If you look at the tag cloud the bottom right corner of the site, you’ll see that one of the most talked about games here at mrkniceguy.com is Halo 3. It’s no secret that I’ve been a fan of the Halo games for the past 11 years. It’s been a fun series to play and uncover more and more of the story about Master Chief and Cortana. I’ve followed their adventure ever since the first Halo came out on the OG Xbox. So when Halo 4 was released, it was a no brainer to pick it up and play.

I purchased Halo 4 at launch and jumped right in to the game. Playing through the first two missions on Heroic, I’m here to report that it’s every bit as good as the previous 3 Halo games. Master Chief, Cortana, and the Covenant are all back and a new class of baddies yet to be engaged. Not only is the story good, but the game looks and feels beautiful and clean. It has that classic Halo feel with a few extra elements added. The dynamics added in are pretty natural for the gameplay and don’t feel like they were just “thrown in.” The only story complaint I have so far is some pretty long cut scenes. But we’re here for a story, right?

343 Industries (commonly referred to as 343i) took over development when Bungie parted ways from Microsoft Game Studios and went independent, which was a mutually beneficial move. Microsoft then employed 343i to develop the next big piece of the Halo universe. And I think they’ve done a great job.

My favorite part of Halo 4 so far is actually the sound-scape. Sound has always been a make or break point for me in movies and games, and 343i does it right. The sounds are amazing. Doors opening and closing, the guns, the baddies, the epic struggles. It all sounds great.  I generally play with a pair of Turtle Beach headphones, so I get a full ear of the sweet, sweet sounds. And I like it.

Multiplayer is quite fun, although at this point the map selection is pretty light. I feel like I’m playing the same map every 3 or 4 games. Upcoming map packs will fix that but I wish the game had shipped with more places to play. The playlists don’t even rotate through all the maps that ship with the game but instead land on the same 3 or 4 in Infinity Slayer. That being said, I’ve spent plenty of hours on those maps and haven’t really gotten bored. Yet.

Halo 4 is solid. I’m still working my way through the campaign and will tell you more about that at a later date, but for now I can say with confidence, you should pick it up.  You can even buy Halo 4 in the newly created mrkniceguy Amazon store.

Halo 4 Gallery