Halo 4 Review

With the makers of the Halo franchise, Bungie, jumping ship from one of the most successful productions in gaming history, it has been 343 industries’ challenge to renovate the Halo formula and expand the boundaries of the universe which once sat on the throne of gaming.

The series’ main protagonist, Master chief, awakens after 4 years of inactivity, launching us into a campaign where the super-soldier must protect humanity from an ancient evil named the Forerunners, and the familiar foes of the Covenant.

It is within the campaign that the best and worst of Halo 4 are first established. The art work, graphics, and cinematic cut scenes are utterly majestic. The lighting system and shading is an absolute triumph, allowing for incredible visual depictions of the alien terrain. What’s more, the details of both weapons and vehicles are so in depth that they look almost corroded.

Unfortunately, the stunning visual displays do little to invigorate a storyline which only manages to capture the spirit of the previous installments; little is done to rejuvenate the campaign. The story mode is far too short, and many elements aren’t given enough attention to or are simply glossed over. The main enemy, called the Diadact, is not explored in any great depth and hence feels too distant to bare menace. There are also fewer missions (8 in total – including a prologue and an epilogue) which feel shorter in themselves.

What does ensure the longevity of Halo 4 has to be its multiplayer. The online dimension, dubbed ‘War Games’ allows Halo 4 to excel. Whether you’re new to the first person shooter genre (FPS), or a multiplayer veteran, there are several aspects which launches Halo beyond the spectrum of many FPS, enabling old and new players alike to compete.

The futuristic battlegrounds coupled with a delicately balanced choice of weapons and vehicles makes Halo 4 the only shooter you can buy today where the impossible is literally made, well… incredible. The physiology of the spartan race makes you enter battle feeling Herculean in strength. When paired with advanced weaponry, alien technology and maps which include man-cannons, gravity lifts and more; Halo becomes both competitive and incredibly entertaining.

This said however, Halo 4 is hardly introducing anything new to the FPS genre. Rather than innovating the field of shooters, and taking steps to making Halo unique, this new addition seems to have settled into what already exists in order to draw new players into the franchise. The augmentation of load-outs (weapon classes), kill-cams and ordinance (kill streak rewards) for example, have long been established in the sphere of shooters, making Halo 4’s ‘new’ additions seem more borrowed.

Another area in which the multiplayer falls short is in the ranking system. The same structure used in Halo Reach and the Call of Duty games has been implemented online, where players level up after gaining a certain amount of experience in each match. This system seems less indicative of skill in comparison to Halo’s 2 and 3, where players ranked up purely by winning matches.

However, the multiplayer does operate incredibly smoothly and guarantees many hours of enjoyment. There are an abundance of playlists that encourage the exploration of the vast range of weapons in both individual and team based games. Halo classics such as Team snipers and Capture the flag are two fine examples of game-types which have been cohesively transferred onto the new installment. New additions such as Regicide also make for an interesting ‘free for all’ game type where players can express their individual skill.

343 Industries have done an exceptional job in staying true to the universe Bungie created. However it is impossible to deny the centering of the Halo franchise. Don’t get me wrong, this Halo is brilliant. However, it is a pity that 343 industries felt the need to make Halo 4 more accessible to a wider audience. The result is that this installment seems more of a continuation, rather then an advancement or expansion, of the franchise which once broke huge ground in the world of shooters. Hopefully 343 will use Halo 4 as a stepping stone to re-craft one of gamings biggest blockbusters in the next installment of the trilogy.