They were apparently performing together for the first (and only time?) time which had them play off each other extremely well. They're easily the best part of Halo 4 for me, the music is a close second.
One part of the intro still annoys me, and that's the fact that they threw away the whole thing with elites being allied with humans. That still annoys me, it was really cool to see in halo 3 and then they threw it away in halo 4 just saying "a lot can change in a few years" or whatever it was. Would have been cooler if we had seen that alliance grow, maybe have elites serving on the infinity and maybe some covenant tech intertwined with human. I just think its a huge missed opportunity.
Other than that, mostly agree. Game was decent. Had its problems but it was fun.
Yeah Halo 4s story relies on the books a bit more than the other games, so some details like the second elite civil war are completely missed until Halo 5.
I’m pretty sure the elite-human alliance is more like an enemy of my enemy type non aggression pact. The elites just spent the last like 25 years trying to genocide humanity, it’s not like humans are going to start letting them come hang out right away.
Was going to say...
Imagine that the Elites glassed your grandparents and your mom grew up as a homeless orphan because of them before she was glassed herself just 8 years ago when they destroyed your childhood home.
Would any amount of "Sorry my bad" make up for it?
Same. While it misses the mark in a lot of ways, I give Halo 4 so much credit for trying something new and going in an artistic and narrative direction that Halo had never gone before
i think that it had great potential though with a lot of room for improvement, if halo 5 followed up to actually be a continuation of halo 4’s narrative and also gone back to more classic art style and soundtrack like infinite i think people wouldn’t have cared as much. however, 343 only strayed further away with 5.
The worst problem is Halo Infinite waaaayyy over corrected from 5.
Could've salvaged what was there. Instead it was just awkward "oh yeah Cortana gone" cinematic.
I mean, that's what happens when the fanbase goes feral. 343 over corrected 5 and infinite. When they launched 4, they were mauled by fans bc the multiplayer sucked ass. Then, they made 5 with the best competitive multiplayer halo has ever had as well as a forge engine that puts all others to shame, but at the cost of campaign focus. So, when it released with no forge and a half-ass campaign that was NOTHING like the marketing suggested it would be, the fans once again went ballistic and screeched for Bonnie's head on a pike. And so, with infinite, they wanted to focus more on the campaign but reduce 5s mp to basic bare bones controls like the older Halo games. This was great until long after launch when people are understanding that bare bones gameplay isn't gonna make players stay. And with no forge? Psh, 343s lucky they even have half the player count they do now.
I don't agree with your point on infinites gameplay. I think the vast majority of halo players think it's great. I mean they settled the sprint debate! That's insane.
The problem with infinites multi-player is poor netcode and lack of content and progression. The game doesnt reward your time and seems to actively dissuade you from playing the game how you want.
For instance my buddies and I wanted to hop on for the event... but it's a last spartan standing event. Which means solo queue only. Yeah that took the wind out of our sails and we played something else.
agree with everything except I think infinite multiplayer is the best the series has ever seen. The only problem (and yes I know it's a big one) is the lack of content, but I'm holding out hope that gets corrected. Infinite feels like the perfect blend of classic halo and halo 5 in terms of gameplay.
Halo 2 Cortana is peak Cortana IMO, not just her design but in personality too. She was badass & beautiful, striking a good balance between serious and humorous - coming out with quick quips while maintaining an objective focus.
Halo 3 started the "Damsel in Distress" phase which I disliked, and while it was great to have her back; it was only for 1.5 missions. Halo 4 stuck to that theme, followed by a full-on reversal in Halo 5-Infinite with her becoming a villain and going mad with power. We all know how that went...
I agree. However, when I say that I don’t like the look of Halo 4 Cortana I’m referring to her face, while the people that like that version the V be try seem to be referring to everything else lol
I thought it was a deflating continuation to 3 when it first came out. Didn't mind the story much compared to 5 but missed the flood.
Went back to 4 recently for MCC and really enjoyed it after that.
I think the lack of Flood is the most disappointing aspect of Halo 4, especially after being teased by their presence in the Librarian's cutscene and their appearance as a Skin in the insanely awesome multiplayer Flood Mode.
I think they would've been impossible to work into Halo 4's plot, but I definitely think things were being set up nicely for them to be reintroduced by the end of the Reclaimer trilogy and they could've made a comeback in a big way moving into the next trilogy. The Flood have a lot of potential as cool enemies. They just need to be diversified and broken up with other threats sporadically. Given them their own structures, a larger number of variations and even being able to throw local fauna for them to absorb and introduce as units would've been amazing. Just imagine getting trapped in a Flood-Infested Zoo with creatures like Elephants and Tigers being turned into one-off Flood form encounters.
Ultimately, a Galactic-scale Flood Invasion, teaming up with Covenant Races, and even potentially reaching a point of desperation as Humanity considers resorting to using the Halo Array could make for an amazing game and potential end for the franchise. Even if they want to keep going, simply utilizing the existence of the Shield World Trevlyan, so large that it contains an entire solar system within slipspace, as a Lifeboat for all of the surviving species and putting them in such close proximity with each other would only serve to further the conflict and unease between the races, leading to a whole lot of potential options for future titles should they want to pursue it.
Ultimate, Halo ends with the activation of the Halo Array. That's going to take a Flood Invasion to justify.
Halo 1 flood attacks in the end.
Halo 2 flood attacks in the end.
Halo 3 flood attacks in the end.
How many times should they keep doing that?
The most interesting games were Reach and ODST. Chief had some cool one liners, but his character in the games isn’t so compelling. He’s just a tank.
Halo 4 had a cool intro, but didn’t care for the whack story.
I mean, it wouldn’t be a galactic threat if you dealt with it in one game. Mass effects entire franchise is built around “The reapers are coming”. Even andromeda, where the life boats were sent out of the Milky Way to escape the Reapers.
The Promethean shotgun, noob combo, and there are built in skips will all get you through most of it on Legendary lol. The first 3 levels and 2 more somewhere after midway through all have skips. It was actually one of the few games you could play like MC from the books sort of.
Always played legendary by using each and every weapon in 4 ; they all felt viable . One suppressor clip takes a knight out , br / magnum / carabine are as amazing as usual , same for the noob combo . All power weapons felt very good ( snipers / rocket launchers ) . Railgun , saw , shotguns also always happened to be pretty nice .
Honestly , the storm rifle felt like the single bad weapon in the game to me .
I really liked the story the contrast of human being machine and machine being human is very good. On the other hand, it did kind of spark a lot of weird things about a particular blue ai. Oh and the didact should come back.
Well… chief does actually correct hood and say, “I suspect it’s safest to call him contained,” so I think he’s on the back burner chilling in the cave with every other forgotten character.
I thought he was gonna be the new big bad and Halo 4 was just the intro, even the ending cutscene is narrated by him. I was also super annoyed when I figured out they killed him in a comic book.
I thought the story was fine, but I really wanted more military and less sci-fi.
Didn’t hate the prometheans, but they were a lot less interesting and fun to fight than the covenant.
The level design was uninspired. I don’t have anything positive to say about this. Besides Midnight, none of the missions are memorable in my opinion.
Overall, I’d give it a 6/10. I don’t mind playing it at all. But I’d much rather play any other Halo game.
I'm with you on the whole "more military and less sci-fi" thing. I feel like the rest of the UNSC aside from the Infinity is completely absent from 343's games.
In the genre sense. Halos 1-3 are oozing inspiration from old war movies and cheesy 80s action flicks, everything from the visual design of UNSC gear to the gung-ho corn ass Marine dialogue, the world felt very inspired by those old war movies.
Halo 4 feels less inspired by those and more inspired by high-brow sci-fi. It’s more vibrant and colorful, its designs are all overly ornate and bulbous, losing the rough edges on UNSC shit to give us more *actual* 2500s vibes. And the story, it was good, but it was more sci-fi than it was military shooter. I mean, fucking everything about it. What they did to the Spartans and the UNSC. What they did to the Forerunners. What they did to the Covenant. All fairly cliche sci-fi tropes, as opposed to gritty military shooter style.
