So I have never even posted one thing in the bungie forums, but I cannot help to post something this time about a game which i thoroughly enjoyed from the beginning to the end. Let me first state something about myself. I played Halo CE the original and was instantly in love with Halo. From there, I played every Xbox game, 2,3, ODST, Reach and Halo Wars. Since I was 8 or 9 years old when I played CE, I only started playing online with part 3. Because of this, I am always more interested in the single player than in multiplayer. (although I played 3 quite a lot, damn good memories) From this point of view, I want to tell you why I think so many of you wear too much 'old skool' glasses. I will not jump into the discussion about the lore, because I think I cannot contribute that much like people did before me. I know a lot about the lore, but obviously not as much as you guys do. (I never read any books physically) So while the lore can be viewed as flawed (and in my opinion you guys make points that do itch me), I ask myself, why doesn't anyone notice the other side, the new fresh wind 343 brought to part 4? A story about two characters which survived everyone and everything, two installations, numerous deaths of remarkable other characters (Johnson, Keyes, Miranda), a parasite that almost drove one of them insane in seclusion and which is now put to the ultimate test: will they stay together or will they be lost forever? Then there is the story of the demi-god versus god. We always saw Master Chief as the ultimate badass, yet our Forerunner antagonist knows how to tame the shiny metal god pretty roughly. And then there is the story of the captain who sees Cortana and Master Chief as delusional when it comes to their ideas about the Forerunner threat. In great contrast to the whole crew, which view MC as their saviour, their Jesus. Screw protocol, MC saved humanity for Cole's sake! The point I am trying to make is that 343 has put a lot of effort in emotional moments and stories in this game. Another great example is of the contrast between the Chief and the scientist, the former one doing his duty when he needs to blow something up, which the latter one has spend many years of research on. Hey, everything for humanity right? Even between MC and Cortana is a contrast which I found nothing more than brilliant: the always cool 'It will be fine' MC with the AI which is feeling more and more emotions and life, while at the end of her lifespan. Can't you feel the tragedy? Gameplay-wise I also enjoyed the new way 343 headed. While I must admit that the weapons are nothing more than Forerunner-adjusted types of the shotgun, sniper and automatic weaponry for me, the enemies require a totally new approach. I was starting to get bored by the routine I knew for so long approaching the Covenant. Plasma bolt, headshot.. Melee, headshot.. Shoot the small hole in the Jackals shield, headshot.. The Forerunner enemies carry a totally different approach and I cannot praise 343 enough for it. It may not be the new wheel, but it certainly is something new for me. Now I know a lot of people will say Bungie put a lot of work in emotion as well, and they certainly did. My favourite video game moment ever is by far the moment Miranda pulls the gun on Johnson and just cannot do it. Which results in her tragic demise and Johnson being speechless for one of the very first times. Bungie does know how to show emotions, but what I missed in their works after a while was a total immersion, shock and awe moments which drop your jaw to the ground and leave you speechless for a long time. Needless to say, I did experience this with Halo 4. Halo CE made me feel suspense when I was a young 8-year-old boy and Halo 4 made me feel suspense while I am 18. You can just feel the love of 343 Industries. I will not say anything about the multiplayer, since I did not check it out yet. Only one thing. A lot of people yell we have a 'Call of duty' Halo with this part. But I can remember Reach having a lot of CoD influences as well in the multiplayer. They were simply adjusted to the universe and unique multiplayer of Halo. Yet, wasn't that a Bungie game? I must admit, I did not really enjoy the multiplayer of Reach, since I enjoyed the multiplayer of part 3 too much. The step was just too big for me. In a sense, I am still stuck in a 'Halo 3 multiplayer paradigm'. But it did involve a lot of borrowing from CoD already. Maybe it is because I got tired of the old trick being done over and over again, that I am overly enthousiastic with Part 4, but I truly believe a lot of you should consider the game once more, and please, with a little less conservative paradigm of the 'Bungie days'. It is truly a work of art. My only big point of critique is a bit difficult. It involves the same thing I praise about this game. While I really enjoyed the sense of emotion in the game, I think they should have pushed further. The contrast between a captain and the Chief, the Forerunner antagonist and MC, the scientist and MC, all these moments were great, but only brief. In my opinion, the story of terminals of Halo 3 deserved more elaboration as well. 343 Industries might have overdone it a little bit with all their different ideas, resulting in great moments, yet brief. And then there is the following comment which still gives me a lot of thought and upon which I cannot help but agree: [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Te7suro While playing Halo 4, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that the story that really wants to be told is that of the relationship between MC and Cortana, with all the rest being more or less filler.[/quote] You sir, have made a very bold statement. One that feels so true to me that it has shaken my appreciation of the game a bit. A little bit, but still a bit. I think you are spot on with this assessment and it can be viewed next to my critique point of 'overdoing' it. [Edited on 11.07.2012 3:09 PM PST]