Halo 4 Xbox 360
User Score
6.9 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 2261 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,545 out of 2261
  2. Mixed: 145 out of 2261
  3. Negative: 571 out of 2261

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  1. TomComics
    Nov 7, 2012
    9
    With 343 Industries taking over for the Halo Series after Bungie's depart, I had my doubts that the next Halo game would not be as good, especially how 343 had barely worked on any game and slowly began to emerge as a company. They proved me wrong. Halo 4 has the best graphics for videogames I've ever seen so far, the multiplayer is so much updated and improved, the storyline for Halo 4 is intense and competing, making me anticipate more and more on what will happen next. Spartan Ops while not the best substitute for Firefight is a great gamemode to play with friends. Overall, Halo 4 has stunned me with it's amazing graphics, great storyline, improved multiplayer, and somewhat Spartan Ops. Congrats 343 Industries, and good luck with the rest of the new Halo trilogy.… Expand
  2. niconline
    Nov 9, 2012
    9
    Halo 4 represents a bold step forward for the franchise that feels both fresh and familiar. Boasting Halo's trademark multiplayer, a gripping campaign, an experimental co-op mode and the usual gubbins, Halo 4 like all the other Halos that have come and gone, represents incredible value for money.
  3. emcoffey3
    Nov 14, 2012
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So how did 343i do with Bungie's baby? Here are my thoughts... GENERAL GAMEPLAY: - The core gameplay (95% of the game) is the Halo you know and love. - There is a cool "getaway" sequence similar to the end of Halo:CE and Halo 3, but in a Ghost. - There are a few quicktime sequences that are rather underwhelming. They should have either been more polished (and fun) or turned into cutscenes.
    - The flying sequences are a major letdown (more below). ENEMIES: - Grunts and Jackals remain unchanged. - Elites don't seem as tough as Reach, but they're basically the same. - Hunters seem the same, but there are very few of them. I complained about this in Reach, and it hasn't improved in Halo 4. - Sadly, there are no Brutes, Drones, or Skirmishers. Also no Flood, but I'm actually okay with that.
    - The new enemies (Prometheans) are fun to fight and offer some nice, new variety.
    - No Scarabs or boss battles.... boo. WEAPONS: - There are a LOT of guns. Most of the old classics are back, along with some great additions. - No dual-wielding, but most of those guns have been replaced, so you don't really miss it. - Grenades feel a bit underpowered, but not to the point of being useless. ARMOR ABILITIES: - Good mix of old and new. The much-hated Armor Lock is, of course, gone. - Running is no longer an Armor Ability and is always available, which makes sense. VEHICLES: - The Ghost, Warthog, and Scorpion all feel familiar and control smoothly. - The Banshee doesn't feel as polished as previous games, but it's passable. - MAJOR LETDOWN #1: You finally get to fly the Pelican, and she feels great, for all of 2 minutes. It goes: fly straight towards marker, take out Phantoms with extreme ease, enter building, repeat. 343i made flying the Pelican about as fun as my morning commute to work. Lamest flying sequence in a Halo game until... - MAJOR LETDOWN #2: Remember the mission in Reach that put you in a dogfight in space? Imagine the polar opposite of how awesome that was, and you have the Broadsword sequence in the final mission. The first part of this mess is basically an obstacle course where you die repeatedly until you figure it out and get the timing right. The second part involves flying around in a circle and shooting at stationary markers that you can't tell if you're doing any damage to. Eventually you figure out which angle to hit them from and this miserable sequence ends. This is officially my least favorite thing ever put in a Halo game. - The Mantis is a cool addition. The animation makes it seem rickety, but it ends up being pretty powerful. I knew they'd put a mech in Halo sooner or later... - No Falcon or Hornet... boo. VISUALS: - Amazing. This is the best Halo has ever looked. - MINOR GRIPE: The HUD is a bit difficult to read. It's a very light shade of blue, and can clash against some of the bright glowing environments (which there are a lot of). AUDIO
