On electionday I picked up my son's reserved copy of Halo 4 so in between walking back and forth from two TV's to check up on electoral votes and his progress I was held up for obvious reasons with this review.
President Obama won... But is Halo 4 a winner?
Currently my favorite video game is Batman: Arkham City which I have beaten at least five times because it is that good of a game and you can alter the story by choosing which missions you want to do in order plus the extra unlocked gameplay where you can fight and stalk according to the challenge modes you choose.
My next favorite game is Halo: Reach which is the sequel to the Halo franchise but mostly I watch my son and his friends play either together here at home where they take on other online gamers in the S.W.A.T. mode.
Last night due to my wife placing my son on punishment (At least I'm not in trouble... Or caught) I stepped to the game controller and went all in on the level he had gotten to.
Halo 4 reminds me of when Return of The Jedi came out where it had to live up to the majesty that both the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back had attained putting it under more pressure to deliver.
Let's just say that in this era of digital effects and CGI there is no excuse for poor special effects so with Halo 4 this is a given as the stunning scenery is even better than before.
First let's address some of the negatives... There should be a different voiceover for the lead character Master Chief because he sounds like a low grade Wolverine knock off attempting to give that rough gravelly textured tough guy voice that really is not necessary considering that his mission speaks for itself.
Also... Master Chief and Cortana (The A.I. woman) have been through so much together that they should plug into The Matrix and get a room to seal that deal already while you have them up close and personal.
Enough with The Covenant... Although there are new villains to shoot and blow up these guys are getting long in the tooth and I was hoping that this would be a reboot of sorts to introduce and establish new bad guys in a Knights of The Old Republic way.
Tron... There are some levels that like the movie Tron can weigh upon the eyes if you have the high definition mode on the TV and the Xbox so that may need to be toned down a bit.
The supernatural... Okay, I know that there are a whole lot of folks into the mystical aspects but I prefer that to be less in something where I just want to blow stuff up and raise the body count. There is literally a scene where a character may as well have been using the Force to levitate and paralyze Master Chief and then do the cliched to death throw him away instead of killing right there as Count Dooku should have done to a helpless and light saber less Obi Wan.
What idiot writer keeps rehashing the grab and throw em away thing because this keeps recurring even in high budget films like Terminator... If you got hold of somebody you want dead then end it already.
Now for the good stuff... Halo 4 gives you strange and exciting worlds along with levels that will challenge your shoot quick and ask questions later methods.
Neither me nor my son have gotten far enough to declare this game better than Batman AA or Halo Reach but it does have our full attention.
If you reserved a copy in advance and got the limited edition then it comes with a bunch of extra downloadable content to add to your gaming experience... If you have the cash I encourage this instead of waiting for the content to be released at a later date.
Halo 4 is what is next and what is now... With the power that this gaming engine comes equipped with there will be a lifetime's worth of enjoyment if you go back and repeat levels you have already defeated.
The guns and weaponry available are much better than Halo:Reach so be prepared to favor some of the newer ones over the previous selections.
Since I am not half the gamer that my son is it takes me longer to beat levels so expect a while to go before the game is officially beaten.
I can't help but think that the only game that could challenge this other than Mass Effect or the military based black ops games that pop up every year is Ronald T. Jones Warriors of The Four Worlds soon to be released game!!!
While you wait for Ronald's epic game to be released you can be satiated with Halo 4 for now.
Also check out the Halo 4 live action movie clip posted elsewhere on this forum by another member for it is a sign of how product can be marketed from game to movie or movie to game.
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