After playing through some of the single player experience, and extended up all nighter infinity multiplayer battles. It is safe to say that Halo 4 not only lives up to the hype, but has greatly surpassed my expectation with graphics, performance, great level design, and how fluid a shooter sporting all those traits can be. Even the voice acting turned out top notch, and brought to the table a higher quality of voice work, and emotion than past Halo experiences.
Outside of graphics, the greatest leap in successful implementation that I witnessed right away was the quality of sound. Everything from weapons, music, to the engines in the speeding vehicles has had a massive tune up. Anyone that hops into a ghost in single or multiplayer will likely notice the quality increase right away.
I salute 343 for doing a spectacular job in their first true outing into the gaming spectrum. Delivering what I believe is the greatest looking and playing first person shooter of this generation on console. Looking forward to what their next experience brings to the table.
Halo 4 is the best Halo I have played since the original..period This is 150% real..not the fake multi-profiles who say ANYTHING to do what they do best on N4G.com or any other forum.
I bought the original Xbox for Halo: Combat Evolved after seeing the 10/10/10 review of the game in EGM, when that magazibe was bigger than IGN is now.
I have so many vast memories of playing that campaign when NOTHING was touching it.
Just to show REAL gamers (that owned the original Xbox) who may understand how amazing the irony of what has transpired a decade+ later
I have spent a day and a half on multiplayer, and went from I'm not sire I like the changes to this is
Fast forward a decade and almost a year later..
I am nowhere NEAR done with the final campaign. I stopped after the first level to play multi the same morning of the midnight launch.
The multi experience went from this doesnt come close to Bungoes Reach too my god this is the most addicting Halo multi since Halo 3...
But, it was the day after of playing a marathon session co-op with the biggest fan I know outside myself that I realize that Halo 4 is the best Hslo I have played sonce Combat Evolved. The ownder, the exploration, the massive science fction mystery that I and millions felt back then all came back.
But the graphics ..the set pieces..the new weapons..the plot..WOW..
THIS is by FAR the best Halo campaign IMPACT wise since the original. It's all there..don't let these idiots spoil the game for you.
This game will NEVER be a 5.5 or even a 7.0 from EGM which Ironically produced the review that was one of the main reasons I ran to the stores and bought the original giant Xbox and this game shortly after launch..this is the type of gaming experience that comes rarely.
I AGAIN salute 343 studios for pulling off the impossible. You will have another massive massive fanbase in utter anticipation of the next installment of this game.
Well deserved.
On topic..this is worth every second. Best FPS on the 360 this gen..period.
I am almost done my second play through on Heroic and I have to say it is hands down the best Halo yet.
The graphics are so amazing, well polished and sharp. The story is compelling, mature and even darker then previous Halo titles. You get to see the human side of Master Chief and his relationship with Cortana.
The Multiplayer is just so much faster and fluid with so many variants.
My ONLY gripe with the game is the maps that were selected in Forge. With Halo Reach we were given one HUGE map where you could build in the water, a small island and a Huge playing area, now we have 3 smaller separate maps. I prefer 1 large one to 3 average to small ones.
Any Halo fan who grew up playing Halo since the start would agree this is the best Halo yet. It's nice to have a more mature Halo with darker undertones. Halo 4 truly is the next evolution in the Halo franchise. I can't wait to see what happens in the next 2 episodes.
I don't know but there is something off in this campaign compared to halo 1-2-3. Don't get me wrong. The graphics are amazing, the voice acting is great and the soundtrack still as epic as ever, but there is couple flaws with the campaign.
The main villians are very unintresting unlike the first time you battle the covenant in halo CE, and they tried to make the story more personal with the multifunctional cortana which could be done better, and the last mission where you go destroying the didact Luke Skywalker's way is not the best way to end this game, especially with the last boss who you kill in a QTE section!!! The multiplayer on the other hand is pretty awesome, so far the best MP in a halo game yet, and that's where the bulk of the game so am not bothered by the lacking campaign.
If you want to really get the motivations behind the Didact and Librarian as well as the huge backstory, watch all the terminals. This will clear up so much for you, as they are meant to.
I'm a ps3 only owner and I played it (the online multiplayer) for the first time last night at my friend's house and it was absolutely amazing. I have only positive things to say about it after a 3 hour taste.
