Master Chief is back on a new adventure, and with enhanced multiplayer!
The campaign took me roughly 6 1/2 hours, so don't go in expecting it to be outrageously long. I am not going to talk much about the story, but you do awaken as Master Chief, and Cortana is having all sorts of issues. So you awake, and immediately go to kicking ass. Your the Chief, and that's what you do best after all. And you can finally sprint/run like you have been able to do in other first person shooters for years. The Prometheans are a fun new enemy to tackle, but don't worry you still get to bump heads with the Covenant. Shooting Grunts is just as satisfying as ever. Armor abilities do make a return. One of the most noticeable new features in Halo 4 is the Mantis Mech which lets you wreak havoc all over your enemies! The campaign's story is not overly great, but it is a treat to see the Chief interacting more than ever before, and I think it builds a great foundation for where Halo is going in the future.
As of writing Spartan Ops has had it's first 5 episodes released, and this mode replaced Firefight. The question should be is this as good as Firefight? I say yes because you have storylines now and it's almost like an entirely new campaign, but played on multiplayer maps. You play as Crimson, which is your multiplayer Spartan. The goal of this mode is to promote co-operative play, but you can play through them all by yourself if you so choose. In this mode you level up your multiplayer level and unlocks. It's a fun diversion to say the least. Just don't go in expecting the level design to match the quality of the single player campaign.
When it comes to online multiplayer I only dabble in Team Slayer or in this version of Halo, Infiinity Slayer. The maps are all rock solid. One thing that really got me excited for Halo multiplayer is you finally have customized loadouts. This is the best Halo has ever been online!
The graphics in the game are gorgeous, and you can tell 343 spent a lot of time tweaking the Reach engine. The skin textures and facial animations are out of this world. Sound is stellar as well, and a lot of time went into redoing the gun sound effects. The guns have more pop to them than ever before, and really make an impact. music is phenomenal, and the voice acting is great.
Halo 4 is the culmination of a ton of hard work put together by people that wanted to make a great game. 343 has set the ground work for where they are taking the franchise,and at least for now they have proven they can take this series to new heights, all the while breathing new life into it. This is the Halo game to own, and if you have been waiting all generation to jump on the badwagon then please do so.