GamesRadar
343 Industries' Halo 4 is one of the biggest disappointments in gaming this year. We liked it quite a bit, giving it 4.5/5 stars in our Halo 4 review, but that's just our opinion. Hundreds took to Metacritic mere hours after the game was released to express their views on the game, and they were much different than ours.
Lucky for you, we've taken the time to find the best and brightest reviews of this miserable masterpiece, and compiled them here in one convenient list. Sometimes the truth hurts, and it's unbiased and fair reviews like these that keep the gaming industry thriving. Keep in mind, any and all spelling, grammar, and other errors are those of the original author. We wouldn't dare dream of editing the works of other fellow game reviewers.
Carnage85 - 0/10
Tje Worst Halo i ever play!! no way people... the campaign lasts 6 hours, graphically is disappointing, € 70 for nothing, I tried to play online and I can not even play, I miss you Bungieloro that could make a big Halo, Reach, and is proof, this halo 4 mi was totally disappointed, and may die 343studios these, which I no longer see any money, stay away boys
Collisione - 0/10
there are no positive words to describe this game. I am really angry I did not think they could fall so low with a game that made me sognoare since its creation. A brand that does not deserve an end like this, I'm really sorry.
Rnapora - 0/10
I thought Halo Wars was bad but Halo 4 takes the word atrocious to a whole new level. The graphics leave a lot to be desired, although they are crisp they make the covenant look weak and playful rather than the worthy opponents we have seen and gotten to adore killing. The multiplayer action is weak at best, and reminds me too much of MW3. If I wanted to play MW3 with happy colors, I would have adjusted the coloring on my tv and saved 100 bucks. I have been a Halo fan since day one and actually went to the midnight release for this game, but now, the fandom has been crushed by 323 and I cant get the time I wasted in line back. Simply put, there will be a fresh used copy of Halo 4 limited edition back at Gamestop this week as I am already back to Halo: Reach. So save your dollars and wait for them to reappear in the used bin at your local game store for the 10 bucks this game is really worth as I am sure many others are planning to do the same thing
oncheonche49 - 0/10
Whilst Halo 4 keeps its core mechanics, offering solid entertainment to old and new fans, there are many fundamental problems that prevent the game from deserving a good score. Does the game deserve the score itself I have given? Of course not, and no game does, but it's not really about that. When you see so many "professional" reviews giving perfect scores to a game whose existence is embarrassing in the first place, you need to wonder what's going on. Whether it be "financial obligations", or the pressure to give an AAA title a good score regardless of its content, who can say. This score is, more than anything, simply a balance on the unnecessary praise that this game is receiving. Like I said, it does not deserve a 0, but it does not deserve a high score either. The gameplay here is your standard Halo, it hasn't really differed much. You have your old guns and enemies, but also new elements like synthetic enemies and portable shields. You have your standard arena-like areas where you clear out enemies, complete an objective, and progress to the next area. If you enjoyed the combat of the previous Halo games, you are sure to like this, although there is quite a bit of tedious backtracking. The graphics are impressive too, Halo's best yet. So if you're in it just for the gameplay, you'll probably have an enjoyable experience. The reason that Halo 4 disappoints me, as it should most veteran videogame players, are the rest of its elements. First, it was Halo 3 in which you had to "finish the fight". It was joked about how the series would continue regardless, with phrases like "just keep fighting", and it shows a real milking of the series when the joke becomes a reality. You have your quick time events (QTEs), where you're suddenly prompted to press a button in a cutscene-like event. If used far and few between, QTEs are reasonably acceptable. But as a boss fight, no. Games like WET have been ridiculed for such a feature, it makes little sense that it is ignored in Halo 4 simply because it is an AAA title "so we can overlook it". Then there are multiple poor aspects about the storyline. It's a cliché for the plot to be "an ancient evil awakens", and "you are the chosen one", but Halo 4 use these literally, making