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. tonymolgamer
    Jan 27, 2014
    10
    Es simplemente increíble desde el primer momento que comienza hasta es ultimo segundo de la campaña, no hay absolutamente nada que discutir. pasamos de una historia limitada a tocar incluso entrar en el universo tan complejo de halo, gráficos excelentes, la historia es por mas que interesante y nos conecta emocionalmente con Master Chief y Cortana, el multijugador es para admirar superaEs simplemente increíble desde el primer momento que comienza hasta es ultimo segundo de la campaña, no hay absolutamente nada que discutir. pasamos de una historia limitada a tocar incluso entrar en el universo tan complejo de halo, gráficos excelentes, la historia es por mas que interesante y nos conecta emocionalmente con Master Chief y Cortana, el multijugador es para admirar supera lo imaginable con innumerables formas de juego, armas y vehiculos, cambiaron totalmente la forma de ver los juegos, las habilidades y capacidad mental, sin mencionar que tiene una de las mejores bandas sonoras que puede haber en la historia de los videojuegos, sin duda es el mejor Halo, y el regreso mas épico para Master Chief.… Expand
  2. TimeOfTheChimps
    Jan 24, 2014
    5
    The main plot premise is great - The Chief wakes up after four years of cryrosleep, only to find himself stranded on a world full of robots. What is wrong, you ask?
    Story: 5/10
    The story starts off great, but devolves into extreme confusion. After the first level, you rarely know what's going on, so you're forced to run and gun like a madman without knowing half of the story line. You    The main plot premise is great - The Chief wakes up after four years of cryrosleep, only to find himself stranded on a world full of robots. What is wrong, you ask?
    Story: 5/10
    The story starts off great, but devolves into extreme confusion. After the first level, you rarely know what's going on, so you're forced to run and gun like a madman without knowing half of the story line. You literally end the game asking such questions as "Why is the Chief's armour changed?" or "Who was that Del Rio guy?"
    Graphics: 10/10
    Stunning and amazing, as usual with Halo games.
    Gameplay: 4/10
    Classic Halo + Halo: Reach + every COD game = Halo 4. This is a problem, because these are two separate gaming entities that should stay separated. It's just like putting Coke in a Mentos bottle, because it just doesn't mix, and the end result isn't too great. H4 retains the control scheme of classic Halo games with minor changes, but it introduces COD's cinematic sequences, perks, and care packages (called "ordinance" in this game). This in turn ruins the Halo feel of the game.
    Multiplayer: 2/10
    This is what really grinds my gears about Halo 4. Online has become a game of cat and mouse that is not longer fair, nor is it fun. Players can get a mini-shotgun of sorts almost from the beginning of their multiplayer experience, which makes the game very unbalanced. Whenever you try to play a game in the collectively called "War Games", the servers throw you in the middle of a match that you are losing by 40 or more points; you are often pitted up against players that are between SR100 to SR130. This happens so much in normal Slayer that I just play Infection, which is the only gametype to never have this problem. I hope this is fixed in H5, because I'm losing hope in 343.
    Overall: 5/10
    Halo 4 is not a bad game, as it is good in many aspects. However, there's more to hate than there is to like. Test H5 on a diehard Halo fan who doesn't like H4, just to see if they like it more than this game. If they do, test it some more and sell it. If they don't, take the game and throw it in the rubbish bin.    … Expand
  3. howhaveyouben
    Jan 23, 2014
    0
