Halo 4, the next mainline game in the long-running franchise, has had some details revealed before the probable wealth of information anticipated during E3 2012. Two main pieces of information have been revealed: Spartan Ops, and pre-order bonuses.

Spartan Ops seems to rival to modes such as Call of Duty's Spec Ops mode, which puts players in specific missions with specific objectives. Spartan Ops looks to follow a similar format: the mode supports up to four players and provides objective-based missions that expand the Halo 4 lore.

The missions take place, or at least launch, from the UNSC Infinity - the ship providing virtual training grounds that double as the competitive multiplayer maps. New missions are provided on a weekly basis. There's no word on whether the mode is free or paid-for, but five missions per episode suggests the content will be free or priced very reasonably.

Missions allow players to explore the "corners of Requiem ... and help uncover the secrets of this mysterious Forerunner world." Requiem is the world Master Chief crashes on, five years after being cast adrift at the end of the Halo 3 Legendary ending.

The mode is under the "War Games" umbrella, which is where all multiplayer modes are stored.

Limited Edition

343 Industries also revealed the additional editions of Halo 4, though there's only one: the Limited Edition. The move marks a different strategy to past Halo games, which offered three tiers of editions.

The Special Edition will retail for $99, and offers:

• The "War Games Map Pack Access" - nine maps that will release among three DLC packs. Users don't get the maps early, but get them for free when released
• "Specializations" - players can choose from six. 343 Industries and Microsoft shared no word on what Specializations are, but more information will be likely revealed at E3
• The "UNSC Infinity Briefing Packet," which provides more information on UNSC weapons, a "Spartan armor customization schematic," an introduction to the Infinity, and background information on the Spartan IVs - the Spartans played as in multiplayer - is included
• Extra digital content is also included with an armor and weapon-skin, the latter for the Assault Rifle, an exclusive in-game emblem, an Xbox Live avatar prop and a Spartan IV Xbox Live avatar costume

The Halo 4 Limited Edition is available for pre-order now.