Oh Absolutely Amazing!
This story is so damn great, I couldn't ask for more.
I'm not finished with the game yet; playing on Heroic, but the music isn't as good. With Halo 5, they need to incorporate that Halo Theme just a little to get us fired-up.
Have only played about an hour and already I can tell it's so much better than previous Halo's. Very impressed with 343. Haven't tried the online yet, need to get a 3 month subscription later.
It depends on how you view it and what your tastes are, I like it, I think it's amazing, especialy to be playing Chief again but the thing is it's still Halo at the end of the day. I mean it's not like that first time when you played on the very firt Halo and you were like "Oh my god, this...is...revolutionary" ; with your jaw basicaly on the floor.
What really bugs me about the game though in the campaign that there was a lot of talk about the relationship of the two characters and how since they've done motion capturing they would be more engaged with each other but with the voices recorded sepertely (maybe it's just Cortanas) they seem like their just reading their lines, like one has to fully finish untill the next line starts, it's hard for Chief and Cortana to be more emotional, especialy with her going through rampancy.
If you we're expecting a Halo game. then it's probably one of the best in the series.
If you were expecting something else, you should have known better. Halo 4 is part of a larger narrative of a new studio who has been given the keys to one of the biggest franchises in any media, with a community as venomous and stubborn as a barrel of kobra's in a bull parade.
I would compare Halo 4 to Street Fighter IV, it keeps the core intact but makes wise iterations. Both of these games are so mechanically pure yet nuanced, that one wrong step can kill their identities. That's one thing I feel some reviewers have failed to realize.
This is why COD needs a change, because at its core, it's a shallow shell of quake's nuance. Cod's dynamics boil down to a meat grinding "I saw you first, you die".
That's good to know I thought most of the Halo games were OK, I really loved ODST and I'm really looking forward to picking this up on Friday and getting stuck in!
This is my first play at a halo and i am loving it. Graphicaly its as beautiful as anything seen on the ps3 and does a hell of alot more on the screen. I am now going to go back and play the first few games i have messed. Wow this series is amazing and is worth every sec of the wait.
You can say GOW3 this and Uncharted that but bottom line is neither of those titles are doing what Halo has done. Large open world environments, vehicles, 4 player co-op, HUGE multiplayer options, 4 player side missions (spartan ops) and a Map editor (Forge). All done while keeping a steady frame rate and having some of the best visuals/graphics released this gen.
I am sorry but as great as GOW3 and Uncharted are (a couple of franchises that I am a big fan of) neither are "begging to differ" from what Halo 4 has brought.
Some people like it and other people don't (mainly because it's not on the PS3). So far I'm liking Halo 4 very much! Pity you can't play the main campaign in online co-op though, especially since you can locally, that's my only complaint. Spartan Ops kinda makes up for it but it's not the same.
Umm, you can play the campaign online with up to 4 players. That's why the 'finish the campaign on legendary by yourself' achievement exists. It wouldn't if there were no co-op.
No, this game is a bit over hyped the graphics aren't that great but they are definitely a step up from Halo Reach,the voice acting is not that good, it very very short And Halo 4 is like more of the same. LET THE HATE REPLIES BEGIN IN 3,2...1
Ok, graphics -some textures are a flat, unrealistic lighting and shadowing and less polygons...Gears Of War 3 looks much better. But i love the artistic design any way. Voice Acting -the voice actors/actresses are not trying to "be" the character at least not hard enough they sound like they are just reading a manuscript.
Yes and no..Halo has definitely returned with that ever so addictive gameplay however the lack of map variety in Infinity Slayer is a huge downer for me. Had the game since Monday and basically playing the same three maps over and over again is getting a little stale.
It is not better than the first and is kinda lacking when it comes to story because that is crap like most FPS game, but other than that it is one of the better Halo's in the series, but really nothing to write home about.
some dont like it and i can respect that. but if you like fps, even a lil, then youll like this game. halo aint groundbreaking this gen, but its still fun as hell. good times
Hell yeah it is. Beat the campaign on legendary with friends. That's always fun. Story was great as long as you read the books. But the main draw here is the multiplayer. The shooting mechanics is perfect! The vehicles is slightly nerfed esp the banshee but I think that's a good thing.
