Are those forerunner? And why do they look like they are from California and not another planet? Oh wait...

DarkHavoc99

@DigitalHero: Agreed. It looks good but it doesn't 'feel' like halo.

AtomiskX

I already played this game.

I believe it was called Phantasy Star Online.

Mact

@onidavin:
I was looking at midriff's. Either way, bullets shouldn't go through those place.

brokenscope

i can see why it was canned. uh cartoon halo.. don't think those character designs fit in with the halo'verse. I like the fps and this will not do the story justice.

tenske

Weather you like the art or not... it is very sharp and presented extremely well. I'm impressed with the stylized Halo art.

However, I don't know how Halo would have translated into an MMO.

FrigidAir44

Good thing they canned this. it would have never taken off. Looks like they took Halo and decided to make a cartoon series out of it. But hey, i'm all about making an animated series based on Halo. It'd be better than half the crap they show on saturday mornings these days.

Shin_Ein

Really interesting concept, I'm actually intrigues by how it would have played.

Only downfall is the fact Halo is tacked onto it. Everything here looks like it was created by the develoopers, and just given names taken from the series. Take Halo out, and it could have been a good game. But if it's in, then it's nothing but the mentally dead half-brother of the successful businessman that is Halo

NeonLight

@EnigmaNemesis: The environments are fine. The problem is this: [www.flickr.com]

Moonshadow101

I never want to see any of these images in a Halo-related article ever again. What a joke.

Seinosuke

I think everyone dodged one hell of a bullet if these concepts are representative of what was in the pipe.

e-friend

@Brutalitarian: You hit the nail on the head! I love Halo, but this would kill it.

Y0URGOD78

[www.flickr.com]

Some of the screens here look much better...

EnigmaNemesis

"Guys, we've just been given permission to start making a Halo MMO. What should we do?"

"How about a large scale FPS?"

"Could do"

"Or a strategic third person shooter?"

"Maybe"

"What about we take WoW, then add some sci fi armour and stuff?"

"That's brilliant!"

"And how about we mostly ignore the Halo series' atmosphere and make something that's almost a parody of it?"

"Genius! Why aren't you running this company?"

Pyro-Dude

I don't care what anyone says, regular Halo is BORING to look at. This stuff is awesome. I just wish it wasn't based on a overrated FPS.

OmniRemix

Master Chief Clone 01441: DING! I hit 40 guys...
Master Chief Clone 13535: Sweet... Now your high enough to use your Warthog Mount... Gratz.

Scruffylookin13

@Nine_breaker: Is this a joke?

Sure, there is some awesome stuff in this, but it's all stylized and cartoonish. It would look ridiculous in Halo. And seriously, that female armor is absurd.

Arteen

That isn't Halo, that's some Korean MMO Spinoff with endless grinding, and engrish.

Lots and lots of engrish.

KFJ

it doesn't look bad, it just doesn't look halo. I mean, it looks less shitty than Tabula Rasa did. (does? is that game still running?)

Coxswain

@Nine_breaker:

Agree that we need more visible skin to shoot at?

brokenscope

@kladkain:

I like change. I would love a good scifi military MMO. I would like alot of things.

I would not want an abortive attempt at sewing halo and WoW together.

brokenscope

bungie needs to get off there ass and take a bote from these guys about armor, im sure we can all agree

Nine_breaker

@Garro:

Sorry, Were 10 to 15 years away from any of my ideas getting made. If ever. So probably never. basically. Anyway.

brokenscope

Interesting direction, I really like the art style ES has going.

Hopefully they'll be able to give some details other than just pretty art.

exkon

I will say, at the very least, the faction diffrences sounded interesting. USMC vs. Forerunners vs. Covenant?

[ZTF]

Wow, that is all terrible. Almost none of it looks like Halo. They should've dropped the "Halo" name, and just make a new IP, considering none of this looks like Halo to begin with.

I've seen fans make better "Halo-style bikes" than that Grackle. In fact, here they are:
[carnage.bungie.org]
[image.hazardstrip.com]

Arteen

Yeah, good art, but in the end Halo is a title about War. Not an epic quest. I really think they could have made a good MMO, but judging by this art style maybe I was wrong.

freakoflink

god forbid the one new mmorpg with a decent setting and concept art make it to production

wfreiden

I actually really like the concept art. When I first thought "Halo MMO" it was an instant 'NO' but after looking at ensembles ideas I can kind of see that they had something going there. I would have played it for sure.

thequiffisdead

The Art Style looks very late 80s / Early 90s G.I. Joe Action figure-ish. I'm not impressed.

crazyscreenwriter

I actually dig the look of it and how they carried the Halo aesthetic over and fleshed out the world a ton. Some outspoken members of the community seem to be against it, but sucks to you: if you want gritty, brown, and metal there's Gears 2 coming out later (and just about every other next-gen FPS).

