Halo 4

 Xbox 360
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 3901 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,403 out of 3901
  2. Mixed: 725 out of 3901
  3. Negative: 773 out of 3901
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  1. colin8166
    Jul 15, 2013
    7
    Good game, but the campaign was way to short. Its 5 hours! It would be okay if the multiplayer had a little more longevity. I really do miss bungie. Halo doesn't feel the same.
  2. ClassyDromedary
    Aug 19, 2013
    7
    The story is quite good, it has stellar sound and looks, character development has increased tenfold over it's predecessors, and can be challenging due to decently smart AI. A little on the short side though.

    The multiplayer is somewhat derivative and hectic by Halo standards, but stellar by any other measure. (No pun intended) Verdict: Much better than Halo Reach, but this title    The story is quite good, it has stellar sound and looks, character development has increased tenfold over it's predecessors, and can be challenging due to decently smart AI. A little on the short side though.

    The multiplayer is somewhat derivative and hectic by Halo standards, but stellar by any other measure. (No pun intended)

    Verdict: Much better than Halo Reach, but this title doesn't live up match the glory days of Halo 3.    … Expand
  3. neleman
    Sep 11, 2013
    7
    The campaign was pretty disappointing, but the multiplayer somewhat makes up for it, although it is the worst of the series. But the problem with the entire game is that they messed with the existing formula too much. Basically, the game feels more like a clone than something distinct.
  4. WayT101
    Jan 4, 2014
    7
    An all round good game I have thoroughly enjoyed the Campaigns gameplay and really enjoyed the online multiplayer. Highly recommended for any Halo or FPS fan who's mind isn't locked down by the COD effect.
    The graphics are very impressive for a console game making full use of the Xbox 360's ageing hardware and proving what developers can do with practice.
    yes the campaign could have been    An all round good game I have thoroughly enjoyed the Campaigns gameplay and really enjoyed the online multiplayer. Highly recommended for any Halo or FPS fan who's mind isn't locked down by the COD effect.
    The graphics are very impressive for a console game making full use of the Xbox 360's ageing hardware and proving what developers can do with practice.
    yes the campaign could have been better but it is still great fun, my problems with are the awful storyline which is constantly dragged down further by the pathetic love story between a genetically engineered super soldier armed with the best equipment available and an A.I? Occasionally repetitive level design and mediocre chores that are assigned to you to get you from A to B are fortunately compensated by the other aspects of the game such as enemy A.I, variety and well designed weapons. This is nothing new in the Halo franchise though.
    The online multiplayer has a good variety of maps, objectives, weapons and Vehicles that I have enjoyed for hours and is the main reason I still have my Xbox 360 still set up next to my gaming PC which I use most of the time.
    A good game that deserves acknowledgement especially considering that it wasn't made by the original developers, 343 Industries have proven that their future projects are worth keeping in mind.    … Expand
  5. Hellhammer
    Sep 4, 2020
    7
    Halo 4 is a game that really split the community. It looks and sounds amazing and feels good to play. What makes the game feel off to many Halo fans is the plot which now makes Chief into more of a "charcater" rather than the silent ass kicker we are used to. The plot itself is ok, but not too memorable. The online felt fine, but lacked a real lasting impression which made it hard for meHalo 4 is a game that really split the community. It looks and sounds amazing and feels good to play. What makes the game feel off to many Halo fans is the plot which now makes Chief into more of a "charcater" rather than the silent ass kicker we are used to. The plot itself is ok, but not too memorable. The online felt fine, but lacked a real lasting impression which made it hard for me to return to it. The new enemy types are also not satisfying to fight when compared to the covenant, being more comparable to the flood. Overall it is a fine shooter, but alienating for Halo fans.… Expand
  6. lightbreathing
    Mar 6, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. (First things first: this is a critique of the campaign. I am not a multi-player gamer.)

    I think there is a point when a video game or film franchise goes from being fun and made with enthusiasm and talent to being purely a cash cow.

    Halo 4 is such a game. Bungie rightfully designed, explored and closed their Halo games by incorporating a trilogy, a side-story and a prequel (Halo Wars is in another category). One can only imagine once Microsoft had 343 take over Master Chief's universe, they didn't so much see the mythology evolving and the story going deeper but more dollar signs. And let's face it, that's what the industry is all about, creating great games, making money.

    The trouble is when your audience sees through the ruse and realizes the game is less about them and more about the profit margin, there is a loss of spirit in the actual game playing.

    And that's what Halo 4 is: spiritless. Sure on the surface, the graphics, the sound, the story are all at Halo standards but here again, the game is beautiful while being less fun and the further players explore Planet Requiem and take down the Prometheans, the levels tediously pile on and the enemy onslaught becomes even more tiring.

    With the Covenant, at least there is a comedic character to them. The Prometheans, on the other hand, are rather dull and remind me of long-forgotten Happy Meal toys from the 80s. They are not so much menacing as unavoidable in their combat style. The only strategy in fighting them is perseverance if little else. And as for the Didact and the Librarian and the Composer, it all turns into a convoluted mess at times and you're really trying hard to care and at the same time forgive the operatic hyperbole of the mythology. Halo 4 is what happens when 'epic' becomes closer to ridiculous.

    What kept me playing is the story between Master Chief and Cortana. The voice acting is superb and on-par with the best Hollywood animated movies. With Cortana, especially, from the facial expressions to the gestures, we've come along way from Combat Evolved's clunky cut scenes.

    Yet, despite the small pleasures of the voice acting, this is just a barely-above average FPS. If it didn't have the Halo concept, the story and mythos, the gamer would be just playing any other action shoot-em up.

    It's good, but not great. At times, not even fun. 343 basically replaced The Flood with the Prometheans and took cues from The Flood stages to create similar bland levels to fight the bland waves of enemies. The Covenant levels were the best to play and thankfully there were more than I expected. The story and the relationship between Master Chief and Cortana were the only reasons I carried on. Otherwise, unlike Halo 3 or Reach, I won't bother to revisit this campaign. This game is beautiful to look at but for the most part (again, aside from the dramatic cut scenes), it's quite soulless. Halo fans deserve better and 343 and Microsoft have created their cash cow and will most likely continue to worship it and pump out more of the same. For the record, I probably won't bother with the next one in the series. Halo, from what Halo 4 shows me, rightfully belonged to Bungie and can't be crafted with the same care and passion by any other company.    … Expand
  7. Voodoo123
    Mar 9, 2020
    7
    Great effort from 343 to continue the journey... there was a lot to enjoy here although some of the later promethean sections dragged their heels a bit.... Overall playing this on my xbox one x in 4k hdr was an absolute joy.
  8. TheMasiMan1
    Nov 19, 2015
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Halo 4, compared to its predecessors, has a darker storyline and improved graphics. But Halo 4 dosent include the Firefight mode, witch is replaced with Spartan Ops, a broken storyline of missions that dont serve any purpose what so ever. Halo 4 dosent have the kick the other Halo gamed had. I played Halo: Reach for 2 years, then Halo 4 came out and I didnt want to play it after a few months. It dosent have any staying power. The storyline is a weird and nothing is explained on why the Covenant is your enemy again.… Expand
  9. jelikey
    Jan 2, 2019
    7
    I made an account just to put this review up. Alot of people are just playing for 10 mins and giving the game a zero without any real thought. I however, played multiplayer from midnight EST to around Noon and can honestly say i enjoy the multiplayer a great and while i haven't turned the campaign on yet i plan to at a later date, as far as multiplayer goes this game is outstanding.
  10. SuperkenGaming
    Jun 4, 2021
    7
    Halo 4
    Annoying but beautiful
    Halo 4 is a 6 hour long first person shooter and is the first standalone game from 343 studios. And sadly after the great direction halo 3 was taking for the series, halo 4 approves the series and takes some major steps back at the same time.. Visually halo 4 is the most modern looking and beautiful halo game ive played so far.. I love the feeling of level    Halo 4
    Annoying but beautiful
    Halo 4 is a 6 hour long first person shooter and is the first standalone game from 343 studios.
    And sadly after the great direction halo 3 was taking for the series, halo 4 approves the series and takes some major steps back at the same time..
    Visually halo 4 is the most modern looking and beautiful halo game ive played so far.. I love the feeling of level variety here, not something you really get in halo games.. all the way up until reach every level kind of looked and felt the same, with no standouts.. here it felts like an actual world was crafted rather than generic space stations over nd over and over.. at least for the most part.. because the copy paste that the hole series suffers from is here as well… made worse by the fact that halo 4 is too easy to get lost in.. youll be in a new area and have no idea, thinking you went around in circles because again so many assets and layouts are just copy and pasted to new areas… and the progression indactors are just awful hee.. I get the point is to make the game not feel linear, but instead I just feel like a chicken running around with my head cut off, trying to trigger a door opening to move on…
    Halo 4 does attempt to add something new to the series with these robot like enemies and new weapons, but theyre just annoyingly frustrating..
    Ive personallyappreciated tht in every halo game up until this point you could just run through, especially tring to get through the entire series before infinite comes out.. but here in halo 4 there are tons of moments youre forced to clear the room, and the game really doesn’t do much to indicate this is necessary.. which is something that should’ve been done considering, once again.. halo games don’t typically make you clear a room to be able to move on.. . which brings me to the annoying enemies.. these robot enemies ar infurating to deal with.. halo 4 has an awful checkpoint system and in between these awful checkpoints are these enemies that spit bullets at you, or are large power houses followed by drones that not only shield enemies, but they heal them, they can also shoot, and they fold when you shoot at them.. and when you finally do hit them they seem to just absorb all of your bullets.. making th final stretch of this game more infuriating than all of the worst parts of the halo series combined..
    Halo 4 is a good game, it’s a challenging game.. it strays away from halo too much in the end.. which could be a good thing, but isn’t a good thing here…
    Im hoping for more positive change with halo 5, and less frustration.
    I give Halo 4
    a 7/10    … Expand
  11. Muzzle131
    Jul 27, 2015
    7
    Alright before anyone get's their pants in a jiffy, I love halo, my favorite FPS series of all time, but frankly this...
    First off the game looks gorgeous, graphically the best looking xbox 360 game, but I have to stop everyone there and say it's not needed or wanted, looking at other halo's everyone of them is colorful and neat to look at, it has a little cartoony art style that is    Alright before anyone get's their pants in a jiffy, I love halo, my favorite FPS series of all time, but frankly this...
    First off the game looks gorgeous, graphically the best looking xbox 360 game, but I have to stop everyone there and say it's not needed or wanted, looking at other halo's everyone of them is colorful and neat to look at, it has a little cartoony art style that is always nice to look at, but in this case the graphics make the game look rather dull, but that's just graphics which shouldn't matter too much so what about story? You shoot aliens in the face in a linear corridor rinse and repeat, this game is weirdly very linear compared to other Halos and it's kind of boring, but the story is Chief and Cortana are trying to find a way off the planet but release an ancient evil alien called the Didact(?) that's wants to blow up humanity, so it dwindles down to "It's all chief's fault", other aspects of the story is chief no longer being the badass one liner who doesn't ask for orders only receives and get's the job done, for someone trying to have emotion which is troublesome sine he's giant super soldier who can lift tanks. Gameplay has changed dramatically and in my opinion it's worse, Halo was always different where usually FPS's are all generic and same now Halo has joined them, it's got the same control scheme as any other FPS and it's unwanted, and the multiplayer dramatically changed too, before (at least in Halo 3) it was always about skill rather than rank or anything, you had to be smart take your time remember things on the map and use them everyone started the same therefore who ever is the most intelligent wins, but now Halo 4's multiplayer is completely unfair, being high level is all that matters since you get the best loadouts which undermines Halo's entire PvP about being fair and using team work. Halo 4 is basically a generic shooter like Battlefield or CoD which ruins the game since the series was always different making it unique. Halo 4 all in all is average.    … Expand
  12. Termin8ter
    Jun 23, 2015
    7
    If you enjoyed the previous Halo games im pretty sure you will be disappointed with this one. The story in Halo 4 continues freshly from when Halo 3 ended and the gameplay feels smoother and faster, but I couldn't help but just feel disappointed, the game feels linear and bland. The Promethean knights (the new enemy) are just annoying, they are an unwelcome edition to Halo, I enjoyedIf you enjoyed the previous Halo games im pretty sure you will be disappointed with this one. The story in Halo 4 continues freshly from when Halo 3 ended and the gameplay feels smoother and faster, but I couldn't help but just feel disappointed, the game feels linear and bland. The Promethean knights (the new enemy) are just annoying, they are an unwelcome edition to Halo, I enjoyed fighting brutes more. Don't believe those people giving this game 9's and 10's, they are probably working for 343 industries trying to get money off us or Halo 4 is their first Halo game they've ever played.… Expand
  13. PsychoShane
    Apr 27, 2015
    7
    Halo 4's brilliant campaign, polished multiplayer and the new spartan ops makes this a good value purchase, even if it lacks a bit of innovation that Halo 3 was.
  14. SpartaReach
    Jan 31, 2016
    7
    halo 4 is already apotheosis. Already how much this universe has been released from games. And halo 4 is very similar to the first part. This remake just scored mountains of pros and shortcomings. The game is insanely beautiful. Best cutscene, good localization, voice over, and plants with animals. However, though promethazi funny, dogs just spoil the gameplay. The music is not too bad,halo 4 is already apotheosis. Already how much this universe has been released from games. And halo 4 is very similar to the first part. This remake just scored mountains of pros and shortcomings. The game is insanely beautiful. Best cutscene, good localization, voice over, and plants with animals. However, though promethazi funny, dogs just spoil the gameplay. The music is not too bad, but sometimes it's annoying. New main enemy is an idiot and moves on a giant red ball the size of a planet. This excuse is senility. Together with prometazine a new weapon and it is by the way very unusual. He has a very cool sight. The arms moved apart and moved when aiming. Also there is a new gun and almost sniper rifle. But now the Covenant are less intelligent and fatter. The only assistant cortana. And the multiplayer was very dynamic and with high system throughput. And he's cool. He played a crucial role in the assessment. Also there will be a cooperative company of several seasons under the name spartan ops.

