Halo 4 E3 Builds

Halo 4 at E3 2012

In 2012, 343 was poised to release their latest and most ambitious project yet, Halo 4. Drumming up anticipation, 343 took their project to the show-floor at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo. During this time, 343 showed off Halo 4's 3 main game-modes; campaign, wargames, and spartan ops. In order to show off each of the 3 aforementioned game-modes, 343 built 3 different versions of the same game. One that booted to an incredibly limited campaign menu, one that booted to a limited wargames custom games menu, and one that booted to a limited spartan ops menu. These 3 builds would come to be known as the Halo 4 E3 builds. Contrary to what one might initially believe, each build is unique from one another considering each aims to show off different parts of Halo 4.

Halo 4 E3 Build Dates

Build Name	Build Version	Build Date
Keynote	15119.12.05.31.0400.e3m60	Thu May 31 07:22:17 2012
WarGames	15116.12.05.31.0300.e3	Thu May 31 06:19:41 2012
Spartan Ops	15117.12.05.31.0300.e3	Thu May 31 06:23:28 2012

Keynote

The keynote presentation build is perhaps this collections' most interesting build, at first glance. To clarify, this build is the one that 343 played live on stage during the their presentation. Additionally, the build contains an early and highly scripted version of the mission 'Infinity' which is the 4th mission Halo 4's campaign. With the mission being heavily scripted, it is very easy to miss triggers and even entire pieces of dialogue given the player moves in a sporadic manner. Before moving into the brief demo sequence, it is important to first take a look at the introductory menu and its subsequent sub-menus. Pictured below is what a player would be introduced to after selecting the build's given xex. Pictured next to that is the menu that will be loaded upon pressing start.

Initial Menus for the Keynote Build:

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  The start menu in the E3 build.
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  The menu loaded after pressing start in the E3 Keynote build.

As is evident by the pictures above, the menu provided in this build is nothing like the retail game. The retail build would bring players to a complete menu accompanied by options for campaign, infinity, and waypoint; this menu brings players to a locked screen containing only one option, campaign. Additionally, players are unable to back out or progress into the other game modes that the retail build would allow by normal means. Pressing start button will take players to the settings menu where the player is free to set their control preferences, network status, audio/video options, loadout, spartan armor, and emblem. The pictures below showcase the settings menu in its entirety. To quickly preface the next set of information, this article will not be re-posting the settings menus in each of the 3 builds seeing as each of them are identical; instead, this article will aim to only point out the differences given there are any in the next version's settings menu.

Settings Menu of the Keynote/E3 Builds:

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  The settings tab in the E3 build.
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  The Audio/Video tab in the E3 build.
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  The controller tab in the E3 build.
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  The network tab in the E3 build.
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  The fileshare tab in the E3 build. It is disabled for the E3 build.
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  The customize tab in the E3 build.
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  The loadouts tab in the E3 build.
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  The spartan armor tab in the E3 build. Armor variants in wargames.
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  The spartan ID tab in the E3 build.
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  The career tab in the E3 build.

The Keynote Presentation Mission

With the preliminary information out of the way, it's time to delve in to the real meat and bones of this build, the mission itself. As was mentioned, the E3 demo aims to showcase an early and highly scripted version of the mission Infinity; this is the 4th mission in the final game. Upon pressing the only button available, players will be instantly begin loading into the mission. However, before players are able to gain control of Master Chief, they must first endure a cut-scene that shows the UNSC Infinity ship crash landing onto Requiem; this is the planet that Master Chief has also found himself stranded on.

Photograph taken in the E3 2012 build using an unlocked xex which gives players access to theater mode.

Mission Transcription

-TRANSCRIBE THE E3 MISSION-

Differences From Retail

That is one fine ass eel?

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  Whilst making an incredibly brief appearance in the Halo 4 E3 show, this odd creature is no where to be seen in the final game.

WarGames

Talk about war games son!!!

Spartan Ops

Talk about spops son!!!