Halo Reach was a true signifier to me. It was a signifier that Bungie was mentally and creatively checked out of the Halo universe, the game was simply souless. It was a good game at the end of the day but paled in comparison to even ODST, a game Bungie released a year prior. The Halo sandbox was starting to show it's age adversely.
Halo 4's campaign is mostly great. The story is generally far better than anything Bungie put together. However, there are two prominent issues with it however. One, the exposition is far too reliant on Halo's extended universe and doesn't front-load it in a way that would explain some narrative head-scratchers. Two, the three button "press this lever" objective structure is quite limiting and makes Halo 4 more linear than one would hope.
That said, this linearity also leads to just the right size for the campaigns enemy encounters, which are unrivaled by any other Halo. The moment to moment combat in Halo 4 really highlight the the uniqueness of the series "Combat puzzle" nature. The AI is ruthless and require you to be alert and skillful in a way that hasn't been seen since Combat Evolved. This campaign also happens to be the most consistent campaign yet, and although the three button structure is archaic in some ways, requiem is a world that somewhat alleviates that shortcoming. All in all, it's a very good setup for a trilogy with narrative hooks that could potentially pay-off big in Halo 5. Watching Forward Unto Dawn, before playing the game and the terminals after really do a lot of narrative meat.
Halo 4 is one of the best looking games (and audio/visual experiences)this gen. Absolutely gorgeous technics, incredible art design, evocative musical scores, vicious weapon sound effects, and superb V.O make Bungie's work with Halo 3 look like it was a generation ago. This leads me to the biggest change for the series, the multiplayer. Where Reach's multiplayer felt second-rate, 343's take on halo's crowning glory feels like Capcom's invigoration of Street Fighter with Street Fighter 4.
The maps, the weapon balance, specializations, packages, ordinance drops, and much more all contribute to a new Halo multiplayer that feels familiar in just the right way, yet evolved. Matches are far more frantic and dynamic, and battlefield moments feel organic and player driven. Halo's core multiplayer is a pure, nuanced omelet, and instead of 343 just adding chives to a cold dish, the decided to remake it from scratch and seamlessly add ingredients to naturally enrich the omelet. You simply won't find a multiplayer shooter this frantic, yet this intricately balanced on any other console this year.
Halo 4 is a traditionally executed Halo game with just enough changes to make it feel like its own beast. Traditional execution should not be devalued here. Halo is one of the most iconic franchises in gaming, living up to a legacy that literally defined a console and influenced a generation of shooters. It's a mammoth task for an unproven studio and would have crushed many a dev, but not 343. Halo 4 is the game you've been waiting for since Halo 3.
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
Replies(3)
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
Wonderfully spot-on review. Well done!
Just epic
Very repetitive game, and for gamers who like the sp experience forget it under 5hours sadly, not the best looking game on xbox360 that's not true, if you like multiplayer then it's ok but map design hasn't changed, halo1 and 2 were brilliant this is a waste of good money, i'm a halo fan but after this no way.