    halo 4 это уже апофеоз. Уже сколько всего по этой вселенной было выпущено из игр. И halo 4 очень напоминает первую часть. Этот ремейк просто забит горами плюсов и недочётов. В игре безумно всё красиво. Лучшие катсцены, хорошая локализация, озвучка и растения с животными. Однако хоть прометейцы и прикольные, собаки просто портят геймплей. Музыка тоже не плохая, но иногда она бесит. Новый главный враг идиот и перемещается на гигантском красном шаре размером с планету. Это извините маразм. Вместе с прометейцами появилось новое оружие и оно кстати очень необычное. У него очень прикольный прицел. Оружие раздвигается и сдвигается при прицеливании. Также там есть новый пистолет и почти снайперская винтовка. Но теперь Ковенанты менее умные и более жирные. Помощник только Кортана. А мультиплеер оказался очень динамичным и с большой системой прокачки. И он крут. Он и сыграл в решающую роль в оценке. Также появится кооперативная компания из нескольких сезонов под названием spartan ops. От меня 7-8 баллов.    … Expand
  15. rdsBR
    Feb 21, 2016
    7
    Bom !
    Teve evolução gráfica porem achei que a maioria do jogo se passa em ambientes mais fechados que se comparado aos jogos anteriores.
    Pode se encontrar o jogo dublado em português .
  16. Blindpilot20
    Feb 28, 2016
    7
    Decent campaign nothing special or memorable but it could be worse. The game looks great graphically and the online play was quite similar to Call of Duty with create a class and perks which was a step back when it came to balancing. New weapons and vehicles were a great edition to the game like the rail gun and mantis. Over all Halo 4 was a semi good entry to the Halo series
  17. dr4gonkiller
    Apr 17, 2016
    7
    Es un juego bastante bueno. Los gráficos son bastante buenos y su jugabilidad es igual de fácil de acostumbrarse como las anteriores entregas.
    Lo que no me gustó, fue el echo de que los rangos del multi-jugador son pocos y son fáciles de pasar; yo llegué al rango máximo en menos de 6 meses.
    También, lo que me no me gustó principalmente en la campaña. Es que, revivieron a personajes que    Es un juego bastante bueno. Los gráficos son bastante buenos y su jugabilidad es igual de fácil de acostumbrarse como las anteriores entregas.
    Lo que no me gustó, fue el echo de que los rangos del multi-jugador son pocos y son fáciles de pasar; yo llegué al rango máximo en menos de 6 meses.
    También, lo que me no me gustó principalmente en la campaña. Es que, revivieron a personajes que se supone que deberían de estar extintos y esto es con el pretexto de sacar mas entregas.    … Expand
  18. eva3si0n
    Feb 17, 2020
    7
    Halo 4 is the beginning of a new trilogy on one side and the weakest part in the Halo series. Still against Halo 4 is the same fact that the previous game turned out to be Halo Reach, the best game in the series. Yes Halo 4 is beautiful externally (even 720p on the Xbox360 is) and 4K on One X. But the plot is a failure, the gameplay brings nothing new. The player is given the sameHalo 4 is the beginning of a new trilogy on one side and the weakest part in the Halo series. Still against Halo 4 is the same fact that the previous game turned out to be Halo Reach, the best game in the series. Yes Halo 4 is beautiful externally (even 720p on the Xbox360 is) and 4K on One X. But the plot is a failure, the gameplay brings nothing new. The player is given the same gameplay, here is only a new kind of opponents of the same type and boring. 343 Industries unfortunately when creating Halo 4 focused on the first 2 games rather than 3 and Reach. A regular game with a loud name, unfortunately disappointing.… Expand
  19. spaceghost1994
    Jan 11, 2019
    7
    Halo 4 finds Master Chief in one of his most engaging stories yet, however he is dragged down by some poor game play choices and restrictive level design as well as the series weakest multiplayer component yet...
  20. LuckyDrum
    Jun 10, 2019
    7
    La historia no es de las mejores, se nota el cambio de Bungie a 343I. Sin embargo conserva la esencia de un juego de Halo
  21. ProfAmateur
    Aug 28, 2021
    7
    Auf der Xbox Series X spielt es sich wunderbar flüssig.

    + Neue Gegner
    + Neue Waffen
    + Schöne Levels
    - Missionsziele sehr eintönig, immer irgendwelche Konsolen oder Portale aktivieren
    - Missionsziele / manchmal unklar wohin man laufen oder was man machen muss, obwohl es recht linear ist
  22. Skurttish
    Jan 5, 2021
    7
    It’s a mixed bag here, but I think there’s enough good to give it a 7 that should be a 6.

    First off, the gameplay is fun, but ammo is really scarce. I feel like my guns ran out after only a few shots, and that made it feel like I was always in danger of being pinned down in a bad checkpoint with no ammo. Didn’t like this. But, the new enemies were great, especially the buffing class,    It’s a mixed bag here, but I think there’s enough good to give it a 7 that should be a 6.

    First off, the gameplay is fun, but ammo is really scarce. I feel like my guns ran out after only a few shots, and that made it feel like I was always in danger of being pinned down in a bad checkpoint with no ammo. Didn’t like this.

    But, the new enemies were great, especially the buffing class, those stupid little butterflies. They were a pain, in the best possible sense. I liked having to select a priority target at the beginning of a firefight.

    BUT some difficulty spikes were nuts. One example is a level with about 80 jackal snipers chilling on a plateau above you. It was maybe 78 too many, I think.

    Story-wise, here’s a big negative: The story has big gaps that you apparently have to read a book to understand. I won’t give anything away, but this fact alone drops my score significantly. If you can’t explain it in the game, cut it and no one will miss it.

    Otherwise, the beginning is a great breath of fresh air to a franchise that was starting to feel a little stale at the end of Halo 3. The first few missions are great, and the new enemy has new guns that are really fun to use (even if they aren’t super different from the guns previously).

    Then the game gets real slow in the middle, and nothing of interest happens for several more missions. Except, for some reason, a mission is stolen from Titanfall 2. It was weird, but whatever.

    In the fifth mission aboard the Mammoth I hit numerous bugs. Not sure what happened, but my Mammoth kept on floating through non-rendered terrain until everything would just stop. I restarted over and over and it finally fixed itself.

    Then the final mission and the ending of the game was awesome, in my opinion. Really enjoyed the final mission from start to finish.

    And that’s how you get a 7 that should be a 6: Make an okay game with a few great things.    … Expand
  23. Justareviewer21
    Jul 19, 2020
    7
    This game is... the first step in the fall of halo, the story was decent, the levels too linear and the gameplay good
  24. ElCosmoXD
    Nov 25, 2021
    7
    The story is amazing but sometimes the game is just confusing and hard (Even in normal difficult).
  25. Amir7scorpioN
    Dec 11, 2021
    7
    343i really tried its best but...its like an action movie! a Call of Duty game at its best!
    writing is ok i appreciate the effort...but its not a great halo game!
    i hate Forerunners and their Guns,,, the villain is basically a sith lord... no boss fight with the villain? what was the point of him in the game ? but i enjoyed playing this game...although the musics are completely    343i really tried its best but...its like an action movie! a Call of Duty game at its best!
    writing is ok i appreciate the effort...but its not a great halo game!
    i hate Forerunners and their Guns,,, the villain is basically a sith lord... no boss fight with the villain? what was the point of him in the game ?
    but i enjoyed playing this game...although the musics are completely defferent because they are not made by Marty but 117 is good...the others? not so much

    anyway... it was Acceptable!    … Expand
  26. JaySeacliff
    Mar 13, 2022
    7
    Even with it's massive problems what comes to game desing and story writing, Halo 4 is NOT a bad game. Is it flawed? Yes. Is it different from the earlier games? Also yes. But is it bad just because of it being different? No. Halo 4's gameplay is amazing and the graphics aren't bad at all, I'd even say Halo 4 is one of the best-looking Xbox 360 titles to this day. The story may be a littleEven with it's massive problems what comes to game desing and story writing, Halo 4 is NOT a bad game. Is it flawed? Yes. Is it different from the earlier games? Also yes. But is it bad just because of it being different? No. Halo 4's gameplay is amazing and the graphics aren't bad at all, I'd even say Halo 4 is one of the best-looking Xbox 360 titles to this day. The story may be a little lackluster and new enemies may be annoying but the game's still... worthy. Worthy Halo game. Still not entirely good but fine enough to be enjoyed.… Expand
  27. GamerDadIsBad
    Mar 26, 2022
    7
    When Halo's quality dropped due to 343i taking over it broke my heart as a fan of the first
    three instalments.

    I play it occasionally on The Master Chief Collection, but not as much as the first three.
  28. Rai-N
    Jun 29, 2022
    7
    A a kid, I really enjoyed the game. It's the first shooter game I've ever played. I loved the the sci-fi action and the characters; however, I realize that the game isn't as good as I remember. The previous games have better gunplay, characters, and multiplayer, and story.
  29. Lelo_Oficial
    Aug 25, 2023
    7
    O jogo teve uma queda considerável de qualidade comparado a seus antecessores, a história eu achei confusa e não MT interessante, os gráficos e a gameplay são bons, mas o jogo é muito linear e não passa o mesmo felling dos outros Halo.
  30. MasterGubbers
    Jul 11, 2023
    7
    While this game certainly has some major flaws, some aspects of the game are truly amazing. The game still looks amazing, and has a great story. The multiplayer is poorly designed, and the Promethean enemies are awful to fight, but many great new weapons and vehicles were introduced, and the game overall is solid.
  31. Captiosus
    Nov 7, 2012
    6
    I've only gotten about 4 and a half hours of gameplay under my belt in the single player campaign of Halo 4 but I've come away with several early - and mostly negative - impressions. Remember these are just impressions and NOT designed to be a full review which means my score may change at a later date. Also, this will be long and Metacritic's lack of carriage returns may make it difficultI've only gotten about 4 and a half hours of gameplay under my belt in the single player campaign of Halo 4 but I've come away with several early - and mostly negative - impressions. Remember these are just impressions and NOT designed to be a full review which means my score may change at a later date. Also, this will be long and Metacritic's lack of carriage returns may make it difficult to read - as usual, I will delineate paragraphs with several pipe characters. |||| First, it's clear Halo 4 uses a modified version of Unreal Engine 3. This doesn't come as a surprise to me as I seem to recall that the engine, itself, was one of the few things Bungie got to keep when they broke off from Microsoft. However, typical Unreal Engine issues like texture pop in and terrible in game text overlays are prevalent throughout the game, often to the detriment of gameplay. |||| Graphically, the game looks nice except for the fact they went crazy with lens flares and bloom effects. I read one user review who made a similar complaint by stating that "if you try to scope in to snipe, your eyeballs will get burned out of your sockets". It may sound like an exaggeration but it is not. The game is heavy on in your face lighting effects which often blind you even when brightness is turned down to its lowest setting in the game options. The best way I can describe it is the same kind of effect you get if you're facing east as the sun comes up over the horizon or if you're driving east into the early morning sun. The glare blinds and washes everything out. |||| The music is decent but it lacks the punch and significance of the scores of the previous Halo titles. A lot of that is because the composer replaced orchestral arrangements with electronic ones. It's a better score than most games but it just doesn't live up to the quality we became accustomed to by the former musical masters of Halo, Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. Sound effects are disappointing overall. Guns, especially the human/UNSC ones, sound like toys rather than weapons and vehicles sound "off", for lack of a better way to describe them. |||| Speaking of weapons and vehicles, what a disappointment! The Forerunner weapons absolutely suck when you use them but they can two shot you when the enemy AI uses them. This is undoubtedly a byproduct of playing on Legendary difficulty, but that still doesn't excuse the fact that I feel as though I'd be more effective throwing stones than using a boltshot pistol or the lightrifle. Human weapons are vastly underpowered (except the Battle Rifle, which you don't find often) while Covenant weapons are quite powerful (remember, this is regarding campaign, not multiplayer). The Covenant Carbine, which has always been a single shot assault rifle (think of the M1 Garand), can double as a sniper rifle in this iteration of the game. Vehicles, by contrast, handle much differently than in past titles. The Covenant's Banshee and Ghost feel slow and sluggish while the UNSC's Warthog is quick to lose control and go flipping down the path. |||| I haven't really messed with multiplayer much but, so far, it looks like they've tried cloning Call of Duty's "loadout" style with Halo's sci-fi trappings. This doesn't surprise me too much as we started to see this with Halo: Reach while it was still under Bungie's leadership but multiplayer now feels like 343 simply cloned Modern Warfare and called it a day. Even Spartan Ops is basically just a copy of Call of Duty's Spec Ops mode. |||| As a self-confessed Halo fanboy (it's one of the few franchises that I have every single title for), I'm growing increasingly disappointed with Halo 4 as I play it. 343 Industries didn't take any real risks with the franchise nor did they attempt to make it their own. They merely copied elements of what made Halo popular, copied other popular shooter elements for multiplayer, then covered the game in high gloss. |||| Hopefully it gets better. Hopefully I won't run into more quick time events (which have no place in this franchise). At this point, hope is all I have.… Expand
  32. casshern09
    Nov 6, 2012
    6
    Pretty disappointed really. Was really hoping this would be a return to form after hating Reach and ODST so much. If you liked the others, chances are you will like this, if you didn't, this won't do anything for you.
    The gameplay has not changed one bit. Same familiar looking corridors, same vehicle sections.
    Yeah it looks and sounds great, but it is so frigging dull. MP is fine,    Pretty disappointed really. Was really hoping this would be a return to form after hating Reach and ODST so much. If you liked the others, chances are you will like this, if you didn't, this won't do anything for you.
    The gameplay has not changed one bit. Same familiar looking corridors, same vehicle sections.
    Yeah it looks and sounds great, but it is so frigging dull. MP is fine, nothing special. Like I said, if you liked it before, you will now.    … Expand
  33. Jerik02
    Feb 3, 2013
    6
    tldr: single player good. Multiplayer bad. I really wanted to like this game, I love the story but the multiplayer is awful. The spartan ops an extenuation that lets your spartan be a part of the greater Halo story is great! However, the true multiplayer or pvp is just awful. The maps are too small and are horribly unbalanced. Bungie did a much better job with multiplayer, whereas 343tldr: single player good. Multiplayer bad. I really wanted to like this game, I love the story but the multiplayer is awful. The spartan ops an extenuation that lets your spartan be a part of the greater Halo story is great! However, the true multiplayer or pvp is just awful. The maps are too small and are horribly unbalanced. Bungie did a much better job with multiplayer, whereas 343 did better with the overall story.… Expand
  34. DarthPreamp
    Nov 20, 2012
    6
    Pros: Amazing Graphics Cons: Boring gameplay, Ridiculous Story The original Halo series was enjoyable to play. This feels like a chore. It is a beautiful to look at chore, but nonetheless, a chore. No joy in any aspect of it. The story feels as if it is weighed down by its own predetermined need to be easily accessible. I really can't believe the positive reviews on this?
  35. ragingridley
    Nov 13, 2012
    6
    Let me first start off by saying I have been a hardcore halo fan for so many years, having bought all the halo games and loving every one of them (including halo wars which I thought was a underrated game).I so desperately want to give this game a great rating,but I couldn't.The only thing that kept my review up to a 6 and almost a 7 was the fact that the online multiplayer kicked my assLet me first start off by saying I have been a hardcore halo fan for so many years, having bought all the halo games and loving every one of them (including halo wars which I thought was a underrated game).I so desperately want to give this game a great rating,but I couldn't.The only thing that kept my review up to a 6 and almost a 7 was the fact that the online multiplayer kicked my ass till my cheeks turned red.
    MULTIPLAYER:

    Some people might say that it ripped off COD, but I thought they kept that same halo formula, but made it more engaging and action packed.Sprinting was added because every modern game nowadays has sprinting and it makes matches more up tempo because there is more engagement spots.Another big thing added was the oradence drops and I don't remember COD having a choice of 3 random weapons or upgrades which came after a certain amount of points.In the end this multiplayer will keep me playing for years to come and has nothing but room to improve in the next 2 games.

