I appreciate that they tried to humanize Chief a little in Halo 4, but I don't think it was executed well at all. All of his moments with Cortana just feel stilted and awkward, and not intentionally so.
I think Halo 1-3 were well made. Part 4 is only graphically impressive. It is not a very good game at all. A lot of people are too die hard to admit that it has many design flaws. Its the black sheep, Tony Hawk 5 of the series. I was shocked at how bad it was considering Halo is known for one of the best shooter series alive. It does not live up to the name at all.