Halo 4 is the BEST and WORST of the Series | A Campaign Retrospective
Calvin Fisher
10,857 views
Halo 4 is the most divisive game in the series. Let's look back at the campaign and see why.
Check out the Northfield Saga: https://linktr.ee/calvinfishermedia
In this retrospective video game essay, we will dive into Halo 4's campaign. It is the first game developed by 343 Industries, who now go by the title Halo Studios.
#halo #halo5 #halo5guardians #haloinfinite #halomcc #gaming #gamingcommunity
20 Comments
@calvinfishermedia Creator 1 year ago Pinned
Thanks for watching everyone! I hope you enjoyed the video. What did you think of Halo 4’s campaign?
@thegoldman25 1 year ago
I'm so nostalgic over halo 4. It's campaign is one I hate playing, but I love watching the cutscenes back cuz I appreciate the story
@blaster2187 1 year ago
Good video, one thing about the rampancy was that it partially inspired by the creative director Josh Holmes’ mother fight with dementia. And I think that alone brought so much impact to the story with Cortana’s rampancy. That said, I do agree with you that the pacing of it is off, and only starts up in the second half of the game.
@Makoto_315 1 year ago
I played halo 2 growing up but never touched the series again until recently. Didn’t even know 343 was a thing.
The fun me and my buddies had from Reach-ODST was unmatched across any games we’ve ever played.
First bit was awesome. I personally liked the graphics and interface a lot. Covenant looked weird but that was fine.
The teleporting bullet sponges and atrocious guns killed the game for me.
Every other halo we had played had a good variety of weapons. I liked that I could pick up any gun and be able to hold my own. In Halo 4 I was stuck using pieces of shit that ran out of ammo after getting through the first knight I came across.
I felt like the entire game I was just focused on finding ammo for the same 3 guns over and over, and only one of them was effective.
It was painful to play through and I will never touch the game again. Same goes for 5.
The fun me and my buddies had from Reach-ODST was unmatched across any games we’ve ever played.
First bit was awesome. I personally liked the graphics and interface a lot. Covenant looked weird but that was fine.
The teleporting bullet sponges and atrocious guns killed the game for me.
Every other halo we had played had a good variety of weapons. I liked that I could pick up any gun and be able to hold my own. In Halo 4 I was stuck using pieces of shit that ran out of ammo after getting through the first knight I came across.
I felt like the entire game I was just focused on finding ammo for the same 3 guns over and over, and only one of them was effective.
It was painful to play through and I will never touch the game again. Same goes for 5.
@HeavyMetalVenom 1 year ago
One of my favorite things about the ending (despite the ability to make me tear up) is the symbolism with Chief once Cortana says "Welcome Home" and then after a quick second the debris starts to finally fall around him as the literal ship is destroy but also that the final person Chief cared about is gone. His motionless stance as more and more debris falls really adds to it because it feels like he's given up
@AlexmanOG 1 year ago
I played this whole campaign with in the same 24 hours the Christmas it came out. Extremely nostalgic, and the engine upgrade that brought this huge graphics upgrade in halo 4 was insane as well.
@LonesomeKrow 1 year ago
Halo 4 was the first real Halo campaign I finished. It’s a certified classic in my heart, warts and all. My dad, brother, and even a neighborhood friend all bonded over this game.
Say what you will about 343 Industries, but Halo 4 was their best work in my opinion.
Say what you will about 343 Industries, but Halo 4 was their best work in my opinion.
@iantheduellist 5 months ago
Halo 4 was the first proper videogame I ever played and caused me to imerse myself in the lore. It influnced my writing and music in a deep way. Its soundtrack is a masterpiece. Belly of the Beast, 117 and Revival are by far my favorite video game songs. And cortana's death scene still draws tears. The way the chief can't even look at her and looks down is heartbreaking. And the didacts speach at the end I found haunting. (The song used there as well.)
@ColonelFrostNZ 9 months ago
Was such a great start to a new more personal story regarding the series two main characters. Wish it had continued instead of being skipped to books and comics.
