Halo 4 Gameplay Trailer Shown At E3 2012 Microsoft Press Conference (VIDEO)

The Halo 4 trailer not surprisingly kicked off the E3 2012 Microsoft Xbox360 keynote conference with a bunch of new footage, including the first in-game video from the Halo 4 campaign. And from what we can tell, there are some tasty new teasers on what to expect.

Halo 4 continues the story of the Master Chief in the acclaimed and flagship series Halo and follows Halo 3, not Halo Reach which was a separate story entry into the series. This is the first Halo game to be helmed by a studio other than Bungie, and hopes are riding high that 343 Industries, which is owned by Microsoft Studios, can deliver the goods.

The new Halo 4 footage should do nothing but raise these expectations even higher. The video started off with sweeping views of humanity preparing for, and participating in, getting their asses kicked by...somebody. That somebody is the Covenant and a new enemy. Some of the Covenant enemy regulars return with Grunts, Elites and Jackals, and really gamers would expect no less.

In the video shown at the press conference, Master Chief's faithful holographic companion, Cortana, offers clues as to the identity of the enemy:

Cortana: "Defense AIs, definitely not Covenant."

Cortana: "Whatever it is, its not organic."

Cortana: "An ancient evil awakens."

Ancient evil? Awakening? Mix this with the mention of "Forerunner technology" and you've got an interesting peek at what's to come. And it appears "what is to come" at least initially takes place in a jungle environment.

Let the speculation begin.

Halo 4 releases November, 6 2012. Will you be playing Halo 4 on election day? Or will you be voting? Or both?

The keynote is still going on as we speak, and other games that have so far been shown are Madden 2013, Fable Journey, a new Gears of War, and newest entry the Tomb Raider franchise. One particularly cool new game called "Ascend New Gods" by the creators of Toy Soldiers looks very promising.

Here are some screenshots to tide you over until more video becomes available. Until then, there's a nice Microsoft Press Conference Live Blog over at FleshEatingZipper.com.

Update: The HALO 4 trailer has hit the web.