Halo 4 was without a doubt the most anticipated game of 2012… for me, at least. Weather it earned that title it marketed itself with, well that’s another thing entirely. I bought the game more excited than I have been over a piece of software in some time. Now that I’ve had about a week to play it, I’ve discovered weather or not that anticipation was deserved.
STORY:
We all know how Halo 3 ended, and most of us know how Halo 4 plays out. I’ve played through the campaign twice (first tome Legendary Solo for the achievement, second on easy to truly enjoy the story and environments (and yes, I did do legendary, the commendations just didn’t show, check my achievements :P)), and I must say. Holy -blam-.
Halo is without a doubt known as an epic space opera, one with a beautifully crafted story and equally stunning universe. With Halo 4, 343 took it up a notch. They weren’t afraid to explore the minds of the protagonists, Chief and Cortana. The way they picked apart their characters, trying to show which one was ‘the real machine’ was almost perfectly executed, almost.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the campaign, and the ending left me in literal tears on both occasions of completion, I would be lying if I said some area’s left me unsatisfied. Being the huge Halo fan I am, I couldn’t help but be critical of a few canonical errors, and the plot depended too much on people having read the books. A little more development for the plot to those not as engrossed could go a long way.
The plot wasn’t the only issue, on numerous occasions, the Chief’s interactions with Cortana just seemed… out of character. I have no problem with his facade being peeled away, but it wasn’t executed too well and a few of their conversations felt forced. That said, I still found Cortana’s delve into rampancy moving, and Chief’s own struggle with possibly losing his only piece of humanity superbly well written.
Overall, Halo 4 does marvels in the campaign department, and despite a few bumps, has me begging for more Spartan Op’s and the release of Halo 5 to continue the narrative.
GAMEPLAY:
The additions to the arsenal of weapons, Human, Covenant and Promethian, are nice additions to the sandbox. That’s not to say there aren’t hiccups, oh God are there hiccups (something that a beta could have done wonders to help with, hint hint, nudge nudge.). Overall, however, I found myself fairing pretty well on the virtual battlefield.
Like I said though, the hiccups. The whole concept of weapon drops, while sounding promising, just does not work. They are too few and too far in between to ever effect the game, and I find myself using my loadout through the entire game, aside from the first few minutes when weapon drops are actually on the maps. I don’t care for this feature whatsoever, and sincerely hope it’s removed.
The loss of zoom out scoping really does not add to the gameplay either. It makes a person’s skill even less relevant in a gun fight. With the insane auto aim and huge hitboxes, firefights frequently devolved to “spray and pray.”
The whole concept of loadouts also has no place in Halo. It didn’t fit well with Reach and evolving it further isn’t fixing the issue. I understand Halo has to evolve with the time, but don’t do it at the cost of making Halo not Halo. Support and Strike packages don’t help this issue either. They were promised to tweak the way you play, not offer ridiculous advantages (like the loss of picking up grenades and the perk that adds this feature back. That was a poor decision in my opinion). They offset the game and have no place in a Halo experience.
On the game mode side, Halo 4 fairs worse than Reach, something I never though I’d say. The loss of custom game classics like territories and the devolution of infection to flood has the potential to hinder the longevity of Halo 4’s custom games, something that effects matchmaking(Action Sack, for example) The playlist structure in Halo 4 loses much of the choice and overall cleanliness in favor of a few playlists to support a larger population. This steams to a larger issue where the whole UI of the game feels to be over-designed and have lost the functionality of Halo 3 and Reach.
Forge also suffers from a few minor gripes. I’m not a fan of where the cursor snaps to when you rotate an object, and the addition of magnets hardly makes up for the loss of fine editing (when you held down the right stick in Reach) and a zoom mode. In addition to how far your zoomed out when you pull the monitor as close to the object as it can get and fine editing becomes much more difficult. Overall, even with the additions to Forge, the mode as a whole seems to be a step back.
In conclusion, the degradation of classic Halo gameplay is the wort part of this game. It’s something barely noticeable in Campaign but quickly rears it’s head into Infinity.
Visuals/Sound
If this game is anything, it’s pretty. The new lighting makes everything look spectacular, and the textures and models of most weapons look great. Even the BR, which I was skeptical about a first, looks and sounds great. Most of the new sounds are very pleasing as well. However, the loss of the Warthogs signature whine is something that I’m slightly annoyed with. That and a lot of the weapons new sounds, while great, don’t feel the same. Plasma sounds more generic, most human weapons now sound beastly and powerful, but loose much of their iconic sounds. That is what Halo 4 seems to be reoccurring suffering from. Out with the old and in with the new, even if the new isn’t needed.
The SPARTAN IV armor, I have to say, looks awful. Most suits look either “generic SiFi” or something out of the Power Rangers. The art direction as a whole isn’t one I was pleased with.
I’m not sure what to think of the soundtrack. It’s no Marty, I’ll say that much. It sounds great, but I’m not sure if it fits with Halo.
BOTTOM LINE:
Is this game better than Reach? Yes. Is it the best Halo ever? No. If there was one thing about Halo 4 I liked the most, it was the campaign. Everything else seemed lukewarm and not quite polished(ehem, a beta, anyone?). As 343i’s first Halo game, I’m willing to give most things the benefit of the doubt and hope for most issues to be patched in the coming months. I just hope they realize that Halo is Halo, and reached its success of its own merit. There was a time when Halo was the pinnacle and everyone else strived to be it. Please, 343i, don’t tread down the path of other games. Forge the path that Halo has made for itself for all those years. Halo 4 shows you have the potential to do great. It also shows you have the potential to destroy a great part of my childhood. Please, for the sake of us all, make the right choice.
This review may come of as very cynical and unappreciative when in actuality it’s anything but. True I’m being very critical, but they say we’re the most critical of the things we like the most. I do so because I want my favorite franchise to succeed. I want to feel the chills I got when I played matchmaking in Halo 2 for the first time. To experience the blast of Halo 3 custom games. To marvel at the creativity of the community and love the studio that made it all possible. I have faith in you, 343i. Make me Believe once again.
SCORE: 8/10
