Review: Halo 4 will make you hail the new Chief

November 06, 2012

It's rare that an entertainment franchise built under the vision of one entity thrives in the hands of another, but Halo 4 is proof that 343 Industries shares the passion and singular vision of Bungie while innovating on the Halo gameplay formula to set themselves apart. Just because this is more Halo doesn’t mean that it’s more of the same Halo; Halo 4 innovates in the right places and gives the series the much needed improvements that most modern shooters take for granted. A worthy successor Halo 4 continues the venerable Halo series storyline, and thus I will be referencing some very early plot developments as part of this review. It's nothing you couldn't learn from watching a Halo 4 trailer, but spoilerphobes should prepare accordingly. The game picks up where the Legendary ending of Halo 3 left us, with Master Chief entering cryosleep aboard the Forward Unto Dawn frigate as it drifted through space. We wake up to find it’s torn in half, the Covenant are attacking, and we're all being pulled down towards a Forerunner planet. Chief and Cortana encounter the Prometheans, an exciting new enemy, which means that they’re facing a war on two fronts. The Prometheans pose new challenges for Chief, affording series veterans a fresh foe to fight without changing Halo's classic combat mechanics. The gameplay is where things shift pretty dramatically for Halo 4. The Halo games have never kept pace with modern military shooters, avoiding an emphasis on cover and iron sight aiming in favor of open battlefields and clever AI enemies. Yet first-person combat games have changed significantly since the release of Halo 3 (and even Halo: Reach), and thus it's easy for traditional Halo mechanics to feel dated. Halo 4 concedes this issue by allowing Chief to sprint at will without needing to equip a special ability (a la Halo: Reach), and it's a small but welcome addition. While Chief's newfound celerity in the face of a fresh enemy encourages you to blast through Halo 4, the beautiful world you're battling for makes you want to stop and stare. Everything is colorful and vibrant without feeling overly stylized, a rare feat in fast-paced action games. With as much ambient light and bloom going on it’s surprising that the environments of Halo 4 don't look washed out, though the bright color palette might be a bit much for some players. Up close, texture quality has always been an issue in past Halo games; thankfully, that’s no longer an issue, as the weapons, environments and enemies look just as great up close as they do far away (the rocks are especially beautiful, oddly enough). It's a great way to wind down the Xbox 360 generation, because Halo 4 has some of the best textures I’ve seen on a console title. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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