    CUSTOM GAMES AND FORGE:

    This is the place where halo 4 really falls flat to me.In all my years playing halo the most important part to me was the customization.In halo 4 I would have to give this a 1.5. 343 took the whole new multiplayer to far and destroyed the one thing that made Halo the premier game on xbox over COD and what gave me so many great memories of playing Halo 3 until the sun came up. Creating new innovative maps and gametypes that have me playing to this day. Halo 3 might not have been the most visually stunning game but with all the customization and support bungie put into the game,Halo 3 was what you made of it.Now with Halo 4 they through that all out the window, they don't even have a file share anymore and no race gametype. They replaced infection with Flood which I could go on about the enormity of stupidity that is in this gametype. To say it bluntly the zombies are over powered, and you can't customize s***!You can't even give the zombies a gravity hammer or any other weapon plus you cant even change the loadout for the infection. All those great infection gametypes are gone.I haven't even gotten to the worst part of it yet,they took out all the classic halo gametypes.One flag, assault,juggernaut,the list goes on.The only positive was an improved griffball and thats it.I will give it to them though the forgeing in this game is phenomenal. The magnets make making maps so much faster, but warning they can make some things uneven if your making a flat surface. The only downside to it is that it is practically impossible to create a gametype for your map. I had spent all night creating this great one flag map and I tried every combination to even make it a regular CTF game, didn't work. Alright then maybe I can create a slayer map... nope. So lastly I resorted to dominion and it worked and but ohh was it glitchy. The shields worked when they wanted to, and the turrets switched teams every 30 seconds. It was so disappointing after all the work we put into that map to have it barely playable. If they they polish this I think Halo 5 could be a 10.

    CAMPAIGN:

    For me the campaign was well polished and full of action, but uneventful. I want to state the flaws strait out. One is that the ending was boring to say the least I want to finish it myself, not in some quicktime event.The other thing was that Halo 4 didn't produce any great moments that Halo 3 created so many of. Destroying the scarab, storming the beach against the covenant, that final driving scene while the ring was collapsing, and the list goes on. I will give them a pass here because it was their first time around, but I won't be so easy on the halo 5 campaign.

    CO-OP:

    This section I will be brief on but honest. The CO-OP in this game is mediocre at best. First off I have to say. They replaced firefight with this crap! This is at the peak of bull s*** mountain to me. Spartan Ops is dull and recycled maps every episode and is nothing but killing enemies and flipping switches. There is no altering of the game mode or point system giving you no satisfaction after a kill. I have played through the first two episodes and it is the same exact thing except you start out on a different part of the map.

    CONCLUSION:

    Halo 4 succeeds in creating a innovative and engaging multiplayer but falls short on co-op and customization. As for the campaign, they did a pretty good job for their first go around, but needs more wow moments.    … Expand
  36. supermonkey
    Nov 17, 2012
    6
    First off, I'm almost entirely a single player guy, so this review will be heavily biased in that regards. If you want to know about multiplayer, this review is not for you. Saying that, previous Halo games have always provided me with more than enough single player value for my dollar. Halo 4 is the first time I have not felt this way. As short as part 4 was, this was the first time IFirst off, I'm almost entirely a single player guy, so this review will be heavily biased in that regards. If you want to know about multiplayer, this review is not for you. Saying that, previous Halo games have always provided me with more than enough single player value for my dollar. Halo 4 is the first time I have not felt this way. As short as part 4 was, this was the first time I ever had to force myself to finish a Halo game. I began to wonder if after so many Halo games, if perhaps I had finally gotten tired of them. So I loaded up Halo Reach, and it was quickly reestablished why I love Halo so much after all. No, this wasn't a Halo thing. It was a Halo 4 thing. No joke, I had more fun in a single 30 minute single player round of Reach firefight then I did in the entire Halo 4 campaign. Thinking more on the whole Bungie's past visions of Halo vs. 343's new vision of Halo, I found something that summoned up my thoughts perfectly. A comparison of the former Firefight vs the new Spartan Ops. Firefight (Bungie) gives 1-4 people a hugh number of options, weapons, vehicles, levels and enemies, then lets you decide how you want to play the game to make your own fun. Spartan Ops (343) wants to tell you what to do, when to do it, and how you should do it. And it also wants to sell you a Gold membership at the same time. No thanks. Bungies Halos were nothing short of brilliant. 343's Halo was a good first attempt, yes. But its lacking it so many areas I just can't recommend it as a single player only game for those expecting more of the same. The campaign on display is a shell of it's former self. The new enemies, new weapons, empty battlefields, rail like progression (reviews that say the sandbox feel is better than ever are lying to you), horribly lifeless areas with little diversity (if I never see another silver level filled with orange neon lights and orange enemies with orange weapons it will be too soon), and enemy AI, can't hold a candle to what's already been established in the previous Halo games. And the worst new offender would be the reduced grenade damage in single player. My biggest guilty pleasure in Halo has always been making sure to save at least one grenade for when the enemy congregated in large numbers so I could reign down firey death. In halo 4 I would just as soon throw my grenades off a cliff for all the good they did. Another thing Bungie's Halos did great was introducing new enemy types with a bang, and making me fear and respect certain types of enemies. I have many fond memories of enemy encounters in past Halo games. What do I remember about Halo 4's enemies? Not fear, but dread. Dread of tedium (how many bullets does this thing take before warping and reshielding?) and cheap tactics over genuine challenge when a new Promethan knight appeared. That and about half way through the game I began wondering how long had I already been killing these resident evil dogs for. 343 / Microsoft have two directions to go in at this point. Bring back the single player value, or continue with the multiplayer only focus. Since we've already seen it's possible to do both, I'm hoping they choose the former over the latter.… Expand
  37. zyryx
    Jun 16, 2013
    6
    I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this game, the single player campaign that is. After the two previous titles, Reach and ODST, I didn't have any hope. But the game was amazing, great story, beautiful music. Multiplayer was a complete joke. Gigantic, ill conceived levels. The same boring mechanics, with played hoping about like idiots, over powered weapons. Halo multiplayerI was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this game, the single player campaign that is. After the two previous titles, Reach and ODST, I didn't have any hope. But the game was amazing, great story, beautiful music. Multiplayer was a complete joke. Gigantic, ill conceived levels. The same boring mechanics, with played hoping about like idiots, over powered weapons. Halo multiplayer has been a complete waste of time for the casual gamer since Halo 3, favoring the preteen with nothing to do but spend hours a day playing the game. Only SWAT mode is any fun. But if you are going to play SWAT mode, then why bother with Halo in the first place as there are much better FPS you can play. Definitely pick this up used for the Single player.… Expand
  38. Benti86
    May 8, 2013
    6
    I was so let down by this game. I watched all the trailer and listened to 343 say it would take Halo back to its roots and how it would be like Halo 3. the final product ends up being a Halo, CoD mashup which just dilutes the traditional Halo experience to near worthlessness and doesn't have the addictive arcade/CoD gameplay. Yes graphically it's beautiful, but the story is ehh, forgeI was so let down by this game. I watched all the trailer and listened to 343 say it would take Halo back to its roots and how it would be like Halo 3. the final product ends up being a Halo, CoD mashup which just dilutes the traditional Halo experience to near worthlessness and doesn't have the addictive arcade/CoD gameplay. Yes graphically it's beautiful, but the story is ehh, forge and customs were gutted, and matchmaking is a shell of what Halo once was. Halo 4 would not have been too bad as its own IP, but it is a dreadful Halo game. On the bright side, 343 seems to be listening and are implementing some changes and hopefully will fix Halo 4's issues for Halo 5.… Expand
  39. 2MucH1991
    Nov 7, 2012
    6
    Halo 3 multiplayer was the reason i had to buy an Xbox 360, and when i eventually did i couldn't put the controller down, years later and Halo 4 is finally here, but i'm slightly disappointed to say the least.
  40. StarlessBB
    Nov 6, 2012
    6
    The campaign seems to be a mixed bag. On one end the enemy AI is great and the difficulty is just right. On the other end there are weird QTE esque Call of Duty like segments that are slow and take me out of the game. This back-and-forth between these elements persists throughout the relatively short campaign.
    Multiplayer, like the campaign, is a mixed bag. New modes are fun, new armors    The campaign seems to be a mixed bag. On one end the enemy AI is great and the difficulty is just right. On the other end there are weird QTE esque Call of Duty like segments that are slow and take me out of the game. This back-and-forth between these elements persists throughout the relatively short campaign.
    Multiplayer, like the campaign, is a mixed bag. New modes are fun, new armors look very cool, new weapons are great, but it's all undermined by the HORRIBLE weapon spawning system. I won't even describe it but it's so **** compared to how it was in the other game.
    Visually the game looks good, not great but it's definitely nice looking.
    The music and sound effects are great as always in Halo.    … Expand
  41. thewastedyouth
    Mar 30, 2013
    6
    (after watching Halo 4 Postmortem on gamespot)

    This is just a big insult to any long time Halo fan. I don't know why I bought H4. I played for less than 7 hours. It's a disgrace. And what made Halo amazing was not only the campaign, but how accessible the multiplayer is. No one talked about how "difficult" mp was (even though there was no online). Halo mp became a success was    (after watching Halo 4 Postmortem on gamespot)

    This is just a big insult to any long time Halo fan. I don't know why I bought H4. I played for less than 7 hours. It's a disgrace.

    And what made Halo amazing was not only the campaign, but how accessible the multiplayer is. No one talked about how "difficult" mp was (even though there was no online). Halo mp became a success was because you can play it casually or if you really wanted to play serious, you can get to the meat and bones of the game by learning power weapons timing, grenade tossing techniques, spawns, and all that make an FPS an FPS.

    Same thing applies with 2 and 3.

    But now... this whole ordnance drop and default sprint makes the game only accessible for casual play. All that strafing and timing and positioning doesn't matter. Sprint doesn't fit in the Halo games because unlike other games you don't die in 3 bullets to the toe. The kill time doesn't mix with sprint.

    screw you 343... SCREW YOU.    … Expand
  42. Meridius
    Nov 19, 2012
    6
    Campaign: Good story and great graphics, but lacking in storytelling - no sense of emergency from the gameplay and quick-telling of the story, and the score wasn't up to the task. Essentially, a huge weakness was its quick-windedness. Multiplayer: Great weapon and ability diversity, but loadouts and ordinance drops make this game harshly unbalanced (and very difficult to balance from aCampaign: Good story and great graphics, but lacking in storytelling - no sense of emergency from the gameplay and quick-telling of the story, and the score wasn't up to the task. Essentially, a huge weakness was its quick-windedness. Multiplayer: Great weapon and ability diversity, but loadouts and ordinance drops make this game harshly unbalanced (and very difficult to balance from a developer's perspective). Character customization is awesome, as are the challenges and experience leveling up, but the small rotations of maps for each gametype via matchmaking make playing redundant quick. And the lack of individual gametype leveling makes for some unbalanced opponent and ally skills. Overall: I don't see the "343 making Halo their own" here. They took the basics of Halo, and threw in everything that people have liked in the CoD (and copycats) games. We've seen one of the more original shooters become one of the copycats. Now we're left with Team Fortress 2, Mass Effect, and Gears of War as the only viable unique 'shooter' experiences.… Expand
  43. theoffice
    Nov 25, 2012
    6
    Overall a strong entry into the series (6.5/10). Regarding the campaign: Definitely a significant improvement over Halo: Reach as you simply do not sit back and fight wave after wave of enemies. Harkens back to Halo CE to me, but without the sense of exploration and wonder. Here you actually make forward progress most of the time. Problem is that if you go off the beaten path you'll dieOverall a strong entry into the series (6.5/10). Regarding the campaign: Definitely a significant improvement over Halo: Reach as you simply do not sit back and fight wave after wave of enemies. Harkens back to Halo CE to me, but without the sense of exploration and wonder. Here you actually make forward progress most of the time. Problem is that if you go off the beaten path you'll die quickly from the astounding increase in enemies and return far back as checkpoints aren't common. The covenant enemies are interesting and fun to fight as always but the new Promethean foes lack interesting characters and often stick to certain areas until you attack. There's also only 3 different types. Furthermore you're going to find yourself using mostly their weapons exclusively as there is no way you'll have ammo otherwise (get used to the lightrifle). Next, I felt the design and gameplay were decent, though it mostly revolves around moving from one button to the next to advance the story. Speaking of which... the story is weak. Very weak. And very difficult to understand if you have only played the games. It's just... strange. I felt the story in the previous 4 main games were good but this one was just kinda dumb and odd. I like the Chief but his relationship with the computer, Cortana, was weird and this new "threat"/ backstory (not explained in game at all though everyone seems to know it in the game) is dumb. This is obviously just my opinion......................... Regarding multiplayer: This is Halo 4's strong suit and will give it staying power. It's a strong experience with solid gameplay and options. Lots of character customization. Not much else to say. It's fun though still, imo, is not as good a Halo 2............................................. Regarding graphics and sound: graphics are fantastic. Best I've seen on xbox. The sound for some guns is great such as the DMR and sniper rifle. However on others it is totally horrendous such as the battle rifle............................... So overall a 6.5 as the campaign was an improvement but the lack of exploration/wonderment feeling, design mostly involving moving from one waypoint marker to the next, CG cutscenes used extensively, and the very weird, weak story really took away from the potential. The multiplayer is strong but I don't think it'll be something I keep going back to like Halo 2, a game I still find extremely satisfying. Personally recommend a rent.… Expand
  44. martijn
    Nov 12, 2012
    6
    This game has a great start which really sucks you in. The graphics and atmosfere are simply amazing. After a while though the level design gets a bit boring and repetetive. Also the lack of autosave prevents me from giving it a high a score. I had to replay to certain (difficult) parts multiple times because I did not save but turned off my Xbox (as I do with all games).
  45. Mattyice
    Dec 4, 2012
    6
    Game of the Year...This Halo is by far the best of the series. Stunning graphics, a great story, the usual amazing Halo Multiplayer, and Spartan Ops is a good addition. If you have an Xbox, you MUST buy this game! An instant classic. My choice for best game of 2012.
  46. wesker2012
    Nov 9, 2012
    6
    I was hoping this halo would get me back into the franchise, but its just more of the same. So if you are a halo fan you'll love it. But if your not, this probably won't change your mind. Still a solid game though.
  47. Avalon
    Nov 7, 2012
    6
    I got my hands on the game and to start with everything impressed me, the controls felt really tight and the gameplay was fun and the element that I was up against the unknown really got my heart going, it was intense, then about half an hour into the game I noticed things not really building up to the same levels as the start, it all felt a bit bland and boring but not to say it's not funI got my hands on the game and to start with everything impressed me, the controls felt really tight and the gameplay was fun and the element that I was up against the unknown really got my heart going, it was intense, then about half an hour into the game I noticed things not really building up to the same levels as the start, it all felt a bit bland and boring but not to say it's not fun because it is. I think the hype got the better of me and I expected a 10/10 game and got a 6/10 game which is still considered "good" but not exactly great.

    The graphics well... look at them, it's stunning and very vibrant. I knew they had put in lots of effort into the graphics because the animations were smooth apart from a few bits and pieces where the screen tears but other than that the visuals and graphics are top notch.