I would love to see a version of this game along the lines of Fable 2/Phantasy Star. I would much more enjoy exploring and adventuring around on a team than listening to 12 year olds learn how to curse in Halo 3.

PS - Screw you Microsoft for tanking Ensemble.

Klaymen

Wow, a lot of haters up in here...

I think this looks pretty cool actually.
So what if there are characters and designs you have never seen before? What did you want them to do?
Everyone is an MC look-a-like and everyone else is an arbiter look-a-like? Some people sure hate change... eh.

And the rest of you just hate on MMO's and Halo.

I think they did well to try and expand the series

kladkain

@wahrugene: Yeah, because MMORPG offer some much that could be ruined.

crazyscreenwriter

@brokenscope: Wow, I didn't even notice the gaping cleavage-gap.

onidavin

It looks cool and all in terms of a generic sci fi mmo, but the use of "Halo" to describe it is just stupid. Some of the art looks sort of like Halo, but that's where the similarity ends.

Slothboy

Halo ruined the FPS genre, and will soon ruin and dumb down the RTS genre

..Its good that we wont see that happening MMORPGs at least...phew*

wahrugene

@Redface: I agree. Microsoft - "Hammering our mascot in to every genre imaginable!" No wonder Bungie wanted to work on other things. Ugh.

kosbee

Good thing this project was killed.

OGHowie

This looks like a bad Saturday-morning cartoon "re-imagining" of the Halo universe than anything else - the "Mistress Chief" armor design is especially heinous.

Mudron

Looks pretty crappy. Probably why it was canned.

Altima NEO

Holy fuckin' shit. Talk about jumping the shark. I mean, wow. Really? This has GOT to be a joke... I mean, dude... come on...

I think WoW really is killing MMO potential. Seriousley. If a studio like Ensemble thinks "Halo MMO" means "WoW: Halo Mod" then we have a big, problem.

Someone's going to have to make an MMO that totally shys away from the WoW style. Seriousley. If something doesn't change quick then we're just looking at decades of nonsense.

MMO doesn't have to mean "level up to 60, aquire shiny armor pieces, go on epic quests in dungeons." If you force that model on military scifi of all things, no matter how epic and aventerous it is, you're torturing, raping, then killing the potential it has. I mean come on, if you think of an MMO as simply a persistant virtual world where everyone comes together to play, there's HUGE potential for military scifi to break the mold here.

Garro

all of you are wrong, the area between the breasts are protected with kinetic barriers, thus do not need armour. This helps in cooling down as well as morale...

Dude From Dubai

@Redface: It actually looks quite good. I'm surprised they got it to look that decent. If it wasn't pay to play I would have tried it .

Nexus6

@Ravel:

The art work is typical fantasy game BS sewn onto a scifi setting. You can only go so far before it isn't halo anymore. Most of the art bears almost no resemblance save for green and an orange faceplate.

I hope this never see the light of day again.

brokenscope

Christ, I can see why is was canceled. None of that has anything to do with Halo, it's just generic scifi stuff with the label slapped on.

Moonshadow101

I'm REALLY glad this game didn't happen.

Aeshir

Lame
Lamer than lame
Lamer than a quadriplegic rocking horse with a terminal case of woodworm

Looks like someone was hanging out on WoWs fanart pages and said "I want something like that but, and here is where my idea gets on the awesome bus bound for coolville, I want it in the FUTURE"

This, ladies and gentlemen, is where our beloved Halo jumped the shark.

Brutalitarian

I'm liking the designs a bit but its missing the "Halo" look.

DigitalHero

@DugDawg: From an artistic standpoint, I'd have to say that most of these characters look like they'd fit better in the Crackdown universe than the Halo universe.

DugDawg

I don't care if they were just using the Halo name, I would have loved an MMO that was not the usual fantasy junk. I really liked the looks of this, and I have always had respect for Ensemble, and I am kind of disappointed this never happened. The art is beautiful and it could have taken Halo in an entirely different direction. The thing is, I think the story would have been too crazy to match the serious Halo games, which might be why they scrapped it. I would have liked to see a Space Marine MMO built well though :(

Schmatz

Look at those crazy waists... And someone said the guys in Persona 4 looked skinny.

