Agree 100%
Bungie never made the video games have that certain emotional depth that Halo 4 has. Bungie never truly tied the novels to the games before either.
And frankly, Bungie never made you FEEL like Master Chief (climbing up the wall, prying open the doors, punching an elite/promethean in the face. Master Chief simply does more action in the cutscenes then he ever did with Bungie.