Halo rumour true after all?

By Ellie Gibson Published 11 April, 2006

Plus: Halo MMO coming?

Despite Bungie's claims to the contrary, US magazine Game Informer has declared that its article on Halo: Forerunner is not, in fact, an April Fool's joke.

According to the article, Forerunner will feature "huge persistent worlds" built around a modified Halo 2 engine. It'll also have a co-op mode for up to four players.

A Bungie type dismissed the article as "an April Fool's gag" on the developer's forum - but in its latest issue, Game Informer says it's all true.

And that's not all - the mag is also claiming that Bungie's rumoured 'Project Orion' relates to a special ops team which is looking at the possibility of developing a massively multiplayer Halo game.

Sounds like fun - but is it fact or fiction? Well, looks like we'll just have to wait and see what turns up at E3 now, doesn't it...

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (51) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Teeth #1 6 years ago

    I'd play a Halo MMO.

  • Blerk #2 6 years ago

    I wouldn't.

  • groovychainsaw #3 6 years ago

    I'd wait and see what it is like first....

  • Teeth #4 6 years ago

    That's all the MMO stances covered then.
    Edited by Teeth at 11/04/06 @ 11:33

  • coojam #5 6 years ago

    The only thing good about Halo is the combat and action (but don't get me wrong, that is brilliant)

    I'm not gonna play an MMO until they can transfer something like that across.

    Ooh I wonder if Halo will be the one to do it...

  • Cabelo #6 6 years ago

    Surely I'm not the only one who was convinced Halo was pretty standard?

  • Darkedge #7 6 years ago

    Forerunner will feature "huge persistent worlds" built around a modified Halo 2 engine. It'll also have a co-op mode for up to four players.

    a huge persistant world for only 4 players in coop? that sounds dodgy.

    Tabula Rasa from Garriot should do the first true combat and action in an mmo properly

  • smelly #8 6 years ago

    Halo MMO : £50
    Monthly Fee : £20

    Ability to play as extra character : £10
    Extra dungeon : £20

    etc etc

    License to print mney

  • Glitch #9 6 years ago

    I think Halo2 was not a fantastic improvement on Halo1 and for Halo3 it will have to be seriously good.

    A Halo MMO sounds like real fun, bring it on!

  • Triggerhappytel #10 6 years ago

    ...Whatever.

    So what's next? Halo Karting? Halo: Strategy Evolved? Super Halo Fighter?

    Why don't Bungie just put all their effort into making Halo 3 as good an action FPS as possible, and hopefully -much- better than the smelly pile of poo which was Halo 2.

    "Halo2 was not a fantastic improvement on Halo1"

    Multiplayer aside, Halo 2 was not an improvement on Halo 1 at all.
    Edited by Triggerhappytel at 11/04/06 @ 11:52

  • QuickBen #11 6 years ago

    A Halo MMO sounds a bit like Planetside to me? Not that thats a bad thing imo.

  • gizmo #12 6 years ago

    Halo2 lost the 'weight' in the vehicles which was a massive step backwards IMHO.

    Also, the shield mode of operation was better in Halo 1.

  • Repsode #13 6 years ago

    Triggerhappytel, don't forget that Halo was originally an RTS early in its dev cycle.

    Halo: strategy evovled could still happen.

    Halo, the game was pretty bog-standard, Halo,The universe and storyline, was what made it kick ass. An MMO would be brilliant at expanding this.

  • MrGrumpy.au #14 6 years ago

    Triggerhappytel, hey it worked for Nintendo (Mario spinoffs) so why not? ;)

    Agreed on the Halo 2 v Halo comment.
    Edited by MrGrumpy.au at 11/04/06 @ 12:03

  • quantumsheep #15 6 years ago

    "A huge persistant world for only 4 players in coop? that sounds dodgy."

    Made me think of Phantasy Star Online....

  • Triggerhappytel #16 6 years ago

    "Triggerhappytel, don't forget that Halo was originally an RTS early in its dev cycle."

    I didn't know that, so thanks. TBH I wouldn't want to see a Halo RTS. It could be good but would just smack of franchise bastardisation to me. As I said; I'd rather Bungie put the time & effort into making Halo 3 rock.

    If they want to make a strategy game, just make up a new franchise. Don't go all Mario on us and have eleven thousand different types of game.

  • Blerk #17 6 years ago

    So what's next? Halo Karting? Halo: Strategy Evolved? Super Halo Fighter?

    Halo Party!
    Halo Tennis!
    Halo, Is It Me You're Looking For?

