It's a weird feeling playing Halo 4 again after 12 years and realizing it's pretty okay.
Maybe it was the absolute travesty that is Halo 5 Guardians, maybe it's the huge disappointment which is Halo Infinite, or maybe it's the fact that the last time I played Halo 4 was on an actual CRT. (Cathode-ray tube television. Don't worry about it, kids.) But I can't help but feel it's quite alright. Not perfect by any means, but you know, actually kinda good.
I'm currently going through the series on legendary again and while this one is, in my opinion, the easiest by far, it works perfectly on that difficulty. If you always felt it moved too fast from location to location and had pacing issues, play it on legendary. This is like a perfectly paced Halo campaign on legendary, no joke. 343 really knew when to spice things up and then loosen up a bit with a much easier vehicle section. 8 Missions also feels just right to me. 10 is always at least 1 too many for my liking. Although ODST is still King when it comes to length, for my money.
Now then, let's get the narrative stuff out of the way. I was so ready to hate every single part of it, and it can't compare to Halo's best, of course. But I was pleasantly surprised to find most of the dumb shit I remember to be part of Halo 5. Yes, they are kinda forcing that dumbass out of place romance between Cortana and Chief, but it's not front and center on this one. It lurks in the background where I can shut my eyes and ears to ignore it decently enough. Why they went with the narrative in 5 the way they did is honestly baffling to me. It wraps Chiefs and Cortanas relationship up quite nicely. (Spoilers) Chief, always ready to make that ultimate sacrifice if need be, Cortana constantly disturbed and afraid by her impending doom, but then deciding to make that ultimate sacrifice to save Chief's life. That's what we all thought, at least before Halo 5 released and dumped all of that in the garbage. It's a role reversal between the two. Chief the Human with doubts and fears pressing on despite incomprehensible odds, while the cold calculating machine is terrified and afraid of death. Cortana was obviously somewhat rewritten, which fits nicely into the rampancy plot line, but Chief is the same as he ever was in my opinion. So, characters intact as far as I'm concerned. The supporting cast is decent, definitely a step-down from previous entries. The Didact as a villain is fine, he's okay, could be better. While he clearly pulls the strings from the beginning, he's introduced too late and has fanfiction-levels of strength. While I'm not too fond of him, he gets the job done.
In terms of gameplay, there's less to complain about than I thought. Halo 4 feels good, the old weapons are intact and look fine. I really like some of the redesigns, while others are just okay. I don't hate any, although the Promethean weapons are kinda lame. It must have been hard, honestly. Halo has like one of the best weapon rosters in gaming. How do you add to that? Well you don't honestly, but 343 tried. The new weapons are a mixed bag to be sure. While most Promethean weaponry are just remixes of familiar classics, the truly new weapons are all kinda bad. The Rail gun is a Sniper Rifle but bad. The beam rifle just replaces the covenant sniper rifle. The Storm rifle is the least fun weapon in any video game. The saw is the second-worst gun in the game, the suppressor takes worst gun in the entire series for me. Seriously, even the enemies on legendary have trouble killing you with the fucking thing. Lastly, the sticky detonator is fine, you find it like twice, and it has 4 rounds total before you're back to scrounging for a good weapon. Sprint is here to stay. I'm a Halo 3 MP guy, so I don't look too fondly onto the addition since Reach, but I can tolerate it. The Armor Abilities are a mixed bag, the new additions are middling. The Hard light Shield, the Vision and the Autosentry are fine, their uses are just situational and don't spice up the gameplay that much. Camo and Hologram are actually broken on legendary if used correctly. I'm forgetting some, but that's not a good sign, seeing that I finished the game a couple of hours ago. Almost forgot, the new grenades suck at dealing damage, but are great for area denial.
Halo 4's rogues' gallery is notorious at this point, but honestly I really like it. There are 4 Covenant type enemies with different types, Grunts, Jackals, Elites and Hunters and 3 new Promethean enemy types, Crawlers, Knights and watchers, also with different types. That's 7 enemy types in total, which is quite a lot for Halo. We all know however it's not the quantity, quality is what makes a good enemy. While I really enjoy fighting the Crawlers and Knights, the Watchers are always a chore. They have waaaaay too much health in legendary, and I'm never a fan of the "reviving fallen enemies type" enemy. The Crawlers are really fun to headshot and are constantly hounding you. (hehe) The Knights are the most controversial enemies, however. Yes their shields are a little bit too strong and yes the sniper variant one-shots you almost instantly on legendary. They're not perfect by any measure, but adding to Halos enemies is though, and I think of them as a decent addition. Once you figure out the different variants, they become a blast to strategize around. Promethean shotgun melts 'em real good, but don't get too close to the Close-Quarters variant, you'll regret it.
This is getting too long as it is, so let's wrap up with visuals and audio. I knew the game sounded great, I love how the weapons sound in this game. OST is a banger, as always. But I was surprised to find out I also like how the game looks. I was distinctly remembering finding the visuals too bright and the enemies indistinguishable from the backgrounds. This wasn't the case at all during my playthrough. In fact, I played a Reach mission right after this, and it looked so muddy, and it has this gray filter over it. Headshotting grunts was suddenly kinda uncomfortable, since their heads blended into their bodies. Which wasn't an issue at all in 4.
I was very positively surprised by Halo 4s campaign and I think it should be reevaluated. If you haven't played it in a while, I say give it another go.
