One of the reasons November can’t come any sooner is the release of 343 Industries’ Xbox 360 exclusive, Halo 4. If you’re just as excited as we are, then you’ll be glad to know that the game has gone gold and what’s more, we’ve got more details about one of it’s featured modes showcasing the return of an ancient alien foe — The Flood.
So what should fans expect from Flood mode? Here’s the skinny, straight from 343 Industries:
“Flood is the spiritual successor to Infection, a fan-favorite game type from Halo 3 and Reach. Our goal was to recreate it and push the mode to be new and different from previous versions. As both War Games and Spartan Ops fit within the fiction of the UNSC Infinity, we wanted to use Halo fiction in this mode too, which led to us to create the Flood form in Multiplayer. Flood-converted humans are much faster and focus on melee attacks, so they were a natural fit for Infection’s successor.
“Halo 4’s Flood mode is a round-based, ten-player game. It is a true asymmetric experience with the added twist of dynamic teams; this really changes things up as each game is different, especially in the incredibly intense and high-action final seconds.
“At the beginning of each round, two players spawn as Flood forms and eight players spawn as Survivors. Survivors are standard Spartans equipped with shotguns and magnums, while Flood move very quickly and can only use a melee attack. When a Survivor gets killed by a Flood, the Survivor will convert and respawn as a Flood. The round ends if a Survivor makes it to 3:00 or if all players are converted to Flood.”
343 Industries said that they focused on several elements to make the Flood mode as unique and awesome as possible such as giving The Flood a special unique weapon called The Claw, special armor, movement and screen effects. Flood mode will also give players access to medals that are exclusive to this game mode. Here’s the list:
- Flood Conversion – Convert a Spartan to the Flood
- Alpha Conversion – Convert a Spartan to the Flood as an Alpha
- Infector- Kill 2 Spartans in a row as a Flood without dying
- Carrier- Kill 3 Spartans in a row as a Flood without dying
- Juggernaut – Kill 4 Spartans in a row as a Flood without dying
- Gravemind – Kill ALL Spartans in a row as a Flood without dying
- Flood Kill – Kill a Flood
- Flood Kill Assist- Assist killing a Flood
- Flood Hunter- Kill 4 Flood in a row as a Spartan without dying
- Flood Survivor – Kill 6 Flood in a row as a Spartan without dying
- Flood Exterminator – Kill 10 Flood in a row as a Spartan without dying
- Last Man Standing – Be the last surviving Spartan
General manager Bonnie Ross called Halo 4 the “result of the energy, blood, sweat, tears and the distinct human smell of the people at 343” and hopes that they did fans of the series proud. Based on what we’ve seen so far, I think fans will agree that they did and we’re all confident that the Halo series is in competent hands.
Looking forward to Halo 4 and Flood mode? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
[via Halo Blog]