Halo 4 Review

The date was November 15, 2001. The game was Halo: Combat Evolved. Nearly eleven years ago today, I played this incredible title, and it changed the way I look at video games forever.
I was a huge fan of PS2 titles such as Devil May Cry and Metal Gear Solid 2, and I had played countless hours on the Nintendo 64, but when I put the disc into my brand new Xbox to see Halo: CE in action it was apparent that video games were going to be heading in a different direction. Never had a FPS run so smoothly on a console. There were many that said that a FPS couldn't and wouldn't run on a console. They said it could only be done on the PC.

When Halo Reach was released a couple of years ago Bungie made the announcement that they would no longer be creating Halo games for Microsoft. I was devastated. A company simply titled "343 Industries" was born, created by Microsoft. Later it was announced that 343 would be creating Halo games from then on out. A part of me had a lot of faith that the next Halo title would be incredible. Another part of me had doubt and fear that 343 would ruin the Halo franchise, and change the game too much. The doubtful side of me was wrong. Very wrong.

Halo 4 brings the player the opportunity to gain control of Master Chief once again, and this time around in a bigger and better way. For too long have I thought that the Halo games lacked in creativity since CE back in 2001. We understand now that Bungie didn't have a trilogy planned from the get go. CE was simply a pilot to see how things would work on the Xbox, and to see if the game would get a good enough reception to move on. Bungie was caught by surprise by it's huge reception, and made Halo 2. Halo 3 came later, and both games felt like more of the same to me. The story was repetitive, and while a fun experience, I felt that it lacked the deeper story I was looking for in the Halo universe. Halo 4 changes that opinion completely.

Halo 4 starts out with an eye popping CG sequence of Dr. Halsy being interrogated by a male who believes that her work with creating the first successful Spartan Program was cruel, and unnecessary. It's been just over four years since Halo 3 ended with Master Chief and the AI Cortana stuck on board the Forward Until Dawn ship, floating aimlessly in space. Master Chief has been in Cryo sleep since the end of Halo 3, and Cortana has been left to await the opportunity to wake up the Chief when needed. Suddenly the ship is being scanned by something unknown, Not even Cortana is aware of what it is, and decides it's time to wake the Chief up from his slumber. Once awake the player gains control of the Chief, and I must say, it's a reunion long overdue.

I spent a solid five minutes looking at the new and improved HUD through the eyes of John. This time I am able to see the rim of his helmet. In the past Cortana, and any other person communicating through the Chief's comm link have just been voices. Now we get to see an actual video image of the person or AI speaking to him. This little addition is just one of literally hundreds to the Halo universe that 343 decided to grace us with.

Forward Until Dawn is breached by the Covenant, and the player is required to fight through waves of them to get to one end of the ship to escape. The first few shots of firing the Assault Rifle was more nostalgic than I had anticipated, and sounded better than ever. One thing that 343 amped up this time around is the sound; I have never heard such incredible sound in a Halo title, and dare say it has some of the best sound quality in a video game ever. After fighting through a few groups of Covey's, Forward Until Dawn and several Covey ships are sucked into an unknown atmosphere.

The rest of the game takes place on this Forerunner planet named Requiem. In several interviews with 343, they indicated that Halo 4 will boast a more emotional connection than any previous Halo title. They said that we'd get to see Master Chief and Cortana come to life, and that we would see their character's relationship grow further, and become more meaningful than before. I always tried to imagine how they would accomplish this, because I assumed Halo 4 would be about the Chief saving humanity, yet again. Boy was I wrong. Now, instead of focusing on the survival of the universe, Chief is tasked with finding a way to save the now dying Cortana. As seen in previous trailers for Halo 4, Cortana indicates that the normal life span of an AI is seven years, and she's been in service for eight.

Racing across requiem to find the cure for Cortana, the chief meets a new enemy known as the Promethean's. I thought the Covey's were difficult to fight on the hardest difficulty (known as "Legendary"); I couldn't believe how hard it was to fight the Promethean's. From the tiger like Crawler, who is easy to kill with one shot to its head, but difficult in large numbers as they release a cluster of projectiles towards you, to the large, and robust Promethean Knight, the Promethean's are no enemy to be mistaken as just another opponent. Not only are the Knights nearly impossible to kill on Legendary, but then they have their Watchers overhead aiding them in so many ways. The Watcher can catch thrown grenades and throw them back, regenerate fallen Knights, Shield them from your attack, and in large numbers they become very tedious to take down. While approaching a group the player no longer is able to barge in "guns a blazing", but must analyze where the Watchers are; for taking them out first will make the rest of the battle much easier to deal with.

Halo 4 is by far one of the best looking games that I have ever seen, and even though some parts of Requiem become tedious battle grounds, I found my self stunned every time I turned the corner to find a great difference from one area to the next, and couldn't help but stop to enjoy it's beauty. With the incredible visuals, comes better character animations,every cut scene is transition-less, and looks more like a movie than ever before. Cut scenes in previous Halo titles were always choppy, and lacked the higher quality that other AAA FPS's were providing. You can kiss that goodbye, because Halo has never looked better.


With a more atmospheric sound, Halo 4's soundtrack is nothing like Martin O'Donell's. Neil Davidge not only brought a new sound to the series, but he did it with a bang. I've heard several people say that this is a "forgetful" soundtrack, but I completely disagree. If people would take the time to sit down and listen to the soundtrack, Neil has paid tribute to Halo 3 and Halo Reach with their themes. They are slight, and sometimes hard to catch, but when they are played with Halo 4's soundtrack, they are breathtaking. It's been a long time since a video game soundtrack left me with tears, and some tracks do just that.

Overall Halo 4's campaign brought me the best FPS experience I have had in a very long time. My only complaint is that some of the battles can become very frustrating, but overall the game handles better, looks better, and sounds better. I give Halo 4 a solid 4.95 out of 5 stars. It's a tasty treat, and will leave you wanting even more each time you put down the controller. Halo is back people. It's here to stay, and we can thank 343 for taking control and bringing us the FPS experience we've needed for so long. And then there is the mulitplayer. But that's a whole different story all together. Check back later this week for my review of Halo 4's multiplayer!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!