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Halo 4 Reviewed

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Halo 4 Reviewed

Posted 04:51pm 05/11/12 by:
35 Comments | 0 Faves

Halo 4 is releasing tomorrow, and while some are excited for the game's launch - looking at you Andy Wells - some are not. I'll admit it straight up - I was excited to see what Halo 4 brought to the table, but I ultimately question the need for Halo 4's existence in general. I'm probably an unfeeling monster,

Watching as she slowly "dies" is supposed to be touching, I guess, but for me it was about as touching as watching my PC reboot. I guess I need something more than an increase in chest size to begin caring about her - and Master Chief's showing close to no emotion about the situation certainly didn't help.

I also returned to the earlier game just to make sure, and when Master Chief encounters an Elite on his ship - the first he encounters - instead of attempting to find out what's happening, he punches the other sentient being in the head and throws it down an elevator shaft.

DIE ALIEN SCUM I MADE FIRST CONTACT WITH!

Anyway, the important thing to note is that a review is the opinion of one person's experience with the game, and while mine might come across as negative I did my best to objectively critique a game experience I ultimately only enjoyed during fleeting moments. My review reflects this experience, but I'm sure the angry horde of Halo fans who are now baying for my blood will totally enjoy the "more Halo" experience Halo 4 offers and I don't think it's bad to want more of something without it changing.

Although, this is the internet so...

Read our Halo 4 Review here

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Comments on this Article

Mon 05 Nov 12, 5:29pm

monoindeed
Posted: Mon 05 Nov 12, 5:29pm

Obvious PS3 fan-boy is obvious.

Mon 05 Nov 12, 5:50pm

Tyoson
Posted: Mon 05 Nov 12, 5:50pm

I've never enjoyed the story mode of any of the halo games to be honest. The multiplayer has always been a blast though. I'll wait this one out though. Nothing to get me excited by the sound of it.

Mon 05 Nov 12, 6:00pm

Frisco
Posted: Mon 05 Nov 12, 6:00pm

I dont think you'll cop as much flak as your D3 review. I doubt most of the kids will be bothered making an account to flame you.

Mon 05 Nov 12, 6:02pm

Joaby
Posted: Mon 05 Nov 12, 6:02pm

I saw what the guy who gave it 7 was copping and figured I may as well pre-empt it :P

Mon 05 Nov 12, 6:31pm

switch007
Posted: Mon 05 Nov 12, 6:31pm

Well after IGN gave it 9.8/10 and gamespot 9/10 I will say that yes this review Has shocked me...5.5/10 ouch.... This and far cry 3 are at the top of the list for titles that game developers bombard us with this time every year� But everyone has their own opinion I mean if you are playing Halo 4 and to you it feels like you are playing halo 1 I would be Pissed off as well. Wont discourage me however. Can�t wait to play as Master chief again� having said that I was Disappointed with Last year�s Halo anniversary. But this seems fresh and Epic�

Mon 05 Nov 12, 6:44pm

Joaby
Posted: Mon 05 Nov 12, 6:44pm

Switch I genuinely believe anyone hanging out for Halo 4 will love Halo 4.

Mon 05 Nov 12, 6:49pm

switch007
Posted: Mon 05 Nov 12, 6:49pm

Good news.. well JB hi fi have the Midnight Launch tonight.... so Excited not sure what state i will be in for work tomorrow but oh well...If you are a Gamer this is the Price you pay.. that at $70 bucks

Mon 05 Nov 12, 7:02pm

monoindeed
Posted: Mon 05 Nov 12, 7:02pm

So it's only slightly better than ODST?

Mon 05 Nov 12, 7:06pm

Witchdoctor
Posted: Mon 05 Nov 12, 7:06pm

Joaby there was an article on forbes about game reviews and I'm so glad GA doesn't follow the norm. I often don't agree with your mark out of 10 but hardly anyone can argue with the content of the review

Tue 06 Nov 12, 9:03am

sligh
Posted: Tue 06 Nov 12, 9:03am

Love how people comment section of the review. Holy crap are they angry, haha

Tue 06 Nov 12, 9:15am

Joaby
Posted: Tue 06 Nov 12, 9:15am

I'm just glad Tom Chick gave it a 2/10 otherwise I'd probably die from boredom at reading all the 'you're clickbaiting' comments.

Tue 06 Nov 12, 10:02am

Machinist
Posted: Tue 06 Nov 12, 10:02am

It's probably your most well written article Joab. It's got to be a hard game to score since everyone's opinion of the game is simply going to come down to how rose tinted your glasses are and I can imagine the developers had a hard time with this.
I respect GA for sticking with their 5/10 being an average rating (rather than everyone elses 7/10). Keep up the good work!

Tue 06 Nov 12, 10:15am

0fficersniffy
Posted: Tue 06 Nov 12, 10:15am

That is a good point. Gamearena have a 0-10 score system and ACTUALLY use every score, where 5 is an average game.
Pretty much every other site say they use a 0-10 system when in reality, its a 5-10 system, where 7 is their average game.