    The game play well that's the thing that let me down the most, I do like the tight controls but the story and just how the story is handled is not that good. I really felt a bit let down after the first hour of playing. Hope it gets better but initial impressions are not good.

    Multiplayer, not played it yet but fully intend on getting the most out of it, watched a friend playing it and it looks fun but won't judge it before I play it.    … Expand
  48. ProcrastinatorB
    Dec 30, 2012
    6
    The Single-player took a great turn for 343 Industries, but the Multi-player is lacking a lot (Bolt shot is overpowered, most guns are basically shooting peas at the thing you're pointing at). Halo was suppose to be a good balance between Grenade, Melee, and Weapons. But 343 just throws that out the window and says "Hey, lets make the most unfair, most hated multi-player ever. That'll sureThe Single-player took a great turn for 343 Industries, but the Multi-player is lacking a lot (Bolt shot is overpowered, most guns are basically shooting peas at the thing you're pointing at). Halo was suppose to be a good balance between Grenade, Melee, and Weapons. But 343 just throws that out the window and says "Hey, lets make the most unfair, most hated multi-player ever. That'll sure show those people expecting a good game." I actually think Call of Duty has a better multi-player than Halo 4, and that says a lot.… Expand
  49. somethingguy912
    Jan 10, 2015
    6
    I'm going to save my opinion on the whole 'necessity' to have a fourth installment of the Halo Franchise for a different time, as it is concurrently different from the opinion of the game in it's own context. Anyhow, before people start flagging my review down before their own sensibilities will bereft them from any kind of review that isn't a 9 or 10, I get why you guys like this game:I'm going to save my opinion on the whole 'necessity' to have a fourth installment of the Halo Franchise for a different time, as it is concurrently different from the opinion of the game in it's own context. Anyhow, before people start flagging my review down before their own sensibilities will bereft them from any kind of review that isn't a 9 or 10, I get why you guys like this game: It's got all this awesome lore to behold that any person with a pencil in hand will draw out soldier stories from the UNSC, I'm glad that you like all these visual graphics that have a huge scope on 'epic', but it's nothing to me. The graphics are just eye candy to hide all the uglier things about the game away. And the lore is only as important as you put your head into it, and if lore requires you to go into different mediums in order to understand anything, than you've failed at making a game worth of narrative, as is what this game does somewhat. Anyhow, as for the story, Master Chief and Cortana, after without any thought decided to go on into interstellar stasis for four years, come across an 'unknown' forerunner planet harvested by a new breed of alien to be feared (OOGA OOGA BOOGA) as the Promethians, which apart from their little surveyor drones and lights affixed like christmas ornaments around their body, work in AI almost the same way as the Covenant forces, meaning, bad. Enemies still go out in the daylight to greet your bullet barrel, which I would understand by the nature of the grunts, but the Elites? The Elites have been not only dumbed down but also lost a lot of their resilience to bullets, often being killable after their short-handed shields get depleted. Brutes are not present, for some reason, and the Promethein forces are not that variable, with nothing but "Knights", Surveyors and what I've been calling hell hounds, the little dog things that drop an infinite load of boltshots if you kill them, which usually takes one hit. Anyhow, for the weapons. A lot of the weapons from Reach and Halo 3 have returned in Halo 4, as you can now equip a DMR and Battle Rifle at the same time, including a touch of new weapons from all three forces, such as the Rail Gun, SAW, Storm Rifle and the famous Promethein weapons. The Promethein weapons are by far the best with the most stopping power and a neat little particle effect when you kill them (they distintegrate!). But other than the dialogue of the characters, which has seen a definite marked improvement, this game is colluded with a lot of confusing buzz words (composer, didact, forerunner, yadda yadda yah) and is not difficult in the slightest. Most of the time my friend and I got killed out of our own stupidity rather than by the difficulty curve (also, yet another QTE kill of the main boss). One small improvement is that the chief can now sprint (rather than being a 'pickable' ability), and some of the new abilities are much more helpful, such as a mobile drop shield and mini surveyor bot. And as I said, the graphic are pretty, but only serve to get you caught up in it so that they can mask away the aforementioned grievances above. I had my doubts about 343, but at least they didn't absolutely disgrace me with a pile of dog crap. They just gave me a rote, by the numbers game that attempts to pump more into it just to keep this aging franchise stagnant rather than dead.… Expand
  50. BrosefStalin
    Nov 7, 2012
    6
    Overall I thought the game was great. Gave a spectacular campaign, although the writing has changed a lot compared to the other Halo games. The visuals and graphics are astounding with dynamic shadows. The environments great. The only problem I saw with the game was the multiplayer. Some of the playlists are really disappointing. Such as Big Team which now only allows infinity slayer. IOverall I thought the game was great. Gave a spectacular campaign, although the writing has changed a lot compared to the other Halo games. The visuals and graphics are astounding with dynamic shadows. The environments great. The only problem I saw with the game was the multiplayer. Some of the playlists are really disappointing. Such as Big Team which now only allows infinity slayer. I would have personally liked it more if they didn't have Infinity slayer because of the overwhelming amount of power weapons held by the teams. There needs to be some playlist adjustments to add objective gametypes. Also the matchmaking is sad considering that you can now join games in mid session. Other than these issues the multiplayer is very smooth and plays like any other Halo game.… Expand
  51. neokarny
    Nov 18, 2012
    6
    I'll start off by saying that for Halo, the multiplayer is the focus and the campaign is a nice addition. That said, I was pumped for Halo 4 and even pre-ordered it, which is the first time I have ever pre-ordered a game in my life. I got it and immediately went to playing multiplayer for a few days straight and all I can say is... I'm mixed.

    There's a lot of good in it, but playing it    I'll start off by saying that for Halo, the multiplayer is the focus and the campaign is a nice addition. That said, I was pumped for Halo 4 and even pre-ordered it, which is the first time I have ever pre-ordered a game in my life. I got it and immediately went to playing multiplayer for a few days straight and all I can say is... I'm mixed.

    There's a lot of good in it, but playing it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. It's honestly like I'm playing another game reskinned with a Halo theme and Halo weapons thrown in. At first it was fun to customize load-outs and rank up, but it quickly became frustrating and obviously a sign of game imbalance and a direct shift away from encouraging skill to who has the best weapon. Not only that, but the weapons are frustratingly imbalanced - at the moment it seems like DMR > all, except for power weapons. The "ordnance drop" system is frustratingly terrible - often giving you useless, close combat weapons in an open range map or vice-versa. I honestly prefer the area control of weapon spawns of the older Halo games.

    And don't get me started on the abilities. The one allows you to PICK UP GRENADES to resupply your used grenades. Seriously? Why can't my Spartan pick up grenades on the ground without having a perk that lets him do it? Ridiculous. Promethean vision seems to alter the game in a bad way that departs from the Halo feel...

    Pacing also ruins me. I'm especially used to the pacing of Reach, but even though I'm more than willing to go to Halo 2 or 3's pacing, Halo 4 just seems way too fast. The instant respawn no doubt helps this, and the kill time does as well. It seems like everyone is constantly dying and respawning. There is little way to kill a group because of kill time. Shots seem way too accurate (DMR, specifically). It comes down to whoever starts shooting first anymore, rather than real skill.

    The maps? Mediocre to poor. Valhalla seems to be the best, and even then it's rather shoddy. They're all easily forgotten, and lack all of the epic feel that some of the past Halo maps had. This is especially true for Big Team Slayer with the feel of a "huge map" completely gone, and even the bigger maps are crossed almost instantly by just running straight across them in seemingly seconds.

    Spartan Ops - what were they thinking? The premise for it is great. Continuing, episodic story-driven maps. Sounds fun, but it's not at all. It's probably the most bland multiplayer experience I've had in a game in a really long time. There's no thought put into them, they're thrown together and completely a mess. It's more or less a watered-down, poor story-driven variant of Firefight that completely fails to even compete. I didn't even care that much for Firefight honestly, and can't believe how much less I enjoy this gametype.

    I'm really disappointed, ultimately. I had really high hopes for this game and for 343, and I tried to force myself to love it like the past games, but I just come away with bitterness and mixed feelings. I'll leave it to others to review the campaign, as it's secondary to me, but the multiplayer is the lasting aspect of the Halo games that this particular installment is sadly lacking.    … Expand
  52. ageofwinter
    Mar 17, 2014
    6
    Whilst the campaign was short and linear compared to past Halo games, the story and emotional attachment was good. The multiplayer is sub-par, and very shallow. Taking cues from Call of Duty whilst still trying to make it it feel like Halo was a tough task and it wasn't a good mix. The graphics (the only really good thing about this) are great for its time, some of the best I've seen onWhilst the campaign was short and linear compared to past Halo games, the story and emotional attachment was good. The multiplayer is sub-par, and very shallow. Taking cues from Call of Duty whilst still trying to make it it feel like Halo was a tough task and it wasn't a good mix. The graphics (the only really good thing about this) are great for its time, some of the best I've seen on Xbox 360, although when you play split-screen with a buddy, the console really shows it's age, having to dial back on the graphics due to having to render the meshes & textures twice on some really old hardware. All in all, the multiplayer gets stale after a few hours of play, and campaign was solid but a tad bit on the short side. As a classic Halo fan, I am disappointed in this project, although some may like it, and it does have some strong aspects.… Expand
  53. ryano9929
    Nov 10, 2012
    6
    Halo needs to stay halo. It obvious doesn't work when COD and other fps features are put into it. 343 should know that reach was no received well with the core fan base but yet they took it further. This new game has no identity. It is in the middle of halo and other fps' and it just doesn't play well.

    The campaign is very short. It is the shortest campaign of any halo game. Can easily    Halo needs to stay halo. It obvious doesn't work when COD and other fps features are put into it. 343 should know that reach was no received well with the core fan base but yet they took it further. This new game has no identity. It is in the middle of halo and other fps' and it just doesn't play well.

    The campaign is very short. It is the shortest campaign of any halo game. Can easily beat the game on heroic in 5 hours which is unacceptable for this series. Every mission has been ripped from other halo games which shows no creativity. Example being the flying falcon mission from reach, only this time its a pelican you fly. The mission plays exactly the same just with a new coat of paint. Also each mission has you pushing a button 3 or 4 times.

    Multiplayer is very unbalanced and is already being hacked by players with aim bot. The game requires no skill anymore. You no longer have to be good to rank up, as everybody will rank up just for playing. The game promotes the player who shoots first most of the time. WIth the glorious aim assist and the big hit boxes this game requires little to no skill.

    Unfortunately halo is on its death bad. While trying to broaden the audience, the developers have lost what has made halo a cultural phenomenon. Unless they fix this the series will die out.    … Expand
  54. GamePlayTalk
    Nov 6, 2012
    6
    The Good: Cut scenes look amazing, weapons look great, the majority of multiplay tweaks improve the game. The Bad: friendly AI mostly shoots corpses, bad checkpoint system, poor balance on sounds with no settings, bullet sponges.
  55. CynicalJohnson
    Nov 6, 2012
    6
    I wasn't really sure about how good Halo 4 was going to be a t first. To be honest, I expected it to flop. But after completing the campaign on Normal, and experiencing the multiplayer for a couple of hours, I have to admit that this is one of the best Halos ever made. It may not have the longest Halo campaign, but it has one of the most emotional ones. The bits of dialogue between MasterI wasn't really sure about how good Halo 4 was going to be a t first. To be honest, I expected it to flop. But after completing the campaign on Normal, and experiencing the multiplayer for a couple of hours, I have to admit that this is one of the best Halos ever made. It may not have the longest Halo campaign, but it has one of the most emotional ones. The bits of dialogue between Master Chief and Cortana are brillaint, from the script writing to the voice acting. There's a whole bunch of new, awesome weapons which all feel and sound really great. The multiplayer feels more fast paced than the previous titles and that only does it justice. I've really enjoyed my Halo 4 experience so far and I hope that Halo 5 turns out to be just as good, if not better.… Expand
  56. strider982
    Nov 6, 2012
    6
    Hard to decide whether i'm disappointed or not with this. Great music, the menu music just blows me away. Decent storyline, nice to see the Chief speaking a lot more, but the gameplay is just the same ol' stuff. Multiplayer is where it all goes horribly wrong. People have always compared other modern fps games with call of duty and for once they would be right to do so. The multiplayerHard to decide whether i'm disappointed or not with this. Great music, the menu music just blows me away. Decent storyline, nice to see the Chief speaking a lot more, but the gameplay is just the same ol' stuff. Multiplayer is where it all goes horribly wrong. People have always compared other modern fps games with call of duty and for once they would be right to do so. The multiplayer many of us have come to know and love has been warped almost to the point of being unrecognisable. Killcams, sprint (not just a perk), customisable loadouts. This may all sound like a great advancement, and some of it arguably is (players joining in a session is a welcome bonus!) but many of the changes really do ruin the flow of gameplay and most importantly ruin everything that Bungie worked so hard on refining. I would seriously reccommend caution if you're thinking about buying this.… Expand
  57. rankinaaron
    Nov 9, 2012
    6
    Here we go, I'm gonna try and be as honest as I can about this. I am a Halo fan through and through. I have been playing since Halo CE. I've bought every Halo game there ever was (except Halo Wars). I was playing Halo 2 with friends at LAN parties with 4+ xboxes for hours on end. I have also been playing COD pretty extensively since COD 4 (Modern Warfare). I was tenth prestige in the firstHere we go, I'm gonna try and be as honest as I can about this. I am a Halo fan through and through. I have been playing since Halo CE. I've bought every Halo game there ever was (except Halo Wars). I was playing Halo 2 with friends at LAN parties with 4+ xboxes for hours on end. I have also been playing COD pretty extensively since COD 4 (Modern Warfare). I was tenth prestige in the first modern warfare and 7th prestige in the 2nd. Just giving my credentials in order to show that I have a pretty well formed opinion about Halo 4. Let's be honest, Halo 4 is Halo at it's core with a hefty amount of COD mechanics thrown in. Things brought to Halo 4 directly from COD: instant respawn, custom weapon loadouts, an experience and currency system wherein items are unlocked with XP, but have to be purchased with currency (taken from black ops), dynamic player joining (and no penalty for quitting), sprint as an inherent ability, "ordnance" (strike) packages (even two of them just like COD). Default controls for Halo 4 are the exact same as COD (left thumbstick click has been crouch for every single Halo except this one). The spinning UNSC banner hologram you see during loading screens is a direct copy of the loading screen in the modern warfare titles. This isn't conspiracy bullsh*t, it's blatant parallels between the games. Anyone who has played both Halo and COD will say that Halo 4 is a combination of the two, most likely to draw in players from both crowds in order to maximize profits for Microsoft. Finally (spoiler alert here) the final "boss" (bahahaha) is a supremely dissatisfying quicktime event, much like the endings of pretty much all of the call of duty games.