    Let me just say I love Halo. I grew up on Halo. It was the first game my parents wouldn't let me play so I went to my friends house to play it. I beat halo 2 on legendary with my friend after school and I got Halo 3 the first day from circuit city (Still have the poster it came with). I passed on Halo 4 at the release because I didn't expect much from 343 and I just got Halo 4 because allLet me just say I love Halo. I grew up on Halo. It was the first game my parents wouldn't let me play so I went to my friends house to play it. I beat halo 2 on legendary with my friend after school and I got Halo 3 the first day from circuit city (Still have the poster it came with). I passed on Halo 4 at the release because I didn't expect much from 343 and I just got Halo 4 because all the critics love it and I feel like I missed out.... This game doesn't deserve to have the halo name. A game that makes no sense without reading books **** books, I play video games). A game that has an artificially difficult single player (for example the knights disappear and can 1 hit you from virtually anywhere), your shield is useless (2-3 shots) you take fall damage if you jump 20ft even though you're in a suit of armor, It is clearly not designed for coop (you can breeze through the game), multiplayer ditches skill and finesse and adds loadouts and random drops. To be honest I thought the opening video was cool (I had no clue what they were talking about, but looked like live action.) and the sounds of the guns are better (the score isn't as epic.) But I don't play halo for graphics or sound. It's the gameplay and the multiplayer. This game is garbage.… Expand
  4. Hortiez
    Jan 20, 2014
    9
    Love halo. Great graphics, great gameplay, great upgrades. Multiplayer fell for me though, the ranking systems has no penalization if u lose, you dont know how high a players real ranking is, its more about how many games u play rather than wins/losses or kills/deaths. This caused multiplayer to be less serious, no one cared who won/lost, and no one talked because teamwork is onlyLove halo. Great graphics, great gameplay, great upgrades. Multiplayer fell for me though, the ranking systems has no penalization if u lose, you dont know how high a players real ranking is, its more about how many games u play rather than wins/losses or kills/deaths. This caused multiplayer to be less serious, no one cared who won/lost, and no one talked because teamwork is only important if you need to win.… Expand
  5. VeryThunder
    Jan 13, 2014
    10
    Greatest Halo game!
    High quality feeling and audio, at 1080p it's graphics rival those of next gen!
    Though I miss the original Halo music, the new music is memorable and emotional..
  6. XMagneto
    Jan 11, 2014
    10
    One word Amazing. halo 4 took the Halo series into a new direction but still felt like halo. multiplayer was fantastic and I have to admit for the campaign, its almost better than halo 3s. got to say second best halo game and I cant wait till halo 5.
  7. guitarguy001
    Jan 8, 2014
    8
    A really good shooter. A good story, memorable characters, a really good soundtrack, some of the best visuals on the 360 and an extremely fun and addicting multi-player experience. While not an innovative title and adds nothing we never saw in the previous Halo titles, it's still a fun game to play through and if you invite your friends over, prepare to spend hours in this game.
  8. Friendzie
    Jan 7, 2014
    8
    It's pretty clear that 343 put a great deal of effort into the game. The production values are extremely high, and it's one of the best-looking games on the market even after the release of the Xbox One and PS4. The sound is mostly great as well. The gameplay is almost identical to past Halo games, which is a good thing, but you may be a little tired of it by now if you'd played all theIt's pretty clear that 343 put a great deal of effort into the game. The production values are extremely high, and it's one of the best-looking games on the market even after the release of the Xbox One and PS4. The sound is mostly great as well. The gameplay is almost identical to past Halo games, which is a good thing, but you may be a little tired of it by now if you'd played all the other games in the series. I'm only taking off a couple points for the rehashed gameplay and a couple weird moments in co-op, like trying to get through the scripted vehicle sections and having your character randomly explode because the other player died. Overall it's still one of the best shooters you can get for a console.… Expand
  9. 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
  10. thejoshuaguy
    Jan 3, 2014
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As a recent Halo fan (having been introduced to the series last September with Halo CEA), I have loved the series for being the first FPS I truly respect. So, when I saw that there were even MORE Halo games, I immediately ordered all. I was expecting to enjoy 3 the most after all, I heard from a lot of forums that Halo 3 was the best game in the series, that it is unsurpassed, and that Halo 4 is way worse than that.