  • The-Bodybuilder #18 6 years ago

    What is it about the word "halo" that just brings out the haters?

    I mean seriously, for people who don't care much about it, you seem to spend quite a lot of time posting in anything halo-related, just so you can tell us how much you don't like halo.

  • Kami #19 6 years ago

    Blerk, tsk, you forgot Super Halo Fighter 2 Turbo...

    For shame...

  • PinkSpider #20 6 years ago

    @QuickBen

    Yea, that was my thoughts too. What would be cool is a mmo game like planetside but in the 4 player Co-Op you could train your characters and that (like PSO).

    Never been a big fan of Halo myself mind, but something like that would tempt me.

  • MrGrumpy.au #21 6 years ago

    @The Bodybuilder, not sure where the Halo hate is in these comments.

    Don't say Blerks comments as Blerk is just being Blerk. :D

  • Blerk #22 6 years ago

    I don't hate Halo. I quite like Halo.

    I hate MMOs, though. :-)

  • fluff_the_tiger #23 6 years ago

    guess I am the only one that thought the the story line, action, graphics and everything was better in halo 2. o well

  • Gl3n #24 6 years ago

    Fucking with the original concept makes me nervous

  • jlaakso #25 6 years ago

    I was really rather disappointed with Halo 2, being an embarrassingly huge fan of the original. So I'm really cautious about another installment. Even though Bungie must be aware of the fanbase's mixed reactions to Halo 2's singleplayer (/co-op) content and I do expect them to do better next time.

    However, an MMO would interest me. Halo's scifi world is miles better than most of the videogame worlds out there, so there's potential.

  • Shrui #26 6 years ago

    Not a Halo fan (didn't hate it, it just didn't do anything for me other than give us RvB). Depends how the MMO is implemented, if it is a MMORPG then it will fail pretty quick.

    If however we're looking at a Planetside like MMO then that would be different and if done better then I would finally have a reason to buy a 360! For me 4 player would be a waste of time, it would really need to be epic scale battles against hundreds of others.

  • Xerx3s #27 6 years ago

    "I wouldn't."

    Jesus, are you STILL playing barbie horse adventures? I thought that you would be interested in something else by now...

    ;p

  • MyPointIs #28 6 years ago

    A kidtastic fragging Halo MMO ... Meh!

    A Red vs Blue Halo RPG ... I'm in!

  • Kiigan #29 6 years ago

    Does anyone still care about Halo though, after Halo 2?

    As much as I enjoyed (half of) the original Halo, these "Forerunner" rumours give very little away - certainly nothing to get excited about just yet. Let's just wait for E3.

    As for an MMO, I just can't see it. Halo has little going for it other than fast and furious shooting action - there's no story, just a bunch of hokey plagiarised sci-fi clichés and the plant from Little Shop of Horrors. This MMO rumour is likely to be just wishful thinking.

  • Dizzy #30 6 years ago

    Well if anybody can take on WoW, it surely must be a Halo MMORPG. We could use an SF MMORPG that is good. Apparently the rumor has it that Ensemble or Bioware is gonna work on that.

  • Triggerhappytel #31 6 years ago

    "Halo has little going for it other than fast and furious shooting action - there's no story, just a bunch of hokey plagiarised sci-fi clichés and the plant from Little Shop of Horrors."

    I think the concept and design of the Halo universe is pretty solid. The idea of mankind going through it's darkest hour against an unstoppable enemy might be old hat, but Bungie pulled it off well enough to make it feel fresh. Particularly, the vehicle, character, weapon and enemy designs were exceptional on all fronts.

    But then everything I liked about the first game was ruined by Halo 2, where instead of giving us a bit more depth to the military, the characters and their struggles, we had to endure a load of old rubbish about Covenant politics and a bloody great Venus fly trap.

    I'd like a return to form for the third game please, and a more straightforward story. This isn't Metal Gear 2, y'know.

  • reality_cheque #32 6 years ago

    As for an MMO, I just can't see it. Halo has little going for it other than fast and furious shooting action - there's no story, just a bunch of hokey plagiarised sci-fi clichés and the plant from Little Shop of Horrors. This MMO rumour is likely to be just wishful thinking.

    Halo DOES have a story, you just have to read the books as most of it is just hinted at in the games. There's actually quite a good plot to them, considering you can get all 3 from under a tenner in a little box set it's a damn good purchase.

    Halo 1 : I loved the SP, enjoyed the MP
    Halo 2 : I liked the SP, loved the MP
    Halo 3 : *fingers crossed*

  • AHiFi #33 6 years ago

    And there's also another book in the works, currently titled "Ghosts of Coral". Add to that the graphic novel as well.

