Halo 4 (2012 Video Game) User Reviews (19)

The Best of Master Chief

[jakepassolt · 9/10 · 2 December 2021]

A lot of other reviews bash the new art style of this game compared to the original 3 by Bungie but they don't talk about the story.

The original 3 Halo games tell an epic story about the mysterious Forerunners and saving humanity and the galaxy from the misguided Covenant.

After playing through all of the halo games in sequence I can say that none of them really dive into the character of Master Chief or Cortana with any depth. In Halo 3 we get to see a glimpse of the impression that Cortana has on Chief but even that is limited. If anything we get more character development from the Arbiter than any human character.

Halo 4 is the only game that actually focusses on Master Chief and Cortana. Master Chief is no longer a just a guy that says one-liners in cutscenes, he is a deeply damaged person who has ties and connections with people (or A. I.).

Halo 4 may not look like a Bungie Halo game but it's story rivals that of any single bungie halo title, except maybe Reach.

Great Job to The Underdog Company!

[yungbuffwan-468-315521 · 8/10 · 4 January 2013]

If you have been a fan of the Legendary trilogy of Halo through its duration, you would have, like I, been coming into this whole new introduction expecting (and maybe hoping)for it to crash and burn.

However, 343 has done an excellent job. What I really like is their company name, as it is a reference to 343 Guilty Spark, a large contributor to the Halo universe. They have not destroyed the name of Halo; they have raised it to a whole new level

The campaign is extremely fun, and not too long (8 missions). The story line between Master Chief and Cortana was chalked up to be more than it came out to be, but I found it to be more profound than other Halo story-lines, even if it didn't move me to tears. I blame that on the (while good) soundtrack that just wasn't quite Martin O'Donnell level.

The online play from what I've seen is great: they took some factors from Halo: Reach that worked and they bettered them. (The game style that I particularly enjoy is Regicide).

A good game-- it was everything we needed it to be and more than we expected it to be.

Decent.

[Analog_Devotee · 7/10 · 3 August 2021]

Wasn't as good as Halo Reach but it was still an enjoyable game. I liked how they added grifball as a mainstay gamemode.

The Best Graphics I Have Ever Seen One Game That Every Gamer Must Play

[joberfeld113 · 10/10 · 6 December 2012]

Halo Combat Evolved introduced us to the Master Chief and Xbox. Halo 2 introduced fans of the first game, Xbox, and Master Chief to Arbiter and Xbox Live. Halo 3 brought the original trilogy to amazing conclusion. Halo Wars was awfully good for a console strategy game which is rarely done. Halo: ODST brought us firefight which is one of the best features that has been featured in the series. Halo Reach was Bungie's last hurrah for the series and sent their contributions to it out with a bang and one of the Xbox 360's best games. A lot happened in the world of Xbox between the release of Halo 3 and 4. Bungie became an independent company, Call of Duty became the most played game on Xbox Live, Halo lost the tittle of best looking Xbox game, the announced film adaptation from Academy Award winning director Peter Jackson and Neil Blomkamp (the team behind the 2009 Best Picture nominee District 9) was canceled, and what may scare fans more is that development of future tittles from their much loved franchise is now being done by a new studio. But have no fear fans, Halo 4 is amazing. The most amazing game I have ever played. Halo 4 is not your typical first person shooter. Halo 4 is more focused on the story than previous installments. This time the story is personal. Cortana is suffering from rampantcy and the Chief and her crash land on a Forerunner planet. There they awaken an ancient evil and must race against time to save humanity and Cortana. The weapons basically look the same as they did in Halo 3 only with more detail, but are still at their most impressive in Halo 4. This at its most noticeable with the new enemy's weapons. Also, 343 really beefed up the audio. The AI is also more difficult. The graphics are also at their most impressive in this game. Anyway Halo 4 is a perfect 10 out of 10.

I wasn't sure...

[Exile240 · 10/10 · 6 November 2012]

I have loved Halo sine its birth on xbox, many a day, night and another day spent playing with my friends and then (later with the release of Halo 2), fellow gamers online. I have enjoyed the whole series, and followed it closely. I have always loved the campaigns and online game play. Recently I got a little bored with Reach online and so put it down for a while, but OMG! I went to the midnight release being a true fan, but still was unsure... OMG people! everything about this game is excellent, the campaign is fun and refreshing, and the online multiplayer is Friggin' fantastic!!!! I wasn't sure with the class' and spartan points and so on, but HOLY CRAP! It is fun, fun, fun. My love of Halo has been re-kindled. I cant wait to get home from work and play it! long live the master chief! Thankyou 343. Thankyou.

