I am really sick to death of FPS so it would take something real good to make me want to play it, e.g. a good story - which I don't think Halo has ever had.

@Sooty: then* gtfo.

Edit:

Actually reading through your comments you sound like a pretentious douchebag who has nothing good to say about anything. Every comment is shitting on something or someone, so fuck off, quit trying to rain on everyone's parade.

@big_jon said:

@Sooty: the gtfo.

@Sooty said:

I am really sick to death of FPS so it would take something real good to make me want to play it, e.g. a good story - which I don't think Halo has ever had.

Thanks for that?

@big_jon said:

http://www.starpulse.com/news/Alan_Danzis/2012/11/01/halo_4_review_feel_the_love_between_ma

First review is up!

Boy that review was written poorly wasn't it? I think I'm just going to hold out for the GB review.

I'll be shocked if this game doesn't get the five-star treatment.

It's time!

4 out of 5. There you go.

I'm sitting here playing Anniversary and it's now more clear than ever that the reason I play these games is for the combat puzzles first and foremost. Sounds like that's still a thing I can get in Halo 4, unlike the dozens of corridor shooters out there.

Jeff doesn't mention any campaign co-op. Does anyone know what's up? Can I play 4 player, and is it just 4 master chiefs?

@Vinny_Says: It's 4 Chiefs.

Review mania

Star Pulse Halo 4 Review

AusGamer Review - 9.1/10

IGN's Review - 9.8/10

Destructoid Review - 10/10

360MMGN Review - 9.0/10

Gameinformer Review - 9.25/10

Giantbomb Review - 4/5

CVG Review - 8.0/10

Xbox360Achievements.org Review - 90/100

Kotaku Review - Yes, you should buy/play this game. (no score given)

Joystiq Review - 5/5

Polygon Review - 9.5/10

GameSpot Review - 9.0/10

4 stars seems about right. Doesn't make any significant changes to the formula, but eh, if ain't broke...

@Sooty: then* gtfo.

Edit:

Actually reading through your comments you sound like a pretentious douchebag who has nothing good to say about anything. Every comment is shitting on something or someone, so fuck off, quit trying to rain on everyone's parade.

http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/halo-4-this-isnt-bungies-halo-anymore-its-better

By far the most interesting review yet to me.

While Giant Bomb is not the only outlet that gave the game a 4/5 (Or the dumb score translation of 80), it is definitely the most negative review. Most other reviews either praise the game incredibly or have reviews written like a 9+ but have a lower score of 8. Considering that the immense negativity of Jeff's review boils down to "It's too much like old Halo", I can say, with great confidence, that Halo 4 probably is, for the lack of a better term, pretty fucking awesome.

I thought Jeff's review was pretty fair. I mean let's be honest, this is more Halo.

I'm not as big of a Halo fan these days as I was during the original trilogy, but I'm excited to see 343's take on the series.

i want it noaw, and fuck on monday i get my review copy for most wanted with the deadline for that review being the 9th, fuck me it's gonna cut into my halo time :(

I'm find with Jeff's review. He should be disappointed that he fought more Covenant than he ever wanted to in halo 4. The story set up presented a lot of new opportunity to make a more interesting story. I'm still more interested in more halo so I'll be getting it day 1 for sure.

I was afraid that having only 3 new enemy types would be sort of underwhelming. Knights pretty much behave like Elites and crawlers serve as grunts. The Watcher seems like the only enemy that really adds something new to the combat.

Oh well, on the bright side, plenty of butthurt comments incoming for the review. Grab your popcorn!

Edit: what really matters is finding out how the multiplayer plays out, if the meta-game has the depth and longevity to survive.

I'm with Jeff here. I have fought my share of the covenent before and was hoping that Halo 4 would take advantage of the end of Halo 3 and distant itself completely from that. I'm also not keen on the sound of the multiplayer changes but i'd have to see them in practice.

About an hour before the review dropped I told myself: Jeff is probably going to give it a 4/5 for being the 'same old thing.' I wasn't wrong. It's not that I'm dismissing his review or his opinion, but I just knew that I should probably take it with a grain of salt (depending on how other reviewers are taking it). I want more Halo... like, right now. And I don't want it to be different. I want it to be shiny with new vehicles and weapons, but you'd better not remove my elites and grunts. Halo's core Covenant enemy archetypes are so iconic and memorable for the series that each encounter feels both wholly engaging and eternally nostalgic in a way that the sequels have failed to live up to (Brutes, bug things, etc.).

TL;DR - I want more of the same, 343. Feel free to spoon feed it to me.

