The Reclaimer Saga has begun.

Halo 4, the next installment of the multi-billion dollar Halo franchise, was released last November to much critical acclaim.  After playing the entire game through, I can easily agree that the award-winning game deserves every award it won and all the praise it has received, and 343 Industries deserves the gratitude and praise of each and every Halo fan for what they have accomplished.

After drifting through space in cryosleep for four years aboard the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, Master Chief finally awakens, only to face a new, long-forgotten enemy of unknown origin.  In the first part of what will be a new Halo trilogy, John-S117 must combat highly advanced enemies, both old and new, to prevent the devastation of the human race.  As the story progresses, however, John begins to reach the limit of his abilities and is forced to remember one very important fact: though he is a surgically- and genetically-enhanced supersoldier, John is still human; and like any human, he is neither invincible nor infallible.

Halo 4 has a well-written story rich with epic action and cinematic science-fiction warfare, but there is also a great amount of emotion throughout the plot as well.  The quasi-love relationship between John and his AI companion, Cortana, proves to have just as much depth as a relationship between two humans, if not more.  And this symbiotic relationship is put to the test by Cortana’s uncontrollable rampancy, which John strives to fix by finding a way back to Earth. In order to do so, the two must work together to defeat an entity called “The Didact” before Cortana’s time runs out.

This emotion is integrated flawlessly into the single-player campaign, creating a perfect blend of empathy and, of course, the futuristic shooting that Halo is known for.  The gameplay is every bit as entertaining as the preceding Halo games, but with an astounding amount of visual detail, as well as plenty of great ways to deal with foes (assassinations are better than ever!).  Thus, the story of Halo 4 is brilliantly presented and leaves almost nothing to be desired (except perhaps the Arbiter, but he will probably appear in Halo 5… we hope!).

These components are excellent when put together, but it would not be a true Halo game without an epic musical score.

As I will discuss in Part 2…