I’m not exactly the biggest fan of the Master Chief. My entry into Halo fandom was the novels, and my first Halo video games were Halo Wars and Halo 3: ODST. So while I think the Master Chief is great and all, I wasn’t inclined to buy a $50+ high-end action figure of him. But, well–duty calls and you guys all seemed to adamantly want to hear about this figure, so I went ahead and ordered the Square-Enix Halo 4 Play Arts Kai Master Chief figure. He’s not my favorite Halo figure–or even my favorite Halo Play Arts Kai figure–but he very well may be the best action figure of the Master Chief ever made…

The Right:

The biggest difference between the Halo 4 Play Arts Kai Master Chief figure and the McFarlane Halo 4 Master Chief figure–besides the obvious size difference–is the incredible premium paint job that the Square-Enix Master Chief figure has. Seriously–the paint on this Master Chief Play Arts Kai is unbelievably cool.

In different lightning conditions the paint can make the Master Cief’s armor color appear to be silver, black, or green. I thought the McFarlane Toys Halo 4 Master Chief figure had nice paint until I compared it to the Play Arts Chief–next to that, the McFarlane Master Chief looks like a cheap Hong Kong bootleg.

Not only is the paint much slicker on the Play Arts Kai Master Chief, but so is the level of detail. This isn’t McFarlane’s fault–they did the best they could with a 5″ figure. But the Square Enix 9″ Master Chief has so much more plastic and surface area to work with that a magnitude more sculpting detail is possible. Damage that’s just brushed onto the McFarlane Master Chief is completely sculpted here, and the result is a Master Chief that looks more realistic than any one I’ve ever seen before.

The articulation on the Halo 4 Square-Enix Master Chief is about equivocal to that of the McFarlane Toys Halo 4 5″ Master Chief, but that’s still pretty excellent. There aren’t really any poses I want to get the Halo 4 Play Arts Kai Master Chief into that aren’t possible, and with wider feet than the Halo 4 Spartan Warrior has, the Chief has no difficulties at all standing stably. He comes with a huge plastic stand that needs to be assembled, but as with the Spartan Warrior, I won’t be bothering to do so.

The Master Chief includes two guns: the Halo 4 Plasma Pistol and Assault Rifle. At this point pairing the Master Chief with the obligatory Assault Rifle as a weapon is almost becoming a gag, as every company seems obsessed with doing so. I can’t deny that the Assault Rifle looks nice with all the paint weathering on it, though. I was a little surprised by how blue the Plasma Pistol was and initially thought Square-Enix had botched it, but it turns out that they knew better than me, as the Halo 4 Plasma Pistol gun actually is primarily blue.

Master Chief includes an extra pair of hands that can be plugged into his wrists seamlessly. This enables the Halo 4 Play Arts Master Chief action figure to hold either weapon naturally and tightly. The alternate hands are a small gesture that greatly increase the enjoyability of the Halo 4 Play Arts Kai line, as they’re something McFarlane Toys has yet to include with any Spartan figure (leaving hordes of Spartans unable to properly hold certain guns).

The Wrong:

One big problem with the Halo 4 Play Arts Kai figure is scale. Every other figure being released in the Square-Enix Halo 4 line is a Spartan-IV, and Spartan-IVs are just regular people and not genetically-modified giants like the Master Chief. Even so, just like every other Halo 4 Play Arts figure, the Chief is the exact same 9″ tall. That might not bother everyone, but it sets off my OCD and makes me absolutely insane.

In addition, Square-Enix took some liberties with this Master Chief Play Arts Kai figure. His armor looks great–except that some parts of it aren’t accurate to the Chief’s appearance in the Halo 4 video game. The whole area with the Chief’s collar armor doesn’t seem to be quite right, and it leaves his neck looking too exposed and off-model. In addition, something seems off about the way that his shoulder armor has been executed. Only the most hardcore Halo 4 fans will notice these details, but those are also the target audience for this high-end action figure.

Finally, I have the same furious rage at the non-removable pegs on the Master Chief’s Assault Rifle and Plasma Pistol as I did with the Square-Enix Spartan Warrior’s weapons. This is a $55-$65 action figure, Square-Enix: You can afford to make removable pegs on the weapons. I also don’t particularly like the way that either weapon attaches on the Chief–it just doesn’t look natural to me the way that they’re angled on the figure.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”
I ordered my Halo 4 Master Chief Play Arts Kai figure for $55 shipped off Amazon. Given the popularity of the Master Chief, I doubt the price of the figure will drop any lower than that.

Overall: If you want the best-looking action figure of the Master Chief as he appears in the Halo 4 video game, then this is the figure you need to buy. I love McFarlane Toys’ Halo figures–God knows I have plenty of them–but the Square-Enix Halo 4 figures are just on a whole other level. That’s not to say this figure is perfect–the pegs on the weapons still tick me off, Square-Enix has taken some liberties with the Master Chief’s design, the Chief isn’t properly scaled next to the Spartan-IVs, and the weapons don’t look perfect when they’re attached to the Chief. Despite that, the outstanding paintwork and insane attention to sculpting detail make this easily the best Master Chief toy I’ve ever owned. Even at a ~$50 price point, the Halo 4 Play Arts Kai Master Chief earns a solid recommendation.

GRADE: B+