@project343 said:

About an hour before the review dropped I told myself: Jeff is probably going to give it a 4/5 for being the 'same old thing.' I wasn't wrong. It's not that I'm dismissing his review or his opinion, but I just knew that I should probably take it with a grain of salt (depending on how other reviewers are taking it). I want more Halo... like, right now. And I don't want it to be different. I want it to be shiny with new vehicles and weapons, but you'd better not remove my elites and grunts. Halo's core Covenant enemy archetypes are so iconic and memorable for the series that each encounter feels both wholly engaging and eternally nostalgic in a way that the sequels have failed to live up to (Brutes, bug things, etc.).

TL;DR - I want more of the same, 343. Feel free to spoon feed it to me.

You write as though 4/5 is a bad thing.

@project343 said:

About an hour before the review dropped I told myself: Jeff is probably going to give it a 4/5 for being the 'same old thing.' I wasn't wrong. It's not that I'm dismissing his review or his opinion, but I just knew that I should probably take it with a grain of salt (depending on how other reviewers are taking it). I want more Halo... like, right now. And I don't want it to be different. I want it to be shiny with new vehicles and weapons, but you'd better not remove my elites and grunts. Halo's core Covenant enemy archetypes are so iconic and memorable for the series that each encounter feels both wholly engaging and eternally nostalgic in a way that the sequels have failed to live up to (Brutes, bug things, etc.).

TL;DR - I want more of the same, 343. Feel free to spoon feed it to me.

While I'm glad you'll find something to enjoy in Halo 4, I can't help but feel like I side with Jeff on this. Halo 4 had potential to be a lot more than "moar Halo" (which in and of itself isn't a bad thing) but they chose to play it safe instead of really go for it. Even if it was solely in the narrative that they embraced this new beginning, that would've been something. Instead we get a half-step that tries to romanticize Bungie's work instead of breaking new ground and doing something wholly unto 343. That's disappointing.

Regardless of how safe 343 played it, it seems like another solid entry and who knows? Maybe they are saving dramatic changes for the other two games in the trilogy. I feel like this game (just judging from the reviews I have read) might do a decent job of being a transitional Halo. It introduces new enemies while still keeping the old maybe to do something crazy with Halo 5.

I still can't get over they announced another trilogy. Between 1-3, ODST, Halo Wars and Reach I've had enough Halo for my lifetime and from Jeff's review it seems like they played it really safe which is disappointing.

@big_jon said:

Actually reading through your comments you sound like a pretentious douchebag who has nothing good to say about anything. Every comment is shitting on something or someone, so fuck off, quit trying to rain on everyone's parade.

Yeah Sooty is probably one of the biggest trolls in these forums right now.

Anyways, not surprised Jeff gave it four stars.....pretty pumped for this game.

I thought Jeff's review was informative. Plain and simple, if you love Halo you will love Halo 4, but if you aren't a Halo fan it won't do much to change your mind. That is all i needed to know. Halo fans rejoice!!! Personally, I will continue looking elsewhere to spend my steadily decreasing playtime.

As long as it's Halo I'm happy with that to close out this generation. If it seems like the franchise is in the right hands then I'll appreciate it for that.

@Oldirtybearon: People were putting too much stake in 343 as a factor that could (and should) revolutionize the Halo series. We are talking about a franchise that singularly defined an entire third of the console market and is by far Microsoft's most successful property. If you just quickly glance at anything Halo 4 related, you'd see the budget that Microsoft is pumping into this particular release. Do you really think that they were going to take drastic chances with a title like this? It just seems like you're romanticizing a 'creative compulsion' that does not exist in series this large. Would Nintendo ever dramatically change the Mario or Zelda format? Fuck no. Would Sony ever change the God of War format? Evidently not.

And narratively speaking, it seems like the game does take some drastically different approaches than prior entries. Rather than being about a singular guy against insurmountable odds, this game very much seems like it spotlights the very human drama between Cortana and Master Chief. While this has certainly been touched upon in the past, this game (based on other reviews and trailers) embraces this in an entirely new way. Jeff was pissy because humans and Covenant are still relevant narratively? I'm sorry, but that sounds like quibble.

@Hailinel said:

You write as though 4/5 is a bad thing.

I'm not a score-focused person. I'll play whatever I enjoy regardless of the 'number' associated with it. My problem is that it just seems like Jeff is nitpicking. Whenever he picks up a long-running franchise for review, you can really feel his exhaustion in his reviews. I love the guy, and I respect him so much, but I am getting tired of his apathetic approach to the lack of revolutionary. My point was less about the score and more that I knew exactly how he would react to this game, and I knew that his opinion on Halo 4 would be irrelevant to my purchasing considerations.

