For a lot of folks, the word “Spartan” is synonymous with “Warrior”. So with Halo 4 fast approaching and new Spartan armor permutations starting to leak out, I’m not the least bit surprised to see one named as the Spartan Warrior armor. But before we even get the chance to play as a Spartan Warrior, McFarlane Toys is giving us a chance to play with a Spartan Warrior. Yes, as part of the McFarlane Toys Halo 4 Series 1 action figures, we’re being given our first chance to get up close and personal with not one, but two color variations of the Spartan Warrior armor. The red Spartan Warrior figure is shipping single-packed to retail stores right now, and tonight I’m covering the blue Spartan Warrior figure available exclusively in the Target Halo 4 Collector’s Pack. You have to buy 3 other figures to get this blue-painted Spartan… Is he worth it?

The Right:

The Spartan Warrior armor is a little different from the armor permutations we’ve become accustomed to over the years. While the blue Spartan Warrior looks somewhat smaller than the Reach Spartans, he actually is approximately the exact same size height-wise. However, the GEN-2 armor has been streamlined a bit, so the Spartan Warrior doesn’t look as bulky as his predecessors. It took me a little while to reconcile the visual difference in my mind, but I eventually decided it was for the better. Spartans confined to wearing armor that makes them look like walking tanks may be intimidating, but logically all that machinery should get in the way of their flexibility and effectiveness. Having Spartans with thinner, more dexterous armor makes perfect sense and is what the next evolution of the Spartan armor really should be.

The paint on this Spartan is very nice and quite authentic-looking. There isn’t quite as much weathering on the armor as many of the Reach Spartan figures had, but I honestly think the deco on some of those figures may have been a bit overkill (or maybe not–those Spartans were in one of the bloodiest and most brutal battles ever). The blue Spartan Warrior manages to look just gritty enough to be battle-hardened, but not so beat-down and worn out that it looks old and broken instead of state-of-the-art.

In general, the Spartan Warrior figure has good articulation. He features a ball-jointed head, double-jointed ball-joint shoulders, double-jointed ball-joint elbows, double-jointed ball-joint wrists, ball-jointed upper torso, ball-jointed hips, double-jointed ball-joint knees, and double-jointed ball-joint ankles with extra swivels on the feet. Compared to many toy lines on the market today, this is superior articulation and to be commended. I’m going to complain about it in a bit anyway, but all things considered, it really is pretty good.

There’s one item conspicuous by its absence in the Spartan Warrior’s Halo 4 packaging, and I’m glad for it–sometimes less really is more. It’s been a long time since I could say this, but… this Spartan figure doesn’t come with any grenades. I’m no grenade-hater or anything, but when grenades came with nearly every one of the hundreds of Halo 3 and Halo Reach figures, well… Let’s just say I have a huge pile of unneeded and unwanted grenades somewhere. I don’t mind if grenades come with some figures, but I don’t need them with every figure. Good call, McFarlane Toys.

The Wrong:

While this figure’s articulation is better than that of many toys on the market, it’s not better than some of the earlier efforts by McFarlane Toys. This blue Halo 4 Spartan Warrior has a lot of articulation, but astonishingly it works worse than the articulation scheme of past Spartans. Two years after the Reach Spartan mold was developed, I’d expected to see articulation progress and improvements, but those just aren’t present in this figure. Keeping the streamlined GEN-2 armor in mind, you’d expect the armor to be more flexible, but for some reason it’s less.

For some insane reason, these Halo 4 Spartans toys still have double-jointed ball-joint wrists and ankles, but only a ball-joint at the hips. This makes no sense–None! The Reach Spartans figures at least had a greater range of motion on their hips as well as swivel thighs–the Halo 4 Spartan mold has a lesser range of motion and no thigh joints at all. If you push the Halo 4 Spartans’ hips too far, they just pop out and need to be pushed back into place. I’m grateful that the joints are constructed now so that the leg won’t rip off and breaks permanently (I’ve had my fair share of those McFarlane Halo figures), but it’s getting unacceptable in this day and age to sell figures that can’t easily crouch or kneel or do other dynamic poses.

Finally, the blue Warrior Spartan comes with one accessory: the beloved Sniper Rifle. Why’s this in “The Wrong”? I’m not really impressed with the Halo 4 Sniper Rifle McFarlane Toys is giving us. There are zero movable parts on it, and even the paint deco isn’t that extensive or interesting as the detailing on Jun’s Sniper Rifle from Halo Reach. Technology and engineering tools and techniques get better every single year, so McFarlane Toys’ Halo 4 toys should be their best Halo toys ever. But this isn’t even the best Sniper Rifle that they’ve produced–and it should be. It’s not bad, but it also isn’t an improvement over what’s come before.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”
The blue Spartan Warrior action figure is exclusively available in the Target Halo 4 Collector’s Set 4-pack, which also includes Halo 4 Series 1 figures of the Grunt Storm, Elite Zealot, and Halo 4 Master Chief. The set is available in most Target stores right now, and online sellers have it as well. If you just want a Spartan Warrior figure and don’t care if it’s blue, online retailers also have the red Spartan Warrior available for retail price plus no tax and free shipping.

Overall: The Halo 4 Warrior Spartan is a good figure, but there’s nothing about this toy that really wows me or makes me feel like its a true advancement over previous McFarlane Toys Halo Spartan figures. The upper-body articulation hasn’t changed at all, and the lower-body articulation is actually somewhat worse than the Halo Reach figures from 2010. The Sniper Rifle fails to show any improvements over past incarnations as well. I do like the newly-designed Spartan GEN-2 armor and the subtle, realistic paint weathering, but this figure just isn’t a huge jump in quality like the McFarlane Toys Halo Reach figures were over the Halo 3 figures. Would I buy the Target exclusive Halo 4 Collector’s Set just for this figure? No, I would not. The McFarlane Halo 4 blue Spartan Warrior toy is a decent figure and I’m glad to have him in my collection, but I can only give him a mild recommendation instead of the enthusiastic one that I’d like to.