    - The music is very good, but doesn't surpass the classic O'Donnell score. It excels during the dark, emotional moments, but lacks the grand-sounding pieces that made for "big moments" in the original trilogy. - The sound effects are terrific. Guns sound amazing (even the Beam Rifle finally!). - The voice-acting is top-notch. STORY:
    - It goes in a new, interesting direction. - Dialogue is great. However, there are a few scenes between the Chief and Cortana that do feel a bit... uncomfortable. - I liked the ending, but it didn't really feel like the beginning of a new trilogy... CONCLUSION: Overall, Halo 4 is a great shooter. I liked it, but I'm not sure I loved it. It gets almost all of the big things right. The core gameplay is solid. Visuals, audio, and story are all top-notch. But the little things are what keep Halo 4 from perfection. Some suggestions for improvement next time: 1. The HUD should be crisp and easy to read. 2. Quicktime sequences should be polished, changed into cutscenes, or removed entirely. 3. Give me bigger stuff to kill. More Hunters, and maybe a Scarab or something similar. A boss battle or two wouldn't hurt. Also consider bringing back older enemy classes. 4. Bring back the Pelican, but give me a full-fledged mission! 5. If you're going to put me in space, give me a dogfight and leave out the obstacle courses.    … Expand
  4. capthavic
    Nov 12, 2012
    8
    Let me just say this up front, Halo 4 is not a perfect 10 but neither is it a bad game either. While the game does have some flaws (AI noticeably dumber, new weapons are pretty meh, doesn't do anything really new) it still hits all the notes you would expect from a Halo game and it does them competently. The visuals are absolutely amazing especially on an aging console, and while not as iconic or bombastic as something from Marty O'Donnell the new music here fits well and doesn't distract from the action. Four player co-op for the campaign and new Spartan Ops episodes are still a blast, and getting a party together for some MP action is great way to spend an evening.

    It doesn't do anything to break the mold or take any chances, but there is something to be said for not fixing what isn't broken either. Halo 4 isn't going to change your mind if you weren't a fan already. But for fans or those on the fence then I would certainly recommend at least giving a try. For a new studio trying to fill some pretty big shoes 343 certainly could have done a whole lot worse :3    … Expand
  5. Chromium
    Nov 7, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Halo 4 is a sad, sorry sequel to a good series. From start to finish, the game underperforms dramatically; the level design is insipid and repetitive, the enemy design ridiculous, the gamefeel vague or even absent. Major plot points and characters pass by without comment from the Chief or Cortana, critical events go unnoticed, there is no air of mystery or wonder. Halo has always been about being pitted against incredible odds in a high-stakes gamble for the fate of the galaxy; this time it feels like a hissy fight between Cortana and a monkey in a ball.

    Overall, the game is forgettable and bland, lacking any flair or polish. I regret paying $60 for this game; hell, I'd regret paying $30.    … Expand
  6. Captiosus
    Nov 7, 2012
    6
    I've only gotten about 4 and a half hours of gameplay under my belt in the single player campaign of Halo 4 but I've come away with several early - and mostly negative - impressions. Remember these are just impressions and NOT designed to be a full review which means my score may change at a later date. Also, this will be long and Metacritic's lack of carriage returns may make it difficult to read - as usual, I will delineate paragraphs with several pipe characters. |||| First, it's clear Halo 4 uses a modified version of Unreal Engine 3. This doesn't come as a surprise to me as I seem to recall that the engine, itself, was one of the few things Bungie got to keep when they broke off from Microsoft. However, typical Unreal Engine issues like texture pop in and terrible in game text overlays are prevalent throughout the game, often to the detriment of gameplay. |||| Graphically, the game looks nice except for the fact they went crazy with lens flares and bloom effects. I read one user review who made a similar complaint by stating that "if you try to scope in to snipe, your eyeballs will get burned out of your sockets". It may sound like an