@MarcoTulio-mi1ov 1 year ago (edited)
Great video to start the year!!!! wow, I'm from that group that loves and hates Halo 4 lol, even though it has its problems I really enjoyed playing it, what bothered me the most was the story choices, like the Covenant coming back, Spartans 4 and a few other little things !! But the relationship between the chef and Cortana is really good, I like to consider the end of this the end of the story and there's nothing more after that hahaha
ps, I hated those chapters there, the ones where we were forced to play online and come out one after the other, I thought it was really bad hahaha
ps, I hated those chapters there, the ones where we were forced to play online and come out one after the other, I thought it was really bad hahaha
@LMCGYoutube 1 year ago
38:50. That is a lych not a cruiser. I've heard it be described as a heavy duty transport for front line duty and logistics. I have no idea if this is accurate or not but that's what i heard.
@OrionInSpace 1 year ago
You know it’s so interesting because given your background as a science fiction book author, I’d be curious to see how much of the world of these games stories could be affected if you read into the Halo books. I haven’t read any halo book, but I think it would be interesting to see your take on where a lot of the stories and those books lead to and how they can factor into some of the events in the games. Potentially an interesting idea for some videos in the future if you considered it. Reviewing books around video game franchises.
Halo 4 as my childhood halo game and is one that I definitely fondly remember more for my experience playing the multiplayer as supposed to the campaign, but the campaign in someways can have its fun and not so good at the same time.
Halo 4 as my childhood halo game and is one that I definitely fondly remember more for my experience playing the multiplayer as supposed to the campaign, but the campaign in someways can have its fun and not so good at the same time.
@source3nergy203 6 months ago (edited)
0:05 I’m unsure how it’s considered any good though
0:35 yeah the creative direction is atrocious
1:13 you are very correct on this
1:23 a what now?😂
1:54 ha jackal corpse goes up
7:42 bothers me too since it shows how sloppy it is
10:37 yeah…and rampancy is thrown out the window for more of a bungie rampancy in H5, guess what both can work if done properly, rampancy is the normal thing to happen if smart A.I goes on long enough and you know what would work for 343 rampancy? A virus
11:02 I don’t like how the covenant ships get sucked into it when H3 showed they are pretty good with gravity well, it happens on earth when the portal to the ark appears
13:39 huh? Isn’t that just people though, throughout history, getting a problem fixed rather than comfort because time is of the essence, machine my a**
13:54 thanks 343, for this lesser version of rampancy
14:18 I do not like the art changes to the forerunner technology
15:18 that’s convenient, both “covenant” and human forces are here good for them and we see why later
16:29 “supplant”
16:38 good idea, terrible execution for these enemies
20:00 and that is where in the writing room whoever came up with this should’ve been fired, forerunners (which also they wouldn’t call themselves that) return and they aren’t human gtfo here, so the human covenant war the covenant were in the right on killing humanity for the forerunners…cool
20:13 “implication” dude just don’t
21:13 oh the books how 343 love to rely on their books, it’s a game series the books should support it not be necessary, also the didact has the force wtf, though I do like the idea of forerunners being able to control their structure but not atomize them
21:23 also why didn’t the didact kill chief when he had him in his force wielding grasp, oh yeah plot
22:00 kinda, I’d like if his character was placed elsewhere and instead of forerunner was a new species
23:43 yeah because it’s over designed and Palmer should have a helmet
25:00 sloppy is what it’s called
25:41 for some reason 343 took some of the only things bungie messed up on, armor abilities I’d say are inferior to field gadgets, as field gadgets are a one and done and comparing the aside from flare in H3 which could use some tweaks all were good but with armor abilities hologram, armor lock, active camo, and evade were either annoying or useless and the camo would disappear the more you move for some reason
25:48 yeah and map designs suffers for it
26:23 “feels like a spartan run” even though this is 500 years in the future and they should be able to run without having the animation
28:01 for no good reason aside from “we wanted to distance ourselves from what came before” which in a way is good as it didn’t tarnish the bungie stuff
28:33 eh the plasma rifle is better
