Forward unto Dawn... of a new era! Yeah, I know, bad pun.
Halo 4 starts a new saga for the series, the Reclaimer Saga, and I won't beat around the bush, I know that this one is quite divisive among the community.
Unlike something like Halo 3 which seems to be universally praised, or something like Halo 5: Guardians, which many people hate, Halo 4 seems to be in a weird limbo of opinions.
As a newcomer to the series, this left me intrigued, but I also welcome a new direction. We had the original trilogy and two side games with Bungie. Those games have done wonders for them, and they've been great journeys. For 343 Industries, it was probably going to be very tough to follow them up, so... instead of surpassing them, why not do something different?
Instead of competing with the quality of something like Halo 3, it's better to try and do something new, and hopefully the series doesn't get stale.
Of course, we still want a new game to have good quality behind, and that's where opinions seem to differ.
Halo 4 picks up 4 years after Halo 3, with Master Chief and Cortana getting pulled into a new planet. This planet used to belong to an ancient race of individuals called the Forerunners.
There's a lot going on in this story. From the deepened relationship between Chief and Cortana, from the battle against Didact (a member of the Forerunners), to the small drama that happens because of Cortana's condition.
Because of the number of new concepts being introduced to Halo's lore, I can imagine this can be off-putting for a lot of people.
Being that I'm new to the series and don't have the same expectations people used to have back then, I can't help but feel biased in my assessment of this title.
The story was not perfect. I feel like some of the bits of drama were a bit contrived, and that Didact, while intimidating in his own right, could've been fleshed out a bit more.
I do know that there are Terminals that you can find throughout the game that give you a bit of backstory to the Forerunners. I was able to find 3 during my adventure, and I'm not sure if there are more. Regardless, I feel like these could've been better integrated in the plot itself.
Additionally, the Covenant's return feels like it was haphazardly explained. I'm not sure if there is any supplementary material that explains their return better, but I believe that this could've been improved.
In spite of my criticisms with the plot, one of my favourite things that this game does is the dynamic between Master Chief and Cortana. At the beginning of Halo 4, we get a small glimpse into the life of Chief and why he's the way he is. I was already intrigued when they went into his backstory, but one of the things they point out is that Spartans like him are very anti-social.
Then, the game's story goes out of its way to show that a Spartan can grow a deep connection with someone. So far, Halo 4 seems to be the game where Master Chief talks the most and I really liked it! I appreciate the folks over at 343 Industries making Master Chief more of a character this time around.
And there were also many moments of this story that I felt were well-written.
It's not a great story, but I had a good time seeing it unfold.
Now onto the gameplay! For the most part, 343 Industries played it mostly safe. Many of the classic weapons return, but some new Promethean ones were added, and these were okay. Some of them I liked, others didn't tickle my fancy. This game also further cements that the dual-wielding from Halo 2 and 3 is probably not coming back, as seen in 3: ODST and Reach. A bit of a shame, but I can understand why they made that decision.
I'd say level design was pretty good and well paced for the most part. I feel like maybe the final mission went on a bit too long, but besides that, don't have many complaints on that department.
The new enemies... were a bit annoying, not gonna lie. What doesn't help is that they make you fight a bunch of them, so I recommend practicing patience and covering yourself well enough to defend against them.
I ended up using melee attacks a lot more than my previous Halo adventures, because they were good at taking down most of the enemies quickly.
The presentation in this game is marvelous! Considering that this game was made on the same system as Halo 3, I'm surprised how much Halo 4 was able to showcase with the Xbox 360 hardware. There's a lot of great environments to see, and facial animations are probably some of the best so far!
The soundtrack is also pretty good. We got some new composers this time around, with Neil Davidge producing the OST. Even though it's sad not to hear the classic Halo theme, the game's new theme, Atonement, is wonderful to hear, and I did like some of the diversity in the soundtrack itself, like some of the techno-like tunes.
Overall, Halo 4 was a decent experience. I can definitely see why it's very divisive amongst the fanbase, but I can say that I had a good time playing it. The story was decent, the gameplay was still fun despite its issues, and I just had an overall good time.
It doesn't end the Master Chief Collection on the highest note, but it left me satisfied enough.
I'm not sure when I'll get to Halo 5: Guardians though. At the time of writing this review, it still does not have a native PC port, but even if it did, my PC probably could not run it. It was already a miracle that my PC could handle this one, and it wasn't always the smoothest experience. Maybe someone could make a low-end mod for it, I don't know.
With Halo 4 done, I'm now done playing the main games of the Master Chief Collection. One day, I plan on making a review for it, but not yet.
Although, even though I am done with Halo for now, I am not completely done with the Master Chief Collection... or should I say, the Mustard Beef Connection!