exaggeration but it is not. The game is heavy on in your face lighting effects which often blind you even when brightness is turned down to its lowest setting in the game options. The best way I can describe it is the same kind of effect you get if you're facing east as the sun comes up over the horizon or if you're driving east into the early morning sun. The glare blinds and washes everything out. |||| The music is decent but it lacks the punch and significance of the scores of the previous Halo titles. A lot of that is because the composer replaced orchestral arrangements with electronic ones. It's a better score than most games but it just doesn't live up to the quality we became accustomed to by the former musical masters of Halo, Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. Sound effects are disappointing overall. Guns, especially the human/UNSC ones, sound like toys rather than weapons and vehicles sound "off", for lack of a better way to describe them. |||| Speaking of weapons and vehicles, what a disappointment! The Forerunner weapons absolutely suck when you use them but they can two shot you when the enemy AI uses them. This is undoubtedly a byproduct of playing on Legendary difficulty, but that still doesn't excuse the fact that I feel as though I'd be more effective throwing stones than using a boltshot pistol or the lightrifle. Human weapons are vastly underpowered (except the Battle Rifle, which you don't find often) while Covenant weapons are quite powerful (remember, this is regarding campaign, not multiplayer). The Covenant Carbine, which has always been a single shot assault rifle (think of the M1 Garand), can double as a sniper rifle in this iteration of the game. Vehicles, by contrast, handle much differently than in past titles. The Covenant's Banshee and Ghost feel slow and sluggish while the UNSC's Warthog is quick to lose control and go flipping down the path. |||| I haven't really messed with multiplayer much but, so far, it looks like they've tried cloning Call of Duty's "loadout" style with Halo's sci-fi trappings. This doesn't surprise me too much as we started to see this with Halo: Reach while it was still under Bungie's leadership but multiplayer now feels like 343 simply cloned Modern Warfare and called it a day. Even Spartan Ops is basically just a copy of Call of Duty's Spec Ops mode. |||| As a self-confessed Halo fanboy (it's one of the few franchises that I have every single title for), I'm growing increasingly disappointed with Halo 4 as I play it. 343 Industries didn't take any real risks with the franchise nor did they attempt to make it their own. They merely copied elements of what made Halo popular, copied other popular shooter elements for multiplayer, then covered the game in high gloss. |||| Hopefully it gets better. Hopefully I won't run into more quick time events (which have no place in this franchise). At this point, hope is all I have.… Expand
  7. oboehobo
    Nov 11, 2012
    10
    This is the best game I've ever played on the XBox 360. It has an incredible story that all Halo veterans should experience from start to finish. It's dark, emotional, and beautiful. A true masterpiece in gaming. On top of this, Halo 4 is as complete a package as you can buy. Whether you are fighting through the forerunner planet in the campaign, working with friends through the co-op missions in Spartan Ops, or proving your worth in War Games (the halo Multiplayer suite), there is always something for you to do. Not to mention this easily has some of the best visuals I've seen on a console game. From incredible lighting to a completely re-vamped sound design, this game doesn't know the word "ugly". Go buy this game. If you don't have an Xbox, save up, and then buy it and this game. Now! That's an order soldier!… Expand
  8. frugal_frogger
    Nov 27, 2012
    9
    OK, to be honest I've never been a Halo fan. These titles are the most generic FPS you can play. However, for the MP value alone, they are worth it. Like COD, you can ALWAYS find a good MP scene online. You will ALWAYS find an arsenal of weapons and maps that will keep you addicted to your online gaming fix like nothing else. Outstanding online gameplay.
  9. yolandivisser
    Dec 11, 2012
    10
    I hate halo! but this one is a lot of fun for online play. I normally can't stand generic FPS shooters but let's be honest: where are you going to find the best online play? Halo pretty much...