    My problem with this? NO INNOVATION WHATSOEVER. Copied game mechanics, that's it, nothing more. So we get a compromised version of Halo, which used to be a competitive even playing field, but is now a cushy "everyone can have fun, even if you suck" title. I regret to say that I'm probably going to return (sell back to Gamestop for 1/10 the price) Halo 4, as I have no motivation to progress in it's multiplayer system, because I feel like I've played the same system 20 times over with the Call of Duty franchise.    … Expand
  58. Imperium101
    Nov 7, 2012
    6
    343i has tried to infuse some 'Humanity' into the story & tell a more personal tale about Master Chief's relationship with Cortana, but Halo 4 fails to evoke any emotions. This is in no small part due to Steve Downes boring monotone voice acting as the Master Chief. e.g Master Chief and cortana are aboard a derelict spaceship being sucked into a giant artificial planet slaughtering Aliens343i has tried to infuse some 'Humanity' into the story & tell a more personal tale about Master Chief's relationship with Cortana, but Halo 4 fails to evoke any emotions. This is in no small part due to Steve Downes boring monotone voice acting as the Master Chief. e.g Master Chief and cortana are aboard a derelict spaceship being sucked into a giant artificial planet slaughtering Aliens and they're just casually talking back & forth like they're sat in the waiting room for a dentist appointment - it's literally comical!

    The campaign also suffers from some atrocious level design. For example there's a part near the beginning of the campaign where you(the player) must climb up an elevator shaft avoiding falling debris. This could have been a sweat inducing, heart pounding moment, that is, if if weren't impossible to fail. There's also precious little else like in the campaign which only serves to give the impression that 343 weren't given the creative freedom to experiment. This is a shame because things like more platforming is exactly the kind of variety Halo needs.

    Finally the "Spartan Ops" mode is just awful. Lazy 10 minute missions on recycled environments(without scoring by the way) is pathetic replacement for Firefight. Besides if there's already a 4 player Co-op campaign why is this mode even needed? What were the developers thinking?

    Just a quick summary of the some of the biggest negatives as the 'professional' critics seem to be totally incapable of intelligently critiquing the products they are given.    … Expand
  59. 0neL4s7H0n0r
    Nov 7, 2012
    6
    It's good, but it's not the Halo that I'm used too. First off, the campaign is fast and keeps you wanting to play. But 343i added some parts to the campaign that really shouldn't be there, mostly surrounding the Chief (Character depth, a "friend", and that brown-noser Latsky) Second: There was a lot of good customization, minus the lack of emblems. (Not too happy I can't have the emblemIt's good, but it's not the Halo that I'm used too. First off, the campaign is fast and keeps you wanting to play. But 343i added some parts to the campaign that really shouldn't be there, mostly surrounding the Chief (Character depth, a "friend", and that brown-noser Latsky) Second: There was a lot of good customization, minus the lack of emblems. (Not too happy I can't have the emblem that I have had since Halo 2) Multiplayer: Fast, fun, thought I wouldn't like the supply drops, but they add a good element. Disappointed that you need a certain trait to pic up ammo (Not to mention once you run out of ammo with your gun you're kinda screwed.)

    Overall it's a good game, but if you're used to the Halo made by Bungie, this is going to feel different.    … Expand
  60. solidusdeus
    Nov 7, 2012
    6
    Honest opinion about this game. Graphics gave received a very nice upgrade, visuals definitely push the 360 to the limit with the occasional hiccup. Game play mechanics remains the same. Exciting start to the story that cannot be maintained throughout the campaign and falls on the short side of time. New enemies are cool, but old enemies and repetitiveness champion through the game.Honest opinion about this game. Graphics gave received a very nice upgrade, visuals definitely push the 360 to the limit with the occasional hiccup. Game play mechanics remains the same. Exciting start to the story that cannot be maintained throughout the campaign and falls on the short side of time. New enemies are cool, but old enemies and repetitiveness champion through the game. Multiplayer is still the same, which is a good or bad thing if you are a fan, some minor tweaks to loadouts and such. Overall an ok experience, just not a new or groundbreaking game.… Expand
  61. kapowaz
    Nov 8, 2012
    6
    A story that doesn't make a lot of sense; weapons that aren't as interesting; level design that's boring and repetitive (even by Halo's standards) and lots of small issues add up to a campaign game that just isn't that much fun. A disappointment, and not up to the standard that Halo sets. Multiplayer enthusiasts will undoubtedly get something from this, but for anyone who cares about theA story that doesn't make a lot of sense; weapons that aren't as interesting; level design that's boring and repetitive (even by Halo's standards) and lots of small issues add up to a campaign game that just isn't that much fun. A disappointment, and not up to the standard that Halo sets. Multiplayer enthusiasts will undoubtedly get something from this, but for anyone who cares about the campaign this game just isn't that good.… Expand
  62. satsumo
    Nov 10, 2012
    6
    Before I get trolled by all those fan-boys let me make it clear I'm not a Sony fan-boy or a COD fan-boy. I'm Xbox through and through but...

    As much as I enjoy this game - I'm now becoming bored. The campaign is nice enough but the multi-player is just the same as previous Halos but with polished graphics and slightly more class customisation. But after all these years they've not    Before I get trolled by all those fan-boys let me make it clear I'm not a Sony fan-boy or a COD fan-boy. I'm Xbox through and through but...

    As much as I enjoy this game - I'm now becoming bored.

    The campaign is nice enough but the multi-player is just the same as previous Halos but with polished graphics and slightly more class customisation.

    But after all these years they've not added anything "special" to the multi-player. It's still very slow to get into matches and there are glitches that keep ending multi-player matches before they finish.
    There's a very limited weapons choice. The perks are one-dimensional. The armour is just for show - there's no concept of trading off heavy armour against speed and agility.
    There's no building damage (like BF3)

    Maybe the problem with this game is that they spend so much time, effort and money on the campaign that they don't have much to offer the multi-player other than a graphics polish.

    This game needs to evolve.    … Expand
  63. GhostyDog
    Nov 11, 2012
    6
    Firstly, I'm a long time Halo fan, having been an early adopter on the first XBox with Halo: Combat Evolved.

    After finishing H4 on Heroic I have found the game to be a mix of good and bad, on one hand it's predictable but on the other hand there are some real eye openers from a story POV despite the enemy in the game being a huge McGuffin. Saying that, the cut scenes and story    Firstly, I'm a long time Halo fan, having been an early adopter on the first XBox with Halo: Combat Evolved.

    After finishing H4 on Heroic I have found the game to be a mix of good and bad, on one hand it's predictable but on the other hand there are some real eye openers from a story POV despite the enemy in the game being a huge McGuffin. Saying that, the cut scenes and story development really seems to take a secondary role to the relentless battles.

    Yes, it's a shoot em up, but previous Halo games managed to temper the grind of progression against wave after wave of alien foes with some genuinely funny humour.

    There is none of this in H4, and I feel it suffers for taking itself too seriously.

    The campaign is too short with at times set pieces of wearing monotony, yes it's beautiful to look at but it seems that beauty is only skin deep.

    At times I found the audio frustrating, conversations over the com from NPCs could not be heard because the in game music and effects were cranked up to 11. I game on a dedicated system with a large plasma and a decent 5.1 system that is well configured. I thought I'd drop into the audio settings to adjust but there is no capability in the settings to adjust the volume of different soundtracks which meant at times I had to guess at what game objectives were and just blindly follow the way points.

    To sum up, 343, C- must do better.    … Expand
  64. oldguy
    Nov 11, 2012
    6
    Sorry Halo Fans but the only game I like to play for the most part did'nt show up this time ! . I only play at Heroic level and found a lot of the game play sluggish, especially the flight segments. The flight controls
    are insulting and downright boring. Pretty disappointed I am but the story line was ok but left me questioning the logic of it all. The Diadec at the end changes it's    Sorry Halo Fans but the only game I like to play for the most part did'nt show up this time ! . I only play at Heroic level and found a lot of the game play sluggish, especially the flight segments. The flight controls
    are insulting and downright boring. Pretty disappointed I am but the story line was ok but left me questioning the logic of it all. The Diadec at the end changes it's apperance rather crudely. The graphics were pretty good at times but lacked depth overall. I hoped for more sadly not happily as a Halo fan should.

    Where's the firefight for the people that don't play xbox live.....really!!!    … Expand
  65. MrTostados
    Nov 14, 2012
    6
    Within 12 hours of buying my copy of Halo 4, I was already rather bored and quite disappointed. The campaign begins with the Master Chief and Cortana aboard the surprisingly intact UNSC cruiser, Forward Unto Dawn. The player's first battles are against Covenant forces, and are rather simple. From there, you are teleported to a forerunner world infested with "Prometheans". The PrometheansWithin 12 hours of buying my copy of Halo 4, I was already rather bored and quite disappointed. The campaign begins with the Master Chief and Cortana aboard the surprisingly intact UNSC cruiser, Forward Unto Dawn. The player's first battles are against Covenant forces, and are rather simple. From there, you are teleported to a forerunner world infested with "Prometheans". The Prometheans glow orange and like to teleport. Otherwise, they're the covenant. The campaign is extremely repetitive and is simply the same two objectives one after another. It's either "Go hold X on this orange thingy" or "kill all the enemies in the vicinity. After a little while, the player learns that Cortana's AI is deteriorating. Despite the obvious scientific inaccuracy, the player is expected to believe this. Cortana's body looks far less clothed, and far more... Developed than it has in her other appearances in the series. On the other hand, her face looks more like that of a six year old. The health system included in the past two games has been completely dropped, as 343 opted for the tried and true system that utilizes only the shield, and doesn't display your health. After about two hours of the campaign, the gameplay becomes extremely tedious, even when playing co-op. Now, on to the multiplayer. The multiplayer system now includes "Spartan-Ops," 343's answer to Infinity Ward's "Spec-Ops" game mode. The first "chapter" of Spartan-Ops is easily completed within 30 minutes. The mode is simple and boring. It is simply the campaign, but with slightly more variation and constant updates. There is currently only one extemely boring "chapter" of Spartan-Ops available, and the mode doesn't really deserve a second look. Multiplayer follows the same general rule as all of the other games in the series, except for the addition of an official "Griffball" game mode (anyone smell money?) and progressive loadout unlocks. The loadout unlocks are somewhat interesting, but considering the amount of weapons that you can pick up, and the amount of game types that have preset loadouts, the progressive weapon/armor ability unlocks are almost a total waste of time. As for Forge Mode, Forge has been stripped of many of its key components and items. For instance, all of the new vehicles added to the series from Halo 3, Halo: ODST, and Halo: Reach have been removed, all except for the Mongoose and the Rocket Warthog. The only new vehicle is the "Mantis" a "James Cameron's Avatar"-style mech-suit. The Mantis has a machine gun and fires rockets. It's pretty much just a Hornet that's stuck to the ground and moves extremely slowly. It also has a completely useless "stomp" capability. A recap of all of the vehicles dropped: The Hornet, Falcon, Revenant, as well as a few other vehicles. There are many new weapons added to the game, including: The SAW, light rifle, binary rifle, scattershot, and boltshot, just to name a few. The new grenade introduced in the game, the "pulse grenade" is totally useless. I attempted to use the grenade multiple times to absolutely no avail. Forge mode is extremely lacking, and the vast majority of the available maps are bland and small. Last but not least, Firefight. Oh, wait... THERE IS NO FIREFIGHT. 343 decided to take one of the more recent games' biggest selling points and simply **** DROP THE WHOLE MODE. Firefight is gone altogether. It seems as though 343 hasn't learned from any of the previous Halo games' mistakes and successes, and simply attempted to make a Call of Duty game that somewhat follows the storyline of the Halo Series. This is just a repetitive on-rails shooter hiding behind the facade of the Halo storyline.… Expand
  66. Gummies
    Nov 20, 2012
    6
    This game was okay and it would have gotten a higher score from me if it was released like 3 years ago. Sorry but this is getting old and Bungie made better Halo games, even Reach IMO. I even liked Halo 3 so much that i sticked my ding dong into the disc and out several times, it was fabulous if i may say so myself.
  67. Lex-Osheezy
    Nov 18, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After many sequels in this well known franchise, 343 manages to fall short of it's promises to re-invent the story and characters in a way that will fulfill all it's renown loyal fanboy's wildest dreams.
    The reality is that it's depressing to be able to see the intentions of the game developers as they fail.
    In the prologue of the game, 343 sets the tone of the game by laying down this thick emphasis on a moral question of Chief's ethics and emotions, and whether his success was based on his Callus nature.

    All of this is too much for the viewer, as the first thing they want to hear about their favorite character after years of absence isn't a diss from an old lady, (who's imprisoned for reasons that aren't explained in the game.) Nearly everything the campaign sets out to do it fails. Seconds into actual gameplay, it's clear that 343 have decided they'll try to make Chief less of a brooding character and more of a guy who thinks out loud and feels human emotions. The most obvious sign of this is the many many lines of dialogue throughout the campaign, compared to the under twenty he displayed in his last installment. Even the littler things make you think that this isn't a Halo game. The quick-times, the unexplained presences of enemies, and the stupid motivation for nearly every character.
    So putting the actual plot/execution aside for a minute, the actual core mechanics that are involved in a good campaign are either missing or broken. The game introduces new enemies into the Halo universe (The Prometheans), but these enemies are anything but fun to engage with. Your choices range between Shooting the Knight first, or the little support drone he constructs. Admittedly, some of them posses one of the armor abilities from multiplayer, and that can make things interesting, but the teleportation gimmick they all utilize exists only to annoy.
    This game misses the brilliance that some of the levels from Halo 3 demonstrated. Players of Halo Reach's criticism of the campaign was that it had no 'Big level'. It had no fight with scarabs, it had no scaling up the big metal pyramid to fight the monitor, and it had no Vehicle dependent level like Halo 3's 'The Ark'. Halo Four demonstrates this, and seemingly Less. Halo Four tries to add to this, but it's attempts come off as kind of dry. They put in a level where you get around via a powered-up Pelican, which is relatively cool, but they just make you fly from platform to platform, and don't really do anything with it. The Shooter on rails at the end of the game feels uncharacteristic of the franchise and kind of makes you wonder whether it was only put in to fit the expectation that every action game published in the last five years needs to have a mission where you're on a motorized vehicle with explosions and a million guys chasing you at the end for it to be fun and cool.

    Players from day one (Such as myself) are getting a little bit tired of the series' Go from A to B, and shoot everything in between' formula. Maybe it was old by the second or third game in the series, and I just didn't notice because I cared about the characters, and Chief/My Achievements were still impressing me. But the magic's just gone. Halo four tries to capitalize on Cortana and Chief's potential weird Romantic relationship that's based on trust and experience, but it does it in all the wrong ways. (Again, i'll make a comparison to Halo 3 as it's the most relevant Halo game) At the end of Halo 3, the metaphor for Chief's human side and what he's fighting for dies in the form of Srgt. Johnson. This powerful scene was executed brilliantly because of Chief's body language, and Cortana's very digital attempt at comforting Chief in a concept she shouldn't have a clue/care about. Johnson's characteristic one liner drove home the point, and the proceeding fast paced escape scene meant that much more because you felt like you had just experienced an influential time in the protagonist's life. Flash forward to Halo Four.