To be concluded...
Halo 4 starts a new saga for the series, the Reclaimer Saga, and I won't beat around the bush, I know that this one is quite divisive among the community.
Unlike something like Halo 3 which seems to be universally praised, or something like Halo 5: Guardians, which many people hate, Halo 4 seems to be in a weird limbo of opinions.
As a newcomer to the series, this left me intrigued, but I also welcome a new direction. We had the original trilogy and two side games with Bungie. Those games have done wonders for them, and they've been great journeys. For 343 Industries, it was probably going to be very tough to follow them up, so... instead of surpassing them, why not do something different?
Instead of competing with the quality of something like Halo 3, it's better to try and do something new, and hopefully the series doesn't get stale.
Of course, we still want a new game to have good quality behind, and that's where opinions seem to differ.
Halo 4 picks up 4 years after Halo 3, with Master Chief and Cortana getting pulled into a new planet. This planet used to belong to an ancient race of individuals called the Forerunners.
There's a lot going on in this story. From the deepened relationship between Chief and Cortana, from the battle against Didact (a member of the Forerunners), to the small drama that happens because of Cortana's condition.
Because of the number of new concepts being introduced to Halo's lore, I can imagine this can be off-putting for a lot of people.
Being that I'm new to the series and don't have the same expectations people used to have back then, I can't help but feel biased in my assessment of this title.
The story was not perfect. I feel like some of the bits of drama were a bit contrived, and that Didact, while intimidating in his own right, could've been fleshed out a bit more.
I do know that there are Terminals that you can find throughout the game that give you a bit of backstory to the Forerunners. I was able to find 3 during my adventure, and I'm not sure if there are more. Regardless, I feel like these could've been better integrated in the plot itself.
Additionally, the Covenant's return feels like it was haphazardly explained. I'm not sure if there is any supplementary material that explains their return better, but I believe that this could've been improved.
In spite of my criticisms with the plot, one of my favourite things that this game does is the dynamic between Master Chief and Cortana. At the beginning of Halo 4, we get a small glimpse into the life of Chief and why he's the way he is. I was already intrigued when they went into his backstory, but one of the things they point out is that Spartans like him are very anti-social.
Then, the game's story goes out of its way to show that a Spartan can grow a deep connection with someone. So far, Halo 4 seems to be the game where Master Chief talks the most and I really liked it! I appreciate the folks over at 343 Industries making Master Chief more of a character this time around.
And there were also many moments of this story that I felt were well-written.
It's not a great story, but I had a good time seeing it unfold.
Now onto the gameplay! For the most part, 343 Industries played it mostly safe. Many of the classic weapons return, but some new Promethean ones were added, and these were okay. Some of them I liked, others didn't tickle my fancy. This game also further cements that the dual-wielding from Halo 2 and 3 is probably not coming back, as seen in 3: ODST and Reach. A bit of a shame, but I can understand why they made that decision.
I'd say level design was pretty good and well paced for the most part. I feel like maybe the final mission went on a bit too long, but besides that, don't have many complaints on that department.
The new enemies... were a bit annoying, not gonna lie. What doesn't help is that they make you fight a bunch of them, so I recommend practicing patience and covering yourself well enough to defend against them.
I ended up using melee attacks a lot more than my previous Halo adventures, because they were good at taking down most of the enemies quickly.
The presentation in this game is marvelous! Considering that this game was made on the same system as Halo 3, I'm surprised how much Halo 4 was able to showcase with the Xbox 360 hardware. There's a lot of great environments to see, and facial animations are probably some of the best so far!
The soundtrack is also pretty good. We got some new composers this time around, with Neil Davidge producing the OST. Even though it's sad not to hear the classic Halo theme, the game's new theme, Atonement, is wonderful to hear, and I did like some of the diversity in the soundtrack itself, like some of the techno-like tunes.
Overall, Halo 4 was a decent experience. I can definitely see why it's very divisive amongst the fanbase, but I can say that I had a good time playing it. The story was decent, the gameplay was still fun despite its issues, and I just had an overall good time.
It doesn't end the Master Chief Collection on the highest note, but it left me satisfied enough.
I'm not sure when I'll get to Halo 5: Guardians though. At the time of writing this review, it still does not have a native PC port, but even if it did, my PC probably could not run it. It was already a miracle that my PC could handle this one, and it wasn't always the smoothest experience. Maybe someone could make a low-end mod for it, I don't know.
With Halo 4 done, I'm now done playing the main games of the Master Chief Collection. One day, I plan on making a review for it, but not yet.
Although, even though I am done with Halo for now, I am not completely done with the Master Chief Collection... or should I say, the Mustard Beef Connection!
To be concluded...