  10. Jacob
    Jan 20, 2013
    8
    Overall, I really enjoyed Halo 4. While I did not enjoy as much as Halo 3 it was still a great game. It had its problems but it was a lot of fun. The single player was finally good. The multiplayer was fun and Spartan Ops adds legs to the game. While there are things I would have liked the game there is a lot of good stuff in here. Halo 4 is the best Halo since Halo 3 and hopefully 343 can keep it up with Halo 5 & 6.… Expand
  11. gypsygib
    Nov 18, 2012
    10
    I'd give the game a 9.5 The gameplay is a proper evolution of Halo gameplay while keeping the core features that make the game definitely feel like Halo, just refined and improved. Compared to most other FPS single player campaigns, Halo 4s is very good. The story is just ok, but I had more fun in SP than most games all gen due entirely to Halo unique gameplay and enemy AI. To add some much neede depth to the SP story it's best to watch all the PR and spends a day reading the HaloWiki. The improved graphics (which are excellent for old consoles) come at a minor cost to environment size and perhaps a tiny hit to AI. The MP is a series best for me....so far. I've had the game since launch and seem to have spent 75% on my MP time on one map, due to the voting system and the map options the game offers. There is a problem with matches and stats not being added to your record which is VERY frustrating. I enjoy spartan-ops more than the firefight and the story element adds to the enjoyment despite being fairly shallow but something is better than nothing. Also, the lack of matchmaking for old spartan ops episodes is a major let down. Overall, the game offers so many hours of fun and interesting game types that it deserves to be among the best games in the gen. 343 actually surpasses Bungie in many ways, and only falters occasionally. 343 has proven to me that they are among the top devs, Halo 4 do a lot and does the majority of it very very well.… Expand
  12. thegrave
    Nov 14, 2012
    10
    Play the game, figure it out.
    This game is worth all the pennies that make up the $60 price tag.
    Polished as hell. Very fluid controls. I'm saying this all about the game when I normally don't like the Halo series much at all since the first one.
    I bought this game because my friend was getting it as well, and I was pleasantly surprised when I found out it was nothing like Halo Reach     and is great!… Expand
  13. casshern09
    Nov 6, 2012
    6
    Pretty disappointed really. Was really hoping this would be a return to form after hating Reach and ODST so much. If you liked the others, chances are you will like this, if you didn't, this won't do anything for you.
    The gameplay has not changed one bit. Same familiar looking corridors, same vehicle sections.
    Yeah it looks and sounds great, but it is so frigging dull. MP is fine, nothin    g special. Like I said, if you liked it before, you will now.… Expand
  14. man
    Jan 27, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a review from someone who is truly a fan of Halo and has stuck by the franchise ever since Combat Evolved was released back in 2001. I was rather skeptical after I discovered that Reach would be Bungie's final Halo game and that a game company I had never heard of by the name of 343 Industries would be taking over. However, after playing Combat Evolved Anniversary, 343's remastering of the original a year ago, I definitely saw some potential for this game to come after all. And after beating the campaign and trying my absolute hardest to become more immersed to the story, I have to say...(sigh) this was in all honesty disappointing as a Halo game. If i had never played another Halo game before and this just so happened to be the very first one I would ever play, I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more! This game has many great things about it. However, the drawbacks sadly outweigh the good. I loved the enhanced graphics and better detail of the weapons. I also liked some of the concepts in some of the missions. The game started out very promising story-wise as well as gameplay-wise. But the thing that ruined it for me was the mission that introduces the new deadly enemies known as the Prometheans. The game provided a much more challenging experience with the addition of these new characters. However, I think that it was a bit TOO challenging, because the Prometheans and the Promethean knights were a HUGE pain in the ass to fight even on the normal difficulty!!! I was honestly relieved whenever I would see the Covenant instead, because not only have I been so used to fighting them in the past three games, but they are sooo much easier to fight! Back to the graphics, which like I said were updated and looked visually great. However, when I first saw Cortana appear, I wanted to THROW UP!!! SHE looked sooo damn ugly and it looked