I'm glad you're now a Halo fan :)

Although, I must admit I found Halo 4 to be, by far, the weakest of the series. In fact, I think Microsoft and 343 have completely mismanaged Halo. Once upon a time, Halo was focused on large, open levels that rewarded improvisational gunplay and an accessible and balanced mutiplayer experience. By contrast, in Halo 4 we see small, linear levels; trite QTEs; forgettable multiplayer arenas; the proliferation of unlockable, customizable load-outs, which strike at the competitive balance that defined Halo for a decade; and overlong, obtrusive cut-scenes and dialogue. With Halo 4, 343 aped Call of Duty, and it shows. 

So, at the same time you're becoming a Halo fan, I guess I'm becoming a Halo critic  

You guys know me here. I play a lot of Sony games and since growing up with Sony consoles i've become very critcal of a storybased game that doesn't have a good story since Sony tends to excell at that. Halo just nailed the shooting and the story for me. It becomes extremely obvious as well when you see how much a remaster of Halo 2 made it stand out more in the pack. The Librarian and Didact storyline was amazing to me. They obviously learned a lot from how far Sony has taken storybased games whilst mixing it in with combat and I really can't fault them for it. Sucks to hear you've become critical of it.

Hope you will join me when Halo 5 drops in a group multiplayer though. Heh. :)

From what I hear all Bungie had to do was use more source material in game. I don't read the books but know there are a lot of them. Doubt Sony had anything to do with the direction 343 took. Seems like they wanted to be different than what Bungie offered. I liked the stories anyhow without reading the books. ODST is a fave of mine's and 4 story was great.

I've still yet to finish the 1st Halo and get to H2. I've heard nothing but positives from that anniversary. Playing Legendary alone is a bitch. Damn enemies don't stay still lol

Sony and Kojima studios have had a very big influence on cinematics in games today. Reminded me a lot of what they do in their games, especially with the fluid action from cutscene to gameplay.

But Halo 4 ruined the series!!11111

Personally I love playing Halo 4 big team. Some of the most fun I've had with the series. Halo 2 Anniversary multiplayer is also a blast.

The only Halo that had large and mostly confusing levels was the original Halo. The campaigns that followed are more linear experiences and are actually more enjoyable. I've completed all the campaigns multiple times by the way.

You're just wrong about the multiplayer, to some its the best in the series. Frankly nobody is a fan of every Halo multiplayer experience. I personally enjoy Halo 3 and 4. My brother enjoyed Reach the most and I felt that was the worst, so to each their own. Its the same thing with CoD, everybody argues which is the best and you'll find people playing all of them.

Played Gears of War, Alan Wake, Max Payne and so many other games? I admit that Naughty Dog does a fantastic job today. I actually do not like what Quantic Dreams does since Heavy Rain. No discussion please, but that's not a game anymore for me but interactive movies. Then there's Kojima. Metal Gear Solid was great for it's time. Then somehow it started to get cheasier and cheasier. I wouldn't underestimate his influence, but there are so many other good to great storytellers, some with a less cinematic but more interactive way of storytellung.

Take Ken Levine and Warren Spector, System Shock, Dark Project, Deus Ex, Bioshock. Or the influence Bioshock had for about ten to twelve years.

That being siad, people should stop panicking when series evolve.

Surprised no one else points out the main issue I had with Halo 4's campaign: it's length. Maybe it was just me, but the campaign seemed kinda short. Which bummed me out because I feel it has better writing in many areas than Halo 2 and 3 (Halo 1 is the weakest in this regard, no argument there).

I did try halo before but never managed to like the game. If I every decide to buy a xbox one, will be for the next gear of war. If that happen, I will give it another try.