Halo 4 Review : 343 Legacy

Details

Category: Reviews

Published on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 11:04

Written by Reesdabeast261

When you think of Halo, you think of the harmonizing monks and Bungie. Well this time around the Almighty Bungie has stepped down, giving the reigns to 343 industries. Do they have what it takes to step up to the plate or do they fall on a plasma sword? So grab your battle rifle and plasma grenades and let’s get ready to end some Elites.

It’s been four years since the Master Chief, put his boot to some Covenant ass, and is awaken, by Cortona, his trusty AI companion, to a failing ship that is being attacked by the Covenant.  Being the lone survivor he has to traverse and escape before the ship goes down, but is absorbed by The Forerunner planet called “Requiem”.

Now that they are on the planet, and must find a way off now something else comes up, Cortona is dying. She is suffering from an AI disease called “Rampancy”. Rampancy is disease that causes an AI to think themselves to death, after their 7 year life span. Now they have to find a way off of the planet and save Cortona, but an unknown ancient evil arises to threaten humanity and must be put down. I’m going to stop now, as to not to spoil the game.

Halo 4 is a visual masterpiece, with facial reactions that are breathtaking. The sun light coming through the clouds are so realistic, you would want to put sunblock on. The music soundtrack is different from other past games, absent is the monks, and replaced is a female falsetto that is surprisingly well placed. The sound effects are great, the sound of every bullet, and footstep makes the experience that much better. 343 have really put their stamp on this Halo and they don’t disappoint.  

Halo 4 absolutely plays like a Halo game, but is still different. The one thing that is different is the weapons, which has included the Forerunner weapons. The weapons system has different classes for each weapon, spanning pistol, machine guns, rifle, shotguns, sniper rifle, and heavy. Every weapon has a counterpart, the Forerunner weapons are the strongest, followed by the covenant, then Human. The system is well put together.

Halo 4 is a challenging game when played on Heroic and up. You must strategize, pick your target, and pick how you will be taking them out. Halo’s enemies are a lot smarter, they will duck behind cover, flank, and will even revive others that have falling, so having a second player is welcomed. It’s nothing like teaming up with others to take down the joint forces of the Covenant and the Forerunners.

Halo is a game that strives on its multiplayer modes, Spartan Ops and Online Multiplayer. Spartan Ops is a story-driven game mode that can be played either solo or co-op, via Xbox-live or console. The mode replaces firefight and has a season based system that will have 5 new objective based modes that happen alongside the main story line, and will be updated weekly. The Online Multiplayer mode is now being called Infinity, and allows players to build their own custom Spartan – IV, with a loadout. All of the multiplayer features are back, from team deathmatch to capture the flag.

Bottom Line: This game is a buy. Halo 4 feels a lot like the Halos of the past but with a different tone. You get to see a different, more human side of the Master Chief and is welcomed. 343 has done a wonderful job and Bungie will be proud. 

• < Prev
• Next >