Halo 4 wasn't supposed to happen. Halo 3 was meant to conclude the story of John 117, the man we all know as Master Chief, and Halo: Reach put a bow on the franchise, leaving us to sit back and wait for whatever grand universe Bungie would reveal next.

But that's not how things shook out. Instead, Bungie left Microsoft entirely, and Halo was left in the care of 343 Industries, a studio created exclusively to shepherd the franchise going forward. Who would have guessed that the untested team would create not only one of the best games of 2012, but one of the best games in the entire Halo series?