28:44 they are uninspired and just another version of another gun that is either better or worse
28:52 that part of it is pretty nice though and would like to see that mechanic in a better place
28:57 that one I’m not a fan of as the base damage of the gun is minuscule and the charge is busted, with some tweaks it could be good
29:05 I do not like that one bit, it’s too different from what came before and looks more like fantasy stuff rather than sci fi, which with enough advancement could make sense but with the stuff given in the previous games do not fit
29:08 the color scheme I don’t mind but I like the aesthetics of forerunner architecture from the previous games
31:09 also add on that despawn is quick for weapons and vehicles, the reason I’ve been told for this along with the stupider bots, for the graphics, function over form is more appreciated
32:03 seeing how previous games looked amazing but still had awesome gameplay, this is just an excuse where there should be none for Microsoft’s biggest IP
32:07 eh, halo 5 looks better and they probably should have waited until the Xbox one to launch this with, and no it doesn’t hold up except the high graphics part
32:29 a lot of people don’t seem to get it, small things build up into a big mess and there isn’t one thing to say about it except these “nitpicks” that are just small things that goes to make this mess
32:59 hot take but I really like them idea wise, the whole humanity isn’t forerunner retcon connected to the is arguably one of if not the worst sin 343 made (frank o dummor) and in gaming lore in general, so if they were implemented better story wise and had more variety to the enemies and tweaked to fight against they are conceptually a gem, think about it an intelligent fighting force that is similar to the flood of transforming friendlies into enemies but have strategic gameplay like the covenant
33:40 I do like them, different from buggers and other similar
34:46 the lack of variety worsens the gameplay, as there are three enemy types and three versions of them (which most people can’t tell there are differences), but in CE I think the variety for the enemies for the covenant totaled up to 27 and the flood 14 or something, this definitely needed more time to realize this enemy sandbox
35:30 I like its mechanics but anything with less than 4 legs just feel fictional especially with how wide the mantis is (also mantis have four legs as well) and I’d like them to look like the locus (I think it was covenant smaller version of a scarab)
36:05 and we have seen 343 under Microsoft unable to reach that bar and the only praise I have ever seen is in H5 multiplayer but the formula is different for that and could be in halo titles but I’d say it can go in marine, ODST, or some other spin off game
36:44 …what…are you serious, they know it’s weapons against the flood right the whole reason why they are there
38:07 and you said it yourself, he …is…a…soldier, and given the past games events it doesn’t line up what the 343 games portray
38:27 didn’t…didn’t he send scouts previously in the game, or recon
38:37 you the thing with slow moving or predictable moving super weapons, they are easy targets
Plus this is just a stand in for a gondola ride and I’d much rather have three advancing elephants on a open field than this excuse
39:26 I hate this b*tch
41:06 ah ah ah, don’t leave out that chief is the chosen one now and that all of human history was in the librarians plans, which include chief…and child kidnapping so thanks librarian for pedos
41:18 it’s a poorly executed lore dump, thanks frank o dummor
43:09 bungie Cortana would shut herself down if this ever happened, and this version of rampancy could work elsewhere
43:29 he might have the attitude of an ass but he is right in a lot of his decisions
44:12 yeah thanks to the character assassination of Cortana and partly the reduced intelligence of the military overall in 343 games
44:31 and endanger the lives of those on board…character assassination on him as well, putting the lives of soldiers in danger for the sake of a an A.I which can be made again
44:59 I like the angle of this speech
45:35 yes Cortana you have mortality, thanks 343, and don’t give me that “YoU aRE a MAchInE, HavE a HEArt” there is an immediate threat to humanity AGAIN there isn’t time to be melodramatic
46:25 you know the funny thing with this whole relationship for chief at least…IT WAS 4 MONTHS!!!AND HUMANITY WAS HAVING EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENTS HAPPENING OF COURSE THERE ISNT GOING TO BE ANY DOWNTIME TO HAVE A HOBBY; CHIEF IS A VERY EXPENSIVE SUPER SOLDIER AND THOSE RESOURCES WONT BE WASTED SO OF COURSE HE IS AS HE WAS IS HALO CE TO 3. My gosh this point is so annoying
46:42 ding ding ding, boring and it’s the first time you fly it…disappointing
47:26 he does and you want to know why? BECAUSE HALO IS A GAME SERIES!!!
