Halo 4: The Chief is Back
When Halo 3 was one of those games which can be considered the full package of everything that you want in a game. An awesome story which ended that trilogy, competitive and cooperative multiplayer, a whole bunch of multiplayer options like the theater and forge. Bungie made a game which at the time you knew was a modern masterpiece. Since then, Bungie has left Microsoft and the Halo license with it. 343 Industries has since been made the Halo studio with Halo 4 being their start. With a lofty goal of being better than Halo 3, I can say for certain that Halo 4 not only meets these goals, but far surpasses them.
Halo 4 is the start of the new "Forerunner trilogy" in the Halo series. In Halo 3, you last left Master Chief and Cortana on an empty floating spaceship with both of them in a sleep state. But they wake up and find out that they are up against trouble like they were before. They encounter a new race of enemies called the Prometheans and the older, well known Covenant.
The main interest of the plot is the main two character, Master Chief and Cortana. Cortana is going rampant because she has been an active AI for 8 years, while AIs are supposed to be deactivated after 7. The duo want to find a way to save her from this while figuring out what is the deal with the Prometheans. It gets real interesting because 343 goes deep into the fiction and try to help Master Chief with his psychological problems. Cortana wants to help Master Chief feel more like a human and not just a tool for war. It is a really emotional story and while not every part of the new race makes a whole lot of sense, there is a lot character here and it works out well.
Along with the single player campaign, multiplayer is back and better than ever. You play as a Sparten-IV and have enhance powers because of it. It is more similar to games like Call of Duty now because of many tings, but it still feels a lot like Halo. New things are loadouts where you can choose which weapon you start with, new perks, new armor abilities, ordnances (similar to kill streaks in CoD) and the ability to sprint whenever you want. But it still feels like Halo in the sense that you have a lot more health and you still have to pick up the more powerful weapons on the ground like needlers or rocket launchers or shotguns. If you have played past Halo multiplayers, it should feel fresh but familiar.
The new gametype in Halo 4 is Sparten Ops. It is a cooperative based mode where you have to beat the AI and complete certain objectives. It is also episodic where a new set of missions will be available to you each week. It has it's own narrative too where you are the new group of Spartens trying to do what you can to beat the Prometheans and Covenant. It is fun if you can play with other people but it doesn't fill the same space that the Firefight mode filled in previous Halo games. It also doesn't help that the majority of the Sparten Ops games that I have played has been pretty laggy since the episodes are played from an online server.
Halo 4 is the real deal. 343 does a wonderful job making a new Halo game and having it feel new but familiar at the same time. The game has some of the best music and is easily one of the best looking games I have seen to date. Everything about it is just absolute fun and I can't wait to play Halo 5. Oh, and Custom Games are still absolutely crazy!
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