Yin

Anarchy Online + World of Warcraft = Halo MMO?

AdeptVoice

The concept art swung between halo, retarded, why and WoW but in scifi.

brokenscope

Looking at this, no wonder it was canned. This does not match the Halo universe at all. Looks almost childlike. I can't imagine that I would ever play it based on looks alone.

Rubix42

@onidavin:

The form fitting isn't the issue, its the fact that they have gaping holes in the armor where the armor is actually the most important.

brokenscope

Wow... this looks absolutely horrible!!! No wonder it got canceled!!! It reminds me of Halo if it were a Saturday Morning Cartoon.

goddessakasha

Seems like they were just taking the Halo name on it just to sell it.

Thanatos

@PatMan33: That's how female sci fi armour works though! All females in the future have bulletproof midriffs.

Krondonian

Now the HALO DS title that never happened will have another vapor friend.
Poor Ensemble, I hope that Shelly guy from Ensemble gets taken care of within the industry. He headed a real classy studio, and I hate to see em go.

JASONSPAZ

The artwork is amazing.

Even if it was a different direction for Halo it looks like it would have been an incredible game.

I hope it eventually get's picked up again.

Ravel

Mistress chief, eh? So much for the "man cannon."

DugDawg

Why does lady sci-fi armor always have to have boob compartments? Wouldn't you want it to be a little less form-fitting and a little more protective? SIGH.

(This is the 5,342,128th time this argument has been raised, and I apologize)

onidavin

That's not how armor works!!!

PatMan33

That looks god-awful, to be quite honest.

Redface

wow

thats looks and sounds cooler than the (FPS) halo series but wow is the art completely different. eh it would be hard to make a halo mmo anyway.

ninjadude14

I would have probably played it. And I don't like MMOs...

Alaron

So they were going to take Halo and turn it into Stargate Infinity?

MantisDragon

Very odd. Very odd indeed.
It's just....different I guess. I'm not feeling that it's Halo, though.

Benjammn

@Mact: I too am having this strange sense of deja vu.

e-friend

@Krondonian: Having armor over your heart is less important then lokking sexy.

Koolsen

It looks cool and I like it, but it's not very Halo-y, at all. Like there are elements of halo in there, but it looks like Halo: The Animu.

Yofu

@FoxMcClaud:
They showed some pictures on joystiq. It reatained its cartoony WoW look.

brokenscope

@MantisDragon: You sir get brownie points for that.

Aitrus233

While some of the concepts put forward in the art look very interesting, I find myself having serious problems with the idea that just because a Spartan happens to be female, she would prefer to expose some skin and ruin an otherwise perfectly environmentally sealed suit of armor. I know sex sells, but seriously, if you're doing something like this solely for the sake of fan service, at least make an effort to make your cleavage plausible.

Doomaflatchi

you guys all know its just concept art, and many designers use a comic artistic style to exaggarate. this wouldnt have looked like this comic style, it would have gotten real halo styled graphics... i like the concept art and i would like to know, how the actual graphics would have looked like...

FoxMcClaud

Wow, can't believe this was canned.

osteofight

for a game this would have kind of sucked but for an anime oh my god this would have owned so much.

Milkzhakes

Am I the only one getting Phantasy Star Online flashbacks when looking at this?

Dave Silva

@FoxMcClaud:

You apparently don't understand the... concept... of concept art.

Mact

I hate this idea. Huge Halo fan, but this would suck.

Refused

The artwork is pretty good. A Halo MMO would've been interesting to see.

Evinco

@MantisDragon:

Haha that was the first thing I thought.

mikecoscia

wow. this would have been a horrible idea to greenlight.

Murrytmds

Interesting take on what Forerunner armored suits might look like.

Crimson_Guyver

@Brutalitarian: lmao. how do i nominate comments again?

This looks like an ad-supported NC Soft MMO or one of those awful Korean grinders. I have a ton of respect for Ensemble and enjoy their games, but this seems like it would have just continued the XTREMEification of Halo.

Silverbackne

this is what they would use to torture prisoners if it every saw the light of day.

solosith

I am a Halo fan and all... but... seriously... The inner fanboy in me is kinda glad that this game got canceled. That concept art is not very Halo-y.

Quicksilver4648

I would totally quit WoW for this!
Pity that it's been cancelled...

henri1kk

I would have loved to see this in action.

Kiros

If this WASN'T Halo, I'd be thoroughly disappointed that this WAS canceled.. considering that this concept art is fucking amazing.

