100°

Halo 4 – Spartan Ops: Episode Two Now Live

343 Industries today released the Halo 4 – Spartan Ops: Episode Two gameplay. Halo 4 – Spartan Ops: Episode Two includes an all-new CG cinematic and five new gameplay missions, and is available for download from Xbox LIVE now.

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electronictheatre.co.uk
bubblebeam4183d ago

Did the first chapter by myself. It was too laggy with my friend. It wasn't the games fault. I just wished that developers realised not everyone lives in America with 10mbps Upload and whatever download they are getting.

I'm not even getting half of a megabyte upload, and that is the best internet in my area.

Hope to see this episodic stuff show up in other games however. Although, I would probably prefer story DLC's in future (The story for spartan ops is very basic).

FriedGoat4183d ago (Edited 4183d ago )

Found it to be pretty boring tbh, But then again so was the campaign. The fact that they replaced Firefight with this is dire.

The multiplayer on the other hand is freaking fantastic. I haven't played halo this much since halo 3. I'm already SR39 :D

The Meerkat4183d ago

I thought the campaign was boring first time on Heroic, but on Legendary it seems like a different game. The knights feel dangerous now.

aviator1894183d ago

@Meerkat

I agree. From now on, I always start off my Halo campaigns on Legendary.
Really does feel like an entirely different game.
Though, right now, I just finished the first level.

StanLee4183d ago (Edited 4183d ago )

I find Spartan Ops a bit boring myself. I feel a disconnect between the CG episodes and the gameplay. The gameplay is short and shallow. There's just not enough to do. I'd have much preferred Firefight. The campaign rocks! I played Legendary with friends and Heroic by myself and it's just an awesome experience.

Allsystemgamer4183d ago

I don't know what campaign you played but the halo 4 campaign kept me going till I beat it. It was amazing

bubblebeam4183d ago

I played it on Normal first, as I always do (keeps me more involved in the story and not dying constantly), and I thought it was amazing.

Few games this gen have made me look at the screen in awe of its beauty. Bioshock, Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2 are the only other games that come to mind.

On legendary, the Knights are, dare I say, overpowered. Them Binary ones are insane. 1 shot you are dead. Stage 6 was the hardest IMO, while the first was by far the easiest (plasma pistol/magnum to the head combo).

Spartan ops is fun so far, as long as you aren't expecting Campaign quality story. The commendations and weekly challenges make it more worthwhile.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4183d ago
Jek_Porkins4183d ago

Well at least people wont complain about free DLC, I'm digging Spartan Ops so far, its something added to do with friends, which is always a good thing.

50°

Master Chief Became More Than A Machine In 343's Halo

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.

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thegamer.com
kingnick408d ago

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.

BandarHub408d ago

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.

slate91408d ago

Chief and the halo franchise became a joke under 343

Sciurus_vulgaris408d ago

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.

Obscure_Observer407d ago

"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.

Sciurus_vulgaris407d ago

I didn’t even notice my typos,lol

50°

Halo's Identity Problem Began With an Admirable Mess

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.

The3faces528d ago

True Halo 4 was a sign of 343i's incompetence and the decline of Halo.

180°

10 Years Later, Halo 4 Proves Itself a Disappointing Omen for Halo Infinite

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.

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gamerant.com
Sonyslave3537d ago (Edited 537d ago )

Halo 4 and infinite have a 87 on metacritic and five a 84🤣. 343i need contents and everything else will play it self out.

ChasterMies536d ago

Halo 4, 5, and Infinite reviews are good examples of the pressure on review sites to score everything between 8-10 out of 10.

ChubbyBlade536d ago

As if reviews scores are any indication of a franchises health.

Halo has been in shambles for YEARS

-Foxtrot536d ago

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

CoNn3rB536d ago

That's actually a pretty good way to sum it up

LucasRuinedChildhood536d ago (Edited 536d ago )

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.

MrChow666536d ago

no, all disney star wars sucks also disney marvel and everything godamn disney touches

536d ago Replies(3)
Yui_Suzumiya536d ago

Um, didn't Halo 4 have the best campaign out of the new Trilogy? Lol

ChubbyBlade536d ago

Yep and even then it wasn’t very good.

Levii_92536d ago

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 ?

Stanjara536d ago

Halo 4 campaign great, multi bad.
Halo 5 campaign trash, multi good.

Best Cortana halo 4.

ChubbyBlade536d ago (Edited 536d ago )

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

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