47:34 (sigh)
47:56 master cheeks is that you? A fart perhaps
48:00 oh that’s nice how a baby knife can just stop chiefs mass like that
48:51 again bungie Cortana would shut herself down
51:30 I do like the visuals here
52:05 well yeah this was seen in CE with Keyes and H3 with Cortana, so the whole machine take never made sense to me
52:33 ok…I’m unsure why your programming cares
52:46 this version does contain valuable data so I’d save the important bits
53:56 right because reassurance has to be a paragraph long instead of a few words like “well make it”, also what came to mind in CE is when the first pod that we are in a soldier asks if they are going to make it and chief puts his hand on his shoulder showing he knows how to do so
54:11 I don’t mind this, a few tweaks and it could be amazing
54:43 that’s convenient
55:20 the didact had 20 seconds or something to kill chief
55:49 I have no idea how this is still possible
56:12 (sigh) melodramatic much
56:25 home?
57:08 uh evidently remaining covenant forces, there is still a fight to be had
57:51 wasn’t it both?
58:00 and how terrible it’s been, thanks Microsoft, there are some gems in each game story wise and gameplay wise but it’s a total mess
58:55 people who like melodrama
59:40 why though? It’s silly and out of character
60:00 …great…
1:00:06 liked and commented
0:35 yeah the creative direction is atrocious
1:13 you are very correct on this
1:23 a what now?😂
1:54 ha jackal corpse goes up
7:42 bothers me too since it shows how sloppy it is
10:37 yeah…and rampancy is thrown out the window for more of a bungie rampancy in H5, guess what both can work if done properly, rampancy is the normal thing to happen if smart A.I goes on long enough and you know what would work for 343 rampancy? A virus
11:02 I don’t like how the covenant ships get sucked into it when H3 showed they are pretty good with gravity well, it happens on earth when the portal to the ark appears
13:39 huh? Isn’t that just people though, throughout history, getting a problem fixed rather than comfort because time is of the essence, machine my a**
13:54 thanks 343, for this lesser version of rampancy
14:18 I do not like the art changes to the forerunner technology
15:18 that’s convenient, both “covenant” and human forces are here good for them and we see why later
16:29 “supplant”
16:38 good idea, terrible execution for these enemies
20:00 and that is where in the writing room whoever came up with this should’ve been fired, forerunners (which also they wouldn’t call themselves that) return and they aren’t human gtfo here, so the human covenant war the covenant were in the right on killing humanity for the forerunners…cool
20:13 “implication” dude just don’t
21:13 oh the books how 343 love to rely on their books, it’s a game series the books should support it not be necessary, also the didact has the force wtf, though I do like the idea of forerunners being able to control their structure but not atomize them
21:23 also why didn’t the didact kill chief when he had him in his force wielding grasp, oh yeah plot
22:00 kinda, I’d like if his character was placed elsewhere and instead of forerunner was a new species
23:43 yeah because it’s over designed and Palmer should have a helmet
25:00 sloppy is what it’s called
25:41 for some reason 343 took some of the only things bungie messed up on, armor abilities I’d say are inferior to field gadgets, as field gadgets are a one and done and comparing the aside from flare in H3 which could use some tweaks all were good but with armor abilities hologram, armor lock, active camo, and evade were either annoying or useless and the camo would disappear the more you move for some reason
25:48 yeah and map designs suffers for it
26:23 “feels like a spartan run” even though this is 500 years in the future and they should be able to run without having the animation
28:01 for no good reason aside from “we wanted to distance ourselves from what came before” which in a way is good as it didn’t tarnish the bungie stuff
28:33 eh the plasma rifle is better
28:44 they are uninspired and just another version of another gun that is either better or worse
28:52 that part of it is pretty nice though and would like to see that mechanic in a better place
28:57 that one I’m not a fan of as the base damage of the gun is minuscule and the charge is busted, with some tweaks it could be good