    Halo Four executes cutscenes by not having Chief pointing his gun aggressively, not defensively, not with him saying one line here or there, but by making him the tipsy blond in the room that can't keep up with the conversation. Making the player smarter than the character does not add anything to the experience, especially when the character's intelligence is inconsistent. Drawing impossible conclusions from prompts Cortana feeds him now and then makes no sense after you watch Chief fumble with the concept of authority and courses of actions.Play the ending yourself, decide if you want another Halo.(Regardless, it's on it's way) I should finish on a good note, and that's that I thoroughly enjoy the multiplayer. I'm not that great at online FPS's, but for some reason I find this one to be very easy. It could be the similarities it now holds to the Call of duty series, which has a debatable effect on the originality of it all.    … Expand
  68. Thatuserguy
    Nov 24, 2012
    6
    It's decent; not particularly amazing, but not bad either. Campaign is an alright length, but the story isn't particularly amazing. It leaves more questions than it gives answers, and more often than not, it feels like they came up with cool moments and just tried to string them together with an average-at-best story. It's somewhat annoying as well, as even on normal difficulty, mostIt's decent; not particularly amazing, but not bad either. Campaign is an alright length, but the story isn't particularly amazing. It leaves more questions than it gives answers, and more often than not, it feels like they came up with cool moments and just tried to string them together with an average-at-best story. It's somewhat annoying as well, as even on normal difficulty, most enemies act like bullet sponges, often with promethean knights taking a whole clip of ammo or more to take down. Because of this, ammo runs out quickly, more often than not leaving you with weapons unsuited for the particular occasion you're thrown into. The music, while somewhat interesting to listen to, is much different than past halo games, and none of them left a lasting effect on me. I only liked one song from the entire soundtrack a significant amount, and I don't even know the name of it. The graphics were pretty good, but there were times in both gameplay and cutscenes that it seemed 343 just gave up trying to make it look all pretty. For example, take a look at chief's armor at the end of the first mission: it looks extremely low res despite him being the main focus of attention. And as for the final boss fight that we were all waiting for throughout the entire game that we all expected to happen with the evil of the didact throughout the whole game? A quicktime event. A quicktime event leading to a cutscene that ends the game. Talk about a freakin' tease. On the subject of teases, a halo ring is shown in the game, but we never go on it. It's like they put it there so they could justify the halo in the title and nothing more. Overall, the experience is kind of disappointing despite cool moments, and the story isn't too particularly involving or interesting. It's lacking the magic of previous halo campaigns.

    Spartan Ops sort of makes up for the campaign, but at the same time, some of the locations they take place at are just recycled from multiplayer or campaign. Not to mention, there's only like 5 missions per episode, and they're so short that more often than not you find yourself asking "It's over already?" While 343 has boasted about custom games having more options than ever, they made this happen at the expense of several other options. Entire gamemodes such as race, juggernaut, VIP, invasion, and assault have been all but removed, something that hurts the experience greatly. Theater also remains a one person only ordeal, something that's truly disappointing. Forge has some improvements, but at the expense of previous improvements. You can magnetize objects, lock them, see which item you're hovering over, have dynamic lighting, and can place zones where spartans have specific traits, but in return, can no longer zoom or move an object slowly, both which serve to make forging a much more irritating experience. The 3 maps replacing forge world that are specifically built for forging are hardly even BTB maps in size, meaning you're very limited by size. It would be much more preferable to have forge world back with different palletes and more items at this point, as there's so little that you can do. And now for the big one: multiplayer. The maps are all fairly entertaining, but, again, are lacking something that every other multiplayer map in previous halos had. I don't know what it is, but they just don't play too amazingly well. The ranking system is basically the same as Halo Reach's, but with a new coat of paint. Custom loadouts are alright, but in engagements with them, more often than not the guy who was spotted first is usually the guy who winds up dead. Custom loadouts also allow for the noob combo of plasma pistol and dmr, a tactic I've seen much more of in Halo 4. As for this next part, I guess I can't blame the game as much as the players, but it seems nobody uses vehicles anymore unless it's a gauss hog, a mantis, a scorpion, a banshee, or wraith. Normal hogs and mongeese are often just left sitting there while players make a run for it on foot instead. Ordinance drops are also interesting, but hurt gameplay. There's no map control of the areas with the power weapons, because the power weapons could spawn anywhere, meaning instead of the game focused around map control that we all know and love, it's become a more run and gun game. Halo's multiplayer has definitely changed, and sadly, I don't think it's for the better. At least AA's are more balanced now though.

    Overall, the UI is cluttered and annoying to navigate. The new weapon sounds, while some have enjoyed them, don't seem to fit the experience too well. Everything just sounds...off. For example, the rocket launcher no longer has some meaty launching sound, but instead sounds like a unintimidating "woosh" noise when being launched, and the DMR sounds much more deadly than it is. Most of the armor in general also looks rather silly, and no longer is easily identifiable, as lots of the armor looks similar to one another.    … Expand
  69. Kilzer
    Dec 2, 2012
    6
    Halo 4's story was impressive as Master Chief develops in his personality through his journey with Cortana, while short, it was nothing short of interesting and impressive. However, despite the campaign, the multiplayer seems lack-luster and bland. The old Halo style is no longer there, instead it is mashed up with COD game play style, everyone has sprint, you have support abilities whichHalo 4's story was impressive as Master Chief develops in his personality through his journey with Cortana, while short, it was nothing short of interesting and impressive. However, despite the campaign, the multiplayer seems lack-luster and bland. The old Halo style is no longer there, instead it is mashed up with COD game play style, everyone has sprint, you have support abilities which are "perks", and kill streaks called ordinances, the matchmaking playlists are very limited and there is no "Team Objectives" like in Halo: Reach or Halo 3, you have to pick to what you are feeling now, instead of picking random. The level designs are also boring and there doesn't seem to be enough for release. Some maps are even imbalanced for game types such as CTF where jet packs reign supreme or one team has the better base to defend . The graphics I give an A for consoles, but split-screen seems to cause major fps lag in larger games. Spartan Ops seems to be rehashed every episode and brings rarely anything new to the table except for the standard "kill this, defend this" which last only about 7 minutes each, while it is nice to have a co-op experience such as spartan ops, I feel they could have done better. Overall I give the story a 9/10 (Only because they seem to rush everything at the beginning). and the overall game a 6/10 because of the multiplayer and Spartan Ops.… Expand
  70. Forgewolf
    Mar 23, 2014
    6
    -1 for non-existent custom game matches
    -1 for a lack of detail to the Forge mode
    -1 for a horrible Flood design and limitations to the Flood mode (Flood can't use weapons)
    -1 for obvious attempt to copy CoD

    It's not bad.. but it just seem like the Developers did not put their heart AND soul into their game..
  71. Kinglorshy
    Feb 10, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Halo 4 is a commendable effort by 343 in terms of ideas, and it has set an, albeit shaky, foundation for what is to come. However, ideas alone and saying "it's true to Halo" isn't enough anymore. Nothing stands out in a memorable way.
    The perks of Halo 4 are miniscule in contrast to it's detriments. Visually, the game looks impressive. It could be said to be the greatest looking game on the 360 to date, thanks to the lighting and art design. The sound design is also not that bad, although it lacks the punch that Reach had. The game tries to have a more compelling story, which is a commendable approach. The multiplayer is quite robust, featuring a number of playlists, and unlike Reach, it is four player split-screen online for most modes. Bringing friends is recommended. Locally, you can do some fun things, but it is not nearly as flexible as previous installments. Load-outs are actually welcome, and while the perk system is uninteresting, it does not interfere with balance all that much, surprisingly. The weapon balance is still problematic, as longer range weapons are too versatile, such as the DMR. Spartan-Op is an atrocious mode that lacks any re-playability. Honestly just play Reach if you want a co-op mode. It's only grace are the CGI scenes, which are not something you play.
    On the whole, Halo 4 is underwhelming, and shows the blatant incompetence of 343. In all honesty, the only things that work out for Halo 4 is that it has set a foundation. A foundation that, if put to it's fullest potential, could be something masterful. In it's current state, it is prone to collapse. From what has been given here, sadly, it is a mind-numbing, half-baked effort. The core of the problem is not that the game is broken, but that nothing is executed well. The set pieces are very forgettable, tacked on, and lack any atmosphere, coupled with a forgettable sound track. They are ridiculously linear and narrow, and that is a shame considering the graphical potential of the game. Unlike in Halo: CE Halo: Reach, you do not see those vast set-pieces, those fights in the sky, or anything like that. The only real interesting set-piece is shown at the beginning of the game. The missions lack any good variety. There are no stealth missions, rescue missions, or missions that soak in atmosphere. In fact, if 343 wanted to make an immersive campaign, the environments need to reflect the situation/story, not just levels. To add to this, the campaign is relatively short, which does not add to replay value in any way. 343 believes that the story should not get in the way of the shooting. Ironically, this philosophy works against them, as there is no reason to trek from point A to point B, to shoot C. To add insult to injury, the enemies are not fun to fight. There is less enemy variety, featuring only four Covenant enemies, and the Prometheans essentially replace the Flood. They are also a joke. They are not intimidating or challenging, and knights feel like giant elites that can teleport. The watchers are interesting, though. Halo, also, has never been good on tragic storytelling, and it's safe to say that this game has a story which will leave you chuckling or rolling your eyes. The story isn't just bad, it's putrid awful. I commend 343 for trying to be emotional, but there is nothing here. No inner conflict between the other characters, no tragedy, no irony, no elements which make a sad story compelling. Coupled with a short campaign, none of these elements, if they were to be included, are developed. Driving Cortana insane should have been a twist, not the focus, and it is not a bad idea. However the execution is forced and some of the dialogue is cringeworthily bad. For a "sad" story to be compelling, the audience needs to feel conflicted. The choices of the hero must be the "right thing", only to backfire and harm everyone. That is called consequence. There is none of that, minus an alien ship crashing here or there. Cortana just and screams, and fuzzes up. Also, it feels very super-hero esque, which is an unnecessary and comedic touch. The cutscenes, of course, look marvelous, but that's it. No substance, just style. 343 played it way too safe. The campaign is genuinely bad. Bland story, bland gameplay, bland ideas.
    The multiplayer is the only grace, but that is not saying much. It is much like every other modern shooter in that it has a progression system. There is not much to say. It is fun, and the scoring system is welcomed, but the map design is repetitive, as they all have structures in the middle and open fields elsewhere. Aside from the Specializations, which are neat, there is nothing interesting here. Ordnance is not necessary due to random ordnance spawn. Poor weapon balance. There are too many power weapons at any given time. Halo 4 only caters to hardcore fans at this point. Dang character limit.     … Expand
  72. Blahguy126
    Feb 27, 2013
    6
    Sure the graphics are shiny and the gunplay is smooth, but other than that, this game has little appeal to me. The multiplayer is unforgiving to newcomers, the campaign is short (Heroic with no skulls on took me only about six hours for the first playthrough), and although the story is emotional at times, the plot was overall rather dull and uncaptivating. Don't buy this game, just rent itSure the graphics are shiny and the gunplay is smooth, but other than that, this game has little appeal to me. The multiplayer is unforgiving to newcomers, the campaign is short (Heroic with no skulls on took me only about six hours for the first playthrough), and although the story is emotional at times, the plot was overall rather dull and uncaptivating. Don't buy this game, just rent it or play it at your friend's house. Still worth a playthrough, though.… Expand
  73. TragicShow
    Mar 1, 2013
    6
    First off, the graphics in this game are amazing, the visuals, explosions, and sound are all spectacular. But that isn't what makes a game great. The campaign is only about 4-5 hours long on normal with all of the cool stuff like space battles removed. I loved the space battle in Halo: Reach and I was really disappointed that there wasn't one here. While it does offer new guns and enemies,First off, the graphics in this game are amazing, the visuals, explosions, and sound are all spectacular. But that isn't what makes a game great. The campaign is only about 4-5 hours long on normal with all of the cool stuff like space battles removed. I loved the space battle in Halo: Reach and I was really disappointed that there wasn't one here. While it does offer new guns and enemies, they're pretty much just the same guns but they look different. For example, the scattershot and bionary rifle are exactly the same as the shotgun and sniper rifle except they look different. The levels look very similar and much less diverse then in the last game. The multiplayer is the best part of the game, even though they've pretty much turned it into "Call of Halo". The multiplayer is very similar to Call of Duty with small mas where you can't roam around much. They added a pretty cool vehicle addition which is an awesome mech, but it is only in one of the multiplayer maps, so don't expect to use it much. The game is pretty fun, but disappointing if you've played Halo: Reach. Minus the disappointing aspect, I would rate it a 7.… Expand
  74. WaffleFox
    Mar 14, 2013
    6
    The game is pretty much the same as any other Halo. You go through a short campaign and shoot covenant, flood, and whatever else stands in your way. This game introduces a new enemy faction: the Prometheans. The weapons they use are really cool looking and handle just like any other weapon. For the most part though, I'd rather use the old weapons rather than the new ones. Once youThe game is pretty much the same as any other Halo. You go through a short campaign and shoot covenant, flood, and whatever else stands in your way. This game introduces a new enemy faction: the Prometheans. The weapons they use are really cool looking and handle just like any other weapon. For the most part though, I'd rather use the old weapons rather than the new ones. Once you beat the campaign there isn't much of anything else to do. You could play online which takes up 3GB of your hard drive to download the stuff needed to play, but that's an additional feature which requires XBOX LIVE paid membership. Seeing as you have to pay seperately for this, I don't consider it part of the game. The game is what it comes with, not what you have to pay extra for. That's what it is to me anyway. Anyway the game is good and there is a decent amount of new things in it. But doesn't stand out as anything amazing or different from previous Halo shooters.… Expand
  75. Defender_X
    Mar 31, 2013
    6
    Halo's campaign is known for its simplicity,but in Halo 4,the story is just confusing and at points,boring.Even the flashbacks in Halo 3:ODST were easier to follow than Halo 4's storyline. The gameplay is uninteresting as most of the missions either ask you to defend an area or go to 3 areas and push buttons.At least they finally let you fly a Pelican Dropship. Multiplayer is a blast!Halo's campaign is known for its simplicity,but in Halo 4,the story is just confusing and at points,boring.Even the flashbacks in Halo 3:ODST were easier to follow than Halo 4's storyline. The gameplay is uninteresting as most of the missions either ask you to defend an area or go to 3 areas and push buttons.At least they finally let you fly a Pelican Dropship. Multiplayer is a blast! Although they took a couple things from the COD series,the multiplayer is still engaging and fun.With new maps,new weapons,new abilities and others,this is great for anyone looking for online play.Spartan Ops is,well,pretty "meh". It can be fun at times but playing it with friends is the only way to experience it fully.New items have been added to Forge,making it better than ever. If you want a good single player game,sorry,no such luck here.If you want a good multiplayer and co-op play,this is pretty much it.… Expand
  76. Blueshift
    Apr 2, 2013
    6
    Being the big Halo fan I am, I bought Halo 4 despite my doubts that 343 could make a good Halo game. After 5 months of playing the game, I can say that Halo 4 was a massive disappointment, with the campaign being the only bright spot in my opinion. The multiplayer is an utter insult to the franchise, particularly because Halo's multiplayer was based on the idea that everybody was equal andBeing the big Halo fan I am, I bought Halo 4 despite my doubts that 343 could make a good Halo game. After 5 months of playing the game, I can say that Halo 4 was a massive disappointment, with the campaign being the only bright spot in my opinion. The multiplayer is an utter insult to the franchise, particularly because Halo's multiplayer was based on the idea that everybody was equal and that is definitely no the case in Halo 4. Power weapons no longer have static spawns and just drop down randomly on the map in almost all of the playlists (who was the moron who thought that was a good idea?) Players could also spawn with the boltshot, a weapon that is essentially a mini shotgun (though they did nerf it a bit). Moving on from multiplayer, custom games and forge both have been incredibly watered down compared to Reach and drives away even more of the fanbase. Unfortunately i don't think 343 will draw back the fans they drove away; maybe they should have tried sticking to Halo's roots instead of ripping off other franchises.… Expand
  77. Enforcer122
    Apr 16, 2013
    6
    What can I say about this game? I have mixed feelings... Playing halo from day one, I was already in love with the series no matter what. But when this 4th Halo came out, I was a little disappointed. This game is so massively multiplayer it's almost impossible to get any achievements or progress in the game without someone playing with you! Multiplayer is a great as ever and the campaignWhat can I say about this game? I have mixed feelings... Playing halo from day one, I was already in love with the series no matter what. But when this 4th Halo came out, I was a little disappointed. This game is so massively multiplayer it's almost impossible to get any achievements or progress in the game without someone playing with you! Multiplayer is a great as ever and the campaign is good, although a little short.… Expand
  78. electriclight41
    Jun 3, 2013
    6
    Count me in the minority on this one. I don't know if it's because I was used to the greatness of the Bungie Halo games or what, but I was severely disappointed in Halo 4. It didn't have firefight. The multiplayer is full of glitches. The story is pathetically mundane. And the spec ops missions were the most boring, repetitive things ever. This list of annoyances goes on and on.