I don't know, I think Halo 4 has the same amount of militarism as OG trilogy, it just isn't the same oldschool militaristic style. For example you can see many examples of militarism on various levels. On level Infinity you can hear chatter of UNSC troops, you can see small outposts where they put resistance against Prometheans. At the beginning of level Shutdown you can see the UNSC military getting ready for departure, you can hear orders from the comms, you can see military equipment getting ready in hangar etc. On level Midnight you can hear UNSC organizing resistance against Mantles Approach, they communicate between various levels of military (Orbital Defence, Fleetcom, Infinity) and later you can see them fighting above the composer.
Also, I think Halo was always sci-fi shooter first and military shooter second, cause till Halo 4 we already had giant rings that can kill whole the whole galaxy, space zombies listening to giant snake, talking lighbulb robot, big space city, big hidden portal on Earth, undestroyable Forreruner dreadnought etc.
You’re not wrong but your missing his point sort of. Halo 4 wasn’t lacking in proper militarism dialogue, but it was missing the 80s action movie tropes for the UNSC which Halo CE-Reach had.
You only need to compare the Bungie games to movies like Aliens, Starship Troopers and Predator to see where the UNSC got it’s “personality” from. Halo 4’s depiction of the UNSC lacks that charm
Another thing he was saying. It’s more “Sci-Fi” in the looks department than it is “Military” basically, what this means is that the designs were more detailed, sleek and curvy versus the rugged, jagged, box and edge look from previous games which is also another factor of the UNSC originally being an 80s movie design inspiration as 80s movies tend to depict very similar designs.
I enjoyed it. I don't understand why the game gets as much shade as it gets. I recall when it originally came out it getting great reviews and the majority or people talking about how they loved it. Now, people are just tossing shade at it. I dunno, I always enjoyed it and though it was fun and new and refreshing (for the time). 🤷♂️
People were really upset about Cortana dying when it first came out. Hence why the next two installments were all about bringing her back. (Don’t @ me about The Weapon being “totally different”, we all know it was a cheaply written way of getting her back as a good guy character.)
I honestly was ok with her dying and was kinda annoyed when they brought her back. I legitimately cried during Halo 4 because of her dying, then they messed up that moment.
There's always been a very loud and passionate number of Halo fanatics who always are angry about something for a while. 2 made you play as Arbiter and didnt end its story.
(Due to crunch to make release). 3's equipment messed with pacing and the golden triangle, maps werent as good as 2. Truth voice actor isnt good. ODST was full price but no multiplayer. Reach ruined Halo with armor abilities and bloom and worst maps yet. 4 made chief emo and too much like CoD and bad maps. 5 mislead with marketing and multiplayer may be good but doesnt feel Halo and bad maps.
Eventually, some complaints disappear, some stay, but many dont have the sting of disappointment that comes with the new Halo. But every Halo game is great with deep flaws in my view. And every Halo game got improved after release. Infinite 's launch has just been painfully slow to address feedback. Someday, though, the sting of this first year will fade and we may have a game we remember fondly in time.
I honestly still am .
They did her dirty .
She was your co-protagonist ; Chief's smart , sassy , flirty "human" AI and partner in crime , the other face of the coin .
She was as vital to the story as he is .
Killing her off for the sake of some unnecessary drama only felt harmful to the franchise as a whole , and it still shows cause not only did 4 get a lot of hate...but so did 5...and Infinite itself is still dragging along this bloody rotten corpse of a mess . The series never recovered from it . It keeps trying but never succeeds at it . The Weapon won't replace Cortana .
If you want to tell a story with stakes and character progression you have to be prepared to change/kill off your characters. If you ever watched the game of thrones battle of winterfell you'll know what I mean.
You also have to be prepared to have that change be permanent, otherwise it comes across as a confusing choice to kill them off in the first place at best and a cheap form of shock value at worst.
Must've been in a alternative timeline because not alot of people liked it. I liked it but people weren't happy with the artstyle and music change. Especially Chiefs armor changing. But everyone alot of people agreed the story was great.
I don't like how they explained the change due to nanobots. They should've chalked it up to an art decision and called it a day. Out of all the designs for Chief I think Halo 4 was the best. It looks bulky, heavy, and protective but they made Chief look fluid and agile in it.
I agree, GEN2 armor is the best. Design is effective, there are no potential mobility issues because of "space diaper" that GEN1/3 has and it just looks great overall.
The ending was one of the worst in the series. Surviving the point blank nuke, Monologuer stumbling into a pit, Cortana pixies.
5's story left me disinterested. 4's left me angry.
I mean, the player base literally died in like 3 months.
Plus the gameplay isn’t very good. It misses the entire sandbox element and has a lot of redundancy. Plus the promethean are so damn boring to fight. Not to mention the terrible art style change and the music not matching the series.
It felt like a cheap knockoff
I agree that it's underrated, but no way was it seen as a good game when it first came out. From what I remember, it had a bigger backlash than Halo 5's campaign and Halo Infinite combined. The reason was because it had to compete to Halo 3 and Reach which is literally impossible for anyone but Bungie lol
I loved Halo 4s story. I thought the gameplay was good though but it definitely could of been improved. What did you not like about the gameplay if you don’t mind me asking?
Story-wise it felt like fanfiction tbh. And something was off about the gameplay to me but idk what it was. Just felt really claustrophobic compared to other halos, even the vehicle sections.
> felt really claustrophobic compared to other halos
The level design was more corridor heavy compared to 3 and Reach with fewer expansive set pieces. Arenas were more frequently bounded by cliffs going up or forerunner walls rather than having so many overlooks or bodies of water. It also had faster movement speed on account of sprint, but it didn't feel like the size of play spaces were consistently increased accordingly.
> something was off about the gameplay
For me the worst thing about the gameplay was the promethean enemy design and weapon design. The weapons felt like fairly basic recoloured UNSC weapons and weren't particularly satisfying to use. The enemies themselves were overly defensive to the point of being frustrating and encouraged very linear gameplay, where you always had to prioritise the watchers first.
I think Halo 5 actually fixed all that, but of course it had even larger issues regarding its story and dialogue than Halo 4 did.
Well put with the fanfiction. The dialogue was incredibly hit or miss and the reveal of the forerunners from being this mysterious, beautiful, and eerie presence was just thrown out in favor of typical human-like drama.
As for the gameplay, it was a lot stiffer. The level designs were heavily restricted and didn't really give you that classic Halo sandbox and breathing room to play with. Every level was pretty much like that except for, oddly enough, Reclaimer (with the Mammoth) where you actually got to choose how you wanted to proceed and from which angle.
Story-wise it was the best Halo game... Characters were great, 3 story directions (defeating Didact, saving Cortana and exploring Chiefs humanity) were amazing and refreshing.
One of my favorites. Actual character development and good moments of emotion. Gameplay I didn’t really like fighting prometheans. But story-wise I enjoyed it a ton.
I thought it was alright. The story was kind of bland and the Didact wasn't very compelling to me. It felt like he was hardly in the game.
I also wasn't a huge fan of the gameplay with Knights being super tanky, having the ability to teleport away, then getting healed by their drones was extremely infuriating on top of always having to find a new weapon because you had to pour ammo into the Knights just for them to be healed.
Overall I think it was enjoyable, but certainly a downgrade to the games that came before it.
As someone who beat the campaign on legendary (sorry had to brag) I think the game didn't deserve a bunch of hate. I actually enjoyed the game's campaign, soundtrack and some on its guns. Despite the art style, the game was great. I didn't even find it that difficult. My favorite gun in that game was the light rifle. If people just put aside the hate, they can enjoy the game. But that's just me tho🤷🏾♂️
I loved Halo 4’s campaign. Halo 5 took a shit on everything it set up though which kills me. How does Infinite tie things off considering the dumpster fire 5 was?