Scaraba

Thanks god this never happened.

jporter313

@Brutalitarian: Agreed. After seeing this concept art, I'm glad the MMO was killed. Sorry, but the WoW world and the Halo world should not mix.

Stimpy

@Benjammn: The more I look at the art, the more it feels like they had a whole bunch of SF concept art but no theme. Then they tacked on a few references to Halo and called it good.

Solaricide

Look at those tiny waist

somebody give them some sandwich

robotomasher

Is it possible that it was going to be a prequel, back around the time of the original fall of the forerunners? that could explain the vaguely similar but vastly different armour that leads to guilty spark thinking master chief is a forerunner?

ShineDog

This looks like someone took the most colorful, splashy and tropical elements of WoW and blended in a very loose connection to Halo and a large dash of generic sci-fi.

Solaricide

This is a joke? Right? I can totally see now why ensemble was closed.

skaterchief

the one in green looks like Mewtwo with the Teamrocket armor on....

TheRebellion

Fuck, this was such a terrible idea. Its like WoW with a Halo glazing.

hagridore

am i the only one who sees saturday morning halo cartoon?

minus_273

That is not Halo, at all. How do you make an MMO of Halo anyway. Just look at Huxley, the only fps mmo scheduled for the 360. Not appealing.

Thirok

I'm glad this game died. hope it stays dead.

chenry

Weither you like the concepts or not. They prove one thing. Bungie never went deep into the halo universe.

The way i see it, the halo universe could have been as big, if not bigger, than the star-wars universe.

And by big im not just talking about size, im talking about complexity.

Why is Master Chief the only spartan you ever see in all the games?Why are the Covenant and flood the only aliens in the game?

I don't know, it just feels that they could have done alot more with the halo universe :)

limitt_45

Fantastic art work, but…it looks nothing, and I mean NOTHING like Halo.

I'm glad that game didn't go ahead.

Sh0dan

None of the artwork reminds of halo in the least way possible...
its all very exaggerated looking, which although i may find cool, im sure plenty of fanboys would have probably started a petition ala diablo 3.

canceric09

Not to be overly negative but, people really like these concepts?

Most of them look like they were painted by those kids who dropped out of art school in their first year.

Crappy perspective, crappy anatomy, crappy proportion, and crappy rhythm of form. Jesus, if this is what passes for concept art on a AAA title in the games industry, maybe I should make a career change.

jporter313

Where's my Flood ladies?

Parkington

It does look more Crackdown (which I would play if its turned MMO) than Halo. Hell it looks like it shouldnt even be made. Its to radical a step in the wrong way. What I see for a Halo MMO is ordinary Spartans fighting an ordinary genocidal war against the covenant. Thats my view of a Halo MMO

hogarth3

As an avid Halo fan, I hope this never sees the light of day.

ChuckBales

@goddessakasha: I was thinking more along the lines of adult anime.

hogarth3

I'm not so sure about this.. It looks alot like WoW to me, but it is an interesting concept.

I probably would of given it a go..or maybe not, considering the amount of asshats that play H3 these days would all jump onto it.

T_Spoon_UK

@hagridore: It looked more like the StarCraft MMO everyone was hoping for - which isn't too terrible.

TC

Um, those female Spartan concepts are largely unimpressive. Looking through all that stuff, I'm glad this game got shit-canned.

jerimas

It's not Halo, but it's competent sci-fi anime. They should call it something like CYBER ARMOR A.S.A.I.O.N or TEEN ASS or something and roll with it.

But it's not Halo.

Sunjammer

@hogarth3: Sounds incredibly boring

Sunjammer

@goddessakasha: Except Halo pretty much WAS a saturday morning cartoon.

Sunjammer

Because women don't need clothes in space.

Gamer d00d

@kosbee: the only people who should Hammering mascots should be Sega and Nintendo.

Servant_of_Jashin

Bungie if your reading , I would have played :P ...

Very cool concepts.

skwca

Demons? Psychics? Living Forerunners that are humans? all in my Halo?

Thank god this crap got canceld.

Omega-Bear

Hahahahahahaha. Yeah, no.

Dexyn

@Moonshadow101:

Couldnt agree more!

EnigmaNemesis

I dont get it. Werent the SPARTANS physically, you know, messed up looking? With all that genetic engineering and painful augmentation surgeries? These people in the pics look like your average SoHo resident.

Mecharine

looks like this should be on nickelodeon or cartoon network...

Pass...

