User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 3901 Ratings

User score distribution:
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
  1. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Nov 25, 2021
    7
    The story is amazing but sometimes the game is just confusing and hard (Even in normal difficult).
  25. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 87 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 83 out of 87
  2. 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. 90
    In the end, this game is still a fairly conservative and faithful to the original spirit, even with some significant changes.
  3. 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.