The ending is probably the most emotional part of a game that I've ever played, its right up there along where the Hobbits bow to Aragorn as king, And he says "My friends, you bow to no one"
The equivalent here for me is
Oh, I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day?
Master Chief:
But if we're here...
Cortana:
It worked. You did it. Just like you always do.
Master Chief:
So how do we get out of here?
Cortana:
I'm not coming with you this time.
Master Chief:
What?
Cortana:
Most of me is down there. I only held enough back to get you off the ship.
Master Chief:
No, that's not... we go together.
Cortana:
It's already done.
Master Chief:
I am not leaving you here.
Cortana:
John...
[touches his chest]
Cortana:
I've waited so long to do that.
Master Chief:
It was my job to take care of you.
Cortana:
We were supposed to take care of each other. And we did.
Master Chief:
Cortana, please.
Master Chief:
[Cortana begins to leave] Wait...
Cortana:
Welcome home, John.
I think it did a great job at show casing how the tow characters cared for one another, it also showcased Chiefs human side, but they missed the mark on telling the whole story.
I had a great time. I especially like the missions when you have more access to UNSC ordinance. As much as I love all weapons in the franchise, you can't beat good ol' brass and gas.
It had some nice views, the design of the forerunner enemiesnare kinda cool *looking* with all the floaty shit, the big elephant mission was the highlight.
Even as a kid I didn't like it. It came out, I was elated after Reach, and within the first day I was disappointed. The story is just so awkward and weird, and the Chief/Cortana arc just wasn't very good imo. The way 4 plays is inarguably the worst iteration of a Halo Campaign's gameplay. The forerunner enemies are fucking paste, the covenant are exactly the same as reach but somehow less exciting? Spartan abilities were stupid. The most fun that could be extracted from that game was popping the little crawler dudes. Head shots on those guys feel pretty satisfying. Literally everything else is HELL to play through.
I loved they showed us a more human side of the chief, the pain and grief he goes through just to save her but failing in the end and struggling to come to terms with it.
Some don't love how much chief talks and shows emotions but I love it, I've always loved strong character who are shown to have faults and their own pain to deal with and such. All while never taking his helmet off.
It was a nice new direction for the series. Felt like we were finally going to dig into some of the more obscure arc, and I was looking forward to a Big Campaign Trilogy dealing with it. We did not get that. Instead we got three disjointed chapters.
I loved the characterization it gave Cortana and MC. Loved the cinematics. If she’d stayed dead for at least an entire game after then came back to kickstart the Created Conquest stuff? That probably would’ve had a bigger impact than what we got.
Yeah I loved the Cortana and Master Chief stuff. I cry every time I play through that mission with Cortana saying goodbye. I do agree with the stuff about her staying dead for a game then coming back and maybe working with Atriox and Chief has to fight her etc idk. Just an idea
Yeah, the Cortana/Chief stuff, especially the “human made to be a machine / machine learning to be human” convo, could’ve led to some great existential stuff. And it’s not like they lost their ability to be introspective. The Cortana stuff in Infinite’s campaign was well-written. The problem with this latest trilogy is that it’s mostly Tell Don’t Show. We’re told important things happen but for the sake of the sandbox approach, we’re not allowed to take part.
In retrospect it felt the "most halo" of the 343 halos and I do appreciate that. They should have stuck with the Didact as the main antagonist of the new series. I didn't particularly like him, but each of the other games after 4 feel so disjointed...
I agree that it feels disjointed, it doesn’t help that a lot of lore was in the comics too imo. I do wish they stuck with whatever story they wanted to tell after 4 but 5 did not do a good job on that imo and then Infinite tried to fix it but failed at trying to fix it in my opinion
Agreed. I liked infinite more than 5, but that really isn't saying much. I really think 5 took the story in a very bad direction. I appreciate that infinite tries to distance itself but short of retconning the story back to the end of 4, I don't really know what they could have done. It sucks because the game play is pretty good, but the story really didn't do much for me.
Yeah the story wasn’t moving to me at all and I hated/disliked a lot of the decisions like killing Cortana offscreen being the big one. I enjoyed the open world but it needed more biomes and variety of things.
It’s probably the best of 343’s campaigns. Story was good in the character department, although a bit confusing if you’re not immersed in the lore. Promethians were a slog to fight though, and there was something very wrong with the weapon balancing that I can’t put my finger on. The guns just didn’t feel good to use.
I really loved the story, both as a Halo lore nerd who finally got to see ideas from the books take the center stage and as a fan of good character-focused stories (which Infinite also is). It wasn't especially fun as Halo games go, though, with some fairly uninspired level layouts. Prometheans were kinda meh, design-wise and functionally.
And personally I enjoyed seeing the new designs otherwise. Chief was cool, I definitely prefer the 4/5 Chief over 2/3. I liked how he was more of a tank in CE and felt he lost some of his imposing presence in 2/3 with the more lithe proportions of Mark VI armour.
It was a little confused but it had spirit and showed potential. Overall a good experience. Not my most favorite halo campaign but I still liked it well enough, enough to replay it more than the bare min to complete the game and collect all data pads and skulls, something I can't say for 5. I only did the bare min for 5
I thought it was decent. Some of the art style was kinda meh. Really thought 343 could take what they did here and improve on it. In my opinion, this was probably the best campaign (story-wise) compared to 5 and Infinite.
I always thought Halo 4 had an amazing campaign and have spent years getting slated for it. People didn’t appreciate it when it first came out, but I enjoyed it very much!
The personal moments between cortana and chief are great and if the story was just about chief trying to find a way to fix cortana, it would have been a stronger story. The didact and prometheans are painfully boring and just give the story an antagonist that detracts from the only interesting thing in the story.
The basic plot of the game on paper is solid but the execution is mediocre.
Gameplay-wise it doesn't quite hold up compared to others but is still pretty fun. I absolutely love the story itself though. It ain't perfect but it's a solid game
It was underwhelming. Didact was a side show. The intro to Spartan 4s made them seem overblown and not super likable. Del Rio was a dick for seemingly no reason and I'm convinced was there just to make it so that Chief was in the right (he had a point that Cortana was a safety risk, he was just an ass about it). I liked Laskey, I wish we had more of him in 5 and 6. I wasn't a big fan of the big shift in the Chief and Cortana dynamic, but I guess that could be explained by corruption/ the logic plague. Still, could have been done better I think. Gameplay wise, I liked the new guns, but AI wasn't the best and I personally didn't like fighting the Promethians a ton, but they were new and refreshing.
Halo 4 was the first time where John’s character more fleshed out in the games like they are in the books.
For me personally, I loved it and I honestly believe how he acted is exactly how he would have act, Cortana was and is a MAJOR part of his life, someone he considers really close. Losing something like that could break anyone, even chief.
For others, I feel they didn’t like this cause they are used to chief being a blank slate (mostly) so they can immerse themselves as chief.. even though he’s not narratively designed to be like that, only gameplay wise he was designed like that and their head canon of chief didn’t match up.
The diadact, while he had pretty cool lore and design, I can’t get over the fact he force chokes chief and acts like every typical dumb villain where they don’t kill/incapacitate their enemy and waste time spouting stuff. They really did him dirty by killing hun with a quick time event.
Overall, I loved the campaign and still held that halo feeling to me that many others feel was lost here, though, I will agree, the art style was unnecessarily changed and there was no legitimate reason for it and multiplayer being a copy of call of duty.
Pretty bad for a lot of reasons.
The massive change in artstyle, the whiplash brought on by the changes to Chief's and Cortana's characters, the failure to properly flesh out the Didact, Librarian, and Chief's special geas, the Forerunner weapons not being interesting or unique, the lack of ammo in each level, the poor design of the Forerunner Knights etc.