    I will    Count me in the minority on this one. I don't know if it's because I was used to the greatness of the Bungie Halo games or what, but I was severely disappointed in Halo 4. It didn't have firefight. The multiplayer is full of glitches. The story is pathetically mundane. And the spec ops missions were the most boring, repetitive things ever. This list of annoyances goes on and on.

    I will say the cutscenes had probably the best graphics I've ever seen. And the game overall is a slightly entertaining diversion. But the fact I traded it back in way earlier than all the other Halo games I've owned speaks for itself.    … Expand
  79. PrometheanSigma
    Jun 19, 2013
    6
    Halo has always been one of my favorite series. I played Halo 2 when I was 4 years old, and as a 14-year old I'm completely emerged into the lore and action of the games, books, and soon to be show. Halo 3 was my all time favorite as I would spend whole days just enjoying custom games or multiplayer. Then Halo: Reach came along. While not as good as its predecessor, it provided aHalo has always been one of my favorite series. I played Halo 2 when I was 4 years old, and as a 14-year old I'm completely emerged into the lore and action of the games, books, and soon to be show. Halo 3 was my all time favorite as I would spend whole days just enjoying custom games or multiplayer. Then Halo: Reach came along. While not as good as its predecessor, it provided a compelling forge experience and brought along my favorite Halo game mode, Invasion. Then came Halo 4. Halo 4 provides a decent game experience, but does not rock the charts like 3 and Reach.

    The campaign was weak, definetly the weakest part of the game. It lacked level design, a soundtrack, and story at that. I would give the campaign a solid 4.

    Multiplayer was decent. The maps were OK. The weapons and ordnance ideas were actually pretty cool, but the lack of playlists is saddening. Overall, I ended up going back to Reach after a while (it had more players, what about that?) Multiplayer 6.

    The graphics were outstanding and made a beautiful, rich, and enhanced game. 10

    Lastly, Spartan Ops took up most of my time. I frankly enjoyed these small levels way more than the campaign. They were fun and had the whole "just kill things" mist with a side of objective. However, the lack of maps made for repetitive gameplay. Misc. 8

    OVERALL (not based on averages), Halo 4 is good with a 6, but 3 or Reach is better.    … Expand
  80. memus
    Aug 14, 2022
    6
    Something felt off.

    Pros: + The new machines introduces by 343 are super cool: e.g. Mammoth, Mantis. + In general, the biology-inspired designs work: e.g. electric dogs, Didact's ship as chrysalis. + The retcon for index is kinda cool (though execution suffers). + So the game shines the most when it goes the furthest away from the original trilogy. Cons: - Gunplay feels off.    Something felt off.

    Pros:
    + The new machines introduces by 343 are super cool: e.g. Mammoth, Mantis.
    + In general, the biology-inspired designs work: e.g. electric dogs, Didact's ship as chrysalis.
    + The retcon for index is kinda cool (though execution suffers).
    + So the game shines the most when it goes the furthest away from the original trilogy.

    Cons:
    - Gunplay feels off. There is no punch to guns. Enemies are bullet-spongy.
    - Levels are meh. In a sense, you go through a set of very small rooms and need to kill all enemies to proceed further. Again and again. It makes gameplay feel kinda random, more like Quake 3 Arena or Doom rather than Halo.
    - Enemy AI is meh.
    - The graphics are meh. Some designs are quite cool. But there are many visual glitches (even to this day). Huge ships just disappear in the air after the explosion. Items re-spawn behind you. All this breaks the illusion quite a lot.
    - People look wooden. And the cutscene art direction in general is not up to the standard of previous games. Also, the story between Master Chief and Cortana will make you cringe.    … Expand
  81. SonicmanMW3
    Dec 6, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Halo is Microsoft's best first party series and each game in the series is fun and amazing in story, characters, and gameplay, but Halo 4 feels like a step down from the rest in the series. The campaign is short and forgettable. Halo 4 takes places four years after Halo 3 and the covenant are at war with UNSC (a,k,a earth). You play as Master Chief (John 117) again and plays the same as in the past games, but now he can sprint without a power up like in Halo Reach. The graphics look amazing for the Xbox 360 and the sound effects are great. The campaign would take about five or six hours to complete based on how high the setting is. The multiplayer is better than ever with custom classes and better map design, but there is a catch to it. You see you have to download the multiplayer off a disc, which comes included or download it from the Xbox live market for free and also the Spartan Ops and forge. In the end Halo 4 was a disappointment to me and I wish 343 Industries will get it right in the new Halo for the Xbox One or it will become a disappointment you don't want to do that.… Expand
  82. Eternal409
    Jul 28, 2013
    6
    I am a big 'Halo' fan, some people have even called me a fan-boy! In anticipation of the release of 'Halo 4' I pre-ordered a my copy of the limited edition of 'Halo 4.'

    Expectations: When I first received my copy of 'Halo 4' I went in with high expectations, but this would prove a massive problem as I went in with the expectations of a 'Halo' game. Scores: Graphics: 9/10 Campaign:    I am a big 'Halo' fan, some people have even called me a fan-boy! In anticipation of the release of 'Halo 4' I pre-ordered a my copy of the limited edition of 'Halo 4.'

    Expectations:
    When I first received my copy of 'Halo 4' I went in with high expectations, but this would prove a massive problem as I went in with the expectations of a 'Halo' game.

    Scores:
    Graphics: 9/10
    Campaign: 6/10
    Soundtrack: 8/10
    Gameplay: 7/10
    Multiplayer: 2/10
    Final Score: 6.4/10

    Final Verdict: This game is good by the standards of a generic FPS, but 'Halo' is not just some other generic FPS it's full of epic moments in the game's campaign and full of the most enjoyable multiplayer, which still needs a good calibre of skill to do well in multiplayer. This is just some the points where 'Halo 4' falls flat sure it's graphics are great but that doesn't make a good game, the multiplayer is despicable by standards set by previous 'Halo' games. Also the soundtrack in this game may be good, but ypu will never be able to beat the original trilogy's signature soundtrack as you race into fight a scarab. Gameplay is decent but lacks that "Halo feel" the default sprinting detracts from the whole experience, the campaign also fell a bit flat after the first 2 missions.    … Expand
  83. Agent23
    Aug 5, 2013
    6
    Halo 4, to start off with, looks amazing. It has, by far, some of the greatest graphics of all time, breaking the boundaries of human likeness. Even the in-game graphics look spectacular, feeling like cutscenes that never end. The gameplay is also really good; I really enjoyed the new helmet perspective that, like the graphics, really developed the atmosphere and world around me. TheHalo 4, to start off with, looks amazing. It has, by far, some of the greatest graphics of all time, breaking the boundaries of human likeness. Even the in-game graphics look spectacular, feeling like cutscenes that never end. The gameplay is also really good; I really enjoyed the new helmet perspective that, like the graphics, really developed the atmosphere and world around me. The weapons weren't too overpowered, no-one had too much of an advantage and the multiplayer was a really fun experience, however, these were the only good prospects. Halo 4's campaign was just boring, basically just playing out as cutscene, rush of monsters, cutscene, rush of monsters. Because of this the story just wasn't engaging, and I spent most of my time killing the same things over and over again. The multiplayer mode was really unfair thanks to the new random-spawning, with people spawning right in the centre of an enemy base. Overall, Halo 4 was really disappointing thanks to the hype brought up by Microsoft, and it didn't live up to the expectations Halo 3 and Halo Reach brought to the table. The graphics and gameplay are the only things that rescued this game from an under-5 score and I really hope the next Halo game does a lot better.… Expand
  84. HONDOMAN
    Sep 9, 2013
    6
    I have been a long time Halo fan and when I heard this was announced I was very eager to play it. Since it was made by a different developer, I was very skeptical. When I first played it I noticed a few things. The new sounds were excellent especially the weapons. The visuals were great as well. The downside is it did not feel right. Especially in the last mission where it puts you on aI have been a long time Halo fan and when I heard this was announced I was very eager to play it. Since it was made by a different developer, I was very skeptical. When I first played it I noticed a few things. The new sounds were excellent especially the weapons. The visuals were great as well. The downside is it did not feel right. Especially in the last mission where it puts you on a rail system like in an arcade-shooter. The story just fell a little short. The multiplier is fun, but the story needed more attention. The menu though! Awful could not stand it.… Expand
  85. gmr4evr
    Oct 24, 2013
    6
    This game will be mostly known for a few things. First, it was the first halo game made without bungie. Second, it is considered one of the worst and one of the best by many kind. In my opinion, I hated the matchmaking. They did everything right, I truly felt as if im on the battlefield. The only problem was that it did not draw me in. Whether it was the ranking system that made noThis game will be mostly known for a few things. First, it was the first halo game made without bungie. Second, it is considered one of the worst and one of the best by many kind. In my opinion, I hated the matchmaking. They did everything right, I truly felt as if im on the battlefield. The only problem was that it did not draw me in. Whether it was the ranking system that made no sense, or just how it felt to "complicated" (everyone having their own loadouts) it truly didn't appeal to me. The campaign, on the other hand, was what I was looking forward to. The graphics are amazing and I truly enjoyed it. I just didn't like where the storyline went, and it is hard to explain why. It is a truly great game though, but in my mind, I cannot see that fully.… Expand
  86. oDjento
    Jan 4, 2015
    6
    Halo 4 isn't as bad as everyone says it is. It's campaign story is Great at what it does - fleshing out chiefs character - and the multiplayer is different but still reasonably fun. Graphics look good especially baring in mind they're running on Reach's engine! The new set of guns are pretty cool, but AI was in the game was pretty average. Gameplay had a nice variety of stages, but tradingHalo 4 isn't as bad as everyone says it is. It's campaign story is Great at what it does - fleshing out chiefs character - and the multiplayer is different but still reasonably fun. Graphics look good especially baring in mind they're running on Reach's engine! The new set of guns are pretty cool, but AI was in the game was pretty average. Gameplay had a nice variety of stages, but trading the scarab boarding for the Lech boarding, awful move. It was so boring. Now multiplayer was pretty fast paced, but i didn't think it was on par with Reach's. The maps were pretty terrible for the most part too (the only good ones i can think of being are Longshore - i think it was called that, the snowy one - Haven and Ragnarok -a remake). The vehicles handles better though which was good online though, especially for races. However 343 did lie when saying races would be in the game (when they weren't). Forge was pretty decent though, i found it a lot better to create stuff in but i still found Forge World a better place to create maps in albeit being harder. It's still a fun game, but i think the series peaked at Reach.… Expand
  87. nkanhai
    Mar 14, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. (Minimal spoilers)

    I honestly can't give this game more than a 6 for the simple reason that throughout the entire playthrough, I couldn't help but feel bored and disinterested in the characters, the plot, the chief and Cortana, or the action. Please note, this is a review of the single-player campaign only.

    I've always loved the Halo series, in its prime the game was an incredible showing of what shooters could be. A combination of fun, semi-open field exploration with vehicles of all sizes, battling against untold odds. Halo Reach was a decent addition to a great series, adding important backstory to the Chief's grand adventure. Halo 4, on the other hand, adds little to the mythos of the chief, trying instead to forge a 2-dimensional relationship between the him and the AI Cortana.

    The gameplay felt tedius at times, where I'd often think to myself 'oh great, yet another section of the game that I don't want to complete', and I'd force myself through it because I'm that kind of gamer. That is, hopeful, wishing for this game to pick up the pace and throw some interesting combat at me. Instead, it was rehash after rehash, with repetitive enemy battles throughout. They basically introduce the principle enemies at you near the beginning of the game, and they recycle the same ones over and over and over again.

    As for the story, I still don't know what the hell happened. I'm no slouch when it comes to picking up on complex philosophical implications, but this story was way over my head. Who was the principle enemy? Why do I care? What's his motive for destroying humanity if humanity poses little to no threat to the galaxy? Why does human technology integrate so easily into theirs? This is basically how it goes: Chief wakes up from slumber, **** going down, somehow through the expanse of space he meets up with a human ship, they run into a giant mechanical planet thing, chief **** **** up, casualties of war happen, the chief blows a nuke and doesn't die, humanity wins and the chief loses.

    The one part of the game that kept me engaged was the visuals. I have to hand it to 343, they made a handsome looking game. The fidelity was sharp and the colors bright and vibrant. The enemies were well designed and the worlds felt real. While running through space stations you felt like you were there. The sound design was also top notch, with an excellent musical track to carry through the otherwise sleepy and predictable storyline.

    I bought it used for $15 on amazon. Personally the game didn't resonate with me, but it was worth what I'd paid for it. I don't think I would recommend this game to my friends, so I wouldn't recommend it to you. If you don't mind the lack of a story and gameplay that has regressed from its prior glory in order to play as the chief again, go for it. If you care about progress in gaming, leave this one on the rack.    … Expand
  88. jtfl2000
    Mar 14, 2014
    6
    Seriously? Halo 4 is the same game. The story isn't that interesting to the other halo games. The online play is mostly the same thing and, it's HALO. I like halo, but I seriously cannot keep hearing everyone saying it is a new version of halo. ITS THE SAME GAME!
  89. herr_rosa88
    Oct 22, 2014
    6
    Halo 4 is a fairly good game, at the same time a massive disappointment. The good aspects is that it brings in new fairly interesting enemies, great cinematic cut-scenes and some really beautiful graphics.