    Is it me or did they wear nostalgia glasses? Halo 3 bored me.

    From the beginning, I was bored. In the middle, I was bored. Near the end, they even screwed it up and turned the game from an epic defense of the Earth to a trip to the Ark. They should have closed the Earth storyline and focused on the ark here, because story progression was bad. No offense Bungie but I'm disappointed. If anything the best Bungie game in the series was Halo Reach, which was NEAR PERFECT, so I didn't get why people dissed it.

    What they dissed even more was Halo 4. They say all sorts of things it sucks, it's CoD with a Halo paintjob, it has the worst campaign, they totally ruined multiplayer, and 3 looks better than 4 (no kidding, I saw this in the forums). However, reading critic reviews I expected much from it.

    So I booted it up... and played... and didn't stop because I couldn't stop.

    It was amazing. The visuals are among the best I've seen it can't beat Crysis on a technical level but I prefer Halo 4 in art style and lighting. I particularly liked how the environments have massive detail and feel open, unlike the closed style of many earlier games (even the amazing Halo CE had some disappointing corridor shooting scenes). The AI was great, and the Prometheans (new enemies) got you on your toes. The soundtrack was amazing, I actually prefer its emotional and atmospheric style to the Halo CE soundtrack (which was amazing but set some battles in elevator music). Multiplayer was good it's not perfect (personal loadouts are a bad thing), but it's fun

    But what really wowed me was the story. I liked the progression. Maybe it's because I'm familiar with Halo, but I didn't find it convulted. In fact, it progressed beautifully, with all the plot twists being carefully placed. The only other games I know that match it are Halo CE and Halo Reach. The main story is that Master Chief and Cortana on a torn spaceship Forward Unto Dawn stumbled upon a Forerunner planet named Reqiuem, home to a race of Forerunner warriors who simply fight all that intrude the planet...

    ...until the awakening of the Didact, the ruler of the Forerunner warrior caste, who commands his Promethean army against Humanity. Though at first Master Chief seems to succeed, things turn bad when the Didact was able to retrieve the Composer, a Forerunner device used to turn sentient beings from organic flesh to digital data. At first the device was used to convert beings to AI, saving them from the Flood (an infection that brainwashes, mutates and commands life it eats), but when turned back to organic the people would be horrifying abominations. The Didact still believed in its use, unlike the Librarian who decided to support the Halo Array and start the galaxy from scratch.

    The Composer, retrieved by the Ivanoff Research Station orbiting Halo Installation 03, was snatched from the station by the Didact, and despite the Chief's struggle to save the scientists, the Composer was activated and obliterated all humans the weapon was aimed at. Luckily, the Chief's augmentations from the Spartan-II program and the genetic evolution acceleration received from the Librarian helped him survive the blast, but he was blacked out. As he wakes up, he discovers that the Didact was moving the Composer to Earth, about to obliterate humanity. When the Chief gets there, he was able to stop some systems, but too late the Composer was activated and aimed at the city of New Phoenix, its citizens all obliterated by the weapon. To stop the Composer from disintegrating the rest of humanity, he primes a nuke into the Composer, to sacrifice himself...

    What happens next I shall not spoil for maximum impact.

    However, what truly amazes me is the relationship of John-117 (Master Chief) and Cortana. Not love, but their dependence on each other and how they reach a goal. In the story, Cortana falls into rampancy she exceeded her operational capacity and age, and is breaking down due to malfunctions. As the Chief struggles to get her back to Earth to allow her creator (Dr. Halsey) to find a solution, they discover what it means to be human, and what it means to be a machine. Cortana truly wanted to be human but being artificial intelligence, there really was a barrier. The Chief is human, but is like a machine fulfilling all duties. Who is human, and who is machine, then?

    It is this existential pondering that truly makes Halo 4 beautiful. It's not perfect, but it doesn't deserve a 9. It's not flawless, but it proved 343 is worthy.

    Screw the forums.    … Expand
  11. akwaman96
    Dec 31, 2013
    9
    A worthy entry into the acclaimed series, Halo 4 is an exciting and intense first-person shooter. The game offers little in the way of new enemies, its main drawback and appears to substitute the games expansive environments for spectacular visuals. The game runs very smoothly and the narrative is fantastic. O'Donnell's classic score and theme are missing and replaced with a moreA worthy entry into the acclaimed series, Halo 4 is an exciting and intense first-person shooter. The game offers little in the way of new enemies, its main drawback and appears to substitute the games expansive environments for spectacular visuals. The game runs very smoothly and the narrative is fantastic. O'Donnell's classic score and theme are missing and replaced with a more generic soundtrack.… Expand
  12. Tanner_Warren
    Dec 31, 2013
    8
    Halo 4 Typed Review By Tanner Warren

    When it comes to Halo 4, there is no denying that it has become the greatest of the great when it comes to multiplayer kick butt action but I found the campaign to be lack-luster final thought. It almost seems like 343 knew that the Halo fan base wouldn't like a new company taking charge of there beloved game the hold so fondly to there hearts so    Halo 4 Typed Review By Tanner Warren

    When it comes to Halo 4, there is no denying that it has become the greatest of the great when it comes to multiplayer kick butt action but I found the campaign to be lack-luster final thought. It almost seems like 343 knew that the Halo fan base wouldn't like a new company taking charge of there beloved game the hold so fondly to there hearts so they added in the return of John 177 or Master Chief as he's more commonly known, to reach a new level of hype surrounding Halo since the original game. The graphics were stunning and topped Black ops 2, MW3, and Battlefield 3 (The Xbox versions). As for the things I didn't like, pop in textures were a problem for me as well as the fact that it felt less detailed than Halo Reach. All of this in consideration, I give it a awesome score of 8/10 For graphics and textures!