it reek of unoriginality. And then there's Cortana. First of all, for some reason they changed her appearance from reasonably respectable and well kept to a naked and chubby butterface, making it look like they tried to shoehorn sex appeal into the game, and failed miserably. The main focus of the plot, aside from ancient evils and guns, is Cortana's inner torment and corruption, a plot device almost as deep as Final Fantasy. Halo seems to have gone down the forced-romance genre, and this kind of 'Hollywoodification' has long since been stale. And this is all without mentioning the awful advertising campaign. You've probably seen the Doritos and Mountain Dew stuff floating around. Videogames have gone from a simple past-time to something that is sponsored by food companies, shamelessly endorsed, and where AAA titles simply must have a near perfect score because it would be incomprehensible otherwise. The bottom line is: You'd probably like this game if you liked the previous ones, but there's not much new that this offers. Just be aware that if you purchase this game, you are promoting many things that are wrong with modern videogames and its media ! Halo 4 SUCKS
Gaikang - 0/10
Absolutely disgusting. Overall, the game is "Good" but in respect to it being a part of the Halo franchise? No. It's an absolute shame to everything Bungie worked so hard to achieve. Halo was supposed to be a masterful homage to Quake. But this? This is Call of Duty: Future Warfare. And the Dewrito and Dubstep crap makes me want to vomit. Not to mention how blatantly paid off the entirety of gaming journalism is. Really? I've played this game. It isn't crap, but by all that is and ever was, it is NOT worthy of the praise and scores it is receiving. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves for propagating the ruination of this industry
TheBaio - 0/10
If you have played since the days of Halo 1 and Halo 2, DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! I honestly think Halo 4 will kill this franchise it is that bad. Not only is it the worst Halo I have ever played (including Reach) but it is the biggest let down I have ever experienced for a console game. Granted, Halo 2 was pretty bad until the big updates came out but when you are this far into a series, it shouldn't be this bad on release. Multiplayer game types? Slayer, Slayer Pro (no "perks" or radar but still has loadouts), Infected, 5v5 CTF, 6 man FFA of weird bounty game types, Oddball, KoTH and that's it. Nothing new and no competitive game types. The maps are horrible in this game. They don't feel balanced or even fun to play on. There are no weapons that you can pickup besides random spawning power weapons that your HUD displays along with your map. They copied the MW series and made "layouts" which you can pick to start with Assault Rifle, BR, DMR, Carbine, or a few other weapons. There are no ammo locations on the map, once you get a certain amount of kills you can randomly spawn some if you are lucky. The game is basically Modern Warfare meets Halo like everyone else has said and it's a horrible creation. I have loved the Halo series since Day 1 and got my first Xbox in Christmas of 2001. I've always been a huge fan of the series and never thought I'd say it but DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! I will never buy another product from 343 after what they have done to this series. I'll hold out hope that there will be huge updates that fix the game but I'm not holding my breath....
usycsubs20 - 0/10
Is that what a lot of fanboys has been worshipping to ??? This game is CLEARLY overrated. Levels are linear and color pallete looks very TRON'ish. A.I. is dumb. Story is a few lines of nonsense. Vish I could get my money back...
MrBlack - 0/10
The fact that this is a Halo game makes it all the more disappointing for me. The campaign was short, and extremely unmemorable. New enemies were unexciting, and the "new" weapons were simply the same weapons we all know from the previous games sporting a new paint job. The campaign was done within 4 hours, and felt both uninteresting and anticlimactic. The final boss fight devolved into a poorly executed QTE that left much to be desired to say the least. Multiplayer was similarly boring, taking multiple pieces from the Call of Duty including custom loadouts and killcams. However, this too lacks any new enticing features. While visuals are definitely beautiful in this game, they alone can not make up for the uninteresting gameplay and terrible, short story. This game is an insult to the Halo franchise, and fans will likely be disappointed.
