Halo 4 better explained by 343 Industries

Following the release of the Halo 4 ViDoc earlier this week, fans have had a ton of questions surrounding the upcoming Xbox 360 release.  What are these perks that are being talked about?  What is the release date for Halo 4?  Will there be a beta?  Even more detailed questions that ask about ranking system and heads-up-display for the game.

While 343 has taken to the Halo Blog to reveal clarify as much information as possible, there are still many questions left unanswered, but they’ve unloaded a ton of new details about the game in a recent fan Q&A.

You can catch the full session here, or our shoddily put together recap below:

Is 343 excited to release Halo 4?  Yes

Will there be perks?  Yes, sorta but maybe not the kind that are synonymous with the Call of Duty franchise.

Can you customize your Spartan?  Yes, “you will have a wide degree of control over your appearance.”

Will there be a public MP beta?  No

What is the release date for Halo 4?  2012.  Actual ship date will be rolled out in the future.

Will MP playlists balance ranked and social?  Yes, playlists will be tightly focused, consistent, and polished…but will be organic and evolve over time.

What about Forge and Theater?  We will do our best not to disappoint fans of the existing Halo feature set.

Will there be any new characters introduced?  Yes

Will health work the same as in Halo 2 & Halo 3?  No, more details to come and no health box pickups.

Will the Covenant Return?  Yes, in a completely overhauled form.

Details about the return of the Battle Rifle: “The BR is a three-shot burst weapon. It is hitscan. In its current tuning, it has recoil (not bloom) which causes it to rise slightly (in a predictable and suppressible way). It is not a replacement for the DMR as has been discussed in the community. You will not see bloom as it currently exists in Vanilla Reach on any weapon, but there will be different methods for reticle targeting that vary depending on the weapon, and players will have a wide arsenal of weapons to choose from. More news about that later.”

Assassinations Returning?  Yes, altered.

For the full list of fan questions and 343 answers, hit the Halo Portal on Xbox.com