@big_jon said:

@Sooty: then* gtfo.

Edit:

Actually reading through your comments you sound like a pretentious douchebag who has nothing good to say about anything. Every comment is shitting on something or someone, so fuck off, quit trying to rain on everyone's parade.

Nothing good to say about anything? I just sung the praises of NS2 last night. The last Halo game I truly enjoyed was 2 (best maps, best MP) and like I said there's FPS fatique, unless a game is doing something truly unique, or executes it with perfection then I'm not going to be that enthusiastic. Halo can't carry itself with a good story, as I have never believed that series to have an interesting premise and I don't think 4 is going to change that.

Don't start swearing at me just because you're jizzing over the game and I'm not. You little fuck.

I usually don't respond to shit like that, but I'll make an exception just because you somehow got so offended. Now I really am done with this.

@algertman said:

Halo 4 reviews are poison. After this last week I don't see how anyone could take them serious.

I reviewed Halo 4. I did not attend any sort of review event, I was not sent any swag, and I was not sent any Mountain Dew or Doritos. I was sent a retail copy of the game, and that's it. If you think that's enough to color a professional writer's view of a product, you cannot trust the vast majority of things that are written online or in print, no matter the source, no matter the medium. I work at a mainstream newspaper. We get more "swag" from TV channels than game publishers. I've never seen such a thing corrupt an opinion.

@Sooty said:

@big_jon said:

@Sooty: then* gtfo.

Edit:

Actually reading through your comments you sound like a pretentious douchebag who has nothing good to say about anything. Every comment is shitting on something or someone, so fuck off, quit trying to rain on everyone's parade.

Nothing good to say about anything? I just sung the praises of NS2 last night. The last Halo game I truly enjoyed was 2 (best maps, best MP) and like I said there's FPS fatique, unless a game is doing something truly unique, or executes it with perfection then I'm not going to be that enthusiastic. Halo can't carry itself with a good story, as I have never believed that series to have an interesting premise and I don't think 4 is going to change that.

Don't start swearing at me just because you're jizzing over the game and I'm not. You little fuck.

I usually don't respond to shit like that, but I'll make an exception just because you somehow got so offended. Now I really am done with this.

I'm not little. ;)

@Sargus: Very happy to hear that, I am torn at times, I read all these things about review sites having their bills played by big games so they are in turn obligated to give it praise well I take that with a grain of salt I am very happy to hear that you genuinely enjoyed the game, I can't wait to play it on Tuesday.

Holy shit the comments section on the review is pathetic. "Jeff shouldn't have reviewed it because he is bad at Halo." 4/5 is a great score. And the developers appear to have played it too safely with the story. Heaven forbid he give his honest opinion in the review rather than allow his views to be skewed. Sad stuff when we just had a huge stink over someone whose view actually were skewed and people lost their minds. Now some people on this site are crying foul because Jeff was honest. Pretty gross.

@MariachiMacabre said:

Holy shit the comments section on the review is pathetic. "Jeff shouldn't have reviewed it because he is bad at Halo." 4/5 is a great score. And the developers appear to have played it too safely with the story. Heaven forbid he give his honest opinion in the review rather than allow his views to be skewed. Sad stuff when we just had a huge stink over someone whose view actually were skewed and people lost their minds. Now some people on this site are crying foul because Jeff was honest. Pretty gross.

At this point, I think review talk in general is pathetic. I was hoping this thread had links to some cool videos.

I honestly don't understand what people were expecting out of Halo 4. The campaign looks like a Halo ass Halo game and has some welcome adjustments to the multiplayer. The game seems fine and the Jeff's review was pretty much on par from what I expected from it. Halo fans will love it and it's probably not going to change the minds of non Halo fans.

"im happy with the reviews, but IGN said all good things about Halo, didnt hear a negative statment about Halo. I think that Halo 4 deserves a 10.0 because 343 put 3 years of hard work in to it. But i still like 9.8 :). Halo 4 is awesome."

I just read this on another site, comments like this make me want to throw up with rage. I mean fuck!

@ez123: OMG guys Itz so path3tic to talk about reviewS!!!1

I like halo, game looks great, review is fine.

"im happy with the reviews, but IGN said all good things about Halo, didnt hear a negative statment about Halo. I think that Halo 4 deserves a 10.0 because 343 put 3 years of hard work in to it. But i still like 9.8 :). Halo 4 is awesome."

I just read this on another site, comments like this make me want to throw up with rage. I mean fuck!

