BT writes: 343 Industries have created a title here with sparks of brilliance, making me really get into the Chief/Cortana relationship for the first time, but the whole experience is let down by lackluster gameplay and poor pacing. This studio obviously has it in them to produce, and the last few sequences show promise that hopefully can be expanded upon in the sequels. Despite this, I fail to see how I can possibly rank this game anywhere above average.
In Halo 4, 5, and Infinite, Master Chief became a more nuanced, human character.
In spite of the Halo series’ struggles, 343 deserves praise for adding nuance and characterisation to the ever-beating heart of Halo - The Master Chief. Playing through Infinite, it's abundantly clear that the events of the current and previous trilogies have irrevocably changed the iconic hero. He’s no longer the ‘blank slate’ that was previously presented by Bungie. He’s a fatigued, damaged and fallible protagonist, and one who is meandering through currents of grief, while reveling in his newfound agency. Giving the Chief a compelling and meaningful voice was no small feat, and 343 should be proud of that victory.
This article completely misses part of the appeal of the original iteration of character in the original game trilogy. It was the Chief and Cortana vs an entire alien collective. The blank slate Bungie displayed in their games was genius, he was an mysterious hero a wide audience could identify with because he wasn't as clearly defined as most characters.
The books added a lot of lore and backstory but most Halo players just want a fun game with exposition that doesn't get in the way of gameplay, it's why the Cortana level in Halo 3 was derided.
Not every character has to be a damaged soyboy, a soldier has to suck it up and do his duty.
The 343i Master Chief has is based on the books. However, in Halo 4-Infinite, the Master Chief overtime become. gradually becomes more willing to show some emotion.
It’s a law of nature that eventually, every long-running game franchise will have a particular entry that gets dinged for straying too far from what made it so fun in the first place. Your Super Mario Sunshine, your Dragon Age II, Assassin’s Creed III, and so on. Whether or not that opinion changes more favorably over time, the initial specter of negativity will forever hover it. Microsoft’s Halo is no exception, except that negative specter hasn’t hovered over one particular game, but one whole studio.
Halo 4 released 10 years ago today, and its disappointing reception was just an omen of things to come with 343 Industries at the helm.
Halo 4 and infinite have a 87 on metacritic and five a 84🤣. 343i need contents and everything else will play it self out.
Halo 4-6 are like the Star Wars sequel trilogy
They all just seem like a brand new games with small connections to the last one but no solid arc connecting them, you’re just told stuff that happened off screen in between the games and nothing makes sense
It’s like they didn’t plan a new trilogy out
I'm getting a good gaming laptop soon and i'm finally going to play through the Halo franchise again plus Infinite but i never played Halo 4 before .. can anyone tell me how's the campaign in comparison to the games before it and compared to Halo 5 ?
5/10 really? There's always a website looking for hits.
Pff, they can brag all they want. Its not gonna show up on metacritic, so yeah..
And no Halo 4 doesnt deserve a 5/10. This guy just doesnt get that for Halo to be awesome, it has to play like Halo and feel like Halo. This reviewer thinks everything would change, but its not how it works.
And its not like they didnt change anything. There is some new gameplay added without breaking the formula.
PS: And this websites really slow. Might pop up a second comment of mine. Sorry about that.
Trying too hard. I don't think it deserves all of its 10's either, but come on. Assuming it's exactly the same as all the others, it's at least a 7.
''The amount of things Microsoft said I couldn’t talk about in this review!''
Surely if that was the case then all that is required is to buy the game then review it? or does said author not wish to spend money?