My only complaint is the menu system, the font used, and the way the medals look different.
I thought it was bad, played it at my friends and went back to 60fps goodness that is COD in less than an hour. The MP was generic, didn't play the SP but it's probably much much worse than the MP.
A COD player complaining because a game "has generic MP", when COD is a generic piece of shit, btw COD on consoles can't stay at 60 fps so you got back to the 40-60 fps fail that is COD. You have no right to complain about SP when COD's SP is terrible
fair enough that you dont like it and prefer 60FPS, but you claim that the MP is generic, and then play COD, the most generic of all FPS.........
Dont get me wrong i love COD, but because it's so simple and generic, it's just point and click...i dont even care about what my teammates do in COD since i just rampage my way through every match.
And never have i had the LOL moments in COD like i do in Halo, seems im always cursing at some one because i owned them, or because someone ended my killstreak....
I think its more than lived up to the hype for me, Microsoft put them in a great position to succeed. I don't think fans of Halo would have given this 343 made game the same chance had they created Halo Reach instead. Since both were being made around the same time, I think it was probably strategic by Microsoft to do it that way.
I think 343 took chances in some areas, but maintained what made Halo such a killer app in the first place. The multiplayer evolved, but it didn't change that Halo feeling. Its definitely the best Halo multiplayer in my opinion. The campaign was fantastic, and so I must admit that its quickly become my favorite Halo game in the series.
Don't waste your money keep hold of it, i have stuck by this series from the orginal xbox and what for i actually finished the game in less than 5hours on campaign, it sucks, the guys who are telling you it's good there lying it don't bother me if you buy it or not but that's my opinion.
To be honest, it didn't live up to the hype for me. I'm not a big fan of a lot of the MP changes, the art direction for the Forerunners/prometheans were totally inconsistent with the design language of the forerunners, the score didn't have any iconic/memorable tracks like the old games, and I wasn't a big fan of the direction they took the story in the last half of the game. Still probably an 8/10 for me though.
I hate to be that douche that brags about his A/V equipment so I wont, but I can say that high quality sound definitely adds substantially to any gaming experience.
Also, you don't need to spend thousands on A/V receivers and surround sound speaker/subs. When I had little money, I found a high quality ($200plus) set of headphones can make games nearly just as good or better (in some cases) than $1200-2000 7.1 sound systems (if including a/v and sub in price).
Of coure the surround effect will be worse but in terms of just sound fidelity, definitely on par or better.
I'm a halo fan and have stuck by the series since the original on the 1st xbox on launch day , but that's it no more i actually and honestly finished the game on normal difficulty in less than 5hours.
Ok if you like playing multiplayer but has for the campaign it's rubbish, the halo franchise was gone i think after halo2 but stuck with the series but nothings changed.
The game sucks end of story to say and no more for me sadly it hasn't evolved with time its stuck it hasn't moved with time unfortunately there.
For me, every Halo game except for the first one has been a slow burner in terms of loving it. Meaning that when I first popped in the disc I liked it, but didn't love it. Then the more I played the SP and MP the more I enjoyed them both until in the end, 100+hrs later I would decide that my initial 8/10 game turned into at least a 9.5/10.
Halo games are probably the only games where I enjoy the SP more on the second and third play through than the first. As you get over the frustration, you start to feel like the Spartan that actually is skilled enough to over overcome all odds as you break down armour and lay down head shot after headshot, avoiding grenades and some how manage to kill 4-5 elite elites with ease on heroic/legendary. And the enjoyment derives from the fact that the enemies aren't stupid or scripted, they feel more organic than the dumb androids in many other FPS games.
What was so frustrating on the first play through becomesreally fun on heroic/legendary on subsequent play throughs. You become the chief depicted in the commercial and books - the demon to the enemy. Also, the Halo series has a good enough story to warrant numerous playthroughs without cringing at the idea of popping in the disc like other games with good gameplay but bad stories or vice versa.
It had an amazing campaign, but that also had its flaws. Too much of "kill the enemies and get to the next terminal and press X. Alright then do it again once more in the next area" This is definitely something 343 should look into :P
After playing through some of the single player experience, and extended up all nighter infinity multiplayer battles. It is safe to say that Halo 4 not only lives up to the hype, but has greatly surpassed my expectation with graphics, performance, great level design, and how fluid a shooter sporting all those traits can be. Even the voice acting turned out top notch, and brought to the table a higher quality of voice work, and emotion than past Halo experiences.
