Many fans put their hands to their heads when Bungie decided to leave the Halo saga to start a new solo career, after so many years of success with Microsoft. With Halo Reach said goodbye in a big way, passing the testimony to a newly formed 343 Industries which was released with a remake of the first adventures of the Master Chief.
That small test showed the value of the study that today is confirmed with this Halo 4. Those fears and doubts of many will be cleared up when they turn on their console and put the helmet back on. Master Chief in an adventure that, while being conservative, has tried to bring new experiences to the gameplay.
A saga that is one of the standard bearers of Xbox and how much commercial success it has brought to Microsoft was not going to fall into inexperienced hands, in fact, some former employees of Bungie nurture the ranks of 343 Industries, whose mission is to ensure that the franchise continues on its way with its head held high. In Microsoft were so sure of how capable the study would be, that they have come to commission them to develop a new trilogy, this being Halo 4 the first chapter of it and it is already confirmed that the next installment is being developed for the future successor of Xbox 360.
The plot of Halo 4 takes place precisely 4 years after the events that put an end to that terrible threat of The pact to the Earth and the Universe. A cryogenized Master Chief awake from his dream called by the faithful Cortana, just when their ship is caught in the orbit of a strange planet, where they will discover that an ancient and deadly threat remains hidden. With this premise, Halo 4 starts in an intense way, although certainly, the story ends up reaching a degree of predictability that can generate a certain disinterest in the player, relegating its importance to the background.
Sometimes we will have the feeling that certain situations are repeated too much, entering the loop of destroying something / pressing a switch followed by battle and flies to the same thing. And speaking of combats, it must be said that they have lost in scale, in addition to a considerable increase in ranged confrontations. On the other hand, the open scenarios are no longer the predominant tonic in the game, where there will be more corridor sections than in the previous titles, although although the areas that try to imitate the pseudo sandbox guidelines are not very successful and sometimes result somewhat tedious due, at times, to the absurd respawn of enemies.
The artificial intelligence of the game continues to respect the canons set by the saga for years, although in this installment, it seems that the hard Elite have relegated their role from feared enemies to surprising Prometheus Knights. To try to summarize it briefly, the campaign is somewhat conservative in many respects, with a plot line and situations that do not reach the dimension and epic touch of previous programs, such as Halo 3 y Halo Reach.
Graphically, there is no doubt that we are facing one of the exclusive Xbox 360 that look best on screen. Despite running under an engine upgrade from Reach, the new Halo features higher-quality texturing, characters with greater polygon loading, greater fluidity, and an artistic design that give it a unique personality of its kind.
Another of the surprises of this installment is the inclusion of a soundtrack with a lot of electronic and quality themes, which fit perfectly with the futuristic atmosphere of the game, although to the peace of mind of many, the orchestrated classic themes are still present in the game. However, what has not finished convincing me soundly is the dubbing into Spanish, because for a title of this caliber, lines of dialogue interpreted with better intonation and adaptation were expected.
As many know, one of the greatest attractions of the saga Halo en Xbox 360 It resides in a multiplayer mode followed by millions of players around the globe. In Halo 4 There is no shortage of the classic modes that veterans of the franchise like so much, we must also add that the mode Forge It has returned renewed with an exemplary simplicity, which will allow us to use it more accessible and simple. As for our alter ego in multiplayer mode, we can control his career from the USNC Infinity: statistics, improvements ... everything at our fingertips in a direct and eye-catching way. A great novelty are the Spartan ops, a special missions mode, with its own storyline, that can be played together with friends. To curl the loop, new missions will be added to this mode through downloadable content, but beware -and here comes the bad news-, we will have to be paying users if we want to enjoy this game mode.
Some consider Halo el Star Wars of video games. There is no doubt about the popularity of the franchise and the great responsibility it inherited 343 Industries de Bungie. Although, the program remains conservative most of the time so as not to disappoint those fans who expected more of the same, and certainly, that can become an inconvenience for those who awaited an evolution in the saga from the hand of 343 Industries: changes or new features have been very timid. The campaign is not as epic as on other occasions and the story is relegated to the background by a treatment that fails to capture the player's attention. Still, it is a quality production and a must for fans of the franchise, both for the return of the Master Chief as well as the countless hours of fun that its multiplayer mode will offer.
GAMES WORLD NOTE 8