Halo is celebrating summer all season long with new content, merchandise, and exciting announcements. Here’s a quick taste of what the franchise has lined up this season.
Halo 5
With the growing excitement for the upcoming Xbox One X release and the promise of true 4K gaming, many were quick to note that Halo 5 was absent from the game list that would be receiving the 4K treatment. But fear not, 343 has officially confirmed that Halo 5 will be coming to the Xbox One X in full 4K glory.
More Backwards Compatibility
Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo 4, and Halo: CE Anniversary will become available for the Xbox One backwards compatibility program. This includes the campaign, multiplayer, and LAN play support. On top of that, every Xbox 360 add-on map pack will be made available for free from the Xbox store. And if you already own the games from before, there will be no need to rebuy them — just pop in the original disc and jump right in.
Halo Wars 2
Halo Wars 2 has received several updates, balance tweaks, and add-on contents since it’s release back in February. So far, Season Pass holders have received four months of new updates, with more to come in July and August.
Once August has come and gone and the Season Pass has ended, Halo Wars 2 fan will have the new premium expansion to look forward to. “Awakening the Nightmare,” will include a new campaign from the perspective of The Banished, the return of an ancient, deadly foe in the Flood, a brand-new multiplayer mode, and two new Banished Leaders.
Hitting the Road
Halo and the 343 team will be several events this summer, mingling and celebrating the Halo with the community. Here’s a list of the events they’ll be attending:
- RTX Austin 2017: July 7-9
- HCS Summer Finals @ Dreamhack Atlanta: July 21st
- China Joy: July 27-30
- Gamescom: August 22-26
Legendary Halo Gear
More LootCrates!
The Halo Legendary Crate is back after the success of the first wave of excellent content. The Series 2 creates are available for purchase now and slated to bring even more exclusive Halo gear and content. Secure your ownat the LootCrate website.
Mattel Action Figures
The second series of 6” Halo action figures from Mattel has launched. This set includes Arbiter Thel ‘Vadam, Spartan Buck, Jerome-092, Atriox, and the Imperial Grunt.
Expanded Universe
Halo: Rise of Atriox
In partnership with Dark Horse, fans will get a closer look into Atriox’s past, and the rise of his legacy. Fans got a glimpse of this history during Isabel’s initial intelligence report on the UNSC Spirit of Fire. Those events and more will be told through this brand-new comic anthology series.
Halo: Retribution
August 29th will bring a new book, written by Troy Denning. The description for this novel reads as follows:
December 2553. Less than a year after the end of the Covenant War, a string of violent incidents continues to threaten the tenuous peace in human-held space, culminating in the assassination of UNSC fleet admiral Graselyn Tuwa and the abduction of her family. It is a provocation so outrageous that the Office of Naval Intelligence must retaliate swiftly and ferociously—but only after its operatives identify her killer and rescue the hostages.
This mission will be the first for homicide-detective-turned-ONI-operative Veta Lopis and her young team of Spartan-IIIs, and something feels wrong from the start. The obvious suspect is an infamous Brute who leads the Keepers of the One Freedom, an ex-Covenant splinter group in fierce opposition to the UNSC. But Lopis and her team soon realize that the truth is much more insidious than they could ever have imagined, and with Fred-104, Kelly-087, and Linda-058 of Blue Team for combat support, they must stop a plan hatched in the bowels of the secret research station Argent Moon—a plan so sinister it could destroy all those still reeling from thirty years of intergalactic conflict…
Even More for Halo 5
Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Halo 3
It’s the 10th anniversary of Halo 3 and to celebrate this milestone, the 343 team is planning a special Halo 3 Anniversary Throwback playlist for Halo 5. This new matchmaking offers a selection of community-made Halo 3 maps created with Forge in Halo 5 and will feature “classic” gameplay settings. There will also be a commemorative live stream that will offer fun times and giveaways.
Halo 5 Matchmaking
The matchmaking fun will continue through the summer with regular featured playlist updates including returning favorites and brand-new offerings. The Halo 5 team will be cooking up all manners of fun things for fans, from Multi-Team to Double XP, and the return of fan favorites like Ranked Snipers and more.
You can find out more about the Summer Celebration over on Halo WayPoint.
Published: Jul 7, 2017 06:31 pm