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.
Original Destiny artist Darren Bacon recalls how Bungie reacted to the art style change of Halo 4 by 343 Industries.
Bungie at that time became the most wonderful bunch of hypocrites in the gaming industry. Knowing this now, gosh the entitlement they felt was out of this world.
Nothing like buying yourself from Microsoft because you don't want to be the Halo Studio anymore, and the FIRST THING you do is sign your next IP over to Activision, for a DECADE, while they are in the middle of ousting the heads of Infinity Ward so they can exert even more control over COD while screwing out the devs at IW...
Should've come as no surprise then that Activision gutted the content of Destiny 1 before launch and was a horrible partner through Destiny 2, until history repeated itself and Bungie had to split from Activision only to wind up in the arms of another major conglomerate that also doesn't know how to handle these unmanageable devs.
Tti their credit they praised the technical abilities of 343 and I remember at the time thinking halo 4 was a huge graphical leap above reach everything else was rubbish when I actually got to play it but there was no doubt it looked good for the 360 and is probably the best looking game on the system.
But ultimately I think bungie has always had a leadership problem and going independent ultimately proved this it's only getting worse with studio heads being outed by Sony for abuse allegations seems like all bungies past success has been in spite of management not because of it.
But really I think the bungie we have today is not the same one we had in that Xbox era of Bungie
I liked the artstyle change. For the most part. Something looked worse but most of everything else looked better. Weapons and vehicles for sure. The wraith come to my mind instantly.
And how can they get mad when the bungie changed it with Halo Reach?
I know a lot of people dislike Halo 4’s arts style, but there’s thing about it I like and dislike. Personally, the Halo 4 design of Master Chief’s armour is my favourite depiction of the character’s armour.
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.
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.