An ancient evil has awakened from a deep slumber to threaten the survival of the human race, still on the repair after the largest war in history only one man and his woman can stop them, Chief and Cortana are back and better than ever.
Halo 4 is upon us, continuing on from 2007's Halo 3, Halo 4 takes place 4 years after the Halo event. With Chief in cryo-stasis and Cortana slowly dying alongside him in the wreckage of the Forward Unto Dawn things aren’t looking good when the Covenant attack them. They soon crash land on a Forerunner planet named Requiem closely followed by the UNSC Infinity and so begins the first chapter in the Reclaimer trilogy.
Halo 4 is extremely story driven, over half the campaign takes place before the Infinity lands on Requiem, that’s a long time for a lot of things to happen (well I say a long time but ill get onto that later). Cortana is normally the one that does most of the talking with Chief being nearly mute through the ride, this time however you cant seem to shut the bastard up. Cut scenes regularly break up game play with Chief getting a large amount of the lines in them along with the standard input from Cortana and the other supporting characters. However this Halo is about love, the love that Cortana and Chief have formed with each other. Whether that be a motherly love, honeymoon love or nagging wife love they seem closer than ever before when both of them are faced with the reality of their humanity and mortality.
Cartana was put into commission 8 years ago, A.I's begin to go rampant (think themselves to death) after 7, for Chief it becomes a race against time to find the aged Dr Catherine Halsey in hope of repairing her and for Cortana it becomes much more about making sure her legacy lasts, making sure she can help Chief through the tough challenges that lie ahead of him in Halo 4 and make sure humanity lives to see another day.
The main plot besides this to Halo 4 though is the reawakening of the Forerunners, the creators of the Halo installations. As you and Cortana try to find a way off-world you accidentally re-awaken the Didact, a Forerunner bent on the destruction of mankind. As the Infinity crashes the Didact attempts to get off-world and begin an extermination on Earth. Halo 4 is the largest Halo game in terms of scale, yes you had to save the galaxy in Halo 3 but it felt solely connected to Earth whereas with Halo 4, Earth is just the beginning. Without ruining it, Halo 4 has a monumental ending which begins similar to the ending of Star Wars: A New Hope with the hole Death Star trench skim which then ends with an absolutely heartbreaking scene that howls a much darker, twisted and vengeful Halo 5.
The game plays much like Halo 3 with a few nods taken from Reach and some new additions too. The shielding with no heath is ripped straight from 3 as well as the look of most of the outdoor environments, the weapons feel much like Reach's and the new armour abilities, HUD and tactical approach needed for Promethean enemies is all new. Very few new human guns have been added, but the Stickybomb Launcher and the SAW are stand out weapons for said faction. Gone is the plasma rifle and in is the Storm Rifle, however it feels less powerful and a lot less accurate than its predecessor and then of course we have the new Promethean weaponry. The Boltshot is a pistol similar to the Plasma pistol in usage but has the same size clip as a Magnum, the Supressor is the Promethean assault rifle and the best rifle in the game due to its power and clip size. The Boltshot is a super powerful sniper rifle and the Lightrifle is the equivalent of the DMR. The Scattershot is the stand out weapon though, a shotgun with bullets that ricochet off walls, a high damage shot and a large enough magazine for at least 3 kills with an experienced user. The new arsenal is a welcome fit to the Halo universe and provides lots of new tactical options for you to dispose of your enemies, however it feels as if they are pushing you to use this technology too much due to lack of ammo for both the Covenant and Human factions but more than enough for the Prometheans.
The graphics engine has had a complete overhaul and presents perhaps one of the best looking games on the Xbox 360 to date, none of the Halo games have looked this stunning since Halo 2 on the original Xbox. Microsoft funded a hell of a lot of the development behind Halo 4 and every single penny of it shows in terms of the visuals alone, a large colour pallet and some great architecture are a feast for the eyes. The sound has been buffed so that the weapons, after so many years of waiting, actually sound like guns and not like the toys that were in Halo 3. The audio & visuals in Halo 4 are remarkable and best experienced with surround sound & 1080p HD display.
But that’s not all, Halo's multiplayer is back and it has its own story incorporated into it. Now without ruining too much of the campaign, the Spartan program has been re-initiated bringing with it newly trained Spartan IV's, some of which you will meet in the campaign. In multiplayer you are aboard the UNSC Infinity and are running battle simulation program's called 'War Games'. This means that the map never actually exists and you never really die, instead you are a computer generated self on a battlefield designed by Infinity crew members making you feel that you are part of the universe and are being trained for an incoming war.
Forge makes a welcome return with a few upgrades and a custom built map for Forging, however the map is a lot smaller then Forge World as it is intended for 4v4 gametype maps instead of 8v8 or Invasion size gametypes. Theatre is also back but it lacks Campaign functionality at the moment.
Firefight is gone and in its place stands Spartan Ops, an episodic campaign that runs parallel to Chief's story. You play as a member of Crimson Squad (you multiplayer character to be precise) and are sent on various missions with a loosely tied story. Each week marks the release of a new episode which contain 5 missions each. This will be free for the first 10 weeks then the rest are expected as DLC, the only problem I have seen with this mode is that it seems to re-use the same maps as the week before in some cases but this is not a major complaint for what will add up to roughly a 7+ free campaign with more promised as future DLC.
So that’s it, Halo 4 is here but there is one fundamental question that is on people lips. Is it better than the last games? The answer is an absolute yes, Halo 4 is the most complete Halo experience yet and returns back to what made Halo stand out from the rest of the competition. It makes unpopular choices such as not making much of a fuss with Forge and removing Firefight but it makes up for it by making risky decisions by including the fantastic Spartan Ops and beefing up the multiplayer replay value. The campaign is the shortest yet, shorter than ODST's which is poor, but it is also the best campaign in the franchise with its strong character focus, unpredictable, unique level design and awe inspiring, edge of your seat cinematic gameplay that will leave you on the edge of your seat until Halo 5 arrives. Its here people, the game we have waited 5 years for...Halo 4.
Halo 4 – 10/10
+Best Halo Story Yet
+Gorgeous Graphics
+Awesome Multiplayer