343Blows - 1/10
343 you blew it! Promises that aren' t kept. With the limited edition it is promised specialzations "available launch day." That is a lie and false advertising. 343 put a cap on daily XP, thus making it impossible to access your items "launch day." Really, an XP cap? The sound is broken, DMRs are overpowered and grenades are similar to throwing a ball full of confetti.
masonreznof - 2/10
Terrible. Banshee and so many vehicles that ruin the maps. Valhalla was a great map in Halo 3, but Ragnarok is plagued by the Mantis and Banshee. The flag is very stupid and the menu sucks. The perks are annoying and overpowered. The DMR is way overpowered compared to BR and Carbine. Overall Reach was a 7/10 for me, but this is even worse...much worse.
JollySovereign - 3/10
Whilst the game kept it's core mechanics at heart, Halo 4 is not a good game in anyway shape or form. I can stand the extremely small campaign time; the series has slowly been turning into a multiplayer focused game for years now and the graphics are incredible for a console that really should have been scrapped by now. What I cannot stand though, is the painfully embarrassing storytelling, it's police-like moderation involving "sexism", the dull and uninspiring levels that have been polished to the point I can smell the polish coming off it. Multiplayer has barely been innovated or has anything new to offer; it's essentially putting green sprinkles on the same crap that's chock-full of every sprinkle except green. But the worst part is the simple obnoxious marketing and journalistic failures that will emanate from this game. This doesn't seem like a game for people who want to enjoy playing games it's a marketing tool to advertise Mountain Dew's and Doritio's latest gunk they want to shove down your throats. I still question why anyone would need an "energy" drink for something that consumes 0 energy. Meanwhile sites such as IGN will tell you this is the "best game of the decade", a "9.8/10". The same shtick we heard with titles like "Mass Effect 3", "Diablo 3" and many others this year. Halo 4 is essentially an old, old dog with no new tricks; it's just been bathed in polish to make it look new. As a story, I was satisfied with it closing with Halo 3 because Bungie kept a moderate head on themselves, and prequels like Halo: Reach were perfectly fine. But Halo 4 just wants to ride on nostalgia for it's good scores. I really think it's time for Halo to be put on the shelf and find something new, Microsoft and 343 cannot let go because they likely fear taking the risk of trying anything new today. In closing, "Thanks for trusting us with the universe you love..." Is the message given to us by 343 Industries at the end credits. To which I retort "Did we ever have any say or choice in the matter?"
Hitokiri_Ace - 3/10
Halo 4 is so annoying to play online now. It used to be a pain when it was DMR slayer, all people would do is camp and shoot... camp and shoot... now that you can choose your layout... it's always camp slayer. Gone are the olden days of crazy combat, up close fighting, and tactical play. If you like CoD, you'll probably like the new halo 4... I get tired of being DMR sniped by their whole team all the time. This is not what I wanted 343. You have lost a future customer. I did love the campaign though. As I usually do. That does not warrant me buying the next game however. Not to mention the horrid slow downs if you play co-op on the same console. Dear me... This game makes me sad
HeruLuingul - 3/10
GRAPHICS: It probably looks amazing. I bet. Somehow. If you can actually see through the oceans of overzealous bloom covering everything. Some portions of the game literally blind you. Crossing a light bridge? Can't see anything else in the room. Enemy standing in front of a light source? Good luck scoping in on him without your eyeballs catching fire. Everything just emits a radioactive aura about five times as large as is reasonable. I'm not totally against bloom, like I love Tron Legacy and that movie is chock full of it. But the bloom is just so extreme it actually prevents you from enjoying what is probably the best graphics on the 360 right now. I wouldn't know because playing is like staring into the sun. AUDIO: I guess I can't really complain about Cortana's voice acting, because she IS going insane, but she just sounded so casual and snarky this time around. There was always a hint of 'proper" in her voice before. Her vocabulary was more advanced. Now she sounds like an angsty teen. But where she had the body to match before, now she looks 30+. Confused. Sound effects in general are complete crap, I don't understand why 343 felt compelled to change so much instead of updating the old sounds. The Warthog sounds like an electric shaver from the 70's, or a crappy lawnmower with a fart can. The Mongoose sounds like the Warthog SHOULD sound. The plasma pistol sounds mechanical instead of, well, energy. The shotgun has no bass, where the Assault Rifle has way too much bass. The warthog's chain gun sounds like the