29:05 I do not like that one bit, it’s too different from what came before and looks more like fantasy stuff rather than sci fi, which with enough advancement could make sense but with the stuff given in the previous games do not fit
29:08 the color scheme I don’t mind but I like the aesthetics of forerunner architecture from the previous games
31:09 also add on that despawn is quick for weapons and vehicles, the reason I’ve been told for this along with the stupider bots, for the graphics, function over form is more appreciated
32:03 seeing how previous games looked amazing but still had awesome gameplay, this is just an excuse where there should be none for Microsoft’s biggest IP
32:07 eh, halo 5 looks better and they probably should have waited until the Xbox one to launch this with, and no it doesn’t hold up except the high graphics part
32:29 a lot of people don’t seem to get it, small things build up into a big mess and there isn’t one thing to say about it except these “nitpicks” that are just small things that goes to make this mess
32:59 hot take but I really like them idea wise, the whole humanity isn’t forerunner retcon connected to the is arguably one of if not the worst sin 343 made (frank o dummor) and in gaming lore in general, so if they were implemented better story wise and had more variety to the enemies and tweaked to fight against they are conceptually a gem, think about it an intelligent fighting force that is similar to the flood of transforming friendlies into enemies but have strategic gameplay like the covenant
33:40 I do like them, different from buggers and other similar
34:46 the lack of variety worsens the gameplay, as there are three enemy types and three versions of them (which most people can’t tell there are differences), but in CE I think the variety for the enemies for the covenant totaled up to 27 and the flood 14 or something, this definitely needed more time to realize this enemy sandbox
35:30 I like its mechanics but anything with less than 4 legs just feel fictional especially with how wide the mantis is (also mantis have four legs as well) and I’d like them to look like the locus (I think it was covenant smaller version of a scarab)
36:05 and we have seen 343 under Microsoft unable to reach that bar and the only praise I have ever seen is in H5 multiplayer but the formula is different for that and could be in halo titles but I’d say it can go in marine, ODST, or some other spin off game
36:44 …what…are you serious, they know it’s weapons against the flood right the whole reason why they are there
38:07 and you said it yourself, he …is…a…soldier, and given the past games events it doesn’t line up what the 343 games portray
38:27 didn’t…didn’t he send scouts previously in the game, or recon
38:37 you the thing with slow moving or predictable moving super weapons, they are easy targets
Plus this is just a stand in for a gondola ride and I’d much rather have three advancing elephants on a open field than this excuse
39:26 I hate this b*tch
41:06 ah ah ah, don’t leave out that chief is the chosen one now and that all of human history was in the librarians plans, which include chief…and child kidnapping so thanks librarian for pedos
41:18 it’s a poorly executed lore dump, thanks frank o dummor
43:09 bungie Cortana would shut herself down if this ever happened, and this version of rampancy could work elsewhere
43:29 he might have the attitude of an ass but he is right in a lot of his decisions
44:12 yeah thanks to the character assassination of Cortana and partly the reduced intelligence of the military overall in 343 games
44:31 and endanger the lives of those on board…character assassination on him as well, putting the lives of soldiers in danger for the sake of a an A.I which can be made again
44:59 I like the angle of this speech
45:35 yes Cortana you have mortality, thanks 343, and don’t give me that “YoU aRE a MAchInE, HavE a HEArt” there is an immediate threat to humanity AGAIN there isn’t time to be melodramatic
46:25 you know the funny thing with this whole relationship for chief at least…IT WAS 4 MONTHS!!!AND HUMANITY WAS HAVING EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENTS HAPPENING OF COURSE THERE ISNT GOING TO BE ANY DOWNTIME TO HAVE A HOBBY; CHIEF IS A VERY EXPENSIVE SUPER SOLDIER AND THOSE RESOURCES WONT BE WASTED SO OF COURSE HE IS AS HE WAS IS HALO CE TO 3. My gosh this point is so annoying
46:42 ding ding ding, boring and it’s the first time you fly it…disappointing
47:26 he does and you want to know why? BECAUSE HALO IS A GAME SERIES!!!
