Master Chief is back. One of the gaming industries biggest and most bad-ass heroes is back with a vengeance  with the release of 343 industries most anticipated game, Halo 4. Full of state-of-the-art graphics, non-stop action, and an original story in the Master Chief saga that delves deeper into the mysteries of the Forerunners, the ancient race that created the Halo rings, and the bond between Master Chief and Cortana, the AI he swore to protect through the first three games.

Four years have passed since Master Chief and Cortana stopped the Flood and destroyed the Halo structure that would have wiped all life from the galaxy. Master Chief wakes up from cryogenic stasis aboard the half of the ship Forward Unto Dawn that was cut off from the slip-space jump back to Earth in Halo 3. Cortana informs him that the ship is being scanned, and enemy forces have boarded the ship. 

Immediately, Master Chief is thrust back into action, fighting rogue Covenant forces. However, it soon becomes apparent that another alien force is scanning their ship, and both Master Chief and Cortana find themselves being sucked into a Forerunner planet. There, Master Chief must uncover the origins of the planet, and who is behind this new threat to humanity while trying to find a way home to save Cortana, who has lived years past her life expectancy, and therefore has become ill with a sort of mental disease for AI’s called Rampancy. With the weight of the world on his shoulders once more, the hero to humanity must strap on his armor and face the mysteries of the galaxy all on his own.

The gameplay for Halo 4 is superb. A first-person shooter, the game’s controls are much more fluid and organic, seeming to act as one with the movements your mind wants to make. The updates to the graphics also improve on the weapons system as well, allowing players to better see their ammunition numbers, and witness the handling of both old and new weapons in the Master Chief’s hands. Combine this with an emotional performance between the sometimes machine like Chief and the human, emotional AI Cortana, and a wonderful music score that captures the action, drama, and emotional toll it takes on the characters, Halo 4 lives up to the hype, and is one of the contenders for 2012’s On Request Magazine Game of the Year Award. With this being the first in a planned new trilogy, we here at On Request magazine cannot wait to see how this story plays out. Pick up your copy of Halo 4 this holiday season.