Outside of graphics, the greatest leap in successful implementation that I witnessed right away was the quality of sound. Everything from weapons, music, to the engines in the speeding vehicles has had a massive tune up. Anyone that hops into a ghost in single or multiplayer will likely notice the quality increase right away.
I salute 343 for doing a spectacular job in their first true outing into the gaming spectrum. Delivering what I believe is the greatest looking and playing first person shooter of this generation on console. Looking forward to what their next experience brings to the table.
Rated E For Everyone
Is it just me or are the same 5 lifeless trolls disagreeing in ever halo article??
This is 150% real..not the fake multi-profiles who say ANYTHING to do what they do best on N4G.com or any other forum.
I bought the original Xbox for Halo: Combat Evolved after seeing the 10/10/10 review of the game in EGM, when that magazibe was bigger than IGN is now.
I have so many vast memories of playing that campaign when NOTHING was touching it.
Just to show REAL gamers (that owned the original Xbox) who may understand how amazing the irony of what has transpired a decade+ later
I have spent a day and a half on multiplayer, and went from I'm not sire I like the changes to this is
Fast forward a decade and almost a year later..
I am nowhere NEAR done with the final campaign. I stopped after the first level to play multi the same morning of the midnight launch.
The multi experience went from this doesnt come close to Bungoes Reach too my god this is the most addicting Halo multi since Halo 3...
But, it was the day after of playing a marathon session co-op with the biggest fan I know outside myself that I realize that Halo 4 is the best Hslo I have played sonce Combat Evolved. The ownder, the exploration, the massive science fction mystery that I and millions felt back then all came back.
But the graphics ..the set pieces..the new weapons..the plot..WOW..
THIS is by FAR the best Halo campaign IMPACT wise since the original. It's all there..don't let these idiots spoil the game for you.
This game will NEVER be a 5.5 or even a 7.0 from EGM which Ironically produced the review that was one of the main reasons I ran to the stores and bought the original giant Xbox and this game shortly after launch..this is the type of gaming experience that comes rarely.
I AGAIN salute 343 studios for pulling off the impossible. You will have another massive massive fanbase in utter anticipation of the next installment of this game.
Well deserved.
On topic..this is worth every second. Best FPS on the 360 this gen..period.
Evil
The graphics are so amazing, well polished and sharp. The story is compelling, mature and even darker then previous Halo titles. You get to see the human side of Master Chief and his relationship with Cortana.
The Multiplayer is just so much faster and fluid with so many variants.
My ONLY gripe with the game is the maps that were selected in Forge. With Halo Reach we were given one HUGE map where you could build in the water, a small island and a Huge playing area, now we have 3 smaller separate maps. I prefer 1 large one to 3 average to small ones.
Any Halo fan who grew up playing Halo since the start would agree this is the best Halo yet. It's nice to have a more mature Halo with darker undertones. Halo 4 truly is the next evolution in the Halo franchise. I can't wait to see what happens in the next 2 episodes.
343i have taken Halo to where it needed to be.
********SPOILER ALERT***************
I don't know but there is something off in this campaign compared to halo 1-2-3. Don't get me wrong. The graphics are amazing, the voice acting is great and the soundtrack still as epic as ever, but there is couple flaws with the campaign.
The main villians are very unintresting unlike the first time you battle the covenant in halo CE, and they tried to make the story more personal with the multifunctional cortana which could be done better, and the last mission where you go destroying the didact Luke Skywalker's way is not the best way to end this game, especially with the last boss who you kill in a QTE section!!! The multiplayer on the other hand is pretty awesome, so far the best MP in a halo game yet, and that's where the bulk of the game so am not bothered by the lacking campaign.
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
This story is so damn great, I couldn't ask for more.
I'm not finished with the game yet; playing on Heroic, but the music isn't as good. With Halo 5, they need to incorporate that Halo Theme just a little to get us fired-up.