    As for multiplayer gameplay, Halo 4 has a wide variety of maps and game modes with enough action to keep you hooked for hundreds of hours. I was shocked and a little excited to hear that multiplayer was now supporting custom loadouts and armor abilities. The ability to chose which guns and gear you want instead of scavenging for it is great. Some may say it is becoming to much like Call of Duty with the loudouts, but I believe its a step in the right direction. However the new ordnance feature feels a little out of place. In a game based on strategy and quick thinking, it feels wrong to call in a noobie one shot weapon like the binary rifle. Oh and speaking of noobish weaponry, how about them bolt-shots. If your going to let us have a secondary "pocket shotgun" then why not let us have a real shotty. There is also a spartan ops mini campaign that ties up the lose ends. Spartan ops consisting of 10 episodes with 5 chapters ranging form 10-20 minutes depending on the difficulty and number of players. All this in consideration, I give multiplayer gameplay a 8/10!

    Unlike the multiplayer, the campaign felt short and predictable. At all times I felt myself using the same tactics. Shoot the watchers at long range, move in and kill all the runners by shooting in the head and then take out the knights in single combat. As for the final boss fight? A quicktime event leaving us with a cheesy cliffhanger ending encouraging us to spend $499.99 on an Xbox one and wait for Halo 5 to conclude what the heck just happened with Master Chief. I regretfully give Halo 4's campaign a 4/10.

    Moving on to sound, the guns feel much more meaty and satisfying to shoot! The Halo orchestra really out did themselves with the music for this one! I felt like I was marching off to war against the filthy covenant! So basically, THE SOUND WAS FREAKING AWESOME! I give the sound a Bass drop'n 10/10!

    The multiplayer in Halo 4 was very addictive and hard to pass up. Even as I bought and played new games such as X-COM, I found myself putting in my Halo 4 disc within minuets giving the lasting appeal another awesome 9/10.

    Rounding Halo 4's total to a great score of 8/10! A truly epic game!

    -Tanner Warren    … Expand
  13. drlowdon
    Dec 27, 2013
    7
    Following the highly publicised change of developer the gaming world was rightly curious as to how one of its biggest selling franchises would fare following the departure of its creators Bungie. Despite now being developed by 343 industries however this is still, for better or worse, the same Halo we've all seen before and those that criticise the series for not really evolving since itsFollowing the highly publicised change of developer the gaming world was rightly curious as to how one of its biggest selling franchises would fare following the departure of its creators Bungie. Despite now being developed by 343 industries however this is still, for better or worse, the same Halo we've all seen before and those that criticise the series for not really evolving since its Xbox debut over a decade ago certainly make a fair point. As a result this fourth 'mainline' title is not really going to be of any interest to those that didn't like previous installments.

    Having said all that Halo 4 is still undeniably a great package and certainly offers better value for money than many modern video games. The main campaign itself will last most players somewhere around the 10 hour mark depending on the difficulty setting and their level of skill and can be played either solo or with up to three other players. As with every previous game it is at its best when offering open areas in which to fight the array of enemies and their vehicles and to this day there are few better experiences in the FPS genre than when Halo gets the balance just right. For me the game forces players to spend a little too long inside long thin corridors and smaller indoor areas as in these instances the freedom to tackle the battle the way you want to is removed and it simply is not as much fun to play, hopefully this is something that can be addressed in the inevitable sequels.

    On top of the campaign Halo 4 also provides a series of 'Spartan Op' missions. Each of these lasts between 15 and 30 minutes and can again be tackled either alone or in multi-player. The idea seems to have been taken from the special ops missions featured in the Call of Duty series and provide the player with various tasks such as clearing an area of enemies or destroying set objectives. Admittedly maps are reused throughout these ops but it is hard to complain when they can all be downloaded for free.
    The final part of this generous package is the competitive multi-player. All the usual modes, as well as a few surprises, are present and correct and the solid gunplay still translates well. Controversially Halo 4 has again taken a page out of the Call of Duty handbook with weapons and perks now being unlocked as the player levels up. I was never a huge fan of the online multi-player in the previous installments anyway but purists will understandable be disappointed and it is certainly a shame to see yet another game attempt to imitate Activisions all conquering behemoth.

