Halo 4

I have a confession to make. Before 3 months ago, I had never beaten a Halo campaign. I will follow up on my history with Halo in a blog post sometime, but I now own every one once again and am a total story enthusiast. So I was really excited for Chief's big return. So much so that I put down $100 for the LE back in AUGUST. If this game was bad, I was probably going to shoot myself.

Since you are reading this, its obviously very good. I'm not going to go into the nitty gritty of explaining the set up and all that, because you have probably heard the summary a thousand times. Just know the campaign is good and hard. Just not without its flaws.

I beat it in five hours and thirty minutes. Your mileage will vary based on difficulty played, I played on normal, and terminals searched for, I found three. This game can also be hard. Very hard. Your health has been lowered a lot, and while this works in multiplayer, it doesn't quite work as well in campaign. At several points, especially in the latter half of the games 8 levels, you will have an OMFGWTFHALO moment.

The story can also be a bit heavy handed at times, while also being a little too light. They explain certain things you didn't know you needed to know but then don't explain things you are pretty certain you should know. This is obviously to pimp out their new novels and extended fiction, but the game can be understood to a certain extent without reading them.

Will I'm sure your wondering whats GOOD about this campaign? Will pretty much everything else. The story between Chief and Cortana is good, although the Cortana rampancy isn't very focused on until the end. Chief also has finally become a character, and you can really sympathize him. The gunplay is fantastic, and the new guns work well with the old guard while being slightly more powerful.

The new enemies are very fun to fight, and I found myself replaying parts just to fight them again. I'm not kidding, they are very, very fun to kill. The pacing in this game is also fantastic, and doesn't really have a dull moment, keeping me interested and wanting more. Even when your getting tired of killing Prometheans they do a great thing where at the second to last mission you find yourself fighting a lot of Covenant. It was a nice breather while also being intense.

It has a bunch of vehicle focused sections, that are all very fun. The ghost escape in Chapter 3, the Mantis in Chapter 4, and even a surprise at the beginning of Chapter 6 and 8. The Campaign is overall fantastic.

Now for the multiplayer. I love how fast it is. The feeling of popping fools with the BR is fantastic (thankful to have it back), and you can feel like a bad ass. But then you realize you have the same health as everyone else and you can go on long, LONG, LOOOOOOONG, sections without getting a kill. I don't feel like its Call of Duty: Future Warfare, and I think it may be the best Halo multiplayer in way.

There is progression, something Halo has needed for a long time. Reach had levels and armor sure, but this progression feels a bit better, as if your earning more for your hard work. Levels come fast, and you actually feel like your gaining. The maps are pretty good. There are no standouts, but there are no bad ones. There are no thrown together maps ala Forge World maps from Reach (I hated Reach by the way). Every map feels well thought out and fun to play on.

Big Team and Dominion all the way! All the modes are fun, but there are no variants to be played online. Sorry Swat and Grifball enthusiasts. You've been relegated to custom games for now, but I have a feeling you will make your return soon.

Finally Spartan Ops. While its to early to tell, since we are on the first episode and are looking forward to ten more weeks of missions I think you will be pretty fun. There is no re playability aside from difficulty and challenges it is very fun with a friend. The story is pretty non-exsistant in the first episode. It is reminiscent Reach's warlike campaign. There are no characters to latch onto, but the Artifact at the end has me waiting for next weeks episode.

Overall I loved Halo 4. This game has been fun, and I will be playing the multiplayer for months to come. It has flaws, every game does. This game is fun. Trust me when I say, Halo is back!