GameTrailers: "There's no doubt that Halo 4 has been developed in a pressure cooker. With expectations sky high, 343 has delivered a game that manages to walk the line between old and new with just a few stumbles. The decision to alter the multiplayer while essentially leaving the campaign structure alone is a curious one that will resonate with fans more than the casual observer. It's a sure sign that at some point, the studio decided to keep it safe for its first foray with the Chief. It's a massive, polished game that provides a lot of value, but it can also feel like hanging out with an old high school friend. It's comfortable and still fun, but eventually you realize that you're slowly drifting apart."
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 ?
HALO 4, it really is close to perfection
Epic! Already finished the campaign early this morning. A little over 9 hours, full coop on Heroic. The multiplayer is kicking my a**! Gotta get used to the pace and how quickly you die. Loving Domination though.
Decent score for all you X-box / Halo lovers. Enjoy the game.I must admit I am a tad envious because I really want to try this game. Unfortunately one of my 360's has the RROD and the other refuses to read discs so I use it exclusively for Minecraft at the moment lol
Maybe a new 360 purchase is in order for Christmas since I want to upgrade my model anyway :-D Hopefully I will jump in soon on this Halo action!