Jedi-iLLmatic

@ onidavin

Not only does sci-fi chick armor always have boob compartments, it also always has cleavage cutouts or it's assless. What good is armor if you can get shot in tits or belly button?

puffa469

This game couldn't be worse than a lot of MMORPGs (SWG someone ?). Ensemble Studio was a good studio that has the potential to create a next-gen MMO.

Too bad something went wrong, it might have been a nice title.

slimky

cashcow.jpg

screenfan

@Rubix42: Halo is childlike.. The covenant aren't "scary" by any means. They are colorful and stupid.

TheFamous1

Although all these sketches aren´t that bad, the most part of them made me think that ensemble was working in a Oni game instead of a Halo one. Who knows, maybe Bungie played them a joke ;)

Daisuash

hmmm... i definitely see the halo influence... but it doesn't quite feel like halo. to be sure, i quite like a lot of the concept art and i think i would probably have jumped on the mmo bandwagon had this project been released, but it wouldn't have been quite the same as halo. i, unlike some (judging by the comments), am willing to try something a little different once in a while. could have done without the generic aliens though.

ParadoxHarbinger

Geez, no wonder it got canceled. Much of that stuff doesn't seem to fit Halo at all.

Wickerman1972

@Clipp: It's concept art, probably to kick around different costume design ideas, it's not meant to be poster art or something, of course it's amateur feeling, it was quickly done and meant for internal meetings no doubt, not meant for marketing materials.

AoE

@Cowbane:
I prefer cleavage over 'realism' any day =)

kladkain

dear god, that art is very amateur feeling. I can't put my finger on it, but it really isn't doing it for me.

Clipp

Uh, wow...that's just bad...also, what's up with the cleavage? Halo was striking for a realistic setting, ie. Why all of the female marines were wearing actual clothes. There's even a quote in the Halo 2 or 3 art book where they say "No mini-skirts in space" or something along those lines.

Cowbane

Why does MMO artwork always seems sub-standard?

Phantasos

@underground_slacker:

lol, stargate infinity.

I love your comment.

eboku

I want to say that I did like a few of the images. They were different from what we know as Halo.

Some images, just did not work. The lady spartan for instance, with the heavy top, and the thin waist, and lack of armor on her mid section. (At this point, I thought, there just trying to make money and milk this for all its worth, you can take the pun or leave it)

Anyways, glad this did not happen. Its kinda like stepping on what is Halo, basically it's an insult. Of course like I said a few images had some neat ideas. Some were just neat, and not really functional.

The concept of being able to really explore the world that is Halo, the galaxy, etc.. I mean really getting to romp around, is cool. But I don't think this would of been it.

--Core--

@Cowbane: Ah yes, the ever realistic space lasers, 200ft jumps, etc. With such a strict adherence to realism elsewhere in the franchise, I can really see where you're coming from ;)

AoE

man its like if deviant art had a stargate infinity day.

all its missing is an asgard with black eyeliner around glowing red eyes with black wings and the phrase "no understands my pain" underneath.

*snaps fingers, does the cobra neck*

underground_slacker

lame, and whys the womans armor exposing?

pandafresh

Ewwww, where do their organs go?

kelbear

@Brutalitarian: As much as it sucks that Ensemble is getting closed down, I'm glad this game never game to be. A lot of the creatures they showed didn't even exist in the games. It just seems like they were trying to put the Halo name on something were it doesn't belong.

Treecubed

Way too High Fantasy for halo.

Concept artist needs to read the books.

Ario Reads Kotaku, Seems Pleased

This would have been awesome

Hellion86

I am digging the art as a fellow concept/graphic artist, but I am going to chime in and echo the "glad this game never got made".

What would be awesome, however, is a solo, non-MMO RPG with an art style similar to this that was not set in the Halo universe.

Pardon me for saying so, but that shit would be HOT.

beanerific!

What's the logic behind wearing less armor to show more of a female fighter/soldier/etc body? I mean, if it's an armor, the most important aspect is protection, so, if the whole body can be protected, why not protecting it? But I guess the sex appeal always wins in the end...

goliathvv

Just looking at this makes me think Tabula Rasa + Halo = win?

At least the Halo theme would be something I'd be more interested in than TRs.

@goliathvv: Theres a law in videogames/comics that states any revealing part of a female's body that isn't covered by armor is virtually industructable.

belo

@TheFamous1: Just because the adversaries aren't terrifying, black clad, gas-mask sporting Nazi/Soviet rip-offs doesn't mean the whole game is childlike. In fact, basing your statement off of such an obvious red herring, meant to preclude any real argumentation, is probably more childlike.

