Halo 4

As we count down the days to Halo 4‘s release, official website Halo Waypoint shows off more of the game—and here we’re given new screenshots, details, and video for the multiplayer map Vortex.

Halo Waypoint gives us these details on the inspiration behind Vortex:

“The Forerunner structures which occupy Requiem’s equatorial caverns appear to generate power by harnessing its violent squalls. Onsite personnel believe that a full understanding of such a technology would offer the UEG substantial amounts of affordable, clean energy. Nevertheless, its internal mechanisms remain enigmatic.

“A multi-tiered Big Team Battle map designed to support Dominion and vehicular play, Vortex was originally based on concept imagery of a wide, windswept valley leading to a large wind turbine generator. The valley was lined with rectilinear fins or blades that directed the air towards the turbine like a wind tunnel. Built around the wind turbine was a settlement of high-tech huts that might have been erected around the power source of the turbine’s generator. We set out to convey the notion of a deserted, dry ghost town to influence the natural setting, supporting the grand mystique of the Forerunner structures lying dormant, idling with dust and wind blowing through it.”

That initial idea morphed into we’re now getting: a Forerunner weather processing complex, where a large central station is surrounded by a network of paths that weave between rocky terrain. Then, on the outskirts of the map, smaller structures come in for uses such as spawning or bases for Dominion.

Check out this gameplay video for Vortex from Halo Waypoint, and then a few additional screenshots below.