glitchy noise when weapons would get stuck in the walls in Halo CE Anniversary (It's like 343 noticed that glitch and said "hey, I like this sound, let's work with it"). Everything is just way too loud, there's no balance to what sounds have priority. When you're shooting a gun from a vehicle while listening to Cortana and the Infinity talk to you at the same time, it all just cancels itself out and you can't make sense of anything. MUSIC: It's not BAD, but it's just so generic. I suppose I've been spoiled by Marty's genius, but Halo 4 sounds like your standard summer blockbuster action movie fare. I would compare it to Transformers by Michael Bay, but I actually remember some of the music from Transformers. This stuff is entirely forgettable, and multiple times during the campaign, my friend I was playing co-op with commented on how repetitive and boring it was, so I know it's not just me. GAMEPLAY: I haven't touched Multiplayer yet so this is all about Campaign. What a ridiculous glitch fest. The production value is obviously high, so there's a level of polish to it, but there's some really obvious problems I would have identified immediately if I were a playtester. So many times, I killed an enemy and walked over to his corpse, only to find the gun he was using had disappeared. If you try to get in the hovering covie sniper towers, you'll get stuck between the grav lift and the bottom of the platform. The enemy AI are HORRIBLE drivers. They frequently get stuck on walls or level geometry and don't do anything to attempt getting un-stuck. They just continue boosting forward into the wall, as if that will help. If you're on Legendary and playing a vehicle-heavy level, you're **** out of luck. And before you all scream "LOL YOU CASUAL YOU JUST SUCK," know that I have completed it on Legendary. When you're on the highest difficulty, it is LITERALLY impossible to drive a vehicle and avoid enemy shots. The AI tracks your motion with complete omniscience. Your banshee will be shot down the moment you leave the ground. your ghost will be blown up if you don't use boost constantly. Your warthog will be obliterated by small-arms fire if you manage to avoid the five Wraiths sniping you from a mile away. I know that legendary is supposed to be difficult, but in the previous games I could still make use of vehicles without being destroyed in seconds. Some of the action sequences SCREAMED Call of Duty to me, like the turbo-ghost section. It reeked of "Snowmobile level." Particularly the scripted long jumps that would be impossible to make under normal circumstances. Vehicle sections in previous Halo games always relied on the actual capabilities of the vehicle being driven, and your skill. This is pandering. I'm also incredibly mad that the game begins and ends with quick-time events. Which, BY THE WAY, do not work in Co-op at all. I was on my own xbox, playing co-op with two guys who were splitscreen on another. The first QTE switched control between the two split-screen guys every two seconds, so they were never sure who should be doing it. And the last one at the boss battle was given to me, so they never even knew it happened. Ideally the game would not have any QTEs, but if it's really necessary, just give control to the party leader and be done with it. But give me a real boss battle over this any day. Summing up, 343 has destroyed Halo for me and I hate them for it
TheHague67 - 5/10
The kills suck. Repetitive death animations, incredibly unsatisfying shooting. Loud noises, and pretty lights galore, but just generally not as sweet as say a game like Max Payne 3. Euphoria and Ragdoll Physics FTW! screw motion capture.!!!
ReSultZ - 5/10
You already played this. After over ten years of halo games Halo 4 is exactly the same formula :-/ Pretty graphics, decent sounds,cool new enemies (finally). But I am very disapointed that the series hasn't envolved. Come on 343 what modern shooter doesn't zoom with all guns to aim! It needs to be faster! Also the slomo jumping got to go! Average game thanks to its dated nature smh... Will be trading her in tomorrow.
__yocouch - 5/10
I loved the campaign, and the graphics look beautiful, but the multiplayer is horrible. It isn't Halo anymore, no thought has to be put in the game, they tell you where all the guns are, and the give you medals for a "generic kill," I guess 343 is trying to raise the self esteem of some people. Why did Halo have to go after the Cod side of things, class loud outs, kill cams, other stuff. It was a good game, but I buy Halo for Halo and when they take away the things that made Halo Halo, then halo isn't halo, it is another game which isn't Halo. (yes, I tried to make a sentence that sounds very confusing and repetitive, it was intentional.) I give the campaign a 10/10, but the multiplayer a 0/10, averaging out for a 5/10
chemicalreaper - 5/10
343 Industries have shown us that they're quite capable of making a game that plays like Call of Duty. Now if only they could show us that they were capable of making a Halo game that plays like *Halo*.
