I'm not that good with playing the game itself, but I do watch others. For me, I judge a game on how "big" the in-game universe is, and how much it's expanded on. I've read the following Halo books: Contact Harvest, Cole Protocol, Ghosts of Onyx, Fall of Reach, First Strike, Cryptum, Primordial, Silentium, Glasslands, Thursday War, and Mortal Dictata. So while many others were completely confused about Halo 4's featuring of the "Covenant" and the Didact, I was ready!