As with the previous two Halo titles, I went into Halo 4 with no idea what to expect, other than that it was supposed to be the start of a new chapter in the franchise. Which to be fair could mean anything – the original trilogy didn’t have what I would call the strongest narrative, and it was fairly obvious that the gameplay was going to be exactly as the same as its predecessors…after all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

All in all, I think it turned out pretty well.

When I did a quick search to find out if I should play this before I played the original Halo, I got a lot of mixed responses. Some feel that release order is the correct order in which to play titles, although others feel that the narrative is better if you play them chronologically.

The Master Chief Collection listed Reach first, but for nostalgia’s sake, I’ve been playing in release order, so I’ve waited until now to play Reach. It was…somewhat worth the wait!

So, after Halo 3, I completely stopped paying any attention to the series. I believe shortly after than I also got my PS3 and started to get distracted by JRPGs, so I went into this blind. What I expected was not what I got. I’m still trying to decide if that’s a good thing.

Oh Dear, Stop Trying.

I played Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 waaaay back in 2008 and I remember two things: being extremely annoyed that there was no Gravemind boss battle, and absolutely infuriated that the final level ended with another shitty Warthog driving section.

Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me and makes things seem worse than they are. This was not one of those times.

If the original Halo is a game I remember fondly for its co-op campaign, Halo 2 is a game I remember fondly for its multiplayer which, at the time, was something special. I’d never played a game with 11 other people before, with online gaming not really being a thing way back then, and me being a teenager who barely used the internet. I’d never experienced such a connection before, and I couldn’t get enough of it.

Would you believe that I despite putting god knows how many hours into Halo 2, I never actually played through the campaign? This was a first for me!