47:34 (sigh)
47:56 master cheeks is that you? A fart perhaps
48:00 oh that’s nice how a baby knife can just stop chiefs mass like that
48:51 again bungie Cortana would shut herself down
51:30 I do like the visuals here
52:05 well yeah this was seen in CE with Keyes and H3 with Cortana, so the whole machine take never made sense to me
52:33 ok…I’m unsure why your programming cares
52:46 this version does contain valuable data so I’d save the important bits
53:56 right because reassurance has to be a paragraph long instead of a few words like “well make it”, also what came to mind in CE is when the first pod that we are in a soldier asks if they are going to make it and chief puts his hand on his shoulder showing he knows how to do so
54:11 I don’t mind this, a few tweaks and it could be amazing
54:43 that’s convenient
55:20 the didact had 20 seconds or something to kill chief
55:49 I have no idea how this is still possible
56:12 (sigh) melodramatic much
56:25 home?
57:08 uh evidently remaining covenant forces, there is still a fight to be had
57:51 wasn’t it both?
58:00 and how terrible it’s been, thanks Microsoft, there are some gems in each game story wise and gameplay wise but it’s a total mess
58:55 people who like melodrama
59:40 why though? It’s silly and out of character
60:00 …great…
1:00:06 liked and commented
@Phillibetrus 1 year ago
21:52 - No. The diadact was able to ragdoll chief and had him dead to rights while he monologed then tosses chief asside as if he is not worthy to be killed. You want me to stop taking your villian seriously that is probably the fastest way to do it. It does not come off as menecing it comes off as forced and contrived.
Even putting asside the Human-Forerunner retcon this whole settup introducing the Didact is flawed. The whole level we are running around this new forerunner world not knowing what it does or why it was build, already being mistaken about the Infinity and where it was, rushing to press some button when the last time chief did this was back in CE Two Betrayals where we almost killed everyone. The only reason Halo wasn't activated was because Cortana stopped us and she is now on the fritz. Also we just switched from looking for a ride and a way off this world and here comes a UNSC ship to take us. They may get trapped with us but then we have backup as we slow down to figgure out how to escape together. Even if there were no way off better to risk loosing one ship then risk wiping out all life (or in this case release another ancient threat that kills all humanity). This was the headspace I was in when first pressing the button releasing the Didact and after that scene was where I started to check out.
Even putting asside the Human-Forerunner retcon this whole settup introducing the Didact is flawed. The whole level we are running around this new forerunner world not knowing what it does or why it was build, already being mistaken about the Infinity and where it was, rushing to press some button when the last time chief did this was back in CE Two Betrayals where we almost killed everyone. The only reason Halo wasn't activated was because Cortana stopped us and she is now on the fritz. Also we just switched from looking for a ride and a way off this world and here comes a UNSC ship to take us. They may get trapped with us but then we have backup as we slow down to figgure out how to escape together. Even if there were no way off better to risk loosing one ship then risk wiping out all life (or in this case release another ancient threat that kills all humanity). This was the headspace I was in when first pressing the button releasing the Didact and after that scene was where I started to check out.
Halo 4 is the BEST and WORST of the Series | A Campaign Retrospective
Calvin Fisher
10,857 views
Halo 4 is the most divisive game in the series. Let's look back at the campaign and see why.
Check out the Northfield Saga: https://linktr.ee/calvinfishermedia
In this retrospective video game essay, we will dive into Halo 4's campaign. It is the first game developed by 343 Industries, who now go by the title Halo Studios.
#halo #halo5 #halo5guardians #haloinfinite #halomcc #gaming #gamingcommunity