HALO: The Art of Building Worlds - Images and Book Review

For those of you like myself who are huge fans of the Halo franchise like myself then there's a new book that has been released that is a must own. The book is called HALO - The Art of Building Worlds, and it's packed full of incredible art that was created for the building up of this legendary video game universe.  The book was released in celebration of the 10th anniversary the HALO franchise.  

The book contains over 400 images designed for the game which includes sketches, concept art and commentary on several of the pieces giving the reader some insight on what they were trying to accomplish. I've included a few exclusive images from the book for you to check out below.

There's some pretty amazing art included in the book, many of which I would love to get in a poster size and framed. This is some stunningly beautiful sci-fi art.

Here's a full description from the book:

Halo - The Art of Building Worlds

The award-winning Halo series of video games is 10 years old. Having sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, millions of fans have spent billions of hours with the Master Chief and Noble Six, defeating the Covenant and saving the Universe. Now, for the first time in a single art book, Halo: The Art of Building Worlds brings together a lavish and spectacular collection of groundbreaking art from the entire range of Halo games. This is the ultimate gallery of the Halo universe, with over 400 images including sketches, commentary, and concept art from all stages of development, including characters, weapons, and sweeping landscapes as envisioned by more than thirty of the amazing artists behind the first ten years of Halo including Isaac Hannaford, Shi Kai Wang, Frank Capezzuto and Jaime Jones. 

From the earliest concepts for Pillar of Autumn and The Maw to the streets of New Mombasa, from the Master Chief to Noble Six, here you’ll find unparalleled access to the artistic innovation of the Halo archive charting the glorious decade that gave us HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED, HALO 2, HALO 3, HALO WARS, HALO 3: ODST, Halo Legends and HALO: REACH.

Opening with a review of how it all began — the Forerunners, their weapons and their worlds, the Ark, the ringworlds, and “The Silent Cartographer,” We Are Their Instruments delves into the design of the covenant forces — in turn, the elites, jackals, skirmishers, brutes, grunts and hunters take centre stage. Truth and Reconciliation and High Charity form the centrepieces for an overview of Covenant technology, with details on the designs for the corvettes and Scarabs, the Covenant ground fleet—and the fall of Reach—plus dropships, Phantoms, Spirits, Banshees and many more. Then it’s time to face The Flood. Discover the artists who brought the horror of The Flood to life, who detailed the pureforms, the attacks, the spread of infection and the awesome ultimate parasite, the Gravemind. 

Welcome to the Corps introduces the heroes of Halo and collects the artists’ thoughts behind the designs of the UNSC troops, Cortana and Dr Halsey, Jacob and Miranda Keyes, and Lord Hood. UNSC weaponry, designs and details for the marines, Spartans and ODST, plus Warthog & Scorpion concepts, and a look at UNSC air power culminates in stunning Pillar of Autumn pieces. Of course, he gets his own chapter. The Master Chief. The artists who created this seminal hero reveal the secrets of the Master Chiefs’ development through a stunning array of artworks, early concept sketches and death-defying action shots.

Concluding with the visualisations of the Halo homeworlds, Halo: The Great Journey: The Art of Building Worlds reveals the designs behind Reach, Harvest, Arcadia and Earth, with features on Crow’s Nest, Tsavo Highway, the artefact, New Alexandria and New Mombasa, plus Reach wildlife and interiors, and the detailing and designing of worlds under alien attack.

There's also a Limited Edtion version of the book that includes the following...

This Limited Edition Luxury Art Book is slipcased and comes with four unique prints. The run is limited to 1000 numbered copies.

The hand-signed prints include:
• Eddie Smith’s Master Chief from Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
• Sparth’s Forerunner architecture from the novel, Halo Cryptum (2011)
• Vitaliy Anikin’s corridor battle from Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (2011)
• Vladimir Nenov’s ship interior from Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (2011)