Halo 3? I really don't remember much about it. That's my review of the game; nothing that new, blends seamlessly into the previous games. I think there were some tweaks to combat, which for me was mostly being annoyed by an intrusive pop-up every time dual-wielding the same weapon became possible (something that in practice was essentially useless), and still being annoyed that sprinting was a special function that could only be used if you didn't have a jetpack or something else useful equipped.
Oh, there is a long horror-movie sequence where you rescue Cortana from a crashed ship completely over-run by the Flood. And since the Warthog Run of Halo 1 was so popular, they made another one only even more epic (and even more able to annoyingly kill you on the first time through because it is packed full of scripted events you can only steer around if you already know they are going to happen).
Halo 4 is a product of a new studio and it shows. It opens with a view of the creche Master Chief -- aka John-117 -- was raised in, and an interview questioning the morals and judgement of Catherine Halsey, chief architect of the Spartan program. The game proper opens with Master Chief being awoken from cryosleep by a much more human and visibly distraught Cortana, his AI assistant and growing friend, who soon reveals she is nearing the end of her service life and is already descending into madness.
Most of the game is the same-old running around huge but pretty environments shooting at everything, with the last half or more of the game feeling like a long sequence of running from one button to another with inevitable spawning enemies just to harass you from plugging in Cortana so she can so the whatever she is doing.
The reviewer from Kotaku itself (who do games for a living) found the ending confusing. I stopped trying to pay attention, just going where-ever the mission marker was in the rare moments where there was one, and running in whatever direction was open the rest of the time. At least sprinting is back, on top of special armor abilities. Unfortunately my favorite weapon, the glowing melee sword, runs out of juice after a dozen hits and has to be retired.
And of course the game resets you to the starting load-out with every ride you get to the next major location. On the down side, you never get to find and polish a particular play style. On the plus side, you always have to keep adapting and it keeps you on your toes (still, almost nothing beats hijacking a Ghost and driving around the landscape ramming whatever it is you can't shoot.)
But forget all of that. What holds this game together is the interaction between Master Chief and Cortana; between this child locked in a super-soldier man's body, an almost autistic outsider who doesn't even consider himself human, much less the same as the civilians he encounters, and the scared, vulnerable, super-powerful and sometimes raging maniac AI that is the only thing John has ever had an emotional relationship with.
And this builds on the relationship that was there, if much more muted, through the games. Master Chief did rescue Cortana in Halo 3, after all, and through long stretches of several of the games she has been the talkative commenter and aide and shoulder angel companion in your ear.
***
Halo Reach jumps back to events preceding the first game, when the Covenant suddenly and surprisingly attack with overwhelming force. You play as an un-named rookie on a team of Spartans (who all show more character than Master Chief ever has). They are all character actors and rather stock characters, too, but since most of the game is fighting this isn't a problem. And the incomprehensible plot and gratuitous Capitalized Nouns are kept to a minimum as well.
Since this is the fall of a peaceful colony planet there's a lot more civilian infrastructure and even actual civilians being seen. You don't "interact" with them per se -- but then I'm spoiled by Mass Effect and other dialogue wheel games. You watch a cutscene where colonists talk to your squad. Much of it in Russian, which is a nice little touch (I guess it is a most Russian-speaking colony? Or is that just the area you are in?)
This game pretty much maxes out on the smoothness of the combat system and options (although sprint is still a replaceable option). It also breaks things up even more than usual, with several vehicle sections including a dogfight in space and a helicopter gunship sort of thing with an extended sequence and lots of mini-missions around the rooftops of a city.
These, really, are the apex games of the series, and the only ones I could see myself playing again. There is just enough leavening of character and story to make the combat feel meaningful...and the combat flows well, too.
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