Having 4 plasma and frag grenades? Dual wielding? Split screen local co-op? Going to and destroying a Halo?
Sargent Johnson?
to me it was being this deity (cus that's what john is, he's a sci fi achilles) fighting against an ancient, unfathomable and undefeatable alien entity(covenant, flood, forerunners), amongst these crazy and diverse set-pieces, and that awesome fact that despite being this unstoppable demon, you're essentially always losing and fighting an up-hill battle.
this just looks like a cheesy CoD story. there's nothing interesting in the lore of these new halos