Halo 4 (Xbox 360) Review

The main campaign here starts with the awakening of Chief, and it immediately feels right to see him back in action. In a world of laser sights and tactical nukes, it's good to be back in the Chief's sturdy boots, yet those good feelings aside, the campaign suffers from a lot of the same problems many have had with other Halo campaigns.
Several times during Halo 4 people will ask themselves the following: why am I playing, and what the hell is going on? For those who don't follow the series mythos closely, there's some confusion to be had in Halo 4. Composers, Diadects, Libarians, and more. Developer 343 is trying so hard to be epic, so hard to be...Bungie. It can't be helped but feel that in trying to emulate everything Bungie already did, the team has thrown away an opportunity to reclaim the series and build something new. That said, the very fact that this isn't a Call of Duty - despite the fact that that series' influence is keenly felt - is refreshing in itself.

As it is, 343 has succeeded in showing that, yes, it is capable of recreating the Halo of yesteryear. Massive sandboxes, powerful weapons, intelligent enemy AI; it's all here just as it was in past games. Armour abilities have been retained from Halo Reach as well, though the implementation here feels a bit more restrained. Despite this solid foundation though, the campaign is lacking for anything new and refreshing.

Videogames can be stiflingly linear with simplistic objectives. Developers often try to get around this limitation with a convincing narrative or some other compelling hook. Give the player a reason to want to see what happens next beyond just simply blasting aliens. Unfortunately, there is no compulsion to play "just one more" level of Halo 4's campaign until eventually closing in on the final chapters. In fact, if it wasn't for Cortana's personal story, there simply wouldn't be anything to care about in Halo 4. Cortana has a condition called rampancy wherein she literally begins to think herself to death. She's the only thing that provides any sort of emotional anchor for the action. The Chief? Nah, he'll be alright. Earth? Well, that's supposedly the reason this is all being done. Lasky? Who? Aside from Cortana's struggle with rampancy, there's just nothing to drive the story.
343 does have a few nifty tricks up its sleeve, though. The campaign features a new alien race with an accompanying weapon set. Furthermore, there's a new vehicle called the Mantis that is exceedingly fun to use in the campaign and devastatingly powerful in multiplayer. Not to mention the new location that provides plenty of excellent set pieces on which to blast things. It's good fun; it's just not a huge departure from what has already been seen before.

It's a good thing the core gameplay is so solid. Gun balancing is phenomenal - it can only be imagined how the team managed to make nearly every weapon feel strong and useful and yet not overpowered. Every weapon will be loved, and which one to rely on in every situation will become second nature. That's really a great thing! There's a scene toward the end of the game where Chief is transferred to a room filled with powerful weaponry. Equipping the most powerful guns, though, is not always the best option; equipping a pair that is appropriate for the task ahead sometimes works best. Halo 4's campaign won't be ploughed through with one just firearm; more will be used in interesting and fun ways.

This balance extends to the multiplayer, which is where Call of Duty's influence is most obvious and actually beneficial. Loadouts are all the rage these days, and they are here whether people like it or not. It's a good thing, and the loadouts don't feel as unbalancing as they can be in Call of Duty. Rather, they are an improvement that helps make the game feel more personal. The multiplayer as a whole feels subtly improved - the map selection is good and free of any real duds, and the match-making is quick and painless. The changes do a good job of making the game feel fresh, but don't worry that the traditional Halo feel has disappeared. This is still Halo multiplayer - just a bit more modern.

One loss that may disappoint people is the removal of Firefight. Some may shed no tears - never having found Firefight to be that interesting, but others will. Spartan Ops see 343 recognise that and this is where its biggest gamble comes in. The gameplay itself for these missions isn't too thrilling, but the actual storyline does provide a human touch, something that makes the lack of this in the main campaign even more noticeable.

Whilst not quite loving the campaign, it has to be stated that 343 really has done excellent work here in a lot of ways. For one, the visuals are astounding, and the quality of the art is a high point for the series. The sheer beauty of Halo 4 will blow many away. Particular favorites have to be the forest levels near the beginning of the campaign - in those scenes one can easily see the work of the Retro Studios employees who jumped ship for the chance to work on Halo 4.

Beyond just visuals though, Halo 4 again sets a new audio benchmark for the series and perhaps the industry as a whole. This game must be played with an excellent sound system or quality headphones, since a significant part of the experience will be missed. The new direction the soundtrack has taken has certainly divided fans, with many preferring the thumping sounds from previous composer O'Donnel, but there's no questioning the superiority of the delivery here. With supreme directionality, high quality, and satisfying sound effects for the entire armament, this might be the most impressive aspect of the whole package. The only complaint would be that the lip syncing in cut-scenes is suspect at times, but then again how many video games nail this consistently?