Spartan Ops

An early build of the Spartan Ops episode selection menu.

Spartan Ops is an episodic cooperative campaign in Halo 4. It is included as part of the Infinity game mode in lieu of Firefight.

Overview

Spartan Ops allows up to four players to play cooperatively. Though it is designed primarily as a cooperative experience, Spartan Ops can be played solo as well. It follows the SPARTAN-IV units Fireteam Majestic and Fireteam Crimson on their missions across Requiem, the Forerunner shield world introduced in the campaign. Set six months after the campaign, Spartan Ops expands on the story of the Template:UNSCship and her crew. Due to its scope and scale, this new mode has been likened to a second campaign for the game.

Frank O'Connor has stated that the mode will "bridge the gap" between the events of Halo 4 and the future release of its sequel, Halo 5. 343 Industries will support additional Spartan Ops missions for months after launch of the game and players will have the opportunity to play from the beginning of the episodic campaign regardless of when they started playing. The first season is included with the game, though 343 Industries have not ruled out charging players for additional Spartan Ops seasons. As of March 2013, there are no plans for a second season of Spartan Ops. However, Frank O'Connor has stated that "the story of Crimson, the Infinity and those characters and events is far from over".

Halo: Infinity

Each episode is accompanied by an episode of Halo: Infinity, a computer-animated series that follows the crew of the UNSC Infinity. Produced by the British studio Axis Animation, the series' point-of-view alternates primarily between the ship's command crew and Spartan Fireteam Majestic. The events of the series intertwine directly with those of the cooperative missions, which in turn carry the story forward to the next episode. Those without an Xbox LIVE account may view the Halo: Infinity series on Halo Waypoint and on Waypoint's YouTube channel.

List of seasons

Each week, players with an Xbox LIVE Gold membership can view a new episode of Halo: Infinity, which is followed by five objective-based missions. The missions offer new content, as well as challenges to complete for each week.

Season One (2012-2013)

Template:SO Season One List

Features

Characters Austen Bradford Gale (First appearance) Cara Costabile (First appearance) Casillas (First appearance) Carmichael (First appearance) Catherine Halsey Dunlap (First appearance) Estey-Bethel (First appearance) Gabriel Thorne (First appearance) Gek (First appearance) Grant (First appearance) Gustavo Esposito (First appearance) Henry Glassman Horatio Fry (First appearance) Hoya (First appearance) Jared Miller (First appearance) John-117 (Mentioned only) Jul 'Mdama The Librarian Lincoln (First appearance) Madsen (First appearance) Margaret Parangosky (Mentioned only) Parg Vol (First appearance) Paul DeMarco (First appearance) Robert Dalton (First appearance) Roland (First appearance) Sarah Palmer Serin Osman Terry Ledge (First appearance) TJ Murphy (First appearance) Tashi (First appearance) Thomas Lasky The Ur-Didact (Mentioned only) Equipment and technology Artificial intelligence Promethean Crawler Crawler Snipe Alpha Crawler Promethean Knight Knight Lancer Knight Commander Knight Battlewagon Promethean Watcher Cryo chamber (Mentioned only) Data pad Deployable lookout tower Didact's Gift (First appearance) Hard light HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon Janus Key (First appearance) Kig-Yar combat harness Storm variant Heavy variant Ranger variant Sniper variant Kig-Yar point defense gauntlet Kig-Yar targeting headgear M2705 Regenerative Kinetic Dispersal Field M805X Forward Acceleration System/Fulcrum Mitigating MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor MJOLNIR [GEN2] Requiem translocation artifacts (First appearance) Sangheili combat harness Commander variant Storm variant Ranger variant Warrior variant Zealot variant Series 12 Single Operator Lift Apparatus Stationary shield generator Type-3 Refraction Dissonance Modifier/Camouflage Unggoy combat harness Heavy variant Imperial variant Storm variant Ranger variant Z-90 Photonic Coalescence Emitter/Aegis Z-2500 Automated Protection Drone Z-5080 Short-Range Spectrum Augmenter/Vision Events Human-Promethean war Battle of Earth (2557) (Mentioned only) Second Battle of Requiem Locations Absolute Record Template:First mentioned Sol system Earth United Republic of North America New Phoenix (Mentioned only) Luna Requiem Apex (First appearance) Control Copernicus Base (First appearance) Fortress (First appearance) Galileo Base Harvester (First appearance) Lockup (First appearance) Quarry Sniper Alley The Cauldron (First appearance) The Gate The Refuge (First appearance) Two Giants Warrens (First appearance)

