Halo 4 A Hero Awakens ViDoc

One of the most thankless jobs in the gaming industry has to be taking the reigns of a well-established blockbuster franchise after it’s hit a natural ending point. So how does 343 Industries expect to pull off Halo 4 this year?

Those questions will apparently be answered in the documentary series “A Hero Awakens”, in which the development and production teams wax philosophical about bringing back Master Chief.

In the first episode, the most common theme seems to be not just justifying a way to bring the iconic Spartan back, but justifying a reason for him to go through another trilogy of “being the hero” and humanity’s protector.

Check out the 10-minute video below, which also features the vocal talent behind Master Chief and Cortana, various motion actors, as well as a huge team of artists and programmers talking about Halo 4 in interesting strokes.

It’s actually really cool to see the face-capture and filming techniques used by 343i as they piece together the various cutscenes.

Even the art detail on Master Chief’s armor is noteworthy, since even dings and nicks on his armor have a purpose to them. It’s especially neat the way the story is focusing on Cortana, too, but you should definitely watch it for yourself.

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