Imperium101 - 6/10
343i has tried to infuse some 'Humanity' into the story & tell a more personal tale about Master Chief's relationship with Cortana, but Halo 4 fails to evoke any emotions. This is in no small part due to Steve Downes boring monotone voice acting as the Master Chief. e.g Master Chief and cortana are aboard a derelict spaceship being sucked into a giant artificial planet slaughtering Aliens and they're just casually talking back & forth like they're sat in the waiting room for a dentist appointment - it's literally comical! The campaign also suffers from some atrocious level design. For example there's a part near the beginning of the campaign where you(the player) must climb up an elevator shaft avoiding falling debris. This could have been a sweat inducing, heart pounding moment, that is, if if weren't impossible to fail. There's also precious little else like in the campaign which only serves to give the impression that 343 weren't given the creative freedom to experiment. This is a shame because things like more platforming is exactly the kind of variety Halo needs. Finally the "Spartan Ops" mode is just awful. Lazy 10 minute missions on recycled environments(without scoring by the way) is pathetic replacement for Firefight. Besides if there's already a 4 player Co-op campaign why is this mode even needed? What were the developers thinking? Just a quick summary of the some of the biggest negatives as the 'professional' critics seem to be totally incapable of intelligently critiquing the products they are given.
GameplayTalk - 6/10
The Good: Cut scenes look amazing, weapons look great, the majority of multiplay tweaks improve the game. The Bad: friendly AI mostly shoots corpses, bad checkpoint system, poor balance on sounds with no settings, bullet sponges. • After finishing the fight in Halo 3, you get bored and decide start a whole new fight. The problem is that the game never really explains (without additional research) what exactly is going on. • In what feels like a "best of" montage of levels, the game literally says "you remember this?" but plays the whole thing without the soul of the previous games. • I liked the campaign in the previous Halo games but this one lacked the same spirit, the same sense of place and left out a good deal of the wide open environments that made the previous games stand out as an experience of their own. • Multiplayer is a typical Halo affair for fans of the game looking for more and while improved, I have never been a fan of the way it's mechanics play out. The advertised "Spartan Ops" (co-op) is little more than placing you on a map and telling you to kill everything...yet still managed to be more fun that the campaign. • The developer quotes itself as if they were an important person in history. Talk about arrogance
Th3Rogue - 0/10
I don't have a single nice thing to say about Halo 4.. Other than the legendary copy came in a cool box.. but remember that time.. when you got the Halo THREE Legendary COPY! OH YEAH! WAAAAAAAAY cooler!! And a story line that made you want to play the game!! Will never touch that campaign again.. Hopefully multiplayer is fun.. but I won't get my hopes up.
samuship - 0/10
This could be the triumph for the series, but 343 Industries lost the opportunity. The graphics were impressive at first, but showed to be weak with strange textures, bad draw distance and some bugs. They also destroyed the gameplay, and the only good thing about the game is the online. But even the online is not that awesome as some like to say. It was a complete waste of time.
