Sort of.
The Halo series has always had this rather formidable foe called the Flood. They were present in the main trilogy, as well as the spinoffs Halo 3: ODST and Halo Wars (developed by the now-defunct Ensemble Studios, not Bungie). This week, Halo‘s new curator, 343 Industries, has confirmed that there will be Flood in Halo 4, due out this November. But it isn’t in the most traditional way.
“The Flood” is actually a new multiplayer mode which sounds similar to the Infection mode from Halo: Reach. Two players will start out as infected Flood with the goal of infecting other players before they’re killed.
There aren’t many other details about this in the game, and while the new game mode could have nothing to do with the storyline and everything to do with fan-service, it remains to be seen whether the Flood will still be featured in the game. In the screenshots released by 343 Industries, it appears as if the Flood have infected some Promethians, even though they’re some sort of artificial, inorganic creature.
We’ll see how all that plays out in the storyline or in multiplayer when Halo 4 launches November 6th. In the meantime, be sure to check out all the screenshots by heading over to IGN who has graciously hosted them all.