And neither the Flood or Marines are colorful, quite the opposite.

AvidAbey

Do they ALWAYS have to have huge honkers?

The Great Aussie Evil

@brokenscope: I think the term you're looking for is Science Fantasy.

hikaizer

its like they said "awh fawk off continuity and realism that once was..." kinda reminds me of that rooster teeth anime though

karmakid

These concepts look way too bizarre and abstract to be in the Halo universe. If this was ever really made; expect skinny big-breasted women to be in the next shooter. Thank god they chose to not do this.

Littlefields

Thank god they cancelled it. It just wouldn't be Halo.

Gino Camaro

While I like the artwork and designs and all...I'm not sure Ensemble really understood it was making a Halo game and not WoW in Space. Many of those designs really cross the line between Sci-Fi (i.e. technology and practicality) and Fantasy (i.e. magic and eccentricy). I could see that kind of stuff showing up in Star Wars or Starcraft, but Halo?

So as much as I enjoy the art, I can see why this game got trashed.

GhostWhoWalks

Ya know I would have probably had more of an invested interest in the Halo-verse if this kind of stuff was sparkled in. I mean there is so much variety here, an asset severely lacking from all the games.

Nisori

I for one, would have loved to see where all this was going.
Good lord, ill miss u ensemble....

random_dude

Y'know, a lot of this stuff appears to have nothing to do with the Halo universe, but at the same time it looks like an awesome starting point for a new Sci-Fi MMO. Someone, put these ideas to work!

Xenigma

Looking through the gallery, wow someone must be looking through Masamune Shirow's sketchbooks. Even though I may be a sci-fi fan, I could not get into the series look. But this is refreshing, and definitely would be more fun to watch in motion. Such a bummer it didn't work out.

kadosho

Why must woman always be potrayed as attractive cam whores in video games?

Algerian

Sheesh, a lot of haters out there, its CONCEPT ART this would have not been the final product and would have had a lot of time to be tweaked. And while not pure Halo it does have that delicious forerunner flavor to it

Granted a good 80%, of the Halo purists would never touch this game anyway but that's a given because ITS NOT THEIR GENRE.

The point of this game would have been to expand Halo beyond all the bros and 12 year old's on Xbox live.(And milk the franchise for all its worth) Personally I think Ensemble would have succeeded.

Attomoku

It looks great but it's a very very bad idea for a game. I don't think that a shooter could really make a very good MMO. Plus they seem to have the art covering lots ground I don't think they knew where they were taking it in the end.

_Ted_

If the female version of the Spartan armor has boob compartments and gaps to show off skin - then I will denounce my Halo fanboyism and cradle myself in the corner.

Cpryd001

Halo MMO is a terrible idea.
It would have been horrible to see 1000 variations of "M4STA CHIFF" "MASTER YIFF" "MAAST4R TJEEF" or how ever the hordes of illiterate little shitlings spell it.

Darkbeat

Being an artist, I can respect their abilities, but I cannot at all understand how far off course they were from the source material. It's... almost unprofessional how little these guys researched both the game's lore and their market. They should have realized ONE drawing in that this was not the direction they should be taking the game.

If this were not a Halo game, and something altogether different, it might be kinda neat. But there's really no excuse for spending this much time on an idea that obviously wasn't going to work, heh.

Poojipoo

looks kind of like advent rising...

henhowc

I'll risk the hate, and admit it: I think it looks nifty.

Slatz_Grobnik

Now, as I've largely witnessed at Kotaku, the love/hate diagonal for the Halo franchise swings heavily towards the hate, but I feel this needs bringing up for those posters who fall on the other side of this line.

How much of this is connected to Bungie? If it is, what does this mean for the Halo Universe? Is this actually canon?

I think it is.

At first glance, I assumed that Microsoft had simply taken the Halo brand and told Ensemble to run with it. All of the aliens and technology that had not appeared in any instance in the rather expansive sources of information provided about the universe seemed to outlandish. The blatant revelation that the Forerunner look EXACTLY like Homo Sapiens was too jarring and somewhat incongruous to the story we've been told.

Then I saw Image "23_The Librarian and Agent Sects(FINAL_COLOR_SMALL).jpg"

The Librarian? A thoroughly vital character in the Halo mythos, whose importance is known only to people both willing to read through the Terminals in Halo 3 and research a fair portion of the story only found in the ARG's and Novels?

