Halo: The Art of Building Worlds [Hardcover]

Titan Books (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 18, 2011

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. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Totally breath-taking." - io9

"This is a book that deserves huge recognition. Not only is the subject matter one of the most important gaming franchises to ever hit our machines, it also has life, colour and soul bouncing from every page combined with words from people that have lived and breathed Halo. It’s a book that could grace any shelf or coffee table and become a talking point. In fact it’s worth buying a coffee table just for this book." - This Is Xbox

"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." - Square Go

"A compelling visual tour of this extraordinary universe." - School Library Journal

"Simply put, this book is a must have for every Halo fan." - The Daily Blam

"...a breathtaking window into the creation of one of gaming’s most imaginative universes. With a near perfect blend of expansive art pieces, rich backstory, and entertaining anecdotes, the book is a worthy tribute to Microsoft’s juggernaut franchise." - Piki Geek

"If you're any kind of Halo fan, it's an absolute treat and an essential must have." - CVG

"A glorious celebration of Halo." - Xboxer 360

"...the kind of art book that you can get lost in..." - SciFi Mafia

"A brilliantly compiled graphic history." - Gamer Wok

About the Author

Martin Robinson is an award-winning gaming journalist. 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books; Reprint edition (October 18, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0857685627
• ISBN-13: 978-0857685629
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 0.9 x 11.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Conceptual
  • #90 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Media Management > Video Production

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Scope of Halo is too much for just one book November 1, 2011

By Parka TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Length: 1:22 Mins

When I first realise that another Halo art book is coming out, I was wondering what they are going to put inside.

Turns out this art book is sort of a look back at Halo from the art. That's looking back at 10 years of Halo, which really needs a few books to be comprehensive. So this book tries to cover in its 192 pages, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo: ODST, Halo: Wars, Halo: Legends and Halo: Reach. Seven titles if you're counting.

The art is grouped in chapters that look at the environment, the enemies, vehicles, alien beings, the good guys, Master Chief and homeworlds.

The art is beautiful. There are sketches and also huge paintings. Some are development art, some made it to final. Selected bits are featured so you only get snippets of information, bits and pieces of the whole Halo story. There isn't much duplication compared to other art books because the book shows new art and is made up of stuff that were left out in other books.

Because of the immense scope of Halo, this book is a bit underwhelming even though the art is spectacular. Something in my mind keeps telling me there's more. If you've seen Halo Encyclopedia, you know that there's a whole lot more.

If you want to check out more Halo art, you can look for The Art of Halo: Creating A Virtual World, The Art of Halo 3: Prima Official Art Book (incredibly rare), Halo: Reach Legendary Edition Guide (Brady Games Cover image may Vary) (art section at the back) and Halo Encyclopedia (the ultimate reference).

(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what I'd hoped for, but worth a purchase. October 29, 2011

By R. Southen

Format:Hardcover

I really enjoy this book, but it's not the be-all and end-all tome of Halo art they'd have you think. It's not a bad book by any means, it has a ton of great work in it, but coming from all of the other Halo books out there that feature art, I felt like this was a bit scattershot, more or less a grab bag of content. My biggest issue is that in an attempt to touch on as many facets of the entire franchise as it can, it leaves a lot of stones unturned and isn't very comprehensive.

Other books such as the Art of Halo, (which features Halo and Halo 2), the Art of Halo 3, the Halo Graphic Novel art section, the art section in the limited edition Halo: Reach strategy guide, and even the Halo Encyclopedia, tend to do a better job or show off the better work.

It's definitely worth a purchase, especially for Halo fans, but I regard it more as supplementary content than anything else. If you want to take a look at what I think is a perfect artbook in terms of layout and content, check out the Art of District 9. That's 160 pages for ONE film, versus 190 pages for the whole of the Halo franchise, IE 6 games and other content. Hard to do Halo justice in so few pages in my opinion, but it's a worthy attempt.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great art book for any fan December 20, 2011

By Scottypiper

Format:Hardcover

So I didn't actually purchase this book. I won it from a YouTube contest and the book is signed by Frank O'Connor (Former Content Manager at Bungie who joined Microsoft and became the Creative Director for 343 Industries). I have played every Halo game to date, including Halo 1-3, Reach, ODST, and Wars. I'm a huge fan of the series and can't wait for Halo 4 and the Reclaimer trilogy. Hopefully even a Halo movie. This book is 192 pages.

This is my first art book so here is my perspective. Playing every game in the Halo series, I really didn't know or understand how concept art and sketches start and what processes the creative teams use to make them come to life. I have a new perspective on what goes into making characters, weapons, vehicles, planets, aliens, etc. basically everything that is in a game.

This book shows everything from the Halo series. When I say everything, I mean original sketches all the way to their evolved and final forms. Art from every game up to Halo Reach. Master Chief, Cortana, The Flood, The Covenant forces including grunts, brutes, elites, hunters and jackals, vehicles including the Warthog, Tank, and Covenant vehicles, all weapons and armor, ships including the Pillar of Autumn, and all world settings including Reach, Ring World, Earth, etc.

While I am sure there are more extensive art books for Halo (including the Halo encyclopedia), this book is very detailed and the images are truly vivid. If you are a fan of Halo or into the conceptual art in video games, this book is for you.