With Halo 4's release, a lot of strife has come from the changes in the visual design of the armor, the Covenant, and the vehicles among other things.
So, how about we look at the designs for those things dating back to Halo : Combat Evolved to Halo 4, seeing how much they've changed over the years and discuss whether or not those changes were good.
Starting with everyone's favorite enemy to fight, and individual posts containing other designs.
The Grunt.
Halo : Combat Evolved.
At first glance, due to the relatively low texture quality of the CE models in 2001, you can't really tell exactly what the Grunt is made of. Spikes on the shoulders and knees suggest an ability to defend itself, but you can't quite tell if the skin is leathery or soft based on the quality of the model.
Halo 2.
Almost exactly the same as in Combat Evolved, Halo 2 features a very updated model of the Grunt seen in the first game. The higher graphics fidelity allows for more features to be implements into the design, seen here with the individual fingers (made out of such nice pyramids), and a wide open mouth, complete with a set of teeth. Even here, though, its hard to know what type of skin this is made out of, though in my personal opinion it appears more of a leathery hide, with boney extensions.
Halo 3.
This is where the series takes its first serious departure in Grunt design. Halo 3's grunt loses nearly all the resemblance to the previous designs. First off you can see that the coloration has gone from a lighter grey-blue to a more dark and cloudy color, with the eyes turning red. The boney extensions on the knees and elbows are replaced with what appear to be deformities unique to the individual limb. The feet are noticeable in that the toes are no longer seen, with the foot one solid color, appearing to be a single part. The fleshiness of the previous designs is gone in favor of a new more crustacean design, making the Grunt have a shell.
Halo Reach.
Once again, this Grunt is almost exactly the same as the previous. The fingers this time are more defined and individual, but it appears that the elbow and knee spikes are still gone in favor of protrusions on the shelled body. The feet are still shown as one individual piece with no toes or claws. The eyes have been changed from red to a more blank white-ish color.
Halo 4.
Another radical departure from the previous designs. (It appears that every two games, the designs change) The biggest change aside from the skin and coloration is the design of the head. In previous designs the head was small and sat atop the body, but in Halo 4 the inclusion of a larger neck and a wider head has made it appear more connected. The removal of a full-face mask makes the change even more noticeable. Gone is the outer-shell of the Halo 3 and Halo : Reach Grunts, replacing it with a leathery textured skin with hard shelled/scaled arms and feet. The toes have returned, complete with claws, and so has the elbow spike. Though the knee is without defence once again. The coloration has gone to a straight grey as opposed to the browner or bluer tones of previous Grunts.
My Opinion : The addition of the traditional face-mask on the Halo 4 Grunt would have likely added to the appeal, and could have been a redeeming factor of an otherwise boring design. The return to a more fleshy grunt is acceptable, though the color should have remained in the brown shades or the original blue-grey.
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