Maybe it was the absolute travesty that is Halo 5 Guardians, maybe it's the huge disappointment which is Halo Infinite, or maybe it's the fact that the last time I played Halo 4 was on an actual CRT. (Cathode-ray tube television. Don't worry about it, kids.) But I can't help but feel it's quite alright. Not perfect by any means, but you know, actually kinda good.
I'm currently going through the series on legendary again and while this one is, in my opinion, the easiest by far, it works perfectly on that difficulty. If you always felt it moved too fast from location to location and had pacing issues, play it on legendary. This is like a perfectly paced Halo campaign on legendary, no joke. 343 really knew when to spice things up and then loosen up a bit with a much easier vehicle section. 8 Missions also feels just right to me. 10 is always at least 1 too many for my liking. Although ODST is still King when it comes to length, for my money.
Now then, let's get the narrative stuff out of the way. I was so ready to hate every single part of it, and it can't compare to Halo's best, of course. But I was pleasantly surprised to find most of the dumb shit I remember to be part of Halo 5. Yes, they are kinda forcing that dumbass out of place romance between Cortana and Chief, but it's not front and center on this one. It lurks in the background where I can shut my eyes and ears to ignore it decently enough. Why they went with the narrative in 5 the way they did is honestly baffling to me. It wraps Chiefs and Cortanas relationship up quite nicely. (Spoilers) Chief, always ready to make that ultimate sacrifice if need be, Cortana constantly disturbed and afraid by her impending doom, but then deciding to make that ultimate sacrifice to save Chief's life. That's what we all thought, at least before Halo 5 released and dumped all of that in the garbage. It's a role reversal between the two. Chief the Human with doubts and fears pressing on despite incomprehensible odds, while the cold calculating machine is terrified and afraid of death. Cortana was obviously somewhat rewritten, which fits nicely into the rampancy plot line, but Chief is the same as he ever was in my opinion. So, characters intact as far as I'm concerned. The supporting cast is decent, definitely a step-down from previous entries. The Didact as a villain is fine, he's okay, could be better. While he clearly pulls the strings from the beginning, he's introduced too late and has fanfiction-levels of strength. While I'm not too fond of him, he gets the job done.
In terms of gameplay, there's less to complain about than I thought. Halo 4 feels good, the old weapons are intact and look fine. I really like some of the redesigns, while others are just okay. I don't hate any, although the Promethean weapons are kinda lame. It must have been hard, honestly. Halo has like one of the best weapon rosters in gaming. How do you add to that? Well you don't honestly, but 343 tried. The new weapons are a mixed bag to be sure. While most Promethean weaponry are just remixes of familiar classics, the truly new weapons are all kinda bad. The Rail gun is a Sniper Rifle but bad. The beam rifle just replaces the covenant sniper rifle. The Storm rifle is the least fun weapon in any video game. The saw is the second-worst gun in the game, the suppressor takes worst gun in the entire series for me. Seriously, even the enemies on legendary have trouble killing you with the fucking thing. Lastly, the sticky detonator is fine, you find it like twice, and it has 4 rounds total before you're back to scrounging for a good weapon. Sprint is here to stay. I'm a Halo 3 MP guy, so I don't look too fondly onto the addition since Reach, but I can tolerate it. The Armor Abilities are a mixed bag, the new additions are middling. The Hard light Shield, the Vision and the Autosentry are fine, their uses are just situational and don't spice up the gameplay that much. Camo and Hologram are actually broken on legendary if used correctly. I'm forgetting some, but that's not a good sign, seeing that I finished the game a couple of hours ago. Almost forgot, the new grenades suck at dealing damage, but are great for area denial.
Halo 4's rogues' gallery is notorious at this point, but honestly I really like it. There are 4 Covenant type enemies with different types, Grunts, Jackals, Elites and Hunters and 3 new Promethean enemy types, Crawlers, Knights and watchers, also with different types. That's 7 enemy types in total, which is quite a lot for Halo. We all know however it's not the quantity, quality is what makes a good enemy. While I really enjoy fighting the Crawlers and Knights, the Watchers are always a chore. They have waaaaay too much health in legendary, and I'm never a fan of the "reviving fallen enemies type" enemy. The Crawlers are really fun to headshot and are constantly hounding you. (hehe) The Knights are the most controversial enemies, however. Yes their shields are a little bit too strong and yes the sniper variant one-shots you almost instantly on legendary. They're not perfect by any measure, but adding to Halos enemies is though, and I think of them as a decent addition. Once you figure out the different variants, they become a blast to strategize around. Promethean shotgun melts 'em real good, but don't get too close to the Close-Quarters variant, you'll regret it.
This is getting too long as it is, so let's wrap up with visuals and audio. I knew the game sounded great, I love how the weapons sound in this game. OST is a banger, as always. But I was surprised to find out I also like how the game looks. I was distinctly remembering finding the visuals too bright and the enemies indistinguishable from the backgrounds. This wasn't the case at all during my playthrough. In fact, I played a Reach mission right after this, and it looked so muddy, and it has this gray filter over it. Headshotting grunts was suddenly kinda uncomfortable, since their heads blended into their bodies. Which wasn't an issue at all in 4.
I was very positively surprised by Halo 4s campaign and I think it should be reevaluated. If you haven't played it in a while, I say give it another go.