NOTHING like her from Bungie's games! And I thought the Cortana from the 2001 Combat Evolved was ugly! Other than her, the graphics were great! The story in all honesty kind of felt like the first game all over again with some minor changes. Master Chief crash landing on a planet and fighting enemies. Sounds almost EXACTLY like the first game doesn't it? Like I said before, I HATED the Prometheans. Visually they looked cool, but combat-wise, they SUCKED!!! After four or five missions, the game finally picks up when Chief reunites with Lasky and his crew. The story becomes more interesting at this point and the gameplay even becomes funner. Why couldn't this be the case for the first half of the game? In the story, the villain, and ugly-lookin fella by the name of Didact appears about halfway through the game. And let me be the first to say that he only appears twice in the whole entire game!!! Once at the halfway point and once near the end. Not only that, but his character is sooo poorly developed, um scratch that! He's not even developed at all and his character is barely explained with no detail at all! You don't even get to fight him in the end! He's killed in a very long cutscene! Seriously?!?!?! Where's the fun in that?! And last, but certainly not least, the ending. Here we go: Cortana stays behind and dies using her energy in order to help get Chief back home. I had mixed feeling about this. It was sad to see her go, because I really enjoyed her character throughout the franchise. However, I would like to point out a pretty big plothole in this area. Earlier in the game, Cortana reveals to Chief that her time is running short and that A.I.s think themselves to death. This led me to believe that Cortana would die as a result of this. However, it seems like the game completely forgot about this at one point, because it's never brought up again! She dies by staying behind instead of how we thought she was going to die! And that is what I call weak and flawed storytelling! After that, the game just ends basically. We aren't really left with a whole lot in the end, which honestly disappoints me. It makes me wonder what 343 is going to do with Halo 5. Hopefully it will be much better than this game, because there truly was MUCH more potential that could have been used to make this game all the more greater. In my honest opinion, I feel that 343 was not as dedicated to making Halo as great as Bungie did. It will no doubt in my mind be memorable in many areas, but not in as near as many areas that Bungie's games were. Here's hoping that the next game will improve on the areas that disappointed me the most. The most disappointing Halo game since ODST.… Expand
  15. Human
    Jan 17, 2013
    7
    The Master Chef returns with all new recipes and cooking supplies. I had an okay time with this game. The story was easily the worst part (but that's nothing new for Halo), but it looked great and played perfectly. The Multiplayer is very good as well, not much more to say about that. It's good. The score was a bit of a letdown and you can definitely tell this was not made by Bungie. It's lacking a certain Halo feel, which it makes up for in all new sounds for the guns (all sorts of pew-pews in this game, all sorts). Nothing revolutionary and will be quickly forgotten once Halo 5 comes out, but it's still fun.… Expand
  16. RMW_Critic
    Nov 9, 2012
    8
    To be honest, I went into this game with a very skeptical mindset. Since 343 had also made Halo Wars, i thought it would have this problem, and this problem and this problem. To my amazement, however, it didn't. At all. The game is balanced, graphically superior to almost anything, definitely to anything on the Xbox. The dialogue can get a bit on the B-Grade side, but other than that there's not much to complain about. The multiplayer is fast, but not too fast, the weapon system is different, but not overpowered. Its not perfect however. While it is hard to pinpoint these problems, they are noticeable when playing. So if you enjoy Halo, and halo, this is your game. If not, then not. 81%. (P.S. Why does everyone use the battle rifles? They aren't that good o.O)… Expand
  17. Justinavery7074
    Dec 4, 2012
    9
    It's a great game but nothing like the previous excluding Halo Wars and Halo 3: ODST. the graphics kill in this game. It's go **** beautiful to look at. I really like this game and want to love it but there's not the same feeling as with the other 4
  18. SchroederRock
    Nov 7, 2012
    10
