself a Disappointing Omen for Halo Infinite

Halo 4 released 10 years ago today, and its disappointing reception was just an omen of things to come with 343 Industries at the helm.

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gamerant.com
Sonyslave3534d ago (Edited 534d ago )

Halo 4 and infinite have a 87 on metacritic and five a 84🤣. 343i need contents and everything else will play it self out.

ChasterMies533d ago

Halo 4, 5, and Infinite reviews are good examples of the pressure on review sites to score everything between 8-10 out of 10.

ChubbyBlade533d ago

As if reviews scores are any indication of a franchises health.

Halo has been in shambles for YEARS

-Foxtrot534d ago

Halo 4-6 are like the Star Wars sequel trilogy

They all just seem like a brand new games with small connections to the last one but no solid arc connecting them, you’re just told stuff that happened off screen in between the games and nothing makes sense

It’s like they didn’t plan a new trilogy out

CoNn3rB533d ago

That's actually a pretty good way to sum it up

LucasRuinedChildhood533d ago (Edited 533d ago )

I would argue that the new Star Wars trilogy is still better. lol

Most Halo fans would kill for the equivalent of The Force Awakens at this stage (a competent rehash of what came before it). Halo Infinite tried to be that but was undercooked and failed. Halo 4 wasn't that either - they started messing with the formula straight away although the story was okay.

There was nothing particularly compelling about Halo 5's story besides the fake plot they advertised. The Last Jedi is a divisive movie but as RedLetterMedia would say, it was "sporadically interesting" because it tried some new things and set up things that could have been great (like Kylo teaming up with Rey after backstabbing Snoke). That conversation with Yoda is great and it felt like the real Yoda, not that CGI thing in the prequels.
- "Skywalker, still looking to the horizon. Never here, now, hmm? The need in front of your nose."
- "The greatest teacher, failure is ... Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters."
- "That library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess." (because she already took them, haha).

The Rise Of Skywalker is the only one where loads of stuff happens off screen ("Palpatine has returned") in between and nothing makes sense because ... they just needed a main villain and 100 star destroyers to blow up. They could have done something much better.

MrChow666533d ago

no, all disney star wars sucks also disney marvel and everything godamn disney touches

533d ago Replies(3)
Yui_Suzumiya533d ago

Um, didn't Halo 4 have the best campaign out of the new Trilogy? Lol

ChubbyBlade533d ago

Yep and even then it wasn’t very good.

Levii_92533d ago

I'm getting a good gaming laptop soon and i'm finally going to play through the Halo franchise again plus Infinite but i never played Halo 4 before .. can anyone tell me how's the campaign in comparison to the games before it and compared to Halo 5 ?

Stanjara533d ago

Halo 4 campaign great, multi bad.
Halo 5 campaign trash, multi good.

Best Cortana halo 4.

ChubbyBlade533d ago (Edited 533d ago )

Halo 4 was when they started turning it into a “modern” game. Aka taking tips from CoD.

The older titles were sandbox based with weapons that all filled a niche and vehicles that did the same. Open levels with multiple ways to approach in different spots with different weapons etc.

Halo 4/5 doesn’t have that. It’s a linear shooter and nothing else. The story is alright but that’s about it. If it wasn’t a halo game, it would be ok but because it is a halo game, it’s outshone by the previous games.

It’s a hell of a lot better than 5 though. I found infinite pretty meh

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