Is it possible that an game whose development runs independent from Bungie's input would feature a character so prominant that it demands a full color concept painting, while appearing in Halo 3 in name only?

If development and concept phases of this game began in 2006, before inklings of Bungie's departure from Microsoft, it is likely that Bungie was heavily involved . While Microsoft owns the IP, Bungie remains heavily involved in the development of the Halo universe.

Now, you might be thinking, "The game was scrapped, who cares?" You must remember the level of care that Bungie puts into framing it's universe. You may accuse the narrative arcs of the Halo franchise to be shallow or juvenile, and this may be true, but it is inarguable that since the Cortana letters they have given a great deal of care to the Universe these narratives take place in.

Which is why this is important. The major elements of these concepts, such as the new alien species', would likely have been the result of careful incorporation into the Halo Story Bible. It is therefore likely that much of what you see here, while perhaps handled under different artistic direction, will appear in future games.

These concepts are not the discarded past. They are the as-of-yet-unfulfilled future of the franchise.

TedTheShred

Probably a good job it died, if it was going to do that to the characters. Seriously, if Team Ninja (of all people!) managed to have a female Spartan without stupid stereotypical "breast plates", how could anyone else get it wrong?

GloatingSwine

You can tell bungie had nothing to do by looking at the crackpot designs.

Whats the point of having a mjolnir armor if your character's boobs are about to burst off the cleavage?

Is not like an Elite will shoot you right there...

Shadowlayer

Jesus. I hate to come off like this... but that just looks awful.

.digiwalsh

I feel bad panning this - there's a ton of work here, some good art and even intriguing extensions to the mythology - but a Halo-themed WoW-clone is so wrong-headed I'm kind of aghast it got this far.

James

How come a vast majority of this doesn't even look like it would have fit into the halo universe. Betcha ensemble just tossed in some halo stuff in a seperate game just to add the halo name for selling power.

Kinda glad this got shot down as much as I want to see a futuristic mmo (sick of fantasy ones)

strix

@Solaricide: I feel the same way. A lot of the concept art catches my eye. They could have gone and made a very interesting MMO sans the Halo theme if they could have wanted to.

agustin2489

This would've never flown past Bungie. My god.

Sai-kun

@TedTheShred:

Ah, but they are just that, CONCEPTS.

We do not know when specific images were made, what have been scrapped as ideas, or what would actually ever be seen in the game itself. Were these screenshots, I would be concerned. But they are not.

It's normal for a studio to throw around silly ideas when they are given a design to work with. Because it's quite often that these silly ideas can actually turn out something useful. It's obvious here that Ensemble were experimenting with their designs and what worked best. And if you look at a lot of the images, a lot of them are far more settled in the Halo mythos. Such as the librarian as you mentioned. Such as the picture of the spartan taking heavy fire. Such as the weapons and their modifications - which are all 3D models rather than concept art.

That's what people are forgetting, even the Halo fans (which might I report from Halo.Bungie.Org, are just as livid about the thought that a Halo game with "Forerunners Next Top Model" could ever be published). That this is CONCEPT ARTWORK. It's not a fair portrayal of what the game would have ever looked like, they are visual ideas to pass around the office for the designers to decide what works and what doesn't.

Though admittedly, with the franchise out of the hands of Bungie and in the hands of Microsoft, these are fears we are going to have to attend with more often I feel.

Diomades

@Solaricide: No one here understands the point of the concept art stage? The whole idea is to explore different ideas and styles. Then you line up everything the artists have done and choose the bits you want. It works this way for almost all game and movie production.

Sheesh.

Treesus

That's just silly Treesus. Exploring different styles is OK, I'll be the first to admit that. Look at how many different styles the regular old Marvel X-Men went through. Obviously not all of them were good, but there was a lot of uniqueness to it.

Here's the deal though: I've seen lourdes of Halo concept art. The comics had a ton of extra art, Bungie had a ton of in-house art, and the various movie treatments had a ton of art. None of them created a willy-nilly hodgepodge collection of designs and then tacked them onto the existing franchise.

In fact, the only things I've seen out of this selection of this concept art (other than the scant images of Master Chief and some the original races) that could be close to what you're describing is the design art for the carbines and brute shots. Then there were these random hard light weapons and plasma rifles that made no sense.

Solaricide

Looks interesting. Glad it won't be an MMO; the mmorpg market is glutted now and well into the future.

But this artwork kinda makes me want a Halo Regular RPG, in the style of KOTOR, Mass Effect, or perhaps even Fallout 3.

