[Computer Games] Halo 4

One of my goals for this year was to get more game reviews up on the blog. I very carefully didn't specify what type of games that would be though, and with my hobbies that leaves a lot of options! I've played a few new board games so far, but want to get in some more plays with them before I review them, so I'm going to start off with a video game review.

Halo 4 is the most recent instalment in the Microsoft X-Box exclusive Halo franchise. Originally created by Bungie, the license was handed to 343 Industries after Bungie declared that they had reached the end of their plans for the series. The Halo games to date have mostly been first person shooters, and Halo 4 continues this trend, picking up the storyline of the games main character, the Master Chief, several years post-Halo 3.

The box art for Halo 4. (Credit: en.wikipedia.com)

I played through the original Halo on the PC, then played the second and third instalments co-operatively with my brother on the X-Box 360. I mostly enjoyed them, and was looking forward to seeing what direction a new design studio would take the series in.

First, let's talk about the gameplay. If you've played a Halo game before, then you'll know what to expect. This familiarity is both a good and a bad thing; it makes it much easier to get into the game, but at the same time slightly 'samey' if you've recently played any of the other FPS games in the series. 343i do mix it up a little with the additional abilities that you can pick up and swap around like weapons (examples include a jetpack, a drone turret, and time-limited invisibility), but these do little to change the basic experience. What really makes a difference are the new enemies that you face.

Look familiar? It should, as the basic gameplay in Halo 4 is the same as in the previous FPS games in the series. (Credit: gameinformer.com)

These new enemies have a lot more manoeuvrability than the Covenant troops of the first three games. Don't worry, the Grunts, Elites, and Jackals are still here (no Brutes though, and thankfully the Flood are completely gone too), but they play a supporting role to the new Forerunner enemies There are three main types, all of which are essential robotic. You've got the flying support troops, who can shield the other types and bring them back from the dead, and are annoyingly agile. There's the 'Knights', who are the elite equivalents, complete with shields. Most have multiple guns, and the irritating ability to teleport around the board. Then there are the, for lack of a better term, hounds, who can climb vertical surfaces, are very fast, and have guns for heads. The theme is very much one of movement, with the Forerunner foes coming at you much more quickly, and from more unexpected angles, than the Covenant. One thing that I did find irritating though was the inability to distinguish between different types of 'Knight'. With the Elites you could tell the power and strength of the individual at a glance from its armour, and therefore guess at what it would likely do. The 'Knights' have similar distinctions in attack patterns and weaponry, but have no visual clues as to what they are. Which meant suddenly being faced by an enemy who looked identical to all of the others, but who would teleport rapidly straight into my face to beat me with a sword. Which was frustrating.

The Promethean/Forerunner 'Knights' are the new heavy infantry enemies. They're annoyingly agile, and can take a lot

of punishment. (Credit: halo.wikia.com)

A new race of bad guys means new weaponry too. It's a mixed bag. Yes, the Forerunner weaponry is readily available, and you get ammunition for it everywhere. But the machine gun equivalent is woefully inaccurate, and the pistol and shotgun seem pathetically weak compared to their human counterparts. On the other hand, the new sniper rifle equivalent was surprisingly good. Generally though I still found myself using Covenant and human weapons in preference to Forerunner ones where I could. That being said, the modular style of the new equipment is very nifty.

Graphics wise the game is a vast improvement over even Halo 3, never mind the dark corridor-fest that was Halo 2 (which is one of the few FPS games where I've managed to get lost going in circles). The exterior environments are varied, ranging from rainforest to arid desert, and always visually stunning. The interior environments are either damaged human bases with lots of characterful detail, or the surprisingly spacious Forerunner structures which appear bigger than they actually are and have a rather nice Tron-esque feel to them.

The exterior scenery in Halo 4 is fantastic, with some stunning vistas. The juxtaposition of natural terrain and Forerunner

structures is interesting, and creates some odd (deliberate) mismatches in style. (Credit: starpulse.com)

I'll finish by talking about the story. There are really two elements at work here. The first is the basic Halo story we've seen before. A new threat arises, the Master Chief gets caught up in it/works out what's going on/causes it in the first place, and is the only person with the power to stop it. Mostly it makes sense if you know Halo and there are some interesting revelations and callbacks to the earlier games and the expanded universe that's grown up around the games, but there were one or two moments where I completely missed why something happened. In particular, the justification for the main villain of the piece just passed me by.

However it's the second story element that really makes this game shine, and shows where 242i have put their stamp on the game. That's the relationship between Master Chief, and his AI Cortana, which has gradually developed over the course of the series. I won't say much, as I don't think I could cover it better than this article, but I will comment that it really does go above and beyond what I expect from a game of this type. It's immensely touching, and even heartbreaking in a couple of places, and elevates Halo 4 to (in my opinion) the best game of the series. 

This is a screenshot from what's possibly the most touching scene of the whole game. It's right at the finale of the game,

and goes above and beyond the level of storytelling that I've come to expect from an FPS. (Credit: gamezone.com)

Yes, there are missteps along the way: the final battle is a little anticlimactic gameplay wise but beautiful poignant from a story point of view; some of the new weaponry is underwhelming, and the annoying vehicle sections where you just drive along a linear path with nothing happening are still featured. And there was a weird moment where I stop playing one night only to find myself having skipped a section the next time I booted up the game. But overall I think 343i should be immensely proud of what they've achieved with Halo 4.