Tue 06 Nov 12, 12:24pm

squidassist
Posted: Tue 06 Nov 12, 12:24pm

I was pretty indifferent to Halo and didn't read the review till right now. Thank God I did, because I've not laughed as hard as I did till I saw the people making accounts just to run over here and tell you how evil you are for not considering Halo 4 the greatest achivement of man kind... How dare you, Joaby? HOW DARE YOU!?

If Leonard were alive today, he would spit in your face!

... Because he had a lisp...

Tue 06 Nov 12, 12:49pm

Tyoson
Posted: Tue 06 Nov 12, 12:49pm

Oh man oh man, it's been getting 5/5, 9.8/10, 10/10

What a load of ****, no game is perfect. I honestly don't believe any game deserves a 10/10.

Tue 06 Nov 12, 12:56pm

Tyoson
Posted: Tue 06 Nov 12, 12:56pm

I gave it a 4/10 in the comments in an attempt to rustle more jimmies.

Tue 06 Nov 12, 1:45pm

Frisco
Posted: Tue 06 Nov 12, 1:45pm

So I was wrong in thinking you weren't going to cop as much flak. still, this is pretty entertaining.

Tue 06 Nov 12, 5:25pm

monoindeed
Posted: Tue 06 Nov 12, 5:25pm

I think they have all started voting 0/10 for MW3 in protest.

Wed 07 Nov 12, 7:32am

0fficersniffy
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 7:32am

@ Tyoson - Where is the point in a 0-10 scoreline if the 10 is never used? Your review system then just becomes a 0-9.5.
10/10 does not indicate a perfect game, just one of the best games in its respective genres.

100% on the other hand IS a perfect game, and no game is perfect. This is the reason GA do not use the % score system.

I can't wait for this weeksGAP, it going to be a ripper.. I found a whole article on N4G based on Joabs review. Was a rather pathetic read..

The writer compared and criticised Joab's reviews on Black Ops 1 V Halo 4 saying Joab praised BLOPS for what they did with the MP, and how he was basically a hypocrite for panning Halo 4 for the same MP elements... The stupid writer did not seem to realise that COD BLOPS was released 2 YEARS AGO, and Halo is only now borrowing those MP elements. He also mentioned Activision flew Joab over to LA to the review event and thats basically why Joab gave BLOPS a 9.0..

What a gimp.

Wed 07 Nov 12, 12:03pm

squidassist
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 12:03pm

Well, I don't think it's fair to say: "10/10 isn't perfect, but 100% is."... If 10/10, which IS 100%, isn't perfect then a review team should be free to say that 100% just represents how enjoyable the game was for it's genre and style... It may not be "100%, the best game ever made", but it may be "How much did I enjoy the game and feel it achived it's goals for it's style? 10/10. 100%. As much as I should have."

That was confusing. What I wanted to say is, if 10/10 doesn't have to represent a perfect game, then I don't see that a % representation of that same scale has too. :)

Wed 07 Nov 12, 12:30pm

switch007
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 12:30pm

Well I can see what joaby is saying and I am a massive halo fan.... it hasn�t progressed in the Game mechanics I mean it�s great but not a big enough upgrade to warrant a whole new halo game.. saying that 5 hours into it I am loving it all despite its shortcomings... but everyone has a opinion. the fact that people are abusing to the point of Threats is just a Joke. Get the F over it..... it�s a Review On the internet there are many� don�t like this one then read another one,

Wed 07 Nov 12, 12:47pm

0fficersniffy
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 12:47pm

I know in pure mathematical terms, 5/5, 10/10, 27.54275/27.54275 all equate to 100%, however in ranking terms, in means something different.

A 5/5 system is a 10 point scale.

Rating a game 5/5 is not giving it a 100% score, its stating its better than a 4.5/5 = better than a 9/10 = better than a 90% game.

A 10/10 system is a 20 point scale.

Rating a game a 10/10 is also not giving it a 100% score, its stating the game is better than a 9.5/10 score = better than a 95%.game

And obviously, a 100% rating system, is a 100 point scale.

Rating a game 100% = exactly that. Its not a 97, 98 or even a 99%, it is perfect in every way. And what differentiates giving a game a 98% from a 99% or even a 100%?

Again, scoring a game a 10 out of 10 is not saying its perfect, its saying its better than a 9.5 game.

Wed 07 Nov 12, 1:07pm

sligh
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 1:07pm

The internet is going ape **** about this. There's a few articles popping up when you google. I'd forgotten how passionate the Xbox people are about Halo.

I want to see you give Black Ops II a 12 out of 10 and watch them spaz.

Wed 07 Nov 12, 1:33pm

jwmonaghan
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 1:33pm

Chief kills the first Elite because HE'S WAVING A ******* ENERGY SWORD IN HIS FACE. How do you even consider that a valid point to raise?

Wed 07 Nov 12, 1:50pm

0fficersniffy
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 1:50pm

It was a toy sword, derrrrr.. The Elite got it for his birthday which was THAT day..

Would you kill a young boy just because he was excited he got a new nerf gun for his birthday? I thought not...