Organizations Ecumene Lifeworker Promethean Covenant remnant Prehistoric human civilization (Mentioned only) United Earth Government United Nations Space Command Spartan SPARTAN-IV Program Fireteam Crimson Fireteam Majestic UNSC Army UNSC Air Force UNSC Marine Corps UNSC Navy Fleet Command Naval Special Weapons SPARTAN-II Program (Mentioned only) Office of Naval Intelligence Species Forerunner Human Kig-Yar Lekgolo Mgalekgolo Sangheili Unggoy Vehicles CCS-class battlecruiser CRS-class light cruiser Charon-class light frigate D79-TC Pelican Deployment Platform Type-56 Ground Support/Ultra Heavy F-41 Broadsword Infinity-class ship UNSC Infinity Harvester (First appearance) HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX ADS M12 Force Application Vehicle M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle M12G1 Light Anti-Armor Vehicle M12R Light Anti-Aircraft Vehicle M274 Ultra-Light All-Terrain Vehicle M808 Main Battle Tank Type-26 Assault Gun Carriage Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft Type-31 Exoatmospheric Multi-role Fighter Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle Type-44 Troop Carrier Type-55 Anti-Infantry Stationary Gun UNSC prowler UNSC Aladdin (First appearance) Unidentified UNSC capital ship (antennae) Weapons ARC-920 Assault cannon Beam turret BR85 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle Combat knife M247H Heavy Machine Gun M363 Remote Projectile Detonator M395 Designated Marksman Rifle M41 Surface-to-Surface Rocket Medium Anti-Vehicle/Assault Weapon M45D Tactical Shotgun M46 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun M6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle M68 Asynchronous Linear-Induction Motor M6H Personal Defense Weapon System M739 Light Machine Gun M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose grenade MA5D Individual Combat Weapon System Sniper Rifle System 99-Series 5 Anti-Matériel Unidentified UNSC missile battery Type-1 Antipersonnel grenade Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword Type-2 Energy Weapon/Hammer Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle Type-27 Special Application Sniper Rifle Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon Type-50 Directed Energy Rifle/Heavy Type-51 Carbine Type-52 Directed Energy Support Weapon Type-55 Directed Energy Rifle/Advanced Z-040 Attenuation Field Generator/Localized Z-110 Directed Energy Pistol/Exotic Z-130 Directed Energy Automatic Weapon Z-180 Close Combat Rifle/Asymmetric Engagement Mitigator Z-250 Directed Energy Engagement Weapon Z-390 High-Explosive Munitions Rifle Z-750 Special Application Sniper Rifle Beam turret Unidentified UNSC autoturret Unidentified Covenant artillery (First appearance)

Production notes

• Prior to the adoption of the photorealistic CGI used in the final game, Spartan Ops episodes were to be accompanied by stylized motion comics akin to those featured in the Terminals. A sample was produced by Planet Jump, an animation studio based in London.
• Each episode contains a radio that, when shot, plays the first few notes of the Red vs. Blue theme song. Doing so replaces some of the dialog in the episode with lines from the show's voice actors.
• In Halo: Infinity, some weapons use models from older builds of the game, as seen in early in-game screenshots. For example, the BR85HB SR is erroneously labeled as the BR55HB SR and the M395 Designated Marksman Rifle lacks a front sight. The use of earlier builds to reference in-game assets might also explain why Commander Palmer's hair color varies between the campaign (reddish brown) and the Epilogue and Spartan Ops (nearly black).

Gallery

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  Concept art for the cut animated series, demonstrating the cinematics' original artistic direction.

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  An early build of the chapter selection menu for S1E1 Departure.

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  Another early build of the chapter briefing room for S1E1 Departure: Sacred.

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  A group of SPARTAN-IV recruits preparing to suit up in one of the Spartan Ops cinematics.

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  Fireteam Majestic aboard Infinity.

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  The opening title screen for the cinematic sequences of Spartan Ops.