Spartan Ops Episode 2 hits Halo 4 on Monday

Ready for more Halo 4? 343 Industries has announced that the second episode of the game's Spartan Ops mode will debut on Monday, November 12.

Let’s be frank: You’ve spent the past week playing Halo 4, haven’t you? Of course you have. You know it, we know it, and developer 343 Industries knows it. That’s the trend with each new Halo title: Fans pick up a copy and spend the following days, weeks and months ignoring social and physical needs in favor of exploring the title’s every quirk and new-fangled addition. Unfortunately for Microsoft, this is a double-edged sword. Obviously the publisher likes seeing its flagship series repeatedly smash sales records and slowly erode the foundations of any romantic love that might exist among the world’s Halo fans, but at the same time this mad rush to plumb the depths of each successive Halo sequel means that players have seen everything the game has to offer in a matter of days.

To counter this, Halo 4 developer 343 Industries introduced the Spartan Ops game mode. Effectively, this mode is an episodic side story to the main Halo 4 campaign. When you first dropped your Halo 4 disc into your console, you had immediate access to the first episode of the Spartan Ops story, which could be enjoyed either on your own or with friends in the mode’s handy cooperative gameplay option. Given that the majority of you first played that episode days ago, you’re no doubt itching for more. Well, good news: This morning 343 Industries announced a released date for Episode 2.

As you might have gathered from the headline, Episode 2 will be available on Monday, November 12. Unlike most downloadable gameplay additions, this new episode will be totally free of charge, as Microsoft and 343 Industries have earmarked these Episodes purely as attempts to extend the shelf-life of the newest Halo sequel. The game is also set to feature a wide swath of for-pay DLC, so consider these Spartan Ops episodes to be a generous gift.

Oh, and because Microsoft refuses to half-ass any promotional efforts surrounding the Halo franchise — you don’t rent a land-locked European country for a PR stunt unless you’re very series about spreading your message — the company also issued a trailer for Episode 2 alongside the release date announcement. You can find it in full below, though you should really experience the first Spartan Ops Episode prior to hitting “play.” We refuse to be blamed for spoiling this thing’s plot.