PsychicPanda

@Garro:

Bravo. I'm with you on that. The problem is that it's got to be a pretty bold leap of faith to stray away from the beaten path. So it'd have to be a big time company who pulls it off so that their is some credibility going in.

All this MMO talk has got me craving one.

Seahawker

Well, they all look amazing, and would have made a great game. Although, i am glad they cancelled...Because that is so ridiculously, UN-Halo-ey XD It looks more like what they planned before, then realised they could raise the populatiry by mixing in Halo into the load...Which really doesn't work...Halo MMO is interesting but, not if it looked like this...Take Halo out of this, and then it'd be much better :)

Steffanic

@Treecubed: oh please don't get me wrong, it's always sad to see something like Ensemble failing. My point was it had all the hallmarks of some board member who's only connection to gaming is along the lines of "Oh computer games? yeah my kid plays em, never played one myself though" got say what kind of games got put out
It just looks like the finance/marketing department got a little too much control IMHO

Brutalitarian

@Solaricide: The art in those things was published post-production though, so was probably just a selection of what was played with. This is pre-production concept art. The point is to generate ideas, not match the existing status quo. Once you settle on an idea -then- you can work on making it mesh witht he existing style.

But hey I'm not a Halo fan, so it doesn't really bother me either way.

Treesus

@MantisDragon: Built by Forerunners so long ago,
The Halo lay till they made it glow.
Now it will destroy the uuuuuniverse!
While they try to destroy the Earth!
We are hunted and overrun
By the guys called the Covenant!
We're fighting evil through the galaxy.
Halo Infinityyyyyy!

Come on, everybody sing it!

Aitrus233

@Diomades:

Agreed, they are concepts, intended for ponderings and musings. However, you cannot discard all concepts as merely unabashed nonsense.

If the development and concepts by Ensemble were as immediately influenced by Bungie as I assume; so as to link core if only background canon; then, while art styles and classes and weapons and even the appearance of specific aliens may be nothing but the meandering minds of artists, they are grounded in a reality constructed by Bungie.

Furthermore, there are concepts that step beyond reasonable artistic license. For instance: The Forerunner. If you approach Bungie and pull a key piece of non-public information such as The Librarian for concept work, will it not be the case there is some consultation over an even more vital component of the background, such as what the builders of the rings whom have as-of-now remained in obscurity might look like?

Concept or not, there are kernels of Bungie's intent for the future of the franchise scattered through these images.

TedTheShred

This would have marked the day the Halo franchise was brutally butchered and fiercely raped into something...else.

What i have witnessed here is an abomination to the Halo universe and i can only hope that the other Halo titles in the working don't turn out to be twisted, broken, like this one.

KilOMisFit

@Redface:

Agree. +1,000,000

FuturePants

halo mmo neigh this is heresy

MadisonBehemoth

I love Halo so freaking much. But I am so glad this got canceled. I'm not a huge fan of MMO, because you have to pay extra to play them, but those concept drawings (some of them at least) are so horrible and not halo-ish that it's painful to even know that such ideas ever existed in the first place. I have enough faith in Bungie to hope that they would have something to say if someone tried to screw up their franchise this bad...

SuchitaJagan

@Brutalitarian:

I agree it looks and sounds pretty ridiculous, but if it was made how would that have invalidated the games before it. If you didn't want to play it, you wouldn't have had to.

tmoney1492

it looks like someone decided to mix team fortress character design with WOW and then slap "HALO" on it for marketing.

SeaCreation

The armor is so standard. metal, sexy, and totally pointless in a practical war.

SeaCreation

I'm sure the majority of this was just concept art anyway. There probably would've been relays between Ensemble and Bungie to clean it up and bring it closer to an actual unified art style closer to Halo's general look and feel.

Of course, now that this is being canceled, maybe that'll clear the way for a Mass Effect MMO. Eh? Eh?

ArtemusWolfwood

@ninjadude14: It would be easier to make Pong into an RPG than Halo to an MMO.

Saigin

That concept art is awful beyond belief.

FilthyAssistant

Whats with the Grey's there are not Grey's in Halo. I'd play this game if it would let me play as a Grunt or a Hunter though. For the record I like the art even thought its not particularly Halo.

Xallin

I'm kinda glad this got canned. I guess you could say it's pretty much the aborted child of everything I hate in video games.

Musika13

Looks horrible. Halo for the saturday morning kiddies.

lunarcore

Why did they have to close it down. This would have been awesome!!! And I don't even play MMORPGS!!

rizzo9972

Look like rubbish to me.

TalesOfFan