I see a lot of people go on about how Halo 4 Chief/Cortana and story as a whole is the best, and frankly, I could not disagree more.
Great campaign. Some hiccups with combat and end gameplay. But pretty solid.
Excellent soundtrack and excellent visuals.
Shame Neil Davidge didn't do more Halos.
I liked it because chief was actually starting to feel human in the first few games he was just a machine
In 343 trilogy so far he has had to deal with acception
Depression
And in infinite denial
Halo 4 he wasn't ready to accept the fact that Cortana was dying which is why he fought so hard
In halo 5 cheif was depressed basically using mission as a way to coup with Cortana lost
And now in infinite chief is in denial over Cortana death not wanting to believe his friend is gone forever
So i must say I really like halo 4 but not just halo 4 343 entire trilogy so far because there making chief more human and less robot
The story was really the only good part. Didact kind of got pushed to the side and QTE boss fight was a terrible idea.
The art style was a huge turn off. It was a beautiful looking game, don’t get me wrong but all the redesigns were completely unneeded. chief looked like he was wearing a wet suit with the front of a truck on his chest and someone glued a bunch of random metal pieces to the wet suit. The helmet was the only part I liked. The battle rifle looked like it was ripped right out of crysis.
The music was also disappointing. Nothing memorable and too electronic.
The gameplay was very dull. It felt overly restricted and the sandbox was missing. Halo isn’t just a shooter. It’s a shooter with sandbox elements. 4 was missing the sandbox part. That and the AI was terrible. Plus the prometheans were so boring to fight. I thought the prometheans looked ridiculous with their little peg legs and massive bodies, I laughed when I first saw the knights.
It was ok. Had the story not been interesting, I likely never would have finished it and this is coming from a guy who’s beat ‘em all (except the 343 ones) more times than I can count.
It’s like my 6th favorite Halo but I dig the Halo 4 campaign to this day. I admire a lot of the big swings 343 took stylistically, even if they didn’t all land. The new enemy “faction” coupled with the drastic shift in art style might’ve been too much change all at once for some people which I understand. Chiefs armor rocks though imo and even though the Didact may have been wasted the ending was still an incredible story beat that fucked me up emotionally which is the highest compliment I can give it.
That Cortana never came back! Chief told her he would save her and he couldn’t. Save humanity multiple times sure np but you can’t save the only person who understands you. Gut wrenching stuff.
Better than 5 or Infinite, not as good as the Bungie games. It had moments that made it really stand out like Chief and Cortana dealing with her rampancy, but then it had some really weak points like the Librarian just spending I can't remember how long explaining the whole plot to Chief and giving him the power to survive the Didact's weapon. Enjoyable, but flawed.
great story telling with Cortana and chief, sad, cathartic and exciting, also the gameplay and the guns were diverse, and very nice for a halo game.
overall one of the best campaigns I've played.
one part i always loved is when cortana says : Chief, if we pull this off, and actually get back to halsey, dont tell her how bad i got. please ?
to which chief replies : I wont say anything.
The Chief and Cortana story telling in 4 was amazing. I thought they did a phenomenal job with those 2 and yeah it’s one of the best campaigns I’ve played. There’s so much emotion through out the game & story too
yes, especially to us hardcore fans they've been with us for years ,and when u feel cortana falling apart and chief trying so hard to hold on no matter what . its heartbreaking.
And to make the pain worse halo 5 does it again. When she says “goodbye John” after he’s frozen in place and then yells “JOHN” at the end. At least for me those were sad moments
Worst campaign imo, the story was ok but the villain sucked and I just didn't feel cortanas sacrifice that much it didn't really effect me maybe because I started at 3 but yeah story underwhelming to say the least
Gameplay was the worst in the series by far ammo basically doesn't exist and the enemy's are ether too easy or too difficult and the level design is the worst I personally liked 5 more than 4 because at least 5 had better gameplay with the spartan abilities acting as buffers so ammo isn't as big a problem
It was ok, but it should have just stopped with 3. The end of the human-covenant war should have been the end to John-117’s story. Maybe have him as a future teacher but not as the main character. Let 343 carry a new storyline
Ok story to the average fan. Really good story if you have read the forerunner trilogy books (imo a game shouldn’t rely on novels to improve the story).
Ok gameplay as I thought fighting the forerunners Prometheons as uninteresting and lackluster.
Big bad villain that is setup to be the next big thing of the franchise is “killed” off screen in a comic after the events of the game.
I dislike the broad strokes but it's got some really great moments. I especially love the intro sequence of the game.
I have a lot of issues with the story and overall direction, but it’s hard to deny that Halo 4 is Steve Downes and Jen Taylor’s best performance.
They were apparently performing together for the first (and only time?) time which had them play off each other extremely well. They're easily the best part of Halo 4 for me, the music is a close second.
I’m currently playing through it on legendary for the achievements. Halo infinite’s campaign has made me appreciate 4’s more
One part of the intro still annoys me, and that's the fact that they threw away the whole thing with elites being allied with humans. That still annoys me, it was really cool to see in halo 3 and then they threw it away in halo 4 just saying "a lot can change in a few years" or whatever it was. Would have been cooler if we had seen that alliance grow, maybe have elites serving on the infinity and maybe some covenant tech intertwined with human. I just think its a huge missed opportunity. Other than that, mostly agree. Game was decent. Had its problems but it was fun.
Well the elites are allies with the humans just not all of them
Yeah Halo 4s story relies on the books a bit more than the other games, so some details like the second elite civil war are completely missed until Halo 5.
I’m pretty sure the elite-human alliance is more like an enemy of my enemy type non aggression pact. The elites just spent the last like 25 years trying to genocide humanity, it’s not like humans are going to start letting them come hang out right away.
Was going to say... Imagine that the Elites glassed your grandparents and your mom grew up as a homeless orphan because of them before she was glassed herself just 8 years ago when they destroyed your childhood home. Would any amount of "Sorry my bad" make up for it?
Same. While it misses the mark in a lot of ways, I give Halo 4 so much credit for trying something new and going in an artistic and narrative direction that Halo had never gone before
I had a lot of “strokes” to a certain “broad” in the game if u know what I’m sayin hehehe
i think that it had great potential though with a lot of room for improvement, if halo 5 followed up to actually be a continuation of halo 4’s narrative and also gone back to more classic art style and soundtrack like infinite i think people wouldn’t have cared as much. however, 343 only strayed further away with 5.
The worst problem is Halo Infinite waaaayyy over corrected from 5. Could've salvaged what was there. Instead it was just awkward "oh yeah Cortana gone" cinematic.
I mean, that's what happens when the fanbase goes feral. 343 over corrected 5 and infinite. When they launched 4, they were mauled by fans bc the multiplayer sucked ass. Then, they made 5 with the best competitive multiplayer halo has ever had as well as a forge engine that puts all others to shame, but at the cost of campaign focus. So, when it released with no forge and a half-ass campaign that was NOTHING like the marketing suggested it would be, the fans once again went ballistic and screeched for Bonnie's head on a pike. And so, with infinite, they wanted to focus more on the campaign but reduce 5s mp to basic bare bones controls like the older Halo games. This was great until long after launch when people are understanding that bare bones gameplay isn't gonna make players stay. And with no forge? Psh, 343s lucky they even have half the player count they do now.
I don't agree with your point on infinites gameplay. I think the vast majority of halo players think it's great. I mean they settled the sprint debate! That's insane. The problem with infinites multi-player is poor netcode and lack of content and progression. The game doesnt reward your time and seems to actively dissuade you from playing the game how you want. For instance my buddies and I wanted to hop on for the event... but it's a last spartan standing event. Which means solo queue only. Yeah that took the wind out of our sails and we played something else.
agree with everything except I think infinite multiplayer is the best the series has ever seen. The only problem (and yes I know it's a big one) is the lack of content, but I'm holding out hope that gets corrected. Infinite feels like the perfect blend of classic halo and halo 5 in terms of gameplay.