    These are important improvements and this would have been a great game if they had not thrown out what made Halo what it is. The most important aspect of this is the horrible sound    Halo 4 is a fairly good game, at the same time a massive disappointment. The good aspects is that it brings in new fairly interesting enemies, great cinematic cut-scenes and some really beautiful graphics.

    These are important improvements and this would have been a great game if they had not thrown out what made Halo what it is. The most important aspect of this is the horrible sound system. The game doesn't sound like Halo any more, but a cheap call of duty wanna be. For instance the weapons sound like ordinary modern battle rifles (even some of the alien guns), instead of the futuristic sound they had in the previous games. If they had copy and pasted the sound straight from Halo 3 this game would have been vastly better.

    Secondly they have destroyed the unique multiplayer that defined Halo and changed it so that you customize your character (like CoD), which means that players don't have to search for better weapons. That later part was however part of what made Halo fun and made it stand apart from the rest of all generic shooters out there. Not only that but they have marked the location of all the weapons so there is no need to memorize the location of them any more. But that was also what made Halo unique: you don't start with a great arsenal, it is something that you find on the battlefield.

    To summarize it, 343 succeeded with many of the difficult parts such as developing the main characters (Master Chief and Cortana) and creating a good campaign (although not as good as Halo 2 and 3). However they ended up destroying the franchise by throwing out what made Halo the unique and great experience it was and that is a shame.    … Expand
  90. Artur95
    Sep 10, 2014
    6
    Halo 4 has lack of identity. I really missed master chief but in Halo 4 it doesn't feels like the older versions. Now he has close emotions with Cortana, all story surrounds Cortana's problems and not clearly the story of the Forerunners. Also, the story is too short and enemies are really easy when you play it on Legendary. The covenant's armor is terrible, and the elites are very easy toHalo 4 has lack of identity. I really missed master chief but in Halo 4 it doesn't feels like the older versions. Now he has close emotions with Cortana, all story surrounds Cortana's problems and not clearly the story of the Forerunners. Also, the story is too short and enemies are really easy when you play it on Legendary. The covenant's armor is terrible, and the elites are very easy to kill.

    The good things are that graphics are the best ones on the xbox 360. The spartan ops are quite a challenge and the plot is good, the multiplayer i think it improved a lot, there are some good playlists.    … Expand
  91. DudeUnknown
    Jan 3, 2015
    6
    Meh. It's a good game, but seriously, Call of Duty is actually better. Halo's weapon selection, gameplay, variety of enemies, storyline, graphics (sort of), etc. just make it a shooter that's not necessarily worth the $60.
  92. Viddy
    Sep 20, 2015
    6
    You'll get about 2 weeks out of this lackluster experience. That is, if you're a Halo fan who doesn't enjoy wasting their time. Otherwise, you might get about half that at best. This game comes with a plot heavily inspired by the original Halo and action movies, dull characters (even legacy characters are duller than ever), a much-to-be-desired Multiplayer mode even after the "game fixing"You'll get about 2 weeks out of this lackluster experience. That is, if you're a Halo fan who doesn't enjoy wasting their time. Otherwise, you might get about half that at best. This game comes with a plot heavily inspired by the original Halo and action movies, dull characters (even legacy characters are duller than ever), a much-to-be-desired Multiplayer mode even after the "game fixing" update due to, primarily, mediocre map design and a game-breaking extreme amount of sprint, a painfully executed map editor, and nothing you haven't really seen before, if you're a regular to the sci-fi FPS genre.

    So seeing that I totally just shat on this game with my heavily negative opinion, why a 6? Well, unlike most Metacritic users I actually gave this game a fair score and not just pull whatever I was feeling out of my ass and slap it on there. If I was to do that, this would get a 4. It's certainly not worth it's launch price, but hey, if you're in the mood for a mindless action game, and you've got money to spare, buying this isn't a terrible idea.    … Expand
  93. trival
    Nov 21, 2020
    6
    campain is ok. BUT i haven't seen such a lazy designed ending in a looong time
  94. iamevilhomer
    May 16, 2017
    6
    A pretty crappy halo game but a decent shooter on it's own I suppose. Compared to the skill and replay value of the bungie halo games.... This one is a joke. But I guess one can have fun with it for a week or so...
  95. v_law
    Dec 8, 2016
    6
    It is just an ordinary 1st person shooter game, nothing more will you ever hope to find out in halo 4.
    I found it difficult to like the storyline of the campaign and the sound effect is poor, therefore i have to admit that it has a very smooth graphic!
  96. Broyax
    Oct 2, 2019
    6
    J'ai terminé la campagne en 6h, une durée très respectable pour un jeu de ce genre, du genre à tirer sur des trucs pendant des heures comme tous les jeux de ce type, les jeux de tir en vue subjective. Et comme tous les jeux de cet acabit, heureusement que ce n'est pas plus long, car on en ferait une crise d'épilepsie de Parkinson.

    Tirer sur ces saloperies de cabots, sur ces merdes    J'ai terminé la campagne en 6h, une durée très respectable pour un jeu de ce genre, du genre à tirer sur des trucs pendant des heures comme tous les jeux de ce type, les jeux de tir en vue subjective. Et comme tous les jeux de cet acabit, heureusement que ce n'est pas plus long, car on en ferait une crise d'épilepsie de Parkinson.

    Tirer sur ces saloperies de cabots, sur ces merdes volantes qui se barrent au premier coup de laser pour revenir te soûler, vider des chargeurs sur ces machins aliens (non pas de vrais "aliens", ils ne poussent pas ces cris affreux qui font rire) juste des "Forerunners" ou je sais pas quoi, j'avoue que j'ai pas bien compris le pourquoi du comment de cette histoire... Apparemment la merde volait très bas et on vous a (r)appelé pour nettoyer. Et tout passer au karcher. Encore.

    Sans parler des Convenants, des Covenants pardon, des hordes entières à tuer, mitrailler, grenader, anéantir. Dire que certains pisse-copie osent critiquer la répétition de certains jeux de rôle... quoique, ça dépend desquels il est vrai. Mais tout de même, dans le genre, je tire, je tire, je tire... gnééé boum boum taratata piou piou attention t'as un filet de bave sur le coin de la bouche c'est dégueulasse.

    Y a même un passage Starre Varses genre étoile pas claire où il faut zig-zaguer putain ça m'a cassé mes vieilles burnes, je ne te raconte pas.

    Cela étant, on mesure les progrès accomplis tout en restant fidèle à la licence, des progrès sensibles et tout cela grâce à 343 Industries, le nouveau studio dédié à Halo par Microsoft tandis que Bungie est allé torcher son pay2win fermier avec la bénédiction d'Activitron. Une page se tourne et on ne la regrettera pas à dire vrai.

    343 a donc virilisé Halo et a fait d'un jeu adolescent un jeu un peu plus adulte. Je parlais de "piou piou" plus haut mais c'est inexact : ça c'était chez Bungie. Chez 343, la moindre pétoire (et il y en a beaucoup) est désormais bien plus crédible, comme si tout-à-coup le jeu tout entier et tout ce qui l'accompagne s'était vu pousser des poils sur le torse. Ainsi toute l'ambiance sonore est méconnaissable, les couleurs criardes ont dégagé, le ton général est indéniablement plus mature. Même Cortana est devenue une sex machine euh un sex symbol numérique.

    Et quelle réalisation ! Halo Reach m'avait paru sensiblement plus beau (ou moins laid) que les précédents mais Halo 4 leur a mis quelques années dans la gueule. Bref, une belle baffe graphique qui tient la route, dans la campagne tout du moins. Comme 343 ne fait pas les choses à moitié, de magnifiques scènes cinématiques en remettent encore une couche alors que Bungie est déjà à terre et en terre.

    Autre chose étonnante, le multi-joueurs est devenu plus fréquentable et carrément bien plus agréable qu'un Call of Duty. Le hic, c'est que ça tourne à plus ou moins à 30 im/s (plutôt moins selon l'action à l'écran) et l'absence de serveur dédié (comme les COD d'ailleurs) est vraiment dommageable. En outre, les cartes sont nettement moins belles que dans la campagne...

    Voilà donc, contre toute attente, Halo 4 donne l'impression d'être bon... sans l'être réellement en raison des défauts mentionnés au début de cette critique sans compter ses trop nombreux ennemis "éponges à balles et à lasers" qui vrillent les nerfs. Graphismes mirifiques, excellente VF, temps de chargement réduits mais musique passe-partout. Celle de Bungie était mieux. Quand même.    … Expand
  97. Diugo
    Mar 18, 2022
    6
    First of all, graphics are gorgeous. Amazing landscapes and very detailed textures. But when you reach the second half of the game it all becomes just grey. Everything is very grey after a while. The story should have been a standalone. Everything felt very pasted on. Like it wasnt meant to be there, but still is. Even tho i still really wanted to finish it to get the full HALO experienceFirst of all, graphics are gorgeous. Amazing landscapes and very detailed textures. But when you reach the second half of the game it all becomes just grey. Everything is very grey after a while. The story should have been a standalone. Everything felt very pasted on. Like it wasnt meant to be there, but still is. Even tho i still really wanted to finish it to get the full HALO experience i became very bored with the gameplay. The convenant are still very fun to fight, but the prometheans not at all. The best part of the game is the first hour or so, after youre done riding the warthog down the mountain is drops off exponentially. The starfox like mission was still a lot of fun tho. Not a bad game, just a bad halo game imho.… Expand
  98. PalpetineSheev
    Mar 20, 2020
    6
    This is very much the Force Awakens of the series. It's the first new title in a long running series from a new company. They both introduce a new cast of characters that ends up being wasted and has a story with a billion plot holes. But it is very well made for the most part despite its shortcomings.
  99. Dperks
    Jan 26, 2022
    6
    I really want to love Halo 4 and I've had to of played this game like a dozen times by this point. But after my most recent playthrough I cant say more then its okay. Halo 4 has a lot of issues that hold it back for me but I will say that my favorite aspect of the game is the story. I love learning more about the forerunners and having that human connection with Cortana developingI really want to love Halo 4 and I've had to of played this game like a dozen times by this point. But after my most recent playthrough I cant say more then its okay. Halo 4 has a lot of issues that hold it back for me but I will say that my favorite aspect of the game is the story. I love learning more about the forerunners and having that human connection with Cortana developing rampancy I thought were all great ideas. Execution wise though was handled kinda rough. Most of the important info about the forerunners is jammed into one exposition filled cutscene so if your not finding the hidden terminals in levels your probably lost. And the Didact as a villain could of been so much more. But the stuff with Cortana is great still think it could of been handled better but I do like the idea of making chief more human and exploring that personal aspect. And I also do like seeing him confront a superior like with what happens in the story even if it does seem kind of dumb for it to happen in the first place. So the story is rough but overall I like it where the game falls pretty flat is the gameplay. This is the least fun to play FPS Halo game to date. Where to begin the weapons for the covenant and these new promethium weapons just feel bad and some weapons are literally useless. Each faction needs to have a weapon equivalent which just makes it feel very redundant. Like you don't need 3 different assault rifle weapons especially when 2 of them are worthless. Enemy AI is also notably bad In this game they will constantly just stand their or get stuck on terrain and when compared to even Halo 1 its just sad. But what really kills me is the Prometheans because their just not fun to fight at all in this game. And theirs no verity in how they fight or how you should approach them its like of course I want to after the flying guys who can revive fallen enemy's and fling grenades back because their so damn annoying. And like previously stated their weapons' are all redundant and not interesting to use. And the grenade they have has to be the most useless grenade in any mainstream shooter cause that thing cant kill anything I swear. Finally I like most everyone else hate the redesigns in this game because well they just look ugly at least the covenant ones do. I don't mind the guns and equipment being redesigned as much but the elites just look wrong in this game. And I wish they didn't change Chiefs armor not only because it wasn't necessary and didn't make sense considering that he was stuck in a broken ship. But it would of made the ending when he goes into that big room with the other Spartans way more impactful if he had the same armor from the last 2 games. With all its battle damage he's received and the fact it would of seemed outdated compared to the other Spartans really showing that he's alone and outdated now I think would of made the ending much more impactful. Overall the stories okay they also had spartan ops which can be fun and gives a narrative after Halo 4 but because they reuse a lot of levels like way to much it gets quickly repetitive and boring. And the multiplayer is also my least favorite of the FPS Halo games and its hard to explain why. But a lot of my complaints about the guns and gameplay do translate to the multiplayer and it just feels the most generic Halo game to play unfortunately. Overall Halo 4 isn't bad but it just falls so short compared to its predecessors. With its more generic feel and plot that needed to get flushed out more and the fact that its probably the glitchiest in the series as well as I've experienced some bad technical problems with this game before. Such as a level being unplayable half way through meaning I had to restart the level.… Expand
  100. DavidBondy
    Nov 16, 2022
    6
    Halo 4 is simply okay. While elements of the sound design, graphics, voice acting, and overall polish of the game have improved from the previous Halo titles, the game is a significant step down in terms of gameplay. The enemy AI, a long-standing strength of the entire Halo franchise, is one of Halo 4's biggest weaknesses during the campaign. The new faction is also pretty unfun toHalo 4 is simply okay. While elements of the sound design, graphics, voice acting, and overall polish of the game have improved from the previous Halo titles, the game is a significant step down in terms of gameplay. The enemy AI, a long-standing strength of the entire Halo franchise, is one of Halo 4's biggest weaknesses during the campaign. The new faction is also pretty unfun to fight. They're better than the flood, but that's a really low bar. The level design is sub-par by the standards of Bungie's Halo games (but probably average compared to most shooters.) It just feels average on all accounts of gameplay. I think it's telling that out of all the games in the Master Chief Collection, this is the one I would least enjoy replaying.

    I do recommend the Master Chief Collection, which this game is part of. However, if you're looking to only buy some but not all the games in the MCC, then feel free skipping out on this game. You're not going to miss much.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

17
#17 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2012
2
#2 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2012
2
#2 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 87 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 83 out of 87
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 87
  3. Negative: 1 out of 87
  1. Hyper Magazine
    Dec 17, 2012
    90
    Halo 4 eschews esoteric delivery for a sledgehammer story with a blockbuster aesthetic. Epic, engaging and sensorially awesome. [Jan 2013, p.60]
  2. Eurogamer Portugal
    Dec 5, 2012
    90
    In the end, this game is still a fairly conservative and faithful to the original spirit, even with some significant changes.
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  3. DailyGame
    Dec 3, 2012
    75
    The narrative is outstanding, even in spite of a few plot-point missteps, and the character evolution of Master Chief and Cortana deserves to be further explored with these wonderful storytellers (well, maybe one of them can't happen, but I'll avoid spoilers). However, the gameplay feels jilted, awkward and unrefined, three unforgivable sins in a landscape populated with other quite-capable FPS franchises. As a result, I'm going to average everything out: great story plus bad gameplay equals an average experience. And in this overcrowded FPS genre, "average" is isn't something I'd recommend buying.
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