SnackBarGames write:
"Halo 4 is 343 Industries’ first chance to make their mark on the Halo franchise with a new entry in the series. The team did a pretty good job updating Combat Evolved, so expectations were high going in. Surprisingly, Halo 4 manages to surpass, and includes more pure gameplay than any previous Halo game."
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 ?
343 were in a bit of a tricky spot with Halo 4 I imagine. On the one hand they need to make the franchise their own, add their unique flavor to it or risk living within Bungie's shadow, while on the other hand they can't just suddenly change everything around as they'd risk fans lashing out because it's no longer "Halo".
I'd say they played it right with the first game in the trilogy. Just enough new stuff to keep it feeling fresh, although barely, if I'm going to be honest, while keeping the fans and fanboys happy.
I think 343 did an amazing job, considering this was their first actual game they shipped (Halo CE anniversary doesn't count, although it does provide experience) they did amazingly well. I haven't met a single person who doesn't like Halo 4. Some people are even saying this is the best halo ever. I don't think anybody expected Halo 4 to be this good.
It's nice to know that 343 had a lot of passion in the halo franchise and that they weren't churning out games 'just for the money'. Good job 343. You made Halo more awesome.
I really Love Halo 4, the story is awesome, but I think it was a little shorter than previous Halo's.
Should have been a littlle longer SP campaign.