The very best

[iceycrafter · 10/10 · 6 June 2015]

Now let me tell ya...Halo 4 is the best halo game to date. It has good multiplayer,campaign, graphics, and co-op too.

The multiplayer is fun and stuff. It has lots of great maps like Longbow and Adrift. The multiplayer has all the game modes any shooter fan would ask for like TDM,FFA,CtF, and even Infection! The multiplayer rarely ever lags and is very stable. The game's customization is better than ever with over 100 sets of armor with thousands of combinations. Halo 4 is also the first Halo game to introduce customizable load-outs in Public matchmaking. If you prefer default load-outs like Halo 3, those game types are still playable. The Forge mode is new and improved with 4 forge maps with hundreds of addable items, blocks, and buildings.

The campaign is more cinematic in Halo 4, the new graphics engine and lighting help it become if not the best looking game to ever come out on the Xbox 360. It has a Very good story with a very good diversity in missions, never letting anything get old.

Halo 4 is the best Halo game and deserves a complete 10 in my opinion!

Well Done, 343, Well Done

[robbinsm2138 · 10/10 · 10 November 2012]

Halo 4 is beyond incredible. I went to the midnight release, but unfortunately I had an early morning class at my college so I wasn't expecting to play it necessarily... Then I got to the dorm with my friends and realized... this is frickin' Halo, of course I gotta play it. Long story short, didn't go to class. Immediately it sucks you in. The graphics are by far the best graphics I have ever seen in any video game. It is absolutely astonishing. The campaign is award-worthy. However, for someone beating the game already I would recommend playing it on a lower difficulty to get the feel and message of the game first. I played it on Legendary and it is a PITA at some points by yourself. Although Halo 1 remains the hardest solo legendary experience in my personal experience. Halo 2 is the hardest co op legendary experience. Halo 3 (eh) and Reach (eh). Halo 4 is quite difficult in some parts and I must say the new enemy? The Prometheans? Are very challenging. As a warning, you should probably carry around a plasma pistol as your secondary to weaken their shields first because there are many times you are greeted by more than 5 knights and that is NOT a fun time (or carry around a scattershot).

Additionally, I must say, the campaign is a sad campaign. I won't give away anything even though it is probably circulating all over the Internet by now. It almost gave away from the experience and I am surprised 343 gave it such a ballsy ending but I haven't been disappointed with 343 yet so I am sure they have something big planned.

Multiplayer is very good. It is a little confusing at first to figure out how to navigate things on the screen. It is actually quite similar to Call of Duty in the aspect that you make your own classes. The only problem is it is a little more restricted whereas there are only so many weapons you can choose from depending on the game type. Also, there is a killcam so that also makes it similar to CoD for that reason. But lets be honest, the killcam was a genius idea. But do not worry, the feel is extremely different so it makes up for it. Also the maps are awesome and created perfectly where it is fair for both sides. There are camping spots, yes, but there is almost always a spot you can assassinate them from. It is a very nicely made game.

Firefight is gone, but Spartan Ops is alive (another thing similar to Call of Duty) where you complete brief missions at whatever difficulty; whether it is invading Promethean territory, or destroying jammers and eliminating covenant. Either way it is a nice touch, especially when you are not ready to have the campaign end. There are 5 missions for each chapter and as far as I know there are 5 chapters (Could be adding more).

All-in-all I say this will have a hard time being beat out by Black Ops 2 and by any game for that matter. It is an extraordinary ride and those of you who have given up on the halo series, I would highly recommend changing your views for this game. It is not the same as the rest, trust me. Keep gaming folks.

-10/10

Not horrible, but nowhere near as good as any of the bungie games.

[DJB126 · 6/10 · 1 August 2020]

Just finished it. Story aside, this game had parts that were unnecessarily difficult, and I played on Normal. And the story was good, it would've been nice if I could've been able to pay attention to it instead of having to put all of my focus on not dying. Master Chiefs armor change makes no sense, he's been frozen in the Dawn for four years and somehow he has a completely different set of armor? And they made Cortana look like an anime girl. I would've have given this game a 7/10 if it weren't for the stupidly difficult parts.

Outstanding game

[The_paranoid_android · 10/10 · 25 September 2016]

Besides the ever awesome multiplayer, Halo 4's the first entry in the series in which the campaign is written with terrific character arcs, layered thematic content, and an absolutely hard-hitting emotional core. 343 has not only taken up the mantle of Halo after Bungie, but even improved upon the storytelling and characters to a greater degree that belong among the best explorations of speculative fiction in video games.