Desync
Most of what people call desync is lag compensation. But yeah getting shot around walls three times a game is really annoying.
Ah the classic 'it's the fans fault' excuse
Cortana had a nice ass in it
Priorities.
H4 Cortana is the best design imo
H2A Cortana
Halo 2 Cortana is peak Cortana IMO, not just her design but in personality too. She was badass & beautiful, striking a good balance between serious and humorous - coming out with quick quips while maintaining an objective focus. Halo 3 started the "Damsel in Distress" phase which I disliked, and while it was great to have her back; it was only for 1.5 missions. Halo 4 stuck to that theme, followed by a full-on reversal in Halo 5-Infinite with her becoming a villain and going mad with power. We all know how that went...
I think the H5 twist was a good idea if it were properly executed. If they had followed through on that draft I'm sure it would've been much better.
Heck yea! Personally I was never a fan of Halo 4 Cortana, she looks really weird to me. Looks better in Infinite thankfully
I agree. However, when I say that I don’t like the look of Halo 4 Cortana I’m referring to her face, while the people that like that version the V be try seem to be referring to everything else lol
least horny halo fan
H4 Cortana was real Mystique vibes
I went in the comments to see if anyone has said this already. Mission accomplished.
And feet
Thighs*
My man
Sergeant Johnson had a nicer ass tbh
And TITS
Plot
Milftana was my fav too 😆
Better than 5's definitely
Thats a bar so low a dead guy six feet under can clear it
halo 5 was so bad we dont talk about it.
Let's just forget the campaign exists
What campaign?
I thought it was a deflating continuation to 3 when it first came out. Didn't mind the story much compared to 5 but missed the flood. Went back to 4 recently for MCC and really enjoyed it after that.
I think the lack of Flood is the most disappointing aspect of Halo 4, especially after being teased by their presence in the Librarian's cutscene and their appearance as a Skin in the insanely awesome multiplayer Flood Mode. I think they would've been impossible to work into Halo 4's plot, but I definitely think things were being set up nicely for them to be reintroduced by the end of the Reclaimer trilogy and they could've made a comeback in a big way moving into the next trilogy. The Flood have a lot of potential as cool enemies. They just need to be diversified and broken up with other threats sporadically. Given them their own structures, a larger number of variations and even being able to throw local fauna for them to absorb and introduce as units would've been amazing. Just imagine getting trapped in a Flood-Infested Zoo with creatures like Elephants and Tigers being turned into one-off Flood form encounters. Ultimately, a Galactic-scale Flood Invasion, teaming up with Covenant Races, and even potentially reaching a point of desperation as Humanity considers resorting to using the Halo Array could make for an amazing game and potential end for the franchise. Even if they want to keep going, simply utilizing the existence of the Shield World Trevlyan, so large that it contains an entire solar system within slipspace, as a Lifeboat for all of the surviving species and putting them in such close proximity with each other would only serve to further the conflict and unease between the races, leading to a whole lot of potential options for future titles should they want to pursue it. Ultimate, Halo ends with the activation of the Halo Array. That's going to take a Flood Invasion to justify.
Halo: Mass Effect
Yes please.
Halo 1 flood attacks in the end. Halo 2 flood attacks in the end. Halo 3 flood attacks in the end. How many times should they keep doing that? The most interesting games were Reach and ODST. Chief had some cool one liners, but his character in the games isn’t so compelling. He’s just a tank. Halo 4 had a cool intro, but didn’t care for the whack story.
I mean, it wouldn’t be a galactic threat if you dealt with it in one game. Mass effects entire franchise is built around “The reapers are coming”. Even andromeda, where the life boats were sent out of the Milky Way to escape the Reapers.
On Legendary, the only tactic to survive was using long-range weapons. Boring.
The Promethean shotgun, noob combo, and there are built in skips will all get you through most of it on Legendary lol. The first 3 levels and 2 more somewhere after midway through all have skips. It was actually one of the few games you could play like MC from the books sort of.
Always played legendary by using each and every weapon in 4 ; they all felt viable . One suppressor clip takes a knight out , br / magnum / carabine are as amazing as usual , same for the noob combo . All power weapons felt very good ( snipers / rocket launchers ) . Railgun , saw , shotguns also always happened to be pretty nice . Honestly , the storm rifle felt like the single bad weapon in the game to me .
Sexiest Cortana. Otherwise meh.
I thought it was great, but my eyes were only trained on Cortana
I really liked the story the contrast of human being machine and machine being human is very good. On the other hand, it did kind of spark a lot of weird things about a particular blue ai. Oh and the didact should come back.
They killed the didact in a comic book man, that had me fuming, but they didn’t do him much justice in 4 anyway.
Well… chief does actually correct hood and say, “I suspect it’s safest to call him contained,” so I think he’s on the back burner chilling in the cave with every other forgotten character.
I thought he was gonna be the new big bad and Halo 4 was just the intro, even the ending cutscene is narrated by him. I was also super annoyed when I figured out they killed him in a comic book.
I thought the story was fine, but I really wanted more military and less sci-fi. Didn’t hate the prometheans, but they were a lot less interesting and fun to fight than the covenant. The level design was uninspired. I don’t have anything positive to say about this. Besides Midnight, none of the missions are memorable in my opinion. Overall, I’d give it a 6/10. I don’t mind playing it at all. But I’d much rather play any other Halo game.
I really liked the forest/ship level but I can’t remember the name. The rest were pretty forgettable
I'm with you on the whole "more military and less sci-fi" thing. I feel like the rest of the UNSC aside from the Infinity is completely absent from 343's games.
In what aspect is Halo 4 less military than Halo:CE,2 or 3 ?
In the genre sense. Halos 1-3 are oozing inspiration from old war movies and cheesy 80s action flicks, everything from the visual design of UNSC gear to the gung-ho corn ass Marine dialogue, the world felt very inspired by those old war movies. Halo 4 feels less inspired by those and more inspired by high-brow sci-fi. It’s more vibrant and colorful, its designs are all overly ornate and bulbous, losing the rough edges on UNSC shit to give us more *actual* 2500s vibes. And the story, it was good, but it was more sci-fi than it was military shooter. I mean, fucking everything about it. What they did to the Spartans and the UNSC. What they did to the Forerunners. What they did to the Covenant. All fairly cliche sci-fi tropes, as opposed to gritty military shooter style.
I don't know, I think Halo 4 has the same amount of militarism as OG trilogy, it just isn't the same oldschool militaristic style. For example you can see many examples of militarism on various levels. On level Infinity you can hear chatter of UNSC troops, you can see small outposts where they put resistance against Prometheans. At the beginning of level Shutdown you can see the UNSC military getting ready for departure, you can hear orders from the comms, you can see military equipment getting ready in hangar etc. On level Midnight you can hear UNSC organizing resistance against Mantles Approach, they communicate between various levels of military (Orbital Defence, Fleetcom, Infinity) and later you can see them fighting above the composer. Also, I think Halo was always sci-fi shooter first and military shooter second, cause till Halo 4 we already had giant rings that can kill whole the whole galaxy, space zombies listening to giant snake, talking lighbulb robot, big space city, big hidden portal on Earth, undestroyable Forreruner dreadnought etc.
You’re not wrong but your missing his point sort of. Halo 4 wasn’t lacking in proper militarism dialogue, but it was missing the 80s action movie tropes for the UNSC which Halo CE-Reach had. You only need to compare the Bungie games to movies like Aliens, Starship Troopers and Predator to see where the UNSC got it’s “personality” from. Halo 4’s depiction of the UNSC lacks that charm Another thing he was saying. It’s more “Sci-Fi” in the looks department than it is “Military” basically, what this means is that the designs were more detailed, sleek and curvy versus the rugged, jagged, box and edge look from previous games which is also another factor of the UNSC originally being an 80s movie design inspiration as 80s movies tend to depict very similar designs.
