I find it really interesting how people who claim to be loyal fans of Halo, continue to pan and characterise Halo 4’s campaign as “generic” and a “let down”, when in total truth Halo 4’s narrative brought only character and depth to a rather unexplored pair of protagonists . Not only did 343 expand upon the characters at hand, but they also elaborated upon Halo’s overall universe, something that i truly believed the series needed.
Let’s explain, but before we do, ask yourselves one simple question: Is it possible that you remember the previous games more fondly because they were all you had back then and nothing to compare them with?
Remember in 98? When the internet barely existed? I do, but now I can’t imagine what life would be without it. The same thing applies to games, when Halo launched it was the only game in that style that really sold well, and since it was, you had nothing to compare it to, you remember it fondly. Now when times have changed and graphics have been updated I think we’re all a little spoiled. We take certain things for granted and somehow think its really easy to develop games.
Let that whole paragraph into your head and ponder over it while you read the rest.
People complain about both the campaign and the multiplayer so lets go through them, shall we?
Campaign:
This campaign might honestly be the biggest leap in any type of direction of change the Halo series has ever seen. People hate the campaign because its different, and while that is true, its still a good thing.
I explained this in a post before, the previous 3 games were about his story as a soldier, how incredibly amazing he was at the battlefield and how no one could match him. While the whole premise with saving the planet from an alien invasion and basically killing off the catholic church to prevent world war three while fending off the black plague on the way was great and all, its just not much for a plot. So they did what any developer with any sense of self awareness would do. They focused on the characters of the story instead. Two characters who were basically cardboard cutouts of people that were only taking orders. The chemistry between them was there but only while pertaining to the mission and they were almost never allowed to showcase any emotion in any capacity because that would break the macho stereotype of soldiers murdering people like it means nothing to them.
In Halo 4 they ask a very simple question, but one that has huge depth:
Are soldiers nothing more than machines?
No other Halo has incorporated existential questions like this, questions that fundamentally alter the way you view the battle.
No other Halo has showed this much character depth or emotion either.
This game wasn’t about saving the earth or defeating the Didact. This game was about morality. Is it right to kill a man to defend your country? To kill to protect the people you care about? Is it right to defy orders to save the ones you love?
Near the end, when Chief realises that Cortana has essentially saved him but at the cost of her own life, he breaks character, just for a second, by stuttering, and reiterating that they always go together. This may not seem like a big deal but it’s a huge deal in Chief’s character arc. It shows us that soldiers are people too. Even Lasky tells Chief this.
Soldiers protect us but at the price of so much suffering for them.
Soldiers are not machines, they are real people with hopes and dreams just like you and me. That is what this entire game was about if you shorten it to its essentials.
Now, lets talk about the Didact, he is the one and only antagonist that I have ever felt threatened by in a Halo game. It is clearly shown that not even Chief could go against him, he simply is too powerful. And that feeling of dread I got as I realised this, made the game so much more enjoyable to me. It felt like I, for once, was fighting for something that is hard to overcome, I felt like my sacrifices mattered. I felt like a Hero.
Not to mention its genius to bring back a forerunner, someone we know of, but have never seen before. It gives the sense of familiarity but with that hint of confusion since we know nothing of him, only that he is more powerful than us.
While some missions were repetitive, I still enjoyed it because all in all, Halo has always been a bit repetitive. Kill this, fly this, do that, kill this.
But that is part of the course when you play an FPS.
What made it really stand out to me was the fact that I started to question whether or not what I was doing was right or not.
Every single enemy on the battlefield has a family, is it right to take that person away from them? Am I terrible for shooting them to death without any care whatsoever? Now you might argue that its just pixels on a screen. But does that really matter if you truly had the intent to kill whatever was in front of you?
Killing someone isn’t just removing an obstacle, its destroying a consciousness and all that person was or would ever be.
Killing is far too easy in video games of today. And it is rarely shown what effect this has on the people involved. No one in their right mind would just outright murder enough people to be classified as a minor genocide and feel great about it. That isn’t realistic, that isn’t how it works and it portrays a faulty image of war.
Multiplayer:
Now lets get to the thing most people care about, something I don’t understand since I’m always that guy who would rather play alone and experience a story filled with depth than play what is essentially the same match over and over again.
Obviously the MLG players that claim to be the real fans will hate it since its different and therefore its ruined, right? You’d be wrong because even in the Multiplayer they have altered the game enough to feel fresh. Perhaps it isnt a wannabe Call of Duty but rather an IP that’s been the same way since 2000 that’s trying something new to appeal to a larger base of people? No, that’s not possible, why would they want more people to play and enjoy their game? Preposterous!
I really feel like all of the supposed “hardcore” fans are being self entitled whiny little kids. They didn’t get to have their game to themselves so they hate the people who aren’t deemed to be as valuable or good at the game. Even though the MLG people were terrible at first, just like the new generation of Halo players. The lack of self awareness in this regard, the arrogance and ungratefulness displayed by the community disgusts me because these games are made by hard working people who pour their heart and soul into it for 2+ years, then when its released you call it garbage, even though its alright. You’re likely just spoiled, you’ve been treated with too much modernity, so much that you somehow think you deserve everything to be perfect to the way YOU believe it should be. Even though millions of people play video games. Its insane.
How are the maps ruined? The game evolved and so did the maps to accomodate this change in a meaningful way so not to cripple the experience. My personal favorite is Haven. I really like that map. It’s almost like the Battle Creek of Halo 4. Battle Creek being my favorite map in the series to date.
Also, if the population is being overtaken by noobs and that’s why wannabe MLG players leave, why can’t you beat them? If they are noobs, surely you’d just kill them and rack up points?