    I enjoyed Halo 2's single player; not as much as the original. The multiplayer did make up for it. Well...for a while. :(

    Dizzy - I'm confused...is that Street Fighter MMORPG or a Star Fox MMORPG? :p I really can't think of what you mean.

  • Triggerhappytel #34 6 years ago

    "Dizzy - I'm confused...is that Street Fighter MMORPG or a Star Fox MMORPG? :p I really can't think of what you mean."

    I think he means Sci-Fi.

  • Mr_Brown #35 6 years ago

    Halo MMO...I'm interested. I didn't like the story direction they took for Halo 2. I feel that they are so close to making Halo Universe like the Star Wars universe. They just need to add a few more races and get that story sorted. Perhaps a spin off to the game is needed. Perhaps play as a Marine or a space bandit whos accidently discovered another alien race which isn't the covenant or the flood.

    Well I'm interested in a Halo MMO, lets just hope they expand the unverse in a good way and don't just make a cheap 'its Halo but as a MMO' type thing.

  • Lukus #36 6 years ago

    At the moment I have absolutely zero interest in a Halo MMO. That could obviously change with time and more information but for the moment I'm far more interested in a bonafide sequel. I loved the original Halo though was horribly disappointed with number 2. It just didn't feel as magical, or play as well.

    What I want from Halo 3 is a return to the feeling of the original. That will probably never happen, as how can you recreate the feeling of something that felt totally new and fresh and exciting at the time?

    I think what would help though would be to dump the idea of playing with any character other than the Chief as I felt no connection whatsoever with the story playing as an Elite. Take what was great about Halo's best levels; Halo, The Truth and Reconciliation, The Silent cartographer, Assault on the Control Room, Keyes, and expand on what they did best. Large outdoor environments, exciting set pieces, brilliant AI that resulted in excellent action sequences that felt like set pieces, comrades who felt like real team mates and the mystery of the Halo itself. EDIT- Oh and I agree with Gizmo about the vehicles and health/shield system too. The vehicles in Halo were far more entertaining to drive. Whilst I'm at it I don't think the duel weilding was anywhere near as fun as Bungie obviously hoped it would be and IMO slightly tainted the multiplayer. Oh well.

    Instead of churning out loads of money spinning franchises I think Microsoft and Bungie should put all their efforts into keeping the core product special.
    Edited by Lukus at 11/04/06 @ 16:20

  • Feanor #37 6 years ago

    You know, Game Informer flat out denied it was an April Fool's joke in it's LAST issue as well. This is about six weeks old.

  • Ace_McCloud #38 6 years ago

    I'm with Fluff the Tiger... Although admittedly when I first played Halo 2 I thought it was a massive disappointment. But then I read the books, had a huge urge to play the first one again, and realised that I couldn't be arsed with the repetitive level design, lack of duel wielding and not so pretty graphics. So I played number 2 again instead... and I'll be dammed, I liked it...

    The problem with Halo 2 was two fold: 1 like some one said, it lacked the impact that halo 1 had (which after the huge hype hurt alot) and 2. it came out at the same time as Half Life 2 which was just one of those awesome games the made everything else in the genre look dated.

    Halo 3: Please GOD no more flood! I hate the flood!!!!! What's the point in having somewhat intelligent enemies at the beginning of the game and then ruining the end with a load of mindless drones. Hated it in the first one. Hated it more in the second... SCREW the continuity bungie, solve the flood problem between Halo 2 and Halo 3 and all will be fine...

    Also what was the difference between the vehicles in 1 and 2? Weren't they pretty much the same, except in two there are more, and some more features? You can't tell me that bridge bit with the tank wasn't the best vehicle action in either Halo? nailing ghosts and banshee's with the turret was sweet...
    Edited by Ace_McCloud at 11/04/06 @ 17:40

  • JonFE #39 6 years ago

    "Halo DOES have a story, you just have to read the books as most of it is just hinted at in the games. There's actually quite a good plot to them, considering you can get all 3 from under a tenner in a little box set it's a damn good purchase."

    Any links for that ?

  • Ace_McCloud #40 6 years ago

    For a summary of pretty much everything involved in the Halo universe check out this link if you're interested:

    http://halosm.bungie.org/story/

    It's pretty comprehensive.

  • Xerx3s #41 6 years ago

    *ghag* If you dont like halo, why on earth bother with saying how *shit* it is? The mayority DID like halo and IS looking foreward to how bungie will innovate this franchise after its previous successful live endeavour.

    If you dont like it, go play something else. Simple really.

