EGM: "It’s been an impressive run, but after a decade of the same basic experience, I can’t escape the feeling that Halo needs to try a bit harder. Fans of the game will have a blast here, and the multiplayer is something special, but if you expected Halo 4 to keep up with the Joneses, you might be disappointed."
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 ?
This reviewer fails,same person who gives cod a 10 when he complains about halo having the same god damn formula,please dont approve this garbage...
I just don't think people should expect them to flip the formula on its head. Well, personally I was never expecting them to. This too much of a sacred cow, for 343 to just up and alienate all the loyal fans. Halo 5 should be a different story
Very excited for Tuesday though
"These low points are openly exacerbated by the series’ staunch refusal to get with the times when it comes to game mechanics and level design, ignoring obvious enhancements like big-ticket sequences and proper iron-sights mechanics in favor of their age-old addiction to slow, methodical combat in unnecessarily large environments."
This is why the review is terrible. Its basically saying that it is not Call of Duty enough. LOLOLOL wow. Iron sights would be retarded in Halo, so would more COD-like killstreaks, and anything that would transform Halo into more of a generic military shooter. Halo gameplay is more old school and suppose to play similar to games like Unreal Tournament or Tribes. And that is why it is successful. No need to change it into another COD.
Considering that everyone is trying to be like COD now, Halo is probably one of the only handful of FPS that is unique and trying to do its own thing. I applaud 343i for not selling out. Can't say the same for most franchises.
LOL and EGM gave MW3 a 9. Yahh I guessing MW3 had a engaging and emotional story too, and Call of Duty innovates every year... like PUHHLLEEASSEE
great review AAA Game
"ignoring obvious enhancements like big-ticket sequences and proper iron-sights mechanics"
Any hardcore halo fan can only laugh at the above quote from the review.