This game is haunting reflective study of the nature of humanity, death, meaning, obsolescence and inevitability. Cortana and Chief have never been as well realized as people until this game with an ending that ranks among the very best stories I've ever experienced. Chief is faced with confronting whether he's a man or machine for the military with Cortana coming face to face with her own mortality in a manner she's never understood before until facing her own "rampancy" (a stage of AI deterioration) where she, quite literally, thinks herself to death. Alongside all of these plot threads, the duo have to contend with the Didact - an ancient enemy with a grudge against humanity and with no qualms of using destructive means for what he sees as "the greater good". It's an engaging yarn from start to finish that manages to let the story breath and develop naturally while never forgetting the humanity behind all of the explosive action.

Well done, 343. Well done.

Multiplayer changed too much

[bradleynewth · 7/10 · 9 September 2013]

Okay, first off for Halo 4. I think that all around it was a good game, but things that I think that they messed up with was how they had multiplayer set up. 343 made Halo 4 play like Call of Duty, by giving you a built in sprint ability, killstreaks, taking out the feel of Halo in my eyes. Halo used to be the rush for the power weapon of the certain map, that was super fun running in trying to get the sword in Halo 2. Halo 3 they gave you equipment which were good, and not overpowered which added a new element on the battlefield. Halo: Reach started to change a bit, but they kept the Halo feel in it, they gave you a loadout with the standard spawn in weapons and armor abilities giving you a choice on how you wanted to play, but they also kept the rush for the weapons on the map. Then Halo 4 took all of that out, you had all you needed with you (killstreaks for weapons, and power-ups) taking out the rush element that always made Halo fun, this is solely my opinion. the Campaign was pretty good though, too short for me

halo 4

[alexander-970-893620 · 10/10 · 14 November 2012]

this game is so awesome i couldn't stop playing it for about 15 hours.

EXCELLENT good job 343 studios!! when I started this game I was amazed by the graphics but the MP was excellent

I personally didn't like MLG pro but... the MP was overall amazingly good I loved the flood mode especially The campaign was amazing with a detailed storyline It was too good Too good to be true... with many different tips and tricks this game grabbed my attention immediately You should get it because it is so amazing

that is my awesome review of halo 4 which will overall make it to the best of the best GEt it now for 59.99 at game stop

quick review of the campaign only

[NEXUSNLW · 7/10 · 13 November 2012]

From the off ill say i didn't get into halo until halo 3, i thought 1 and 2 were lame. 3 i thought was brilliant Reech was even better and ODST was by far the worst of the lot. Halo 4 i went into with high hopes and from the get go things seemed good. Graphically its an awe worthy game. So pretty. the controls are familiar to any halo player and they haven't messed with them at all. Slightly annoying they have taken away the "compass" at the top of the screen showing your next target so that at certain points on the large open areas you can find your self a bit lost. the game play is great and just what you expect from a halo game with a few new little tweeks in there in weapons and abilities, and also some fun flying missions. The new "big bad" the Didact is cool, he looks awesome with or without the armour but my issue is the final confrontation with him. so anti climactic. add to that the fact i completed the campaign in about 4.5/5 hours. just seemed a bit short. so i give halo a seven out of ten. high marks for the graphics and gamplay but marked down for the short story and lame use of a cool looking villain.

as i did say tho this review DOES NOT include anything to do with the multiplayer as i didn't get on there before my mate wanted to take his game home. but all wanna be spartans enjoy the game for what it is

Disappointment

[jamest2014 · 3/10 · 2 April 2014]

I went into this game with great expectations but was sorely disappointed by a lot of things.

1. The weapons were really bad for the most part. Most of them were brand-new and looked awesome, but underperformed in the long run.

2. The game-play graphics were absolutely horrendous. The brightness was set WAY too high and made many areas and players impossible to see, and the appearances of the characters were so overly done that they looked like machines.

3. The multi-player was terrible to say the least. There was simply not one good thing about it. Way too fast-paced, the graphics were still awful, and the presence of kill-streaks and care packages turned Halo into Call of Duty, and it did not work at all. Halo multi-player became completely unrecognizable.

I will credit the campaign story with being well-constructed and pretty immersing, but the weapons and graphics took too much away from that. 343 absolutely wrecked the uniqueness that was Halo multi-player and replaced it with a wannabe Call of Duty clone. The only reason this game gets a 3/10 from me is the storyline. It's not worth the money. Good thing I only played it at a friend's house.