    Halo 4 presents the most polished and engaging Halo to date. 343 took Halo's core and added vulnerability. Master Chief has never been so humanized, and it makes for fantastic cut scenes. Not only is the story the best of the series, but the boring Covenant aren't the main enemy anymore. The new Promethean Knight is every bit as vicious as the Elite, but varies in its combat methods. Many times I was surprised by how I was wailed on by these very formidable opponents. I can go on and on about how great this game is. But to sum it all up, I've been playing Halo since the beginning. Every game has been fun and worthwhile, but none of the games invoked the emotion and investment Halo 4 has out of me. Add a splendidly varied campaign in terms of encounters and vehicle play to the mix, more than even Reach. I loved the story, and it's only getting better with the promised 5th & 6th games. Composer Neil Davidge also brought the score of Halo to a new high. The sounds and music of Halo 4 are phenomenal. Best game of the series. 343 have set their own bar, and to surpass it would be to make perhaps the greatest game ever.… Expand
  19. bioadam
    Mar 29, 2013
    8
    Halo 4 sits somewhere between Halo 3 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. While Halo 4 is clearly a good game, it is not great game. Despite the flourish of new graphics, the series has lost some of its trademark character. The new enemies, the Promotheans, are mute tanks that flitter, scurry, and teleport. They do not, however, flank, retreat, or do anything memorable. The Promothean weapons are even more boring: every Promothean weapon is a futuristic looking version of one of today's weapons. The only new kind of weapons are a rail gun and a sticky detonator, and each shows up sparingly in the campaign. A prime opportunity to add some interesting new ideas to Halo has been squandered. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In terms of progressing the series, I found it odd that "Halo 4" explicitly tells players to scavenge weapons from fallen combatants. In later levels, when combatants are many and dropped weapons are few, the game compensates by giving you crate upon crate of grenades and weapons. Placing the strategic choice of weapons in the hands of the player is a staple of Halo games, but those choices are meaningless if the game gives players an inexhaustible armory of the same kinds of weapons. At least 343 returned the health system pioneered in Halo 2. After your shields fall, you can take a few hits while you duck for cover. This system works and keeps the flow of the game moving. Halo 4 has a constant momentum to the point of providing dialogue and backstory through driving sequences rather than non-playable cut scenes. 343 did not entirely understand Bungie's snippets of fun mojo, and Halo's musical staple, the dun-dun-dun-dun guitar riff, was completely absent. In fact, pulse pounding music of any kind was absent, giving a sense of emptiness to many of the early levels. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The game also abuses the mechanic of go to several places on the same level and press several buttons. I prefer the old challenges of figuring out how to fit a Warthog into a doorway. Nevertheless, Halo 4 provides several opportunities to run, drive, or fly past past enemies to the next check point.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The story of Halo 4 is quite epic. As Master Chief, you relentlessly fight against the Covenant, the Prometheans, your human ally's incompetence, and the story driven failure of your A.I. pal Cortana. When mission failure is required, and it is required quite a bit in this story, the failure is never that of the player. We are never burdened with the awful cutscene of the player character cluelessly and impotently watching the action unfold and not participating. Master Chief is as competent as ever. By the way, the graphics in Halo 4 are the best ever on the Xbox 350 and the cutscenes are photorealistic. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Multiplayer on Halo 4 has been a mixed bag. 343 failed to provide popular game types and decent maps at launch, and exacerbated their launch failures with a lack of support for a good three to four months. In late March of 2013, 343 finally started fixing the multi-player experience, but the popularity of Halo has suffered. One of the positive changes 343 has made is leveraging the players' ability to make their own maps and adding the best of the communiy's maps to the on-line playlists. Few games provide map making tools and this is a stand-out feature for Halo 4 on the Xbox.    … Expand
  20. ZombieFan281
    Nov 13, 2012
    10
    Best Single Player and Multilayer Experience ever. This game deserves Game Of The Year by every means. Great Graphics, Physics, Engine, Controls and Sound. Really engaging story and the Cenamatics are so close to the real game play. I was blown away. Give this game a try before judging. Much better than Halo 3.
  21. TheStranger
    Jan 26, 2013
    7
    If you play Halo for multiplayer I can't see this game sticking around for long. Something is just missing. I feel the level design of the maps left a lot to be desired. The visuals look really nice.
