Titan Books has a special treat for Halo fans, which hits the shelves just in time for Christmas. Halo: The Art of Building Worlds celebrates the tenth anniversary of the video game franchise with an incredible display of the creative genius that made this game such a success.
From the Publisher:
Charting the glorious decade that spans Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo: Reach, Halo: The Great Journey is a lavish and spectacular review of ten years of groundbreaking game art brought together in one place as never before.
Halo: The Great Journey is the ultimate gallery of the Halo universe – from characters to weapons and much more; with sketches and concept art by acclaimed artists such as Ashley Wood, the detailed interiors and sweeping landscapes of Alex Chu, and Frank Capezzuto’s breathtaking spacescapes.
In addition there is art from Halo: Legends – the anime DVD – book covers, comic pages, marketing images and more; plus an introduction from “the face of Halo,” Frank O’Connor.
A celebration of visual splendor – from the Spartans themselves to the breathtaking vistas of dawn breaking on an alien world – Halo: The Great Journey is dramatic, grandiose and utterly awesome.
I’m a sucker for a good art book, and this one hits all the right points. The artwork is phenomenal and there is plenty of text to explain the thought process that went into the development of the characters and building the environments.
With a title page like this, it is clear that this book is going to be pretty special. Halo has been a big part of my life for the past ten years and seeing images like this make me want to stomp a few grunts and do a few fist pumps. I want this image airbrushed on the side of my van.
Most of the environments in the series of games are featured in detail.
One of the best adversaries in the games is the massive Scarab. This picture brought back some great memories for me.
All of the major characters are featured with detailed drawings such as this page for the Elites. There are also some conceptual drawings for creatures that never made it into the games.
Of course, the Halo weaponry is given its due.
Master Chief is the hero of Halo and there are plenty of pages based on his character. I’ve always been partial to the armor worn in the original Halo: Combat Evolved, but it’s great to see how he has changed with each iteration of the game.
There have been a few other coffee table books based on the Halo universe, but being the most recent one, this book covers the latest games including Halo Wars, Halo 3 ODST, and Halo Reach. As a collector of all things Halo, I would have liked to see some of the artwork used in the multitude of toys and marketing materials, but I guess that could be a book in itself.
If you are a fan of the Halo universe, this book needs to be on your shelf. Halo: The Art of Building Worlds
What a gorgeous book! Such a fitting homage to a game that’s taken up so many hours of my time in the last decade. Halo is the game I could play at any time. In fact, it’s one of the ways I bonded with my husband’s friends. They used to have System Link parties and when I first started playing I was terrible. Now I can hold my own, but it took a lot of practice. (That’s why I’m the cool wife.)
Hey Stacey, I’m sure there are plenty of reasons you are the “cool wife'” 😉 I remember those days of LAN parties fondly.