Halo 4 is inexorably marching towards its November release date, much to the anticipation of longtime and rookie fans alike. While there is a lot to be excited about, as a fan of the series since prior to attending the launch party for Halo: Combat Evolved before the arrival of the original Xbox in 2001, it seems worth stepping back a few feet and looking at what exactly we can expect with what will be the eighth entry into the franchise. Granted, for a media empire such as that having been built by Bungie and now stewarded by 343 Industries – it’s virtually impossible for a single entry into the series to derail to credibility of the entire collection – but still with the hype swirling around the holiday release, one can only wonder: can the Master Chief deliver yet again? Which of course, leads us to the first of many glaringly simple facts.
10. Halo 4 isn’t a Bungie Title: No. While Bungie didn’t have a direct hand in the creation of Halo 4, however, a lot of their elements have joined 343 Industries. It’s basically like having a cheesecake, scraping the whipped cream off the top and convincing us that it could still be a great dessert in and of itself. While there is certainly the potential for Frank O’Connor, the crew that detached from Bungie and the new additions to the team comprising 343, there is a chance that Halo 4 could be another hit. Yet, realistically, this is an untested studio handling a beloved franchise, I guess we’ll have to see what they deliver on launch day, but one can only hope.
9. Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori Aren’t Composing: The soundtrack for the Halo series is undoubtedly one of the most hallmark examples of music in video games since the first bloops and bleeps burst forth from 8-bit cartridges. Since then, it has been a testament to the emotional conveyance that video games are capable of through the sheer weight of their musical accompaniment. As the series composers, Marty O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori crafted the iconic tracks that have caused fans to get chills up their spines. However, Halo 4’s soundtrack will be handled by a man who has a credit as co-writer and producer – for three Massive Attack albums. While this may seem impressive to anyone in a music industry, it may not enthrall Halo fans necessarily. I’m not saying change is bad, on the contrary, adaptation is a keynote of creativity. Nevertheless, a strong divergence could very well sour fans.
8. Narrative Uncertainty: In the previews thus far showing what Halo 4 has to offer, it begs the question of what exactly has gone on in the Halo-verse since the events of Halo 3 and ODST. While it is clear that it is certainly not Earth, but a Forerunner world, the inclusion of the Covenant, Humans and the introduction of the Forerunners as a race, is the equivalent of the unveiling of the Zerg amongst the Protoss and Terrans of Starcraft II. This could completely alter the narrative perception of what is in essence, an extremely fruitful storyline, for better or worse. As of now, there’s still too many questions to put the uncertainty at ease, this being the most apparent.
7. Room for Improvement: Taking the concerns about narrative one step beyond the original corollary, the mechanics so far illustratively prevalent in Halo 4 appear to be distinctly similar to those previously found in Halo: Reach. And while Reach was a great game in its own right, it was lacking in some degrees a few of the finer points that made the previous installments so great. Namely, growing the series along an evolutionary line that not only picks and chooses from the best of its predecessors, but dropping the faults that didn’t work along the way creating the previous Halo titles. So far, it’s disconcerting to see that Halo 4, at least appears to be lifting a significant amount of inspiration from Halo: Reach, when it should be pulling collectively from all prior entries. While we all love things we’ve grown comfortable with over the course of a series, I’d love to see something that hasn’t yet been done in the Halo series with proper execution.
6. Generalization: Arguably, many could justify that by generalizing Halo 4, it would increase the fan base of the franchise allowing for many more entries to eventually make their way into the series. This would also draw in crowds from the Call of Duty camp, amongst other FPS slices of the video game populace. However, when you generalize a game, especially one with the lineage of Halo, derivatives feel more like copying that anything, which goes back to improving upon the previous entries into the series. Frankly said, if I wanted to play a Call of Duty title or any other first-person shooter for that matter, I would buy it – yet Halo has a distinct feeling all its own and, admittedly, I’ve been having a growing concern that what we’ll be getting isn’t necessarily close to anything that Halo fans would be expecting.