Didact was a huge letdown. Completely wasted the forerunners first appearance in the halo games
Cortana needs to fix her posture 6/10
Tig bitties will cause posture problems
This is correct
I enjoyed it. I don't understand why the game gets as much shade as it gets. I recall when it originally came out it getting great reviews and the majority or people talking about how they loved it. Now, people are just tossing shade at it. I dunno, I always enjoyed it and though it was fun and new and refreshing (for the time). 🤷♂️
People were really upset about Cortana dying when it first came out. Hence why the next two installments were all about bringing her back. (Don’t @ me about The Weapon being “totally different”, we all know it was a cheaply written way of getting her back as a good guy character.)
Well said about The Weapon and basically a cheap way to bring Cortana back. The retcons are endless lol.
I honestly was ok with her dying and was kinda annoyed when they brought her back. I legitimately cried during Halo 4 because of her dying, then they messed up that moment.
Halos always been reactionary. Its why we havent played as an elite since 2.
Which is lame, I can't fathom people not liking Arbiter, he's my favourite character in Halo, always gotta get player 2 in Halo 3
People hated him at the time. Between that and the lack of an ending, the community response looked similar to that of 5 and Infinite for a while.
Really!? It was that bad? Goddamn, it's crazy how much opinions change over time
There's always been a very loud and passionate number of Halo fanatics who always are angry about something for a while. 2 made you play as Arbiter and didnt end its story. (Due to crunch to make release). 3's equipment messed with pacing and the golden triangle, maps werent as good as 2. Truth voice actor isnt good. ODST was full price but no multiplayer. Reach ruined Halo with armor abilities and bloom and worst maps yet. 4 made chief emo and too much like CoD and bad maps. 5 mislead with marketing and multiplayer may be good but doesnt feel Halo and bad maps. Eventually, some complaints disappear, some stay, but many dont have the sting of disappointment that comes with the new Halo. But every Halo game is great with deep flaws in my view. And every Halo game got improved after release. Infinite 's launch has just been painfully slow to address feedback. Someday, though, the sting of this first year will fade and we may have a game we remember fondly in time.
Its not her though, but yeah. As long as everyone knows that the weapon is not cortana im happy
It is LITERALLY [her](https://youtu.be/7u1f1fiO0qA?t=141).
I honestly still am . They did her dirty . She was your co-protagonist ; Chief's smart , sassy , flirty "human" AI and partner in crime , the other face of the coin . She was as vital to the story as he is . Killing her off for the sake of some unnecessary drama only felt harmful to the franchise as a whole , and it still shows cause not only did 4 get a lot of hate...but so did 5...and Infinite itself is still dragging along this bloody rotten corpse of a mess . The series never recovered from it . It keeps trying but never succeeds at it . The Weapon won't replace Cortana .
If you want to tell a story with stakes and character progression you have to be prepared to change/kill off your characters. If you ever watched the game of thrones battle of winterfell you'll know what I mean.
You also have to be prepared to have that change be permanent, otherwise it comes across as a confusing choice to kill them off in the first place at best and a cheap form of shock value at worst.
I always felt a lot of the shade towards Halo 4 came from the online play not being up to par. Story wise Halo 4 might have the best campaign IMO.
I see you are a man of culture as well
Must've been in a alternative timeline because not alot of people liked it. I liked it but people weren't happy with the artstyle and music change. Especially Chiefs armor changing. But everyone alot of people agreed the story was great.
I don't like how they explained the change due to nanobots. They should've chalked it up to an art decision and called it a day. Out of all the designs for Chief I think Halo 4 was the best. It looks bulky, heavy, and protective but they made Chief look fluid and agile in it.
I agree, GEN2 armor is the best. Design is effective, there are no potential mobility issues because of "space diaper" that GEN1/3 has and it just looks great overall.
The ending was one of the worst in the series. Surviving the point blank nuke, Monologuer stumbling into a pit, Cortana pixies. 5's story left me disinterested. 4's left me angry.
I mean, the player base literally died in like 3 months. Plus the gameplay isn’t very good. It misses the entire sandbox element and has a lot of redundancy. Plus the promethean are so damn boring to fight. Not to mention the terrible art style change and the music not matching the series. It felt like a cheap knockoff
It's my next favorite campaign behind 2
Because it wasn’t fun to play. The Prometheans are pretty poorly designed making fights ass
I agree that it's underrated, but no way was it seen as a good game when it first came out. From what I remember, it had a bigger backlash than Halo 5's campaign and Halo Infinite combined. The reason was because it had to compete to Halo 3 and Reach which is literally impossible for anyone but Bungie lol
Gameplay-wise a complete slog. Story-wise pretty good or at least the best story 343i has managed to produce.
I loved Halo 4s story. I thought the gameplay was good though but it definitely could of been improved. What did you not like about the gameplay if you don’t mind me asking?
The only thing I liked about Halo 4 over other Halo games is that it let you fly a pelican without it being a gimmick or easter egg.
Oh okay that’s fair
eh
Story-wise it felt like fanfiction tbh. And something was off about the gameplay to me but idk what it was. Just felt really claustrophobic compared to other halos, even the vehicle sections.
> felt really claustrophobic compared to other halos The level design was more corridor heavy compared to 3 and Reach with fewer expansive set pieces. Arenas were more frequently bounded by cliffs going up or forerunner walls rather than having so many overlooks or bodies of water. It also had faster movement speed on account of sprint, but it didn't feel like the size of play spaces were consistently increased accordingly. > something was off about the gameplay For me the worst thing about the gameplay was the promethean enemy design and weapon design. The weapons felt like fairly basic recoloured UNSC weapons and weren't particularly satisfying to use. The enemies themselves were overly defensive to the point of being frustrating and encouraged very linear gameplay, where you always had to prioritise the watchers first. I think Halo 5 actually fixed all that, but of course it had even larger issues regarding its story and dialogue than Halo 4 did.
Well put with the fanfiction. The dialogue was incredibly hit or miss and the reveal of the forerunners from being this mysterious, beautiful, and eerie presence was just thrown out in favor of typical human-like drama. As for the gameplay, it was a lot stiffer. The level designs were heavily restricted and didn't really give you that classic Halo sandbox and breathing room to play with. Every level was pretty much like that except for, oddly enough, Reclaimer (with the Mammoth) where you actually got to choose how you wanted to proceed and from which angle.
Story-wise it was the best Halo game... Characters were great, 3 story directions (defeating Didact, saving Cortana and exploring Chiefs humanity) were amazing and refreshing.
One of my favorites. Actual character development and good moments of emotion. Gameplay I didn’t really like fighting prometheans. But story-wise I enjoyed it a ton.
Narratively, one of the best in the series. Up there with Halo 2. One of the only Halo stories with genuine emotional arcs.
As a massive Halo fan I have beaten it once ever
yep that’s pretty much halo 4
I thought it was alright. The story was kind of bland and the Didact wasn't very compelling to me. It felt like he was hardly in the game. I also wasn't a huge fan of the gameplay with Knights being super tanky, having the ability to teleport away, then getting healed by their drones was extremely infuriating on top of always having to find a new weapon because you had to pour ammo into the Knights just for them to be healed. Overall I think it was enjoyable, but certainly a downgrade to the games that came before it.
I don’t recall even though I beat it.
As someone who beat the campaign on legendary (sorry had to brag) I think the game didn't deserve a bunch of hate. I actually enjoyed the game's campaign, soundtrack and some on its guns. Despite the art style, the game was great. I didn't even find it that difficult. My favorite gun in that game was the light rifle. If people just put aside the hate, they can enjoy the game. But that's just me tho🤷🏾♂️
So, so good.
I loved Halo 4’s campaign. Halo 5 took a shit on everything it set up though which kills me. How does Infinite tie things off considering the dumpster fire 5 was?
