Halo 4 Review

This is the review for Halo 4, feel free to comment about your feelings on the game.

The game is the first entry in a new trilogy of Halo games. The story takes place 4 years after the events of Halo 3. Master Chief Spartan John-117 has returned as the main protagonist of the game along with his A.I. friend, Cortana. While on the ship "Forwards Unto Dawn", they come across a huge Forerunner planet called "Requiem". At the same time, they encounter The Covenant, with a new faction of Sangheili(Elites) helping them once again. While on Requiem, they accidentally awaken "The Didact", who leads his army of monstrosities, known as Prometheans, to kill the Chief and uppose the UNSC. The setting and evironements once again feel mysterious like the original trilogy. Unlike previous Halo games, Master Chief and Cortana's relationship is more visible throughout the story. Cortana is in a near death state, and Chief attempts to take her back to the UNSC so they can fix her. As they try to reach their goal, Cortana sometimes loses control of herself and Chief has to be there to calm her down. This happens most notably in the mission where you visit a Research facility near another Halo. New characters in the game are great. Lasky acts like a good friend to the Chief, while Del Rio acts like a complete ass to him. Then we have the final confrontation with The Didact near Earth, and all I can say is, it's pretty epic. The ending scene is so sad, just watching Cortana walk away from the Chief after all the adventures they had together. I've heard a number of fans complaining about the story of the game. Overall I think it's just amazing, it reminded me so much of the first Halo, being that one soldier that crash lands on this mysterious place and exploring it while trying to reunite with your buddies.

New features of the game include new enemies, new weapons(some returning), new armor abilities and the default ability to sprint. The Prometheans are difficult to fight, especially on Legendary difficulty. They come in these little annoying crawlers or these large dangerous monsters. What's worse is that a certain type of Promethean, known as Watchers, have the ability to revive fallen brethren, making you have to fight them again. New weapons include the Light Rifle, Suppressor, and Binary Rifle, including some old returning weapons like the Carbine. Old armor abilities from Halo: Reach return like the Jet Pack, along with some new ones like the Thruster Pack. I really appreciate that you can sprint while having a Jet Pack on, but I do miss that slow and steady pace the Halo always had. One weapon missing is the Plasma Rifle, I wonder why they decided to get rid of it. Also, the old guns from Halo have new sound effects, most of which are really badass like the Assault Rifle, but I really hate the new sound for the Magnum and Plasma Pistol. The Magnum sounds so weak, while the Plasma Pistol doesn't sound as alienish as it did in previous games.

The Multiplayer is great, but not that great. You can no longer play as Elites which is sad for fans of the alien race. One new feature is Spartan Ops, which replaces Firefight. Spartan Ops is okay, it's more fun than it is tedious but I really wish they didn't get rid of Firefight. Some fun playlists have been taken out like Rumble Pit, Multi-Team, and most importantly INVASION! Why did they get rid of Invasion!?! It was such a fun playlist, taking over areas, and hearing your Human or Elite leader yell out orders. As for Rumble Pit, it got replaced by Regicide, a Free For All playlist having you fight everyone and taking the crown as King. While it is as fun as normal Free For All, the only difference is the fact that the lucky(or unlucky) first place player will have this big icon over his head which makes it easier for others to find him, kill him, and steal his title as King. There are some redeeming qualities of the missing playlists like Flood mode, which replaces Infection. Instead of being a grey Spartan or Elite, you play as FLOOD. Yes, you play as the disgusting and repulsive alien parasite that you fought in the original Halo trilogy which is really, really cool. There is no Forge World like in Halo: Reach, but recently, they have released Forge Island, which gives you plenty of HUGE spaces to make you maps.

Unlike Halo: Reach, the textures occasionally look blurry, like when you look closely to crates or a flying ship but these don't affect gameplay experience.

Overall the game is great. Campaign is amazing, Multiplayer is still fun(though not the best), and Spartan Ops is alright. Halo 4 gets a 8.9/10.