Last week I started off my coverage of the newly released 2013 Halo Mega Bloks Summer sets with the riveting Forerunner Weapons Pack and ODST Battle Unit. Now I’m ready to move on to the second of the three summer Weapons Packs: the Halo Mega Bloks Covenant Weapons Pack 97076. Unlike the Forerunner Weapons Pack, we’ve had a lot of these Covenant figure and weapon sets released before. Luckily, this set brings plenty of new to the table and easily earns its purchase…

The Right:

Halo Mega Bloks UNSC and Covenant Weapons Pack and Armory sets are often pretty boring. Usually we get a newly colored repaint of a past figure with some reused weapons with paint apps. So it can be kind of tough to muster up excitement about a new Halo Mega Bloks Covenant Weapons Pack. Usually.

But this Mega Bloks Halo Covenant Weapons Pack 97076 is different. It’s different in that we’re not only getting an all-new figure with the set, but it also comes along with a pair of all-new weapons with paint deco. And once again, the new packaging does name all of the weapons included on the back of the package, just in case you don’t recognize the Storm Rifle or Plasma Repeater. I really appreciate that little extra nugget of information on the packaging, and hope MEGA Brands continues with the trend for later waves of Halo Mega Bloks.

Halo Mega Bloks 97076 is only 26 pieces, so it’s obviously a lightning-fast build. And that’s fine–people are buying this pack for the figure and weapons, not for a satisfying, vigorous building session.

The Elite Storm is a new type of Sangheili that debuted in the “Halo 4” video game last year. The Storm Elites are the lowest-ranking Sangheili soldiers in the Covenant Remnant. These religious cultists are such a major enemy in Halo 4 that they were a necessity for the Halo Mega Bloks line. I’m very pleased to get a nice, dark blue Elite Storm Mega Bloks figure in a cheap army-building Weapons Pack this summer. While he’s not near as detailed as the outstanding Halo 4 Elite Zealot that came with last summer’s Warthog Resistance set, the Storm Elite is still a great figure worth army-building.

The three weapons included with the set are the Covenant Storm Rifle, Covenant Plasma Repeater, and Needler. I have so, so many painted Needlers that I’m not particularly enthused with getting another, but the other two weapons easily make up for it. The first is the “Halo Reach” Plasma Repeater, and the other is the new Storm Rifle from the “Halo 4” video game. Both weapons look terrific, and I’m pleased with paint deco on each of them. Hopefully we see both the Plasma Repeater and Storm Rifle in plenty of new sets going forward.

The Wrong:

It’s very tough to find something to complain about with this Covenant Weapons Pack Mega Bloks set. The all-new Elite Storm figure is awesome, and I love the new Halo 4 Covenant Weapons he comes with. Really, the only thing I can find to gripe about is that this is another set that has a front-facing “China” manufacturer stamp on the front of the Weapons Rack, but this time the block fits lower on the Weapons Rack and is much less obvious–in fact, you can barely see it at all in photos.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”

I got my Halo Mega Bloks 97076 Covenant Weapons Pack from BA Toys last week, where it’s in stock now for $9.99. These are also starting to trickle into Target retail stores now, although many Targets won’t put them out until they do their next toy aisle reset.

Overall: This has been a shorter review than I’m used to writing, but that’s because this is just a straight-up solid, well-done set. There’s nothing here that makes me giggle with delight like the Hard Light Shield that came in the Forerunner Weapons Pack, but there’s also nothing particularly wrong with the set. The Halo Mega Bloks Storm Elite figure is a nice addition to the Covenant army, and I’ll be picking up at least one extra of this set to get more painted Storm Rifles and Plasma Repeaters. This is a strongly-executed, low-priced set full of Halo 4 Mega Bloks goodness, and as such it’s an easy recommendation.

GRADE: A