‘Halo 4’ Release Date: 'Darker Than Previous Games, Will Series End Better Than 'Mass Effect?' [TRAILER]
"Halo 4" is expected to launch during the 2012 holiday season, and information on the upcoming first person shooter has already begun to slip out. In the beginning of April new concept art leaked, and at the end of March fans caught a glimpse of what's to come when a high-resolution video surfaced. Wikipedia

The release date for Halo 4 is still a ways away, but that hasn't stopped new details from emerging. An internal survey for Microsoft retailers reveals that there will be two new vehicles, 10 new weapons and 10 multiplayer maps that come with the launch.

The survey, which was conducted via ExpertZone portal, confirmed that the cinematic Spartan Ops campaign will be 12 hours long, according to ComputerAndVideoGames.com. The new mode will spread this timeframe over the course of 50 missions, giving gamers plenty to keep themselves occupied outside of the standard campaign. This first season will be broken up into five episodes delivered each week, spanning over 10 weeks. This is a move that is sure to keep players hooked on the Halo story for the long term. Frank O'Connor of the 343 team previously said that there are many different avenues and mediums to communicate the Halo plot, and Spartan Ops is sure to take that to the next level.

The image revealing these new additions was leaked on June 27 on the Little English Halo Blog, where a blogger took a screen cap of the Microsoft employee survey screen.

There are lots of new toys and things to kill in Halo 4, the screen shots read.

Developer 343 Industries ensures that Halo 4 will give players plenty to talk about.

You know when you're playing a game and have that 'OMG' moment? the leaked images read. That moment when you have to call your friend and tell them what just happened? 'Halo 4' is going to be all about delivering these epic encounters throughout the story. So make sure to have your friends on speed dial.

The company hasn't been shy about revealing more details about Halo 4. Over the weekend a behind-the scenes-video gave gamers an inside look at what to expect from the RPG shooter's next installment. The team shared their excitement and anxiety in preparing the gameplay demos for E3 2012, and revealed more information on new enemies.

The Prometheans are a powerful and mysterious element of the ancient Forerunner Warrior-Servants whose forebears fell from power following the Human-Forerunner War, 343's Jessica Shea wrote when referring to the Promethean Crawlers that will appear in Halo 4. Some of the remaining Prometheans appear to be tasked with defending the mysterious alien world we've recently shown you, along with its payload of terrifying secrets and emerging threats.

Halo 4 will launch on Nov. 6, competing with other long-awaited titles such as Assassin's Creed 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for holiday wish lists. Check out the official trailer below if you haven't already seen it.

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