  22. lilkillpappy
    Dec 4, 2012
    2
    doesn't matter what we say on here, they sold millions and made millions, they could give a **** less if they create **** games, as long as they make money. The Xbox 360 is extremely under powered, and has been showing its age for a very long time now. The art in this game was the only reason it looked good, otherwise the low res textures, jagged lines, and horrible fade distance just destroyed the graphics on this game. If you like games for combat and no other reason then this game will be perfect for you. If you like depth to the gameplay, and a story that is not serialized, and actually makes sense then this game will be VERY boring. And thats what this game is. Despite the things that it does well with the combat, sound effects, and art, the game in the end lacks an interesting story that makes sense, and has very shallow gameplay. Plus the main story is extremely short. This game can be beaten in a day. Why do they keep making this crap? And now that it has become serialized, its just going to get worse and worse.… Expand
  23. Jerik02
    Feb 3, 2013
    6
    tldr: single player good. Multiplayer bad. I really wanted to like this game, I love the story but the multiplayer is awful. The spartan ops an extenuation that lets your spartan be a part of the greater Halo story is great! However, the true multiplayer or pvp is just awful. The maps are too small and are horribly unbalanced. Bungie did a much better job with multiplayer, whereas 343 did better with the overall story.… Expand
  24. ghola
    Nov 7, 2012
    3
    Same old Halo. Just a teaser for Halo 5 on Xbox720.
    PROS:
    -It´s an OK Halo.
    CONS:
    -You have to read the (great) Halo books (kilo-five and forerunner trilogies) to grasp the plot of this game.
    -Multiplayer has been "CODified".
  25. Phenom557
    Nov 6, 2012
    10
    343 has my complete faith and loyalty. Halo 4 starts a whole new trilogy with a bang! The campaign answers alot of long standing questions and does an excellent job of creating new ones! The entire game from the menu's to the actual in game-play is as smooth as butter and the visuals are absolutely stunning!! I fear the ONLY reason anyone would post negative review on this game is because they are bored with the Halo Universe and are looking for something new. 343 did exactly what they set out to do, build on the story and bring more depth to the universe we all know and love. All in all if you were looking for a "Revolutionary In Your Face Game Changer" you will be disappointed because 343 stays tried and true to the story of Master Chief, taking excellent care of the world all true Halo fans have grown to love.… Expand
  26. DarthPreamp
    Nov 20, 2012
    6
    Pros: Amazing Graphics Cons: Boring gameplay, Ridiculous Story The original Halo series was enjoyable to play. This feels like a chore. It is a beautiful to look at chore, but nonetheless, a chore. No joy in any aspect of it. The story feels as if it is weighed down by its own predetermined need to be easily accessible. I really can't believe the positive reviews on this?
  27. Sh0dan
    Nov 22, 2012
    7
    This game is over hyped in my honest opinion. Not that its a bad game, its a solid shooter polished to a high sheen over numerous iterations since the original Halo: Combat Evolved. The problem for me is that it doesn't do anything new, fresh or innovative. Even the levels feel like they have been stripped directly from previous Halo games. Really, its just the same old Halo FPS many of us used to love, but are perhaps a bit jaded on and tired of now. The story doesn't do anything to reinvigorate the universe either. IMO some mysteries like the "who are the Forerunner?" should never have been answered. Pulling back the curtain reveals how poor the writers really are at science fiction. It really is an unnecessary addition to the universe and has thoroughly put me off the Halo universe for a lifetime. I'm not even interested in seeing a Halo movie after playing poor man Star Wars wannabe.... The levels and missions are some of the most linear and narrow of the entire Halo series, even worse than some of the horrendous railway tracks of Halo 2. There is only one level that stood out as expansive, choice driven mission, but after replaying it a second time that is actually a clever illusion and in fact you are kept on the critical path just as strictly as the first level. Add to that the inability to play the coop mode 'Spartan Ops' offline without a gold membership and the fact they only made the single player, secret terminal videos accessible via Halo Waypoint (which also requires a paid for membership - fu M$!) and unless your a Halo multiplayer PvP junky, then there isn't much to enjoy here.… Expand
  28. cobra872
    Nov 9, 2012
    0
    I never thought I'd review this game here. But man I am so angry with it... I had to.

