Thoughts on Bungie Halo - Should I Even Play Halo 4 or Halo 5?

[Kevin Shields]

I'd played them before (besides Reach), but I just finished a fresh play through of all the Bungie Halo games. I love Halo, but the atmosphere around the 343 games has me wondering whether I should invest my time in them or just read a story recap when Infinite comes out so I can play that one. I'm a bit different than most in how I like my Halo so I will recap my thoughts on the games and rank them through this play through and you can recommend whether I should play the 343 games.

From best to worst.

1. Halo CE

my favorite FPS ever. Love the mystery. Best gameplay in series. Yes it backtracks a lot but replaying Two Betrayals and the gameplay and structure is so good, that it's still like you enter a whole new world even though you have seen everything before. This is favorite campaign.

2. Halo 2

this is where I digress from most. I love Halo 2. Made a recent thread why I think it's better than 3. I love the space opera vibe, the huge story, multiple characters, amazing writing and dual wielding. For a bit I thought it was best in series, but replaying CE just cemented that that one is on a godly level for me.

3. Halo Reach

I'll talk more under Halo 3, but the more military/cod Halo is my least favorite Halo, but this still had a lot of scenic variety and the gameplay was stellar. Characters were eh, but still a nice, if underdeveloped, Black hawk down type of story. I've only played it once on normal, and one question I have is should I go to 343 games or replay this on heroic first. Is it going to change my view of Reach?

4. Halo 3

this is where I digress from majority opinion, but Halo 3 is my least favorite of Bungie games and I'm not including ODST cause I haven't finished it, but it seemed kind of minor to me with what I have played. I feel like it dialed down the space opera vibe of 2 and went for more generic elongated battle scene that didn't do justice to the setup in 2. The first half of the game bored me and it wasn't until second half that I got interested. It had none of the mystery of the first game, or the intrigue of the second and I was left with a good game, but not as mind blowing as I had come to believe it was going to be.

All that said with how I viewed the Bungie games, should I even try with Halo 4 or 5 or just replay Reach again on Heroic or maybe even give Halo 3 a try on Legendary?

Halo ERA, give me your wisdom! Will I be blinded by 343's majesty?


Edit/Update:
Well I went ahead and started 4 and I'll provide some updates as I move along.

In beginning of chapter 3 and to be honest I was all in for these first few chapters, but these Robots certainly aren't as fun to fight. I feel like 343 still captured Halo and gunplay was good and the Cortana/Chief relationship feels like old times. I love the space opera aspect so starting outside a mysterious forerunner planet is a cool way to start for me! Excited to see what's next. I guess going in with low expectations always helps.

Just finished 4... I loved the gimmicky parts, mantis, big machine chapter all awesome... Hated the endless small arena promethean battles. Simply awful. Gameplay wise this game was up and down the whole time. Story wise someone wondered if I would like it. It was... ok. Liked the Cortana/Chief dynamic, Didact was fine but I feel the game did too much tell instead of show. I would put Halo 4 below Reach and 3 I think on first playthrough. The fact that I don't really want to play it again can tell me it's not better than a Bungie game, but it still was not bad. As good if not better than most FPS during last generation.

Chapter 1 of Halo 5 and the gameplay is so much better and Promethean weapons feel a whole lot better. I'm ready for a dumpster fire of a story, but at least I'll enjoy shooting aliens while I'm digesting the awfulness.

Question: So any covenant I'm fighting in 4 and 5 are just splinter factions? They got a lot of firepower these remnant groups...

 

[Ambient]

I'd play through 4.

5 is a hard skip I never want to play a second of that campaign ever again.

 

[DidactBRHU3]

Halo 4 has the best story and Halo 5 the best sandbox, play them, you may be surprised :)

 

[Plax]

I think you should play Halo 4 and 5. They are definitely not as strong as the Bungie Halo games. But there is some fun to be had. Keep your expectations low for Halo 4, and keep your expectations VERY low for Halo 5.

 

[Wrexis]

I have a serious dislike of 4 due to how they approached the lore. Look up the Iso-Didact and Ur-Didact.
Way to over-complicate a franchise.

 

[brawndolicious]

They're both good games but with significant changes to the formula. Totally subjective, so I'd give it a try if I were you.

 

[Niceguydan8]

I thought the story in 5 was hot trash, but the actual encounter design within the campaign was really good and fun for the most part. I have very fond memories of that.

I also found the multiplayer to be probably my second favorite in the series.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Personally I enjoyed 5 a lot more than 4. It's worth playing if you already paid for them one way or the other.

 

[hydruxo]

Halo 4 campaign was pretty good IMO. I haven't played it since it came out but I remember liking it. Halo 5 was a mess though.

 

[Zuko]

Short answer, give them a try but don't force yourself through them.

 

[Deleted member 8468]

I was a huge fan of the games up through (and including) Reach, and I can't say I care for 4 or 5 at all. Story and gameplay all seem like a big departure to me, and the way Cortana looks in 4 is kinda gross. Movement, guns, enemies all feel very different than any of the other games, lore and set dressing aside it feels like a different franchise imo.

