Halo 4: The Haloiest Halo Yet

It's no surprise that I'm something of a Halo fanboy. So when the news came that not only would there be a Halo 4, but that it would be made by a brand new studio, I was (justifiably) suspicious. Fortunately the new studio, 343 Industries, made up largely of ex-Bungie employees and industry veterans, did a fine job in moving the series forward.


The story picks up four years after the events of Halo 3, with Master Chief waking up from cryogenic hibernation to deal with the latest threat to humanity. The Flood are well and finally gone (and good riddance to them), so we have a new enemy to deal with in the form of a resurrected Forerunner and his army of teleporting battle-bots. Oh and also the Covenant, who are still around. The back story is, unfortunately, rather steeped in the books, comics and other ancillary media that have come to be a part of the Halo behemoth. I say "unfortunately" because newcomers to the series are going to have a hard time understanding what's happening, and even people who played (and payed attention to) all of the games are going to feel lost if they haven't read at least some of the books. For instance, humanity made nice with the Covenant at the end of Halo 3, but absolutely no explanation is given as to why you're still fighting them four years later. (Turns out the ones you're dealing with are a radical splinter group, if you care.) But aside from that issue, the storytelling is well done. Master Chief gets a bit more humanity, and there are actual other characters who do things like "show emotion" and "have motivations". But Cortana's descent into rampancy (insanity for AIs) is handled with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and I think they could have done a better job of depicting MC's alienation from the rest of humanity.

Wake up, John. I need you to push buttons for me.

The mission structure is unfortunately rather bland. Six games in, and you're still doing basically the same thing. Go over here, push this button to activate a bridge. There are three generators, go activate/blow up each one in succession. Uh-oh, Covenant inbound! Better defend this area for an arbitrary amount of time! Your reasons for traveling from Point A to Point B to Point C are thinly veiled reasons to get you to the next firefight. Here in Anno Domini 2012 I expect a little more context and story woven into the gameplay, and it really wouldn't hurt for 343i to start integrating the narrative into the mission objectives more fully. At the very least, they could make the levels less linear. The Halo levels that stick out the most in my memory are still 'Halo' and 'The Silent Cartographer' from the first game, because they dropped you in an open area with several objectives that you could tackle in any order you want. Or you could just say screw it and just explore Forerunner ruins, or see how far you can launch a Warthog. While Halo 4 still lets you approach individual firefights as you please-- there are no forced on-rails vehicle sequences like in Call of Duty-- the game has lost that sense of freedom and exploration.

The core UNSC weapon set is largely the same, and that's all fine and dandy. Human weapons should feel familiar, and the beefed up sound effects make the weapons feel hefty and powerful in your hands. But the Covenant and Promethean weapon sets are a disappointment. In Halo: CE, the alien weapons felt so incredibly strange and different, the products of strange and unknowable minds. When you found something new, you had no idea what it would do when you pulled the trigger. It might destroy an enemy outright, or make you a cup of coffee. This thing shoots shards of exploding crystal? Who does that?! But not here; everything in Halo 4 is clearly an analogue to the UNSC set, to the point that they're essentially re-skins. The Assault Rifle is the Storm Rifle is the Suppressor; the DMR is the Carbine is the Light Rifle. Call me crazy, but when I pick up a weapon made by an ancient godlike alien race, I expect it to be hella powerful. Instead, when I try to use a Suppressor on a Promethean Knight, it feels like I'm pelting him with Nerf darts.

Spartan-IVs are highly trained in the art of dance-fighting.

Once the Campaign is done, there is the co-op Spartan Ops mode to tackle. I really want to like Spartan Ops, but what I've played thus far leaves me wanting. The concept is to make the new mode a cross between a stand-alone co-op campaign and Firefight, by giving players weekly "episodes" consisting of small levels drawn from sections of Campaign, multiplayer maps, and purpose-built levels. It's a great concept, but the execution has a number of problems. The story is utterly forgettable, despite the presence of the always-excellent Jennifer Hale as the Spartans' commanding officer. It doesn't help that the in-mission banter boils down to inane instructions, like explaining various enemy abilities. I get that they need to explain these things to people who haven't played campaign, but that doesn't make me less tired of hearing it for the 40th time. The other problem is that we keep going back to the same five levels every week. The game tries to create the illusion of an ongoing story and progressing campaign, but too often falls short of the mark. The story has started to pick up some speed in the last few weeks, and the inclusion of new maps is a definite plus, but it has yet to hit its stride.

I also find it strangely off-putting that they removed the scoring and gameplay medals that were so prevalent in Reach's Firefight mode. There was something supremely satisfying about seeing my medals rack up at the bottom of the screen and knowing that I killed way more Elites than anyone else. I also don't like that the XP system isn't transparent. For some reason, Spartan Ops games net about twice as much experience as competitive multiplayer matches, but I have no earthly idea why. I consistently score far better than my teammates in Spartan Ops, but I don't see any appreciable increase in my XP. WHY?!

Wheeeeeee.....

Multiplayer is, well, multiplayer. It's the same Halo multiplayer you either love or hate. The big new addition this time around is Call of Duty-style customizable loadouts based on experience points earned over time. I'm in favor of this, it adds immensely to the gameplay. But to be honest, at this point I don't have much multiplayer fight left in me. I've just lost the taste for capturing flags and skirmishing with 13-year-olds who are better than me. I have too many other games that are calling for my attention. Without the lure of killing my real-life friends to keep me interested, I doubt I'll spend much time here.

I know I'm bagging on the game a lot, but the truth is that I actually liked it quite a bit. The campaign was the best since Halo 3, and the production value is incredible. It's definitely one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. Picking up the mantle left by Bungie was no easy task, and if 343i had simply made a passable Halo game, it would have counted as a victory. Fortunately, they have surpassed expectations and made one of the better games in the series. Now that they're comfortable, I'm hoping the next game will take the series in some new directions.