    Is it a bad game in general? Not exactly. But what makes me angry about this game is the fact that they implemented so many things from Call of Duty. It's unreal. Instant respawn times, the COD kill cam, everyone has sprint (makes the game seriously fast along with the respawn time), ordinance drops (l    ike the care package from COD, in Infinity Slayer), the scoring system and even perks! It's crazy. They did absolutely nothing innovative, and rather added features from a successful game just because they were scared that COD would be at the top on xbox live over Halo. What made Halo was that it was different from Call of Duty. It was balanced and it was competitive. Now it is not balanced. You will have to play a bit before you get all your loadouts stacked. The loadouts include your weapon setup, amor abilities and perks (tactical packages and support upgrades). I was talking about multiplayer of course. I haven't finished the single player, but from what I heard it is only a few hours. I can see that, because the missions I had to do were short. But why in the world could it be that short? It's been years since a Master Chief campaign, and they give you something that isn't lasting? This is the Master Chief! He is the face of the Xbox. There is absolutely no reason for it to be short.

    The only positives are the sound and the artistic design. Coming from someone who studied sound design, the sound is really amazing (excluding music, it's nothing spectacular compared to the Halos of the past). Just fantastic. Also the artistic design is beautiful. There's great scenery and there are some pretty gorgeous cinematics.

    Other than that, I am extremely disappointed. 343 Industries says they didn't copy Call of Duty. They absolutely did. I would think Bungie would be pretty sad at the outcome of this game. Their whole objective was to not copy things like Call of Duty. They were innovators, not copiers. I am going to give this a 0. I am not a professional reviewer and the scores shouldn't mean much to anyone anyways. But that's honestly how I felt with the game. I'm getting rid of it.    … Expand
  29. Coeco
    Feb 3, 2013
    0
    Doggy-chew for the fanboys. Don't expect any originality or new content for that matter here. Don't believe me? Look at the 10's. Save your money and go buy a quality FPS, like Half Life. Anything beat this turd of a game, really.
  30. matroycem
    Apr 26, 2013
    7
    I have never really felt the love for Halo that has been going around since its inception on the original Xbox. Yes it was modern but it never really gripped me. The Halo games of Bungie never really seem to have much of a plot of me and it bored me going from point A on a map, into a building to point B and then going back to point A again. It seemed lazy level design.
    Halo 4 however see    ms to be a big step forward. 343 have made a few changes and brought in some decent new weapons and enemies and it did grip me more than other games. Gone has the annoying drop out of scope when you are shot and SOME of the jumps to checkpoints when a team mate passes into a new area. There is also very little back tracking in the main campaign.
    The story of the game is still very similar and doesn't really go anywhere for me but its not completely missing like it was in Halo 3 ODST. I still think that Halo need to remove the respawn trick on COOP when you can have one person hang back and if the other dies they respawn next to their fellow. Mean that some of the difficulty is sapped from the game.
    I am not much of an Online Multiplayer so I cannot give much of a review of this area but the little I did play was enjoyable enough. I think there are modes for all different abilities and the learning curve is not completely stupid like i found in the COD games.
    Its worth a purchase in my opinion.    … Expand
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 87 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 83 out of 87
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 87
  3. Negative: 1 out of 87
  1. Hyper Magazine
    Dec 17, 2012
    90
    Halo 4 eschews esoteric delivery for a sledgehammer story with a blockbuster aesthetic. Epic, engaging and sensorially awesome. [Jan 2013, p.60]
  2. Eurogamer Portugal
    Dec 5, 2012
    90
    In the end, this game is still a fairly conservative and faithful to the original spirit, even with some significant changes.
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  3. DailyGame
    Dec 3, 2012
    75
    The narrative is outstanding, even in spite of a few plot-point missteps, and the character evolution of Master Chief and Cortana deserves to be further explored with these wonderful storytellers (well, maybe one of them can't happen, but I'll avoid spoilers). However, the gameplay feels jilted, awkward and unrefined, three unforgivable sins in a landscape populated with other quite-capable FPS franchises. As a result, I'm going to average everything out: great story plus bad gameplay equals an average experience. And in this overcrowded FPS genre, "average" is isn't something I'd recommend buying.
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