Wed 07 Nov 12, 1:57pm

Joaby
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 1:57pm

He had the sword in his hand and the chief was in an elevator shaft and MC surprised him, and then the elite went to help the MC and didn't drop his sword before trying to help him up. Then the elite was about to say "Yo hey are you alright we didn't think there was anyone alive on this ship! How crazy man. Let's get you back to your people, there's a massive human spaceship nearby and we'll just drop you off there." But then before he could say it the master chief punched him in the head and the elite opened his mouth to say "woah bro what the heck" and MC GRABS HIS MANDIBLES AND THROWS HIM BY HIS FACE DOWN AN ELEVATOR SHAFT.

Then the Master Chief blows up their entire fleet. Why? Because he loves genocide.

Wed 07 Nov 12, 2:00pm

squidassist
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 2:00pm

I still dunno, Sniffy. There's no difference bewteen awarding the total amount of points you can award on any scale and awarding something 100%. It's just as valid for a group to say: "Our 100% represents a game that entertained us and had no glaring flaws, not a perfect game" as it is for another site to say: "Our 10/10 represents a game that enertained us and had no glaring flaws, not a perfect game".

I mean, I see what you're trying to say, but I feel like it's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other and might be more a personal point of view then any hard written law.

Either way, I think the important thing here is that I wouldn't award any Halo game more then a 7, and thus am an internet outcast, living under a bridge, being pelted with trash and heckled by the normal people.

Wed 07 Nov 12, 2:20pm

0fficersniffy
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 2:20pm

I just see it as a 10/10 game simply being better than a 9.5/10 game. The 10/10 score can then represent any value between 9.6 and 10, where as the percentage scale narrows it down far too much.
With more 'elbow' room in your score, its easier to justify why a 10 game is better than a 9.5 game. How does one justify a 97% score above a 96% score though?

Just my thoughts anyway..

Back on the Halo 4 review, it didn't necessarily read like a 5.5 score, however, I can fully understand playing a game that doesn't have any glaring game play/mechanics faults etc, nothing about the game is really 'broken' at all, and everyone else seems to like it, but you just don't find it fun or compelling in any way. To you, its just 'meh',,,

Game in question for me is Batman Arkham City. Game of the year by so many people, however i just could not give a stuff.. I gave it a pretty good go, probably put around 10 or so hours into it, but to me it was a chore to play.. Maybe I too am an unfeeling monster...

Wed 07 Nov 12, 2:33pm

Joaby
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 2:33pm

All signs indicate that you probably are a monster.

Matching how a review reads to a score is probably the toughest part about the whole scoring thing. There are parts that don't make the review that affect my score as well.

Wed 07 Nov 12, 2:39pm

0fficersniffy
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 2:39pm

Probably like just how boring as batsh1t the game is and that you just simply are not having any fun with it. Its probably hard to put to words exactly why you are so bored and are having no fun, you just are..

PS - Grrrr, argh, rawr, and other such monster sounds..

Wed 07 Nov 12, 3:34pm

squidassist
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 3:34pm

I can agree to disagree. It's not like this is going to shatter the world view of anyone important...

... Obviously, the Halo Fan Boys who flooded the review page will be in trouble, but, again, important people only. ;)

Wed 07 Nov 12, 6:26pm

Hotcakes
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 6:26pm

I think GAs review system is basically an indication of how many people will find any given game enjoyable; 10 means practically everyone, 1 means practically no one. Though I do wish more sites would base their score on how much value they think the game has to offer for its price; in that respect Joabs score for MW3 makes perfect sense; his article for MW3 goes at length on how the player is spoilt for choice.

What a load of ****, no game is perfect. I honestly don't believe any game deserves a 10/10.

Not rating any game 10/10 is just as bad as not rating any game 1-5/10. The notion of rating the 'perfection' of a game is simply a broken one.

I'd forgotten how passionate the Xbox people are about Halo.

This is perhaps the ONLY reason why Halo games should keep being released, honestly; you can't get entertainment like *this* from actually playing a game.

Then the Master Chief blows up their entire fleet. Why? Because he loves genocide.

And this is why we love GA.

I just see it as a 10/10 game simply being better than a 9.5/10 game.

I mean, that's fine and all until a game comes out that's better than the first game that you gave a 10/10 to. Then it just becomes meaningless.

it didn't necessarily read like a 5.5 score

Reads like a 6.

Maybe I too am an unfeeling monster...

You probably just don't care for kiddy comic nonsense. Joab does, because he's a man child. This should be obvious :)

Wed 07 Nov 12, 6:27pm

Hotcakes
Posted: Wed 07 Nov 12, 6:27pm

Also, Iron Man is better.

Thu 08 Nov 12, 7:16am

0fficersniffy
Posted: Thu 08 Nov 12, 7:16am

Oh yeah, Iron Man is so much better..

Thu 08 Nov 12, 11:03am

jwmonaghan
Posted: Thu 08 Nov 12, 11:03am

So you have no actual rebuttal to the point I raised regarding the Elite in the elevator shaft, other than a joke? As a big Halo fan I have no objection to your review - Halo isn't for everyone, I get that. But I just don't see how you can raise the elevator shaft scene as some sort of validation that certain story threads don't make sense or impact properly.

Come on.

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