So here we have it, our Halo 4 review. Before I get stuck into the meat of it, I just wanted to say this will be a very general review. I won’t be talking about any story elements or any specific that could spoil the game for you, so feel free to read on if you’re still playing / getting ready to play it.
We will be coming back to this review again in a week or two when more of you have played the game to give our opinion on the story and some specific elements.
Am I a Halo fan? No, no i’m not. I did love the original, but all the ‘sequels’ just felt more of the same to me with little to no improvements on the graphics. When there were games out there like Gears of War wowing us with such mind blowing graphics, Halo just felt dated to me. Thankfully, not so with Halo 4. This is a BEAUTIFUL looking game. One of the best looking I’ve played in a while. The landscapes and just the general size of the locations are awe inspiring. You really have to play it to see what I’m talking about. It just feels epic. I was alway looking about at all the details. Even up close the textures held up amazingly well.
The cut scenes is another area where massive improvements have been made. There are basically 2 types, one that uses in the ingame graphics engine. These are stunning. The lip sync, eyes and facial expressions are all incredible. It’s the best in game cut-scenes i’ve seen since LA Noire.
Then there’s the pre-rendered scenes. These are movie quality scenes that are really engaging and just draw you further into the game in my opinion.
As for the story in the campaign. Lets just put it like this. I picked up the game and got home at 3pm. Next thing I remember it was 8pm and I needed dinner. After dinner, the next thing I remember it was 1.30am and bed was needed. Basicially, the story just makes you want to keep going. I just wanted to see what was next. It’s an incredibly engaging story and my hat is off to 343 Industries for doing such a brilliant job!
Just touching on sound for a moment, it as well got a complete overhaul from 343 Industries. The weapons just sound more real, more beefier and just better. The sounds of the world are also amazing. It really needs a decent 5.1 system to experience the world of Halo 4 to it’s full potential.
So, the multiplayer. If I’m being honest, I’m not a massive online gamer. I did dip my toe in the multiplayer aspect of Halo 4, but we will definitely be coming back to this in the next couple of days to detail this a bit more. Given that I’m not a huge online gamer, the fact I enjoyed my time online with Halo 4 is a good thing. My experience, and one of the reasons I don’t play online more often, was hampered by the fact the way I have my TV set up gives me a 152ms delay, and well, leads me to being killed more ofen than I’d like (thats my excuse and I’m sticking to it! 😛 ). It’s not just your ‘generic’ online multiplayer, there’s also the episodic co-op ‘Spartan Ops’ missions. These are weekly missions that 343 will be releasing for the next 10 weeks to extend the life of the game. There’s also “War Games’ mode which I had fun in!
I’m not sure what else I can say about Halo 4 without ruining the story or some other element on you. Do come back in a week or so to see our updated review where we’ll be talking much more about specific story elements and more on the multiplayer. If there’s anything you’d like us to cover in particular, just get in touch and we’ll be sure to include it.
To summarise:
Should you get this game? Yes, if you have an Xbox 360, this is a must own title
Is it good? It’s not just good, its absolutely fantastic.
Go get Halo 4 now if you haven’t already, you won’t be disappointed!
