Felicitations! I would like to start this post by saying that I like
Halo. A lot. It is one of the few modern titles worth a full price tag these days. (I'd also willingly pay a full $60 for
Tomb Raider, if the price hadn't dropped already.) Today's subject for dissection is
Halo 4, the first game that 343 Industries actually made (2011's
Halo: Anniversary was developed by Saber Interactive). As a diehard
Halo fan since 2007, I would like to take some of your time to offer what I feel is an unbiased review of 343i's firstborn. And so it begins...
Gameplay.
Halo 4's fourth level, "Infinity."
Halo is a first-person shooter, which means that the gameplay is rather straightforward: use the shooty thing to shoot at the squishy things and make them dead. What sets shooters apart is how the shootiness is achieved.
Halo's gameplay for years has retained the same core gameplay. I can't exactly describe what it is but those who have played a Bungie
Halo game from 2001-2010 probably know what I'm talking about.
Halo 4 has gameplay which includes a few new gimmicks that instantly say I'M DIFFERENT to veteran Halo players. Among these are sprinting (only seen before as a powerup in
Halo: Reach) and the absence of the flashlight. Dual-wielding from
Halo 2 and
Halo 3 are still absent. Armor Abilities from
Reach also make a return, which in all honesty I don't like. I never liked Armor Abilities since they somewhat broke the gameplay in
Reach, but at least
Halo 4's selection is slightly more balanced.
Signature weapons such as the Assault Rifle, Needler, and Battle Rifle return, among the rest of the series' staples. It is worth noting that the Plasma Rifle has been completely replaced by the Storm Rifle, a subpar and mediocre attempt at nerfing the Plasma Repeater from Reach. Also returning from Reach are the DMR and Concussion Rifle. The Gravity Hammer makes a contextually baffling return as well despite the complete absence of Brutes in the Covenant, pointed out by companion material.
Story.
Halo is mainly praised for it's rich fictional universe, which I can't really detail here without writing another blogpost. Just Google the backstory.
Halo 4's Campaign is one of the best of the series, for the first time creating a truly dramatic and personal experience. One can say "but the other Halo games had dramatic stories." I would agree that the stories in the Bungie games had good stories but they weren't compelling because the original games had such poor character development that the deaths of main characters was shrugged off within five seconds. In Halo 4, the only characters that truly matter are Master Chief and Cortana. The storytelling in Halo 4 is taken to a much more epic and compelling level, which proves that 343i really threw their heart into the story. For those who want a brief synopsis, here you go:
Halo 4 has a hearty THREE plots to follow throughout the campaign missions: The main conflict is that the Forerunners have awoken from their supposed extinction and are out to reclaim their place as rulers of the galaxy. The more interesting plotlines are Cortana's increasing instability as her lifespan exceeds the norm for AIs, and the plot revolving around the Master Chief being faced with the reality that he could lose the last and closest of his friends. For those of you going "Master Chief is in love with a naked hologram," remember that in
Halo's universe, AIs are quite literally sentient digital beings. Anyway the story presented by the game had me staring at the TV for ten minutes out of speechlessness; for once, a game told its story in a way that was cinematic and well-done as far as drama and musical score is concerned (shoutout to Neil Davidge for his excellent soundtrack).
Spartan Ops, the cooperative secondary campaign that many complain about for replacing Firefight, is at least deserving of an "A for effort." The characters of Fireteam Majestic and the AI Roland presented by the ten "episodes" of
Halo: Infinity (Spartan Ops' official title) are at the least tolerable but are barely developed and to be honest, unmemorable (aside from Roland, who is one of the most sarcastic and annoying AIs in the story's universe, albeit somewhat likeable). Firefight would have probably been a stronger decision than a revolutionary episodic multiplayer expansion that relied on reusing the same five maps over and over again for different missions for half of the Spartan Ops episodes. This may be one reason that more people would rather stick with
Reach.
Multiplayer.
The game's multiplayer bears little to no resemblance to traditional
Halo multiplayer. Many blame 343i for turning the game into
Call of Duty, but in 343i's defense, and to use their own words, many features noted in
Halo 4 are standard amongst almost all shooters these days. I do agree with this statement, but that doesn't really protect them from the slew of disapproval that fans seem to be giving at the moment. The gameplay comes dangerously close to deviating entirely from the
Halo formula that has been in play up until 2011. This isn't noticeable as much in Campaign mode so much as multiplayer. The multiplayer population has been dropping rapidly, still decreasing. Why is this worth noting at all? Well the game came out in November. It's only been out for six months and people have already gotten bored with it. The Spartan Ops campaign was promoted before release as something that would keep replay value up, but the first season has ended with no real expectation for a second, and all of the DLC has been released as of mid-April. All of this and I haven't even started talking about the mechanics of multiplayer yet.... bleh.
Loadouts from Reach return for Halo 4 but are more in line with Battlefield / Call of Duty-esque features: you are allotted Spartan Points and must unlock new weapons for purchase with rank advancement. Ranking up is much faster than in Reach, which I personally am thankful for. I have owned Reach since the second it launched and as a casual gamer, three years of on-and-off gameplay have only gotten me to Colonel; not very far into the upper echelon of rankings. Gone is the original Halo mechanic of "the power weapons are scattered around, fight to the death over them." Instead, one must call in Ordnance drops by proving competence during matches. This is the true meaning of "it sucks to suck." I would personally compare Ordnance drops to a slightly different version of Killstreak rewards from CoD.
Playlists are also back but they really suck. Like bad. The playlists are more akin to Battlefield's, where you select the gametype and there is no variety. The frequent addition and removal of new and old playlists is also a source of "aw man, you had ONE job." CTF and Infinity Slayer, the two main gametypes, are not really that special in my opinion, and I exclusively play Action Sack, one of the few actual Halo-styled playlists carried over from
Halo 3. Playlist population is only in the hundreds, barely an echo of the game's booming 170,000+ gamers from only six months prior.
Perhaps 343i has a twisted sense of humor...?
Customization is still one of the game's strong suits. Halo 4 returns to different armor pieces (a la Halo 3) instead of Reach's armor attachments, a welcome return were it not for some of the absolutely abysmal armor sets. Pictured above is the Defender set, which upon seeing the helmet, I can only think, "DERP". Also making me throw up in my mouth is the FOTUS armor, which I kid you not is centered solely around looking like a unicorn. A UNICORN.
---CONCLUSION---
Does Halo 4 really belong on the pedestal that critics have placed it upon? I think not. Don't get me wrong, the game was and still is one of my personal favorites, but it is hopefully a learning experience for 343i as they go to produce Halo 5 for the as-of-yet-untitled Xbox console.
...which is another rant entirely.