Great game

[Finalreminder · 9/10 · 21 December 2023]

As a die hard Playstation owner, and bit of a fanboy, I decided to turn to the dark side and buy the XBox X. I've been busy playing every Halo game on Gamepass and I love the series and the story. Reach seems to get the most praise and it does deserve it, but for me Halo 4 was the best up to now. Watching the degradation of Cortana and her struggle to stay lucid was heart wrenching. Master Chief, despite coming over as quite cold a lot of the time was having a hard time dealing with it.

I wish I bought an XBox a long time ago. It's a great machine, I give both the PS and XBox 10/10 for quality.

So don't let silly Fanboyism stop you from trying the competition.

Master chief returns for more bloody alien combat

[lethelweapon · 8/10 · 3 May 2013]

I have to admit, the halo franchise is something I have had very little experience in and know next to nothing about. But after getting hooked on halo 4 I can make a guess of what they they're all about. Halo 4 is revolved around master chief escaping after being kidnapped. the story and gameplay are both engaging and interesting but even compare to the maps and not to mention the graphics. the basic tactic to halo is to engage into combat and eliminate the enemy. compared to other shooter games such as modern warfare which is all tactical halo is just fun. there is very little thinking required its just pick varies weapons, engage the enemy and try not to get killed. Although the story to halo 4 isn't as good as the others (so I've heard) fans wont be disappointed, and if your not a halo player (like me) you'll still have a blast!

Almost a perfect game

[numenorsniper-66396 · 9/10 · 16 December 2021]

I love everything about Halo 4, except the abrupt quicktime ending boss battle. If that part was handled better, and the game were at least couple of hours longer, it could have been my favourite Halo game. Alas, it only felt like 70% of its potential. But the achingly beautiful music always makes me feel so much, and cry each time. Halo 4's soundtrack and its perfect tonal use in game is my favourite of the franchise, and that's saying a lot as I adore Marty O'Donnell's music to no end.

I still remember vividly the first time I played Halo 4, it was around my best friend's house in Tasmania, Australia in early 2013 on his giant projector screen. I played from sunset to sunrise right through the night. It was spectacular and amazing. Sadly, this friend passed away in 2018. It was an extremely painful thing to lose him, and every time I play or think of Halo 4, or listen to its music, I am reminded of his memory and the friendship we shared, and playing Halo 4 together at his house. I still miss him.

I love the story of Halo 4, the characters, graphics, emotionally dark tone, and especially its phenomenal writing, dialogue and voice acting. For me, Halo 4 is easily 343's best story work, way better than Halo 5 and Halo Infinite in terms of writing, music, and compelling story. My heart aches for Master Chief in this story, it's absolutely heart-wrenching, and makes me love him and Cortana on a much deeper level than before. I'm just very sad that this same beauty captured in Halo 4 was never recaptured in Halo 5 or Halo Infinite.

Almost a 10/10 for me, albeit the game finishing too soon and abruptly.

The elephant in the corner, of the American movie industry.

[dollerupmads · 9/10 · 4 January 2013]

Considering the loads of nothingness that has been poured from the American movie industry the last couple of years I have to almost exclaim: How in the name of everything that has ever been anything in and beyond this world did Halo 4: Forward unto dawn NOT make it into the theaters?! This may not be an exceptional piece of art, but it beats the living juhaa out any action/sci.fi I have seen in a while. Discounting, for a moment, the excellent directing and very convincing acting that is pretty much constant through the 90'ish minutes movie, the filming and especially special effects needs to at least demand a couple of nominations at the Oscars. Except from a VERY brief encounter with the very first Halo game back in the day I was completely oblivious to the Halo universe before seeing this movie. This proved to be of no concern as towards following the story of the movie, in which one constantly gets a little closer to both the main characters of the movie and the back story of Halo. It is a great introduction to the universe of Halo and as a movie I gladly rank it beside some of the top Sci.fi's of this century so far.

Great addition

[giticomi · 7/10 · 4 October 2021]

This game made every fans dream by bringing back the HALO franchise after Bungie left. Its story its pretty good and multiplayer is satisfactory even though its not at the quality of its predecessors.

8 Years Later, Still Great

[kercherdillon · 10/10 · 20 June 2020]

This game is constantly (and understandably) compared to the original 3 games. For those who wanted the same exact formula as the first 3 ended up disappointed. But I promise, if you enter this game accepting that it's going to be Halo, but with different enemies and main storyline than the past, you'll love it. The graphics are beautiful, the weapons feel great, the score is PHENOMENAL, and the storyline has been known to bring a tear or two lol. In my opinion it's the second best game in the entire franchise after Reach. 10/10, a masterpiece.