Halo 4

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"Wake up, John."

— Official tagline^[1]^[2]

Halo 4 is the recently announced seventh installment in the best-selling Halo franchise.^[1] A teaser trailer shown at Microsoft's E3 Media Briefing on June 6th, 2011 confirmed that Halo 4 is to be the first installment in the Reclaimer trilogy.^[3]

Plot

"Set in the aftermath of Halo 3, Master Chief returns to confront his own destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe. Halo 4 marks the start of a new trilogy that begins with its release in 2012."

— Official summary^[1]^[2]

Halo 4 marks the return of John-117 as a playable protagonist after three Halo games focusing on different sets of characters.^[1]^[2] Having been lost in space in the finale of Halo 3, John-117 and Cortana, adrift aboard the wreckage of the frigate Forward Unto Dawn, find themselves near a mysterious planet, first seen in the Legendary ending of Halo 3.^[4]

It has been noted that the Forerunner Saga novel Halo: Primordium, the post-war novel Halo: Glasslands,^[5] as well as the terminals in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, will "definitely" have "resonant connections" to Halo 4's story.^[6]

Trailers

Announcement trailer

Main article: Awakening

Released during Microsoft's E3 2011 media briefing, the trailer depicts Cortana awakening John-117 from cryo sleep on the wreckage of Forward Unto Dawn, followed by John securing Cortana's storage chip and rushing through the wreckage to witness the ship being pulled into an enormous opening on the surface of a mysterious planet.

Director's Cut

This version of the Awakening trailer, which was released during GamesCom 2011, features a few changes from the original version. The background melody is different from original video, and continues until the end of the trailer. When John reaches the holotank, he does not speak to Cortana. Near the end of the trailer, he throws away his weapon rather than reloading it.

Concept Art Glimpse

The concept art was initially presented during the HaloFest by 343 Industries and subsequently released on Halo Waypoint's YouTube channel in the form of a trailer.^[7] The trailer presents concept art of an unknown planet which has a similar atmosphere to Earth, a lot of location drafts which feature buildings and ships which follow the Forerunner's style of architecture and design, concepts of the Forward unto Dawn's wreckage and some concepts of the unidentified planet.