Game: Halo 4
Grade: Game play: B-, Story: A-
Review by: Cameron Flatt
Halo is awesome; I thought we should just get that out of the way right now. The video game series captures the imagination with a vast array of exotic locations, diverse alien enemies, and different weapons to accommodate any playing level. Yet it maintains a simplistic style of gaming that allows for constant improvement while welcoming new comers with open arms.
The story up to this point takes place in the 26th century on multiple planets around the Milky Way galaxy. Super soldier Master Chief, the playable protagonist, is matched up with an artificial intelligences computer program, named Cortana, in order to fight the alien race know as “The Covenant.” The “Halos” are giant rings that float around in outer space and are designed to, when activated, eradicate all life in the universe.
Halo 3 ended with Master Chief destroying the main control Halo, but unsuccessfully escaped the blast radius. Light-years from earth and stuck inside an nonoperational space cruiser, Chief is forced to put himself in “hyper sleep” until someone finds his ship. Halo 4 picks up four years later when a Covenant fleet finds Chief in his wreckage above the planet of Requiem right as a human ship, Infinity, conveniently shows up at the same time. Chief awakes to find a deteriorating Cortana that is prone to spouts of anger and irrational behavior.
This is particularly odd due to the fact that Cortana is a computer and thus should not have such emotional problems. This proves to be the central focus between Cortana and Chief as their relationship and Chief’s loyalty is put to the test as they fight against the Covenant, the stubborn Captain of the Infinity, and the Forerunner drones left on the planet.
As hinted to in past games, the Forerunner’s are an extinct race that built the Halos and the technology for the Covenant. The forerunner drones, or Prometheans are biotechnological robots that protect Requiem and guard a dangerous prisoner. This prisoner turns out to be a criminal forerunner and thus the last of his kind. His name is the Didact and he, much like the Covenant, sees the human race as a parasite of the galaxy and seeks to destroy them, OF COURSE!
The Didact fills the spot of antagonist while the Prometheans serve as new grunt enemies to fight through the level. This is a nice break from always have to fight Covenant forces, but there is a generic light, heavy, and special soldier to mirror the Covenent’s grunts, elites, and jackals. This does open up the spot for some interesting new weapons, though, as there is a Promethean pistol, assault rifle, sniper, grenade, rifle, shotgun, and rocket launcher.
The strong point of the game for me is the emphasis and dedication to the relationship of Chief and Cortana. These two characters have been together since the beginning and are the last two alive from the original trilogy, providing even more of a bond between them. I realized while playing this game exactly why they work so well together and why they feel the strong bond that they do. Cortana is just a machine, but is full of life and personality. Master Chief is a human, but we never see his face, due to his helmet, and he absolutely never shows any emotion thanks to his brutal training since childhood.
Their opposite personalities attract and allow each other to make up for what the other lacks. Chief has essentially lost his humanity, so he is able to have some through Cortana. And since she is actually a machine she is able to identify with Chief since he is practically a machine himself, with all of his armor and lack of emotion.
And with Cortana on the verge of “death,” Chief must struggle to save the closest thing he has ever had to a close, personal relationship. It is especially hard for him because there once was a whole battalion of Spartans just like him. Over the course of the Covenant War, they all died out, leaving him as the last one in existence. This just provides fuel for Chief as he fights for the last person that understands him and ties any sort of him to his human side.
Other strong points for the game include the vehicle levels. There is an area where Chief is driving a ghost, an alien hover cycle, and you get to run over lines of grunts while the scenery explodes around you. There is another section that allows you to pilot a “Pelican” ship, which has been in every game, but this is the first chance the player has been allowed to pilot one and it is plain and simple fun. The second to last level practically recreates the death star trench run from Star Wars, as you fly a space ship down the side of the Didact’s flagship. This is some grade-A, Michael Bay style action as you dodge obstacles jutting out of the ground and shoot at turrets.
The other strong point for the game is the animation of the “special” cut scenes, or short bits of just animation where you can’t play. These “special” scenes show up at the beginning, middle, and end of the game to explain important plot points. The cinematic skill and masterful structure of these parts easily make them some of the best cut scenes in any game ever.
The game does fall flat in some areas. The main problem is absolutely nothing happens outside of the Cortana/Chief plot. All of the humans are barely given any time and there are new Spartans aboard the Infinity, but they hardly interact with Master Chief. The Didact does escape Requiem near the end of the game, but he is stopped before he can reach Earth; thus keeps the planet count to one for the game.
This is yet another major problem; where there were always a spectacular number of different level designs on the other games, Halo 4 seems to only have a couple. The level designs are good but the same layouts are constantly used throughout the game. Though the part with the Pelican has some absolutely beautiful scenery and various battlegrounds. There is also a rather unique level where you ride aboard a “Mammoth,” essentially a much larger version of an “Elephant” from Halo 3, the entire level.
Overall the campaign is mostly fun, but nothing revolutionary. The story is small scale compared to the other games, but gives the best character development of the series. I didn’t get a chance to play the multiplayer or forge so I can not give my opinion on it.
When it comes down to it, this game seemed underwhelming for the a series like Halo, but maybe that is good for the begin of a new trilogy to allow for a larger build up
This review was originally published on kHQtoday.com.
Flattout Studios 