What really bugs me about the game though in the campaign that there was a lot of talk about the relationship of the two characters and how since they've done motion capturing they would be more engaged with each other but with the voices recorded sepertely (maybe it's just Cortanas) they seem like their just reading their lines, like one has to fully finish untill the next line starts, it's hard for Chief and Cortana to be more emotional, especialy with her going through rampancy.
In all other Halos, they were done separately.
If you were expecting something else, you should have known better. Halo 4 is part of a larger narrative of a new studio who has been given the keys to one of the biggest franchises in any media, with a community as venomous and stubborn as a barrel of kobra's in a bull parade.
I would compare Halo 4 to Street Fighter IV, it keeps the core intact but makes wise iterations. Both of these games are so mechanically pure yet nuanced, that one wrong step can kill their identities. That's one thing I feel some reviewers have failed to realize.
This is why COD needs a change, because at its core, it's a shallow shell of quake's nuance. Cod's dynamics boil down to a meat grinding "I saw you first, you die".
You can say GOW3 this and Uncharted that but bottom line is neither of those titles are doing what Halo has done. Large open world environments, vehicles, 4 player co-op, HUGE multiplayer options, 4 player side missions (spartan ops) and a Map editor (Forge). All done while keeping a steady frame rate and having some of the best visuals/graphics released this gen.
I am sorry but as great as GOW3 and Uncharted are (a couple of franchises that I am a big fan of) neither are "begging to differ" from what Halo 4 has brought.
I was strictly referring to graphics. My bad if I hadn't made that clear.
What about the graphics do you find lacking?
What aspect of the voice acting do you think is mediocre?
I'm not hating, just simply asking you to expand your answer if you can.
-some textures are a flat, unrealistic lighting and shadowing and less polygons...Gears Of War 3 looks much better. But i love the artistic design any way.
Voice Acting
-the voice actors/actresses are not trying to "be" the character at least not hard enough they sound like they are just reading a manuscript.
0/10
My only complaint is the menu system, the font used, and the way the medals look different.
I just hit sr 20 :)
You have no right to complain about SP when COD's SP is terrible
fair enough that you dont like it and prefer 60FPS, but you claim that the MP is generic, and then play COD, the most generic of all FPS.........
Dont get me wrong i love COD, but because it's so simple and generic, it's just point and click...i dont even care about what my teammates do in COD since i just rampage my way through every match.
And never have i had the LOL moments in COD like i do in Halo, seems im always cursing at some one because i owned them, or because someone ended my killstreak....
I think 343 took chances in some areas, but maintained what made Halo such a killer app in the first place. The multiplayer evolved, but it didn't change that Halo feeling. Its definitely the best Halo multiplayer in my opinion. The campaign was fantastic, and so I must admit that its quickly become my favorite Halo game in the series.
The campaign is a decent length (if you play on the harder difficulties) and the multiplayer is perfect.
Not to mention the bevy of co-op options available.
After that, if you like it, buy it.
Also, you don't need to spend thousands on A/V receivers and surround sound speaker/subs. When I had little money, I found a high quality ($200plus) set of headphones can make games nearly just as good or better (in some cases) than $1200-2000 7.1 sound systems (if including a/v and sub in price).
Of coure the surround effect will be worse but in terms of just sound fidelity, definitely on par or better.
Ok if you like playing multiplayer but has for the campaign it's rubbish, the halo franchise was gone i think after halo2 but stuck with the series but nothings changed.
The game sucks end of story to say and no more for me sadly it hasn't evolved with time its stuck it hasn't moved with time unfortunately there.
Halo games are probably the only games where I enjoy the SP more on the second and third play through than the first. As you get over the frustration, you start to feel like the Spartan that actually is skilled enough to over overcome all odds as you break down armour and lay down head shot after headshot, avoiding grenades and some how manage to kill 4-5 elite elites with ease on heroic/legendary. And the enjoyment derives from the fact that the enemies aren't stupid or scripted, they feel more organic than the dumb androids in many other FPS games.
What was so frustrating on the first play through becomesreally fun on heroic/legendary on subsequent play throughs. You become the chief depicted in the commercial and books - the demon to the enemy. Also, the Halo series has a good enough story to warrant numerous playthroughs without cringing at the idea of popping in the disc like other games with good gameplay but bad stories or vice versa.
No one will read this^^ way too long.
This is definitely something 343 should look into :P