Destructoid - Did 343 Industries step comfortably into Bungie's big shoes? Was the story all you'd hoped for? Does the multiplayer still hold up? Does it actually matter that they didn't include iron-sights for the guns? Conversely, does it feel like it's too predictable? More of the same? Was it perhaps not quite the shining beacon of perfection you wanted?
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.
A lot of people give the 343 version of Master Chief a lot of slack.
But Fundamentally he is still the same character, he just has a couple more dialogues. He has not changed in terms of attitude.
"Not every character has to be a damaged soyboy, a soldier has to suck it up and do his duty."
And that's what he has done at the end of the day, he did his duty. Watch his partner die, and was ready to destroy the weapon in Halo infinite....he is still the same soilder that everyone remembers
Halo Infintes one was a nice balance between both.
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.
"However, in Halo 4-Infinite, the Master Chief overtime become. gradually becomes more willing to show some emotion."
Which is awesome! I love how Master Chief become more John and less soldier.
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, 5, and Infinite reviews are good examples of the pressure on review sites to score everything between 8-10 out of 10.
As if reviews scores are any indication of a franchises health.
Halo has been in shambles for YEARS
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 would argue that the new Star Wars trilogy is still better. lol
Most Halo fans would kill for the equivalent of The Force Awakens at this stage (a competent rehash of what came before it). Halo Infinite tried to be that but was undercooked and failed. Halo 4 wasn't that either - they started messing with the formula straight away although the story was okay.
There was nothing particularly compelling about Halo 5's story besides the fake plot they advertised. The Last Jedi is a divisive movie but as RedLetterMedia would say, it was "sporadically interesting" because it tried some new things and set up things that could have been great (like Kylo teaming up with Rey after backstabbing Snoke). That conversation with Yoda is great and it felt like the real Yoda, not that CGI thing in the prequels.
- "Skywalker, still looking to the horizon. Never here, now, hmm? The need in front of your nose."
- "The greatest teacher, failure is ... Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters."
- "That library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess." (because she already took them, haha).
The Rise Of Skywalker is the only one where loads of stuff happens off screen ("Palpatine has returned") in between and nothing makes sense because ... they just needed a main villain and 100 star destroyers to blow up. They could have done something much better.
no, all disney star wars sucks also disney marvel and everything godamn disney touches
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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 ?
Halo 4 campaign great, multi bad.
Halo 5 campaign trash, multi good.
Best Cortana halo 4.
Halo 4 was when they started turning it into a “modern” game. Aka taking tips from CoD.
The older titles were sandbox based with weapons that all filled a niche and vehicles that did the same. Open levels with multiple ways to approach in different spots with different weapons etc.
Halo 4/5 doesn’t have that. It’s a linear shooter and nothing else. The story is alright but that’s about it. If it wasn’t a halo game, it would be ok but because it is a halo game, it’s outshone by the previous games.
It’s a hell of a lot better than 5 though. I found infinite pretty meh
It absolutely is
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
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.
Yes it is.
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".