On the flip side, if you have Gamepass I'd say give them a shot. They're different for sure and plenty of folks like them.

 

[zoabs]

Halo 5 had exceptional encounter design outside the infamous boss fight(s). The story, on the other hand, was AWFUL. But can't emphasize how fun gameplay wise Halo 5's campaign was.


Halo 4 had (imo) a cheesy, convoluted story AND bad gameplay. My least favorite campaign. However if you're into the lore, I'm sure you would enjoy Halo 4 as it seems like that's the case for most people.

 

[Dead Man Typing]

I'd say play them. Maybe knock the difficulty down so you can get through them quickly.

There's some good stuff in there and they aren't bad games. They're just a bit disappointing as the next steps in Halo campaigns.

 

[Arctic Chris]

These games are all on GamePass. Try them out and decide for yourself.

 

[nutaroundthecorner]

As someone who pretty much has the same ranking as you then 5 is very much worth playing. I don't really care about the plot for these games so the campaign didn't upset me, it had some cool setpieces and neat moments which I enjoyed a bunch. Also the multiplayer is excellent, it's crazy how little praise it gets.

 

[Septy]

I'll never understand the praise for Halo 4's story. There is a cutscene where they dump books worth of lore in a minute and then carry on like it was nothing. Such bad storytelling.

 

[Goldenroad]

The worst thing that I can say for both of them is that they are pretty unmemorable. They aren't bad games by any means though. They just don't hit the highs of most of Bungie's Halo games. I just played Halo 5 this year and I had fun throughout. I think I was able to get through it in about 3 sittings. It's not a huge commitment.

 

[Tbm24]

Halo 5 is a lot of fun. No reason to not give it a shot if you have access to it.

 

[EvilBoris]

I actually really liked 4's story it had some emotion that hadn't been in the franchise Before.
I can remember nearly nothing about 5.

both are great fun in co-op, which is how I like to play my halos

 

[Sec0nd]

Halo 4 campaign is pretty decent I remember. I mean, it doesn't surpass any of Bungie games. Though I do remember it somewhat more favorably than I remember the Reach campaign. But it's been a while since I've played both games.

I simply cannot remember the Halo 5 campaign. So I guess it wasn't horrible, but not spectacular either.

 

[ClamBuster]

yes, play them both... good games

 

[DisturbedSwan]

Nope.

Honestly, they are trash compared to the original Trilogy (plus Reach and ODST).

I used to be a huge Halo fan and since 4 my interest in the franchise nosedived as it is just so poor with 343i in the driving seat. Terrible SP campaigns with boring new enemies coupled with MP that has been made too similar to CoD. 5 is a little better than 4 though I will say.

 

[nath999]

Those games definitely take a turn into what you don't like but it's still quite enjoyable.

 

[ray_caster]

I love Halo, but I do not like Halo 4. I never played Halo 5, unfortunately. Regardless, I say give it a try.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

5 is much better than 4, in that 4 doesn't even attempt to catch you up on everything that happened since the end of Halo 3, and the gameplay has a quite a few improvements as well.

 

[IceBringer]

Finish ODST. It's great.

Halo 4 is definitely worth playing. I think it's one of the better ones.

Halo 5 isn't but it's short so it won't take long to play through once

 

[Gunny T Highway]

4 is still a decent campaign. 5's campaign ignore the story it is garbage, but the gameplay is fun,

 

[Confused Cheeseburger]

Halo 4 is legitimately a great game

 

[StarskySilvers]

In all honesty, even if you like Halo 4 it's plot points go nowhere in Halo 5.

It's best to imagine that the timeline ends at Halo 3. 343 hasn't shown that they can make a worthy continuation to Bungie's story.

 

[0ptimusPayne]

Yes, theyre both pretty good.

 

[Watership]

Halo 5's campaign isn't amazing, but it's also not a dumpster fire to me as some say. Halo 5's movement and moment to moment gunplay is incredibe.

 

[rokkerkory]

I really liked Halo 4 SP but disliked Halo 5 SP.

 

[Firima]

Play them and ignore people telling you not to, especially if they're Halo fans. The only thing Halo fans hate more than their least favorite Halo is the rest of the Halos.

 

[TheGhost]

Once they introduced that new enemy type in 4 it was all downhill for me. It was also at a time where other shooters started to come out that handled gunplay better imo.

MCC is free on Gamepass so just jump in and give it a shot, nothing lost financially

 

[Guerrilla]

Play them and ignore people telling you not to, especially if they're Halo fans. The only thing Halo fans hate more than their least favorite Halo is the rest of the Halos.

Click to shrink...

lol, so true. All of them are good games when you really get down to it.

 

[SpokkX]

Imo halo 4 is good... great story, good gameplay...too linear and generic art style though but varied fun ganeplay

halo 5... is bad (singleplayer) in almost every way i can think of

 

[nekkid]

Reach should be played on Legendary.

Halo 4 is