halo4isbadcryyy - 0/10
I'll keep it short and tell you whats wrong. Jetpack, camo, all other armor abilities, loadouts, perks, tactical perks, NO VISIBLE SKILL BASED RANKING SYSTEM, ordnance drops (or killstreaks), spartan ops is just campaign levels. Online multiplayer is a horrible experience compared to the Halo's of the past (1,2, & 3). Reach failed and this will too, 343i were very stupid to go the route of Reach again
H1P1 - 3/10
Short but not sweet. Graphically outstanding and the soundtrack is good although sadly none of the nostalgic scores have remained. The guns are varied, useful and sound awesome. However this game is so far from amazing that you would have to slap yourself after all of the pre-release reviews. The levels are boring, uninspired and repetitive, quite literally requiring you to perform the same style of objective in every level. It is also disappointingly short considering how boring the levels are; if it's going to be short make sure the levels are awesome. The vehicles are clunky and do not handle as fluent and fast of halo games of old. Explosions are weaker and smaller. The enemy AI is also unexciting. Whilst I have only played normal difficulty, fighting an elite in past halo games was an awesome challenge. Halo 4's elites do not feel challenging or smart, as well as the other enemies, something that did not exist on the normal difficulty setting of other halo's. Multiplayer is fun, but it's not halo multiplayer - the ultimate thrill of halo multiplayer was never in a perks/ability system, but just in the fact it was halo - it depends what you want, but if I want cod i'll play cod because they do it best. Second only to the gameplay is the story which is also boring. More plot holes than swiss cheese and it's not even easy to follow. Predictable cliche's and attempts to tug your heart strings but there are so many waning questions and factors that don't add up that whilst the humanity of chief can finally be felt, it just feels silly to imply the same for cortana as an AI. The new ideas the game possesses are its most promising aspect. Going into the game all I wanted was the same old halo, but 343 in trying to do this actually made it the killer. They hit some aspects but miss many, and movel design which was the best part of halo, is its worst in this game. They are not as good at doing what bungie do best, so they need to do what they do best. The new things that worked demonstrates that the halo universe can be improved, so they need to forget about recycling bungie halo and take some bold steps to make it their own in future titles.
Lutallo - 3/10
343 Industries have basically taken COD4 and put all the elements in Halo 4 that make multiplayer unbalanced and unfair. The introduction of perks and loadouts means that any online skill is practically thrown out the door because there will always be a higher level with a better suited weapon/perk. The pace at which you die is completely unsuited to Halo, where 3 headshots with an individual weapon means that once you're shot at first, there is no coming back. The storyline is similar to that of a dodgy Mass Effect 1 makeshift, introducing a main villain, also the story revolves around an AI that no one ever really cared about. On the other hand, the graphics have been improved, evident in the amazing backgrounds of the campaign. Also it must be said that the campaign itself, aside from the story, is actually pretty entertaining and easily up there with Halo 3
realdomdom - 3/10
This game's existence is disappointing to begin with. On top of that it didn't change enough to be something new and it didn't keep enough from the old games to be a true halo game. It can't identify itself. The campaign (which should, btw, be the most important thing in the game) was heartlessly glued together. It feels short and in actuality it is. Cortana gets crazy. Everyone wants you to think she's a real person. And they try too hard. The master chief speaks a little more. Not that it makes him any more human. And then there is this forerunner who wants to destroy humanity, basically. Maybe it's not very different from what we already saw in older halo games, but it is presented in such a plain and simple way, i couldn't help but laugh through almost every cutscene. Also, i want to thank 343 for not including the campaign in theatre mode, or vice versa. You can't record singleplayer gameplay for your theatre. Oh, thank you so much. I'm sure, singleplayer is too boring anyway, eh? Now that's what i call a campaign. On to the multiplayer, shall we? Infinity slayer is probably the inevitable "evolution" from normal slayer. Or it is borrowed from some other game, which has an abbrevation, that's three letters long. Either way, it's a new addition to Halo and it's not necessarily bad. Except you don't like it. Oh, and there is also the Killcam. What a nice little thing. I wonder where i saw that before. No, not in Battlefield 3. They apparently don't need it. There's also your typical CTF, King of the Hill, some other stuff and Griffball, of course. I couldn't manage to find Action Sack or other "fun" playlists, but maybe it's just me. Overall, the presentation of this game tries too much to convince you of it's coolness and hipness, both visually and storywise, as if you where a little kid. Personally, i don't like the new design at all. It lacks a certain charm. There are also some bugs where, for example, a banshee flies through a tower or an enemy tries to hide itself in a wall. I hope those get ironed out soon, since apparently some people still want to play this game. If you like Halo 4, good for you. Let's hope you like Halo 7, too. Don't worry, it's gonna come eventually.