@ez123: OMG guys Itz so path3tic to talk about reviewS!!!1

More Halo is exactly what I wanted, and hopefully the multiplayer is only different in good ways.

@MariachiMacabre: Dude, it should be an 11.1233432443339 Halo 4 is the best game ever made, it will bear my children! Fuck IGN!!!!!!!!!!!!1

@MideonNViscera said:

More Halo is exactly what I wanted, and hopefully the multiplayer is only different in good ways.

I'm good with more Halo too though they could have added a little something more. One promethean weapon that's unique and does its own thing would have been cool. That mech seems pretty lame too. It's actually not that they didn't add enough, it's that 343 is(or MS is forcing them to be) a little boring with that stuff.

@big_jon: I'd rather talk about the actual game. Stuff like those hot Promethean vehicles coming our way in Halo 5.

@ez123: I guess I lump reviews in with the actual games quality, as they are written opinions that often reflect it. I mean I understand what you're saying but really, I find that high rated games are generally more fun than lower rated games, though I also understand that it is a large part of wanting ones opinion validated.

@Oscar__Explosion said:

I honestly don't understand what people were expecting out of Halo 4. The campaign looks like a Halo ass Halo game and has some welcome adjustments to the multiplayer. The game seems fine and the Jeff's review was pretty much on par from what I expected from it. Halo fans will love it and it's probably not going to change the minds of non Halo fans.

Pretty much this. I like me some Halo, and 4 out of 5 is a great score. Jeff's opinions on wanting to see some new enemies other than the Covenant are perfectly valid and I hope they address this in the future sequels.

It sounds like the single player story is "meh" due to contrivances constructed so characters can do and say things contrary to what Master Chief (and the writers) thinks is best. That doesn't ruin the game but I can see where they are coming from feeling a twinge of disappointment.

@MariachiMacabre: People aren't upset because Jeff is being honest. People are upset because Jeff has become jaded with far too many long-running franchises (Zelda as a prime example). A lot of people were hoping that Jeff wasn't going to be the one reviewing the game for this exact same reason: they knew it would get "Jeff'ed." He just sounds bored throughout the entire review and I think that it's more telling that this was perhaps a mismatched decision for him to be on it.

Personally, I would much prefer to see Drew or Brad's opinion on the matter. I'm eagerly anticipating the Bombcast to hear some of the other voices on the game that can provide some more exciting insight into what I can expect as a pretty big fan of the series.

@MariachiMacabre: People aren't upset because Jeff is being honest. People are upset because Jeff has become jaded with far too many long-running franchises (Zelda as a prime example). A lot of people were hoping that Jeff wasn't going to be the one reviewing the game for this exact same reason: they knew it would get "Jeff'ed." He just sounds bored throughout the entire review and I think that it's more telling that this was perhaps a mismatched decision for him to be on it.

Personally, I would much prefer to see Drew or Brad's opinion on the matter. I'm eagerly anticipating the Bombcast to hear some of the other voices on the game that can provide some more exciting insight into what I can expect as a pretty big fan of the series.

@MariachiMacabre said:

@project343

@MariachiMacabre: People aren't upset because Jeff is being honest. People are upset because Jeff has become jaded with far too many long-running franchises (Zelda as a prime example). A lot of people were hoping that Jeff wasn't going to be the one reviewing the game for this exact same reason: they knew it would get "Jeff'ed." He just sounds bored throughout the entire review and I think that it's more telling that this was perhaps a mismatched decision for him to be on it.

Personally, I would much prefer to see Drew or Brad's opinion on the matter. I'm eagerly anticipating the Bombcast to hear some of the other voices on the game that can provide some more exciting insight into what I can expect as a pretty big fan of the series.

He gave it a near perfect score. If he's bored of the series or the genre, this must be a great fucking game.

Well I kind of agree with him, Jeff's review came off as a little shallow to me, I am not bothered that he didn't love the game, I am bothered that there seemed to be a predisposition toward the game before he even played it. I mean there is no enthusiasm in his review, and I think that if he knows going into this that he is bored to death of Halo, give it to someone else. I don't care that it was not a 5, I don't even care that Jeff does not love Halo, I do care that his review was boring, and seemed to write itself, I mean I have read other reviews that at least elaborated a bit more and touched on story elements rather than just say "it's Halo".

I would much rather have someone with some passion point out the flaws of a game over someone who sounds like they just woke up or something. I was hoping for Brad or Drew yo review this, Brad say what you will, he genuinely seems excited about games that he likes, and I appreciate that. Jeff just seems contrary to most mainstream high level games in general.