When Bungie announced that they were quitting the Halo series, and that Halo 4 would be developed by the new guys at 343 Industries I was a bit skeptical. I remember when Twisted Metal switched teams, and how bad the 3rd game of that series was. But I have to say, the team at 343 did an amazing job!

The single player is roughly what you’d expect. Master Chief is back, and he’s crash landed on a new forerunner planet with a rebellious group of Covenant causing trouble there. There’s 8 missions all lasting about an hour each. I finished the whole thing in a matter of 2 days with a time of 8 hours and 13 minutes. Each mission is a great adventure, and my favorite was the 7th.

But Halo 4 introduces a new group of enemies unrelated to the alien Covenant. In 4 you meet foes from the Forerunner world who are oddly half robotic and half super-digital which is hard to explain. They all work together as a team, and they are pretty tough. I like some of the new Forerunner weapons (especially in multiplayer), but I wished more Covenant forces were crammed into the missions. Is it the best single player in Halo history? I’d say no, but it’s good and different in it’s own respect.

But the main reason I get Halo games is for the online multiplayer. And I have to say that 343 has evolved that aspect of the series as well. There are plenty of modes, and there’s a lot of elements borrowed from the Call of Duty series which was the only FPS to rival Halo in multiplayer awesomeness. Especially some parts like unique load-outs (which gear/powers you start with), and the ability to see weapon locations from afar gives some newbies and weaker players a chance.

Overall Halo 4 is one of the finest games out for the 360, and while it may or may not be your favorite; it’s still a blast.