  • Khab #42 6 years ago

    This concept has a problem:

    If they make combat less skill-based than it is in Halo 2, they'll alienate their current market.

    If they DON'T make combat less skill-based, they risk alienating all casual players, since in a consistent, online world a guild with the top players would completely dominate everyone else. Unless there's lots of PvE. But then, what incentive would there be to play on, since it's all skill-based anyway?

  • septimus #43 6 years ago

    Well as long as it's like RvB then it has potential ;)

  • dudefella #44 6 years ago

    Halo 2 reeked of a rushed game. Everytime I watched a cutscene with texture popin (that would be all of them) I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or curse. Plus the ending was really sudden. I think they focused on multiplayer. didn't like the maps though. Nothing can ever beat Blood Gulch. Yeah they remade it but bleh. Rather play Halo 1 on pc online.

  • NegativeZero #45 6 years ago

    I'm also one of the Disappointed-by-Halo-2 crew. I think the core of the problem with it really is Bungie themselves. The Bungie that made Halo, and even more so the Bungie which gave us Marathon, is no longer the Bungie of today. A lot of their long-standing developers have left, along with Alex Seropian, the co-founder. In their place are a lot of extremely talented individuals, yes, but their experience in a lot of cases is working on generic FPSes. This is why Halo 2 loses a lot of the 'feel' of its predecessors and overall feels like a much weaker effort. Add to that their desire to dumb the gameplay down to make it more accessible to the casual gamer (the reason why we have that horrible SMG as the default weapon - it takes no skill to use it) and you've got the bulk of the reasons why Halo 2 put off a lot of long-standing Halo/Bungie fans.


    On the subject at hand, I should point out that Halo was originally concepted as an RTS, which eventually evolved into an MMO with a persistant world that you would connect to, join up with your clan, have your own specialised role in said clan, and engage in missions against either players or computer-controlled AI. That was how they were pitching it back when Steve Jobs announced the game at Macworld. I believe they had to scale back their ambitions back then as broadband wasn't widely avaialble and they were going to have a huge amount of content to deliver (this was before widespread adoption of DVDs). Really, this would be them going back to their original ideas now that they're more feasible.

    I personally think that if this is in the works, then Bungie will be working on it while shoving off responsibility for Halo 3 to another internal developer. Last I heard, they'd said that their next game would not be Halo 3, but MS are going to be wanting it, so I wouldn't think it unspeakable to have Halo 3 developed by another team while Bungie work on developing something new. They have a big name in the industry now, people will buy anything they make.

    @dudefella: the texture pop-in was nothing to do with it being 'rushed' or anything. Basically everything in Halo 2 is loaded on-demand (after the initial loading screen, you never see another one again) and during the cutscenes they are using higher-resolution textures. The Xbox has next to nothing in the way of memory, so there are times when it simply can't store all the textures that it needs for the current scene. Rather than take a framerate hit, they keep it going smooth and grab the textures off the DVD as soon as they can. They said that if the xbox had an extra 32-64 mb or so, you'd not have had any noticeable pop-in.
    Edited by NegativeZero at 12/04/06 @ 01:14

  • IronGiant #46 6 years ago

    Halo was great, Halo2 wasn't so great.. Halo3 will be??? Dunno but i'm not that bothered anymore.

  • Xerx3s #47 6 years ago

    Hmm. Well, also a thing to consider is the fact that they nearly doubled their team right after H2. They most likely also started on their next project before they finished H2. That leaves them with over 2.5 years & double the manpower to work out just their next game? Either they are planning something big, or they have two projects. Oh well, speculation. But the E3 this year is going to be interesting for sure. :)

  • gamerbunny #48 6 years ago

    Do I smell... Pimps at sea??

  • SlackMaster #49 6 years ago

    The great thing about Halo is that they've developed quite a rich and in-depth universe with some great ideas that's just begging to become an MMO... I mean I still want Bungie to release another cracking FPS but they have built such a detailed world why not expand the franchise to an MMO to make use of this.

  • reality_cheque #50 6 years ago

    I said: "Halo DOES have a story, you just have to read the books as most of it is just hinted at in the games. There's actually quite a good plot to them, considering you can get all 3 from under a tenner in a little box set it's a damn good purchase."

    Jon FE asked "Any links for that?"

    Sorry mate, I got mine from Waterstones - I think the box was £8.99 but it wasn't in a sale so it should be available for the same price still.

  • dk_rare #51 6 years ago

    I liked World of Starcraft better

    EDIT: 51st!!!!!!
    Edited by dk_rare at 12/04/06 @ 12:07