You cannot question the influence that Halo has had on the games market. Although not initially being developed for the Xbox it became synonymous with that console, being an exclusive launch title. Whether you love or hate Halo you would be foolish to disregard its influence on the market.
Now, launched on the tenth anniversary of the games release we get Halo: The Art of Building Worlds a tribute; not only to the series success but also to developers Bungie who worked on the games released for that decade and what a tribute it is, with over 190 pages of imagery for the fan to luxuriate over.
The book’s divided into logical sections dealing with the plot and story, races, machinery, locations and more and what may surprise is the great deal of concept art that has gone with the project over its years. Really stunning and beautiful artwork from concepts and sketches to fully blown large scale pieces which provide some awesome double spreads throughout the book.
Added to these are some great vignettes from artists and those involved, explanations of concepts and some discussion of why things were designed that way. There is also discussion on how they darkened the feel of the game, as the graphical possibilities were increased as they moved to the 360.
There are also images that were never used, ideas that were never realised and a stunning attention to detail throughout. This makes Halo: The Art of Building Worlds not only a must have for the hardcore fans but also easily accessible to someone who has only dipped into the universe, acting as a hefty temptation to go back and play the games.
With the ever fateful Christmas coming around the corner this represents an affordable and creditable book to buy for any gamer who has enjoyed the series and it would be difficult to find anyone who would be disappointed with this gift. Page after page does not disappoint and can be pored over to enjoy each and every detail of the artist’s hand.
Halo: The Art of Building Worlds is simply magnificent in production and content. Even this reviewer, who is not a fan of the series, cannot help but be blown away by the sheer beauty of this book. Hopefully a poster book can follow so some of these images can be framed.