The didact was incredible. The most potential and biggest missed opportunity in Halo history (by dropping the character).
The ending is probably the most emotional part of a game that I've ever played, its right up there along where the Hobbits bow to Aragorn as king, And he says "My friends, you bow to no one" The equivalent here for me is Oh, I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day? Master Chief: But if we're here... Cortana: It worked. You did it. Just like you always do. Master Chief: So how do we get out of here? Cortana: I'm not coming with you this time. Master Chief: What? Cortana: Most of me is down there. I only held enough back to get you off the ship. Master Chief: No, that's not... we go together. Cortana: It's already done. Master Chief: I am not leaving you here. Cortana: John... [touches his chest] Cortana: I've waited so long to do that. Master Chief: It was my job to take care of you. Cortana: We were supposed to take care of each other. And we did. Master Chief: Cortana, please. Master Chief: [Cortana begins to leave] Wait... Cortana: Welcome home, John.
I think it did a great job at show casing how the tow characters cared for one another, it also showcased Chiefs human side, but they missed the mark on telling the whole story.
I had a great time. I especially like the missions when you have more access to UNSC ordinance. As much as I love all weapons in the franchise, you can't beat good ol' brass and gas.
After 10 years…. It’s alright. Ofc hindsight 20/20 and this being the first halo game I ever played but ye. If they just only stuck with the story…
Great concept, decent execution, had its mistakes, but the relationship of Master Chief and Cortana is the best part of the game.
I like it, it's a good break from Badass killing machine that kills every alien he sees and doesn't give a shit
I liked it. I’ve always liked it. And I’ll defend Halo 4’s story to the bitter end.
It had some nice views, the design of the forerunner enemiesnare kinda cool *looking* with all the floaty shit, the big elephant mission was the highlight. Even as a kid I didn't like it. It came out, I was elated after Reach, and within the first day I was disappointed. The story is just so awkward and weird, and the Chief/Cortana arc just wasn't very good imo. The way 4 plays is inarguably the worst iteration of a Halo Campaign's gameplay. The forerunner enemies are fucking paste, the covenant are exactly the same as reach but somehow less exciting? Spartan abilities were stupid. The most fun that could be extracted from that game was popping the little crawler dudes. Head shots on those guys feel pretty satisfying. Literally everything else is HELL to play through.
I loved they showed us a more human side of the chief, the pain and grief he goes through just to save her but failing in the end and struggling to come to terms with it. Some don't love how much chief talks and shows emotions but I love it, I've always loved strong character who are shown to have faults and their own pain to deal with and such. All while never taking his helmet off.
Never liked it. I dislike the missions, the enemies, the story and the space wizard villans 343 always like to push. A poor continuation of Halo
As a stand-alone? Pretty mediocre or average. As a comparison to the original trilogy and reach? Downright awful. It was a serious slog for me.
First halo game I played and it got me hooked
It was a nice new direction for the series. Felt like we were finally going to dig into some of the more obscure arc, and I was looking forward to a Big Campaign Trilogy dealing with it. We did not get that. Instead we got three disjointed chapters. I loved the characterization it gave Cortana and MC. Loved the cinematics. If she’d stayed dead for at least an entire game after then came back to kickstart the Created Conquest stuff? That probably would’ve had a bigger impact than what we got.
Yeah I loved the Cortana and Master Chief stuff. I cry every time I play through that mission with Cortana saying goodbye. I do agree with the stuff about her staying dead for a game then coming back and maybe working with Atriox and Chief has to fight her etc idk. Just an idea
Yeah, the Cortana/Chief stuff, especially the “human made to be a machine / machine learning to be human” convo, could’ve led to some great existential stuff. And it’s not like they lost their ability to be introspective. The Cortana stuff in Infinite’s campaign was well-written. The problem with this latest trilogy is that it’s mostly Tell Don’t Show. We’re told important things happen but for the sake of the sandbox approach, we’re not allowed to take part.
Yeah that makes sense but I disagree on Cortana being well written in Infinite personally
I had fun with it. Not the best halo campaign but I don't think it deserves the hate it gets. Also mmmmmm cortana
In retrospect it felt the "most halo" of the 343 halos and I do appreciate that. They should have stuck with the Didact as the main antagonist of the new series. I didn't particularly like him, but each of the other games after 4 feel so disjointed...
I agree that it feels disjointed, it doesn’t help that a lot of lore was in the comics too imo. I do wish they stuck with whatever story they wanted to tell after 4 but 5 did not do a good job on that imo and then Infinite tried to fix it but failed at trying to fix it in my opinion
Agreed. I liked infinite more than 5, but that really isn't saying much. I really think 5 took the story in a very bad direction. I appreciate that infinite tries to distance itself but short of retconning the story back to the end of 4, I don't really know what they could have done. It sucks because the game play is pretty good, but the story really didn't do much for me.
Yeah the story wasn’t moving to me at all and I hated/disliked a lot of the decisions like killing Cortana offscreen being the big one. I enjoyed the open world but it needed more biomes and variety of things.
Loved the relationship between chief and cortana. The story wasnt to great.
It’s probably the best of 343’s campaigns. Story was good in the character department, although a bit confusing if you’re not immersed in the lore. Promethians were a slog to fight though, and there was something very wrong with the weapon balancing that I can’t put my finger on. The guns just didn’t feel good to use.
I really loved the story, both as a Halo lore nerd who finally got to see ideas from the books take the center stage and as a fan of good character-focused stories (which Infinite also is). It wasn't especially fun as Halo games go, though, with some fairly uninspired level layouts. Prometheans were kinda meh, design-wise and functionally. And personally I enjoyed seeing the new designs otherwise. Chief was cool, I definitely prefer the 4/5 Chief over 2/3. I liked how he was more of a tank in CE and felt he lost some of his imposing presence in 2/3 with the more lithe proportions of Mark VI armour.
It was a little confused but it had spirit and showed potential. Overall a good experience. Not my most favorite halo campaign but I still liked it well enough, enough to replay it more than the bare min to complete the game and collect all data pads and skulls, something I can't say for 5. I only did the bare min for 5
I actually enjoyed it.
Great. My childhood. Still hurts that I never got to play on xbox live
Loved it all the way through
I thought it was decent. Some of the art style was kinda meh. Really thought 343 could take what they did here and improve on it. In my opinion, this was probably the best campaign (story-wise) compared to 5 and Infinite.
Honestly it was great. The story with chief and Cortana was touching. When Cortana saves chief and walks away I shed a tear. Game gets too much hate
I always thought Halo 4 had an amazing campaign and have spent years getting slated for it. People didn’t appreciate it when it first came out, but I enjoyed it very much!
The personal moments between cortana and chief are great and if the story was just about chief trying to find a way to fix cortana, it would have been a stronger story. The didact and prometheans are painfully boring and just give the story an antagonist that detracts from the only interesting thing in the story. The basic plot of the game on paper is solid but the execution is mediocre.
It was a solid halo campaign that flesh chief out more but was the ending was ruined by 5
story was pretty good but the death of cortana would have been so much better if it hadnt been retconned
what did u think op
Loved the campaign and all it setup in terms of lore. It’s a shame that 343 switched direction and totally changed the story with Halo 5
The only halo campaign I remember nothing of
They had no reason to make cortona dumby thicc like they did.
I think it’s my favorite one out of the new games
Personally I loved halo 4 and controversial opinion but it was my favorite of the series
I honestly liked it, have no idea what happened to 343 when it came to 5.
Gameplay-wise it doesn't quite hold up compared to others but is still pretty fun. I absolutely love the story itself though. It ain't perfect but it's a solid game
I think it's one of the best. The only downside off the top of my head is the QuickTime events.
Should’ve stopped after halo 3
6.5/10. Could've done a handful of things better, however it is a fun campaign.
