Halo 4 'Scanned' Trailer Has David Fincher's Seal Of Quality

Halo 4 arrives on November 6, 2012, and Microsoft wants to get you in the mood with this launch trailer from filmmaker David Fincher (Se7en, The Social Network) and visual effects wizard Tim Miller (Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World). The trailer debuted last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and the Internet provides this morning, with the two-and-a-half-minute tease popping up on Halo Waypoint and YouTube.

What's really impressive to me about this "Scanned" trailer is its blurring of what's real and what's a visual effect. I would never have taken any of this to be live-action footage if Microsoft's press release hadn't alerted me. Fincher got his start in Hollywood doing short form work on music videos, and you can most definitely get a sense of that knack for telling a big story in a small space after watching this trailer. The "Believe" campaign from Halo 3 is still tops in my book, but this is nonetheless a damn fine trailer.