    All in all then this is a safe but promising start for 343 industries and the wealth of options and modes will provide most with hour upon hour of gameplay.    … Expand
  14. f4llen4ngel
    Dec 26, 2013
    10
    Halo 4 is one of the best Halo games ever made...343i did a very good job... unfortunately the gameplay is very similar to others game of the series, but is still solid and very fun. The plot is emotionally engaging end the Team worked a lot on the characters personality...
    The Multiplayer introduces new elements and is continuously balanced by the team.
    This Halo is a product of Talent    Halo 4 is one of the best Halo games ever made...343i did a very good job... unfortunately the gameplay is very similar to others game of the series, but is still solid and very fun. The plot is emotionally engaging end the Team worked a lot on the characters personality...
    The Multiplayer introduces new elements and is continuously balanced by the team.
    This Halo is a product of Talent and Passion, Good Job 343i... Buy it!
    In my opinion the most approrpiate rate is 9.5 ;)
    0, 3, 4, etc. have no sense     … Expand
  15. DaPlayer
    Dec 24, 2013
    5
    I think Halo 4 is good, but boring. The graphics aren't beautiful and the multiplayer is really boring. The spartan ops are funny, but they are all the same. It's so laggy and it needs a very good internet connection.
  16. ObliviousWest
    Dec 23, 2013
    1
    As a Halo Fan i am disapointed in halo 4. The story line doesnt sucks you in to it. The Multiplayer is to boring Split Screen will lag the game. Loadouts are stupid but i know why Bungie stopped halo, because Halo is Death. Their game Destiny will realy shine and Rise again. I give this game a score 1 because of the graphics
  17. FPSSucks
    Dec 17, 2013
    0
    THIS IS OVERRATED. 6.9? This deserves at highest a 2.
    Campaign=Underwhelming, boring, terrible
    Muti-Player= Broken, crap, under developed and lazy
    Forge=Striped of features, maps to small
    And to sum Spartan-ops? Well ,Firefight is 100 times better.
  18. Reveiwer
    Dec 13, 2013
    1
    WTF IS THIS!!!??? I'm so disappointed. Boring campaign, terrible muti-player, 'Spartan ops' is compared to firefight, and forge is terrible. Loadout system is lazy and the maps are puny. DON'T BUY IT.
  19. billjoebob424
    Dec 9, 2013
    0
    I had the biggest hopes in the world preordering it the day i was able getting it at the launch being a halo fan since halo 1. And having my whole life as a gamer being crushed by what 343 did to my game. They promised huge forge maps and a good campaign. And they didnt. The story sucked. The only improvements they made were the forge controlls and vehicles. Exept for flyers they only hadI had the biggest hopes in the world preordering it the day i was able getting it at the launch being a halo fan since halo 1. And having my whole life as a gamer being crushed by what 343 did to my game. They promised huge forge maps and a good campaign. And they didnt. The story sucked. The only improvements they made were the forge controlls and vehicles. Exept for flyers they only had a banshee. And they tried to turn the multiplayer game into a cod experience instead of the halo i was used to with big maps, being sniped, kicking ass with the dmr. Into close quarter shotgun asualt rifle game. Hope your happy 343 ruined my gaming life.… Expand
  20. Gopster
    Dec 7, 2013
    8
    It's a Halo game which mean it carries a lot on it's shoulders but it's a gem of a game. Short campaign, but what it lacks in quantity makes it up in quality for which it delivers an enthralling campaign which junctions perfectly from Bungie's Halo. Although the campaign is amazing, the multiplayer is weak with only a small amount of game time could be spent until boredom catches up.It's a Halo game which mean it carries a lot on it's shoulders but it's a gem of a game. Short campaign, but what it lacks in quantity makes it up in quality for which it delivers an enthralling campaign which junctions perfectly from Bungie's Halo. Although the campaign is amazing, the multiplayer is weak with only a small amount of game time could be spent until boredom catches up. Nevertheless, you have new multiplayers features to deter you from completely putting the game down.… Expand
  21. Tonster911
    Dec 7, 2013
    9
    A terrific game, 343 did a really good job with the storyline and enemy/weapon design. Although it would've been nice if there where more levels. The ending left me wanting more, and after seeing what 343 could do I have high hopes for Halo5
  22. StuntedSlinky
    Dec 6, 2013
    10
    It's an Amazing game! Definitely worth a 10! It's campaign, like all Halo games is amazing with the best graphics you can get on the Xbox 360. If you're done with the campaign there's a healthy and fun multiplayer which you can play for a longer time than COD. Trust m,e the multiplayer beats that of COD.
  23. 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
  24. arbazcpp
    Nov 30, 2013
    10
    Definitely lives up to the standard of this franchise. The campaign is intriguing, interesting and engaging as ever; they even correctly referenced the ending of Halo 3 in the beginning of Halo 4. The plot is kind of slow in the beginning, but easily picks up in a little over half an hour, and new weapons and abilities are sprinkled throughout. The ending [NO spoiler] is very reminiscentDefinitely lives up to the standard of this franchise. The campaign is intriguing, interesting and engaging as ever; they even correctly referenced the ending of Halo 3 in the beginning of Halo 4. The plot is kind of slow in the beginning, but easily picks up in a little over half an hour, and new weapons and abilities are sprinkled throughout. The ending [NO spoiler] is very reminiscent of a Bioshock game, and sets the game up for an epic sequel.

