Halo 4 was, unless you are an Usher fan, undoubtedly the highlight of Microsoft’s E3 press conference. The gameplay shown there gave gamers a taste of what they can expect when the game launches this fall. It included a new planet, a crashing ship, an alien sphere, new artificial enemies, and lots of Cortana.
This summer, Microsoft is officially launching its marketing campaign for the game, and it looks as if they are sparing no expense. A live-action commercial for the game has been released online, and it shows what happens in the seconds leading up to the ship crash in the gameplay footage shown at E3. Watch as the starship U.N.S.C. Infinity is scanned by an alien intelligence and then dragged through what appears to be a Dyson Sphere-type structure. What that sphere and the artificial aliens have to do with the story in Halo 4 is anyone’s guess. However, the weapons that Master Chief finds are of Forerunner origin, leading me to believe the new planet might have been constructed as a safe-haven from inevitable Halo activations. Check out the ad below, as well as the gameplay footage already released and decide for yourself what exactly is going on:
A word about the date shown at the end of the spot: the commercial is meant to be shown in the U.K., so don’t get your hopes up thinking the game was released this week. Compared to the U.S., the month and day in dates are swapped when shown in most European countries. The release date for the game is still November 6 and is already available for pre-order.