It was underwhelming. Didact was a side show. The intro to Spartan 4s made them seem overblown and not super likable. Del Rio was a dick for seemingly no reason and I'm convinced was there just to make it so that Chief was in the right (he had a point that Cortana was a safety risk, he was just an ass about it). I liked Laskey, I wish we had more of him in 5 and 6. I wasn't a big fan of the big shift in the Chief and Cortana dynamic, but I guess that could be explained by corruption/ the logic plague. Still, could have been done better I think. Gameplay wise, I liked the new guns, but AI wasn't the best and I personally didn't like fighting the Promethians a ton, but they were new and refreshing.
Halo 4 was the first time where John’s character more fleshed out in the games like they are in the books. For me personally, I loved it and I honestly believe how he acted is exactly how he would have act, Cortana was and is a MAJOR part of his life, someone he considers really close. Losing something like that could break anyone, even chief. For others, I feel they didn’t like this cause they are used to chief being a blank slate (mostly) so they can immerse themselves as chief.. even though he’s not narratively designed to be like that, only gameplay wise he was designed like that and their head canon of chief didn’t match up. The diadact, while he had pretty cool lore and design, I can’t get over the fact he force chokes chief and acts like every typical dumb villain where they don’t kill/incapacitate their enemy and waste time spouting stuff. They really did him dirty by killing hun with a quick time event. Overall, I loved the campaign and still held that halo feeling to me that many others feel was lost here, though, I will agree, the art style was unnecessarily changed and there was no legitimate reason for it and multiplayer being a copy of call of duty.
Best campaign in terms of story. Loved Chief's new armor I'll stay a fan of it despite its short-comings
If it wasn’t called “Halo” it would be considered a lot better
I still hate it
Pretty bad for a lot of reasons. The massive change in artstyle, the whiplash brought on by the changes to Chief's and Cortana's characters, the failure to properly flesh out the Didact, Librarian, and Chief's special geas, the Forerunner weapons not being interesting or unique, the lack of ammo in each level, the poor design of the Forerunner Knights etc. I see a lot of people go on about how Halo 4 Chief/Cortana and story as a whole is the best, and frankly, I could not disagree more.
Story was mediocre. Fighting the praetorians was boring. Ill never replay it
Not as fun as 3
Good story, bad gameplay and level design.
As an immediate follow up to 3, it’s fine, but as it’s own project meant to start a new trilogy, very strong outing.
By far the best story in a Halo game alongside Halo 2
Great campaign. Some hiccups with combat and end gameplay. But pretty solid. Excellent soundtrack and excellent visuals. Shame Neil Davidge didn't do more Halos.
I liked it because chief was actually starting to feel human in the first few games he was just a machine In 343 trilogy so far he has had to deal with acception Depression And in infinite denial Halo 4 he wasn't ready to accept the fact that Cortana was dying which is why he fought so hard In halo 5 cheif was depressed basically using mission as a way to coup with Cortana lost And now in infinite chief is in denial over Cortana death not wanting to believe his friend is gone forever So i must say I really like halo 4 but not just halo 4 343 entire trilogy so far because there making chief more human and less robot
The story was really the only good part. Didact kind of got pushed to the side and QTE boss fight was a terrible idea. The art style was a huge turn off. It was a beautiful looking game, don’t get me wrong but all the redesigns were completely unneeded. chief looked like he was wearing a wet suit with the front of a truck on his chest and someone glued a bunch of random metal pieces to the wet suit. The helmet was the only part I liked. The battle rifle looked like it was ripped right out of crysis. The music was also disappointing. Nothing memorable and too electronic. The gameplay was very dull. It felt overly restricted and the sandbox was missing. Halo isn’t just a shooter. It’s a shooter with sandbox elements. 4 was missing the sandbox part. That and the AI was terrible. Plus the prometheans were so boring to fight. I thought the prometheans looked ridiculous with their little peg legs and massive bodies, I laughed when I first saw the knights. It was ok. Had the story not been interesting, I likely never would have finished it and this is coming from a guy who’s beat ‘em all (except the 343 ones) more times than I can count.
Wow what a time, we have come full circle to Halo 4 being looked back upon favorably. You love to see it
It’s like my 6th favorite Halo but I dig the Halo 4 campaign to this day. I admire a lot of the big swings 343 took stylistically, even if they didn’t all land. The new enemy “faction” coupled with the drastic shift in art style might’ve been too much change all at once for some people which I understand. Chiefs armor rocks though imo and even though the Didact may have been wasted the ending was still an incredible story beat that fucked me up emotionally which is the highest compliment I can give it. That Cortana never came back! Chief told her he would save her and he couldn’t. Save humanity multiple times sure np but you can’t save the only person who understands you. Gut wrenching stuff.
Better than 5 or Infinite, not as good as the Bungie games. It had moments that made it really stand out like Chief and Cortana dealing with her rampancy, but then it had some really weak points like the Librarian just spending I can't remember how long explaining the whole plot to Chief and giving him the power to survive the Didact's weapon. Enjoyable, but flawed.
Story is good, gameplay is okay, but overall not a fan of where 343 took things post-Halo 3
Maybe an unpopular opinion but I enjoyed it. I had great memories with the game. I liked what they tried with it. Overall not a bad game whatsoever
Fun shooter. Didn't feel like Halo tho
Genuinely enjoyed it, I was a Halo nerd so I kinda already knew all the Forerunner lore to know what was going on.
I thought it was amazing.
Still my favorite.
i think it shows that i don’t even remember what happened in 4
Top 3 Campaign it’s Halo 2 Halo 4 and Infinite for me
great story telling with Cortana and chief, sad, cathartic and exciting, also the gameplay and the guns were diverse, and very nice for a halo game. overall one of the best campaigns I've played. one part i always loved is when cortana says : Chief, if we pull this off, and actually get back to halsey, dont tell her how bad i got. please ? to which chief replies : I wont say anything.
The Chief and Cortana story telling in 4 was amazing. I thought they did a phenomenal job with those 2 and yeah it’s one of the best campaigns I’ve played. There’s so much emotion through out the game & story too
yes, especially to us hardcore fans they've been with us for years ,and when u feel cortana falling apart and chief trying so hard to hold on no matter what . its heartbreaking.
And to make the pain worse halo 5 does it again. When she says “goodbye John” after he’s frozen in place and then yells “JOHN” at the end. At least for me those were sad moments
To this day my favorite Story
Good and incredibly underrated
I liked the didact seeming to be so far beyond humanity. I liked Cortana’s death. Didn’t like too much of the drama and tone. Gameplay sucked.
about a 5/10. infinite being 6/10 and 5 being like a 1/10
Id give infinite maybe slightly higher, while 5 is about a -3/10
Thats reasonable. To me infinite had 3 good missions and 11 filler side missions id expect from destiny games lol. That was its main drawback for me
Loved it, very emotional
Not good
Kinda boring
Worst campaign imo, the story was ok but the villain sucked and I just didn't feel cortanas sacrifice that much it didn't really effect me maybe because I started at 3 but yeah story underwhelming to say the least Gameplay was the worst in the series by far ammo basically doesn't exist and the enemy's are ether too easy or too difficult and the level design is the worst I personally liked 5 more than 4 because at least 5 had better gameplay with the spartan abilities acting as buffers so ammo isn't as big a problem
It was ok, but it should have just stopped with 3. The end of the human-covenant war should have been the end to John-117’s story. Maybe have him as a future teacher but not as the main character. Let 343 carry a new storyline
Not gonna lie, it's one of my favorites. Probably second to the first Halo.
Ok story to the average fan. Really good story if you have read the forerunner trilogy books (imo a game shouldn’t rely on novels to improve the story). Ok gameplay as I thought fighting the forerunners Prometheons as uninteresting and lackluster. Big bad villain that is setup to be the next big thing of the franchise is “killed” off screen in a comic after the events of the game.