    The graphics are probably one of the best features of this game. Visually stunning, 343 has improved the game engine drastically, with better shadows, lighting, lens flares, anti-aliasing, textures, and many other great things. Whether you melee an enemy or fire a rocket at a moving car, you can feel the kick from the weapon and hear a satisfying crack as you break a hole in your enemy's skull, all without audio spam.

    The soundtrack is superb, as should be expected for a Halo game. In order to fully understand why, you have to listen to it yourself. Epic, expanding, and fitting for the mood of Halo, you won't be disappointed by the audio in this game.

    Finally, the multiplayer has been improved and refined in many ways. While the maps may be a little lackluster, weapon loadouts and 343's own take on perks will keep the game fresh and exhilarating, and an HD remake of the classic Halo 3 map Valhalla will trigger your nostalgia.

    Overall, a visually well-crafted game with few cons and many pros that will leave you satisfied with the series, game, and what is to come.    … Expand
  25. devilmaycry4
    Nov 21, 2013
    10
    when I first got this game home, I was breathless on its graphics and story, halo 4 is a step up from reach, up to the end of 2013 I still play halo 4 multiplayer this game is meant to last you years, the only problem is I wished it was a longer game, but over all its perfect in my opinion.
  26. ForeverFalling
    Nov 20, 2013
    7
    Pretty disappointing. The single player is boring to play through and the multiplayer just isn't as good as 2, 3, or Reach's multiplayer. Graphics are ok, but that doesn't make a game FUN to play. Btw, the end boss fight is a complete cop out and just plain sucks. Its just a slightly interactive cut scene.
  27. Krawbeard
    Nov 19, 2013
    5
    Honestly I will give 2 separate ratings... 5 is just kind of a middle ground for the 2.

    Lets start with the single player Campaign: One thing the Halo universe has always provided is a great story and I honestly though this would be a fail of a story coming from 343 industries, especially considering the first thing you see when starting is a big message from them pretty much saying    Honestly I will give 2 separate ratings... 5 is just kind of a middle ground for the 2.

    Lets start with the single player Campaign:

    One thing the Halo universe has always provided is a great story and I honestly though this would be a fail of a story coming from 343 industries, especially considering the first thing you see when starting is a big message from them pretty much saying "please give us a chance we promise we didn't screw it up, ok so please play and give us great ratings".... So yeah the story was a great direction and if you're familiar with the story then you will see how it kept it real in the universe. However the campaign felt a bit short and legendary difficulty wasn't as hard as the previous titles. The ending with quicktime events was my only disappointment with the campaign because it reminded me too much of how COD MW2's ending with the main villain was. So overall I give the story an 8. fun to play with friends.

    Spartan ops.... Its fun, but the name could've been different especially considering COD has "Spec ops".

    Now on to multiplayer:

    Alot of people want to complain about sprint and loadouts, but you know I actually liked that direction though the loadouts could've had better variety and different stats. The ranking system is poor.. All you got to do is play the game a bunch and not have any skill. MP is very beginner friendly and stays that way rather than giving you a lvl 1-20 type playlist.

    Speaking of playlists, do not buy DLC because I did and was a waste of money. I hardly see my DLC in any to no playlists except for the maps wreckage and shatter which suck and would've been better n 4v4 slayer types.

    Quickspawn and Killcams really killed that one for me as well. Its like a huge slap in the face to the Halo Community. I feel like 343 took all the lame qualities of COD and watered it down into their own thing rather than coming up with a new innovative way of playing shooters like bungie did. I understand the need for quickspawn in COD, but in halo there is no reason... We have shields that recharge so we don't need quickspawn, plus it doesn't punish wannabe rambos of your team in fact it enables them more.

    The forerunner weapons are cool but they need more "zazz" to them because they feel like the A.R. and DMR with forerunner skins on them "whooooooo!!!".

    The thing is though for me even though they did all that COD copying and more I still would've enjoyed the MP if the Lag wasn't so god awful. The game is been out for about a lil over a year now and they still haven't fixed it. Also if you want to splitscreen with a friend you're out of luck because you will lag constantly due to frame rate drop. Another poor quality is that if you have 3 of your friends come over with their own TV, 360, and Halo 4 then no matter how well your connection is and all that wubbajub you will have a hard time connecting with all your friends in that house for a match. Trust me been there and its a waste of time.

    I give multiplayer a 2 because 343 does not listen to the community nor does is care about splitscreen players and/or people connecting on the same internet to have a "halo party". They really lost touch with what playing multiplayer on this game was built on.

    This game dropped online population by 92% in less than a year. That's worse than reach and reach wasn't a bad game at all in fact is way better than this garbage of a multiplayer.

    Though I will say the graphics are good.

    All I have to say is if 343 truly gave up on its fans on Halo 4 and are only working on Halo 5 then they better get a beta out and listen to all feedback because I don't see anybody getting into the new installment due to new games like "destiny" and "titanfall".

    In less than a year the price of this game dropped to about $20 bucks at gamestop if that tells ya anything.

    Lag will kill any game and 343 put the icing on the cake with their incompetence to fix it.

    Also their "halo waypoint" is a joke. I wouldn't waste time on that site.

    343 proved that in 2012 and 2013 they really don't care what you think about the game unless you want to say something like "this game is god"    … Expand
  28. Danilouco
    Nov 19, 2013
    10
    Adorei esse jogo. Perfeito na minha opinião. Graficos muito bons e história aprofundada. Nunca imaginei que Halo cresceria tanto. Um jogo indispensável para os amanter da serie e do console Xbox
  29. lqdh
    Nov 18, 2013
    10
    Best looking game of the 7th generation, and a great installment in the Halo saga. 343 Industries really outdid themselves. The story is great! The emotional connection between Chief and Cortana is strong as ever. The enemy is real, and dangerous, and adds to the universe of Halo bunches. If you area a true Halo fan(yes, played all of them, including Wars), or a fan of FPS, you'll love it.
  30. huss2215
    Nov 14, 2013
    9
    Graphics: Graphics are updated compared to Reach but they are still not on par with other best looking console titles. 9.
    Sound: Nice Halo soundtrack, voice acting was good, no complains. 10.
    Gameplay: It feels more accessible, the controls seem to have changed similar to Cod. Although it’s still the Halo flavor, and the online is still competitive and better than other FPS    Graphics: Graphics are updated compared to Reach but they are still not on par with other best looking console titles. 9.
    Sound: Nice Halo soundtrack, voice acting was good, no complains. 10.
    Gameplay: It feels more accessible, the controls seem to have changed similar to Cod. Although it’s still the Halo flavor, and the online is still competitive and better than other FPS shooters. The game adds newer promethean weapons which I had a blast with; it’s a really polished Halo title, and probably the best yet. Biggest disappointment, no boss battles! Also, the gameplay is mainly fun in co-op, solo would need more of a mix up. 8.5.
    Story: The story is much more interesting than any of the previous Halo’s but that’s not saying much. Master Chief is back, new planet, new species, new main boss enemy, but disappointing ending. 8.0.
    Lasting Appeal: The game is worth the purchase, campaign, Spartan ops, and a competitive multiplayer much better than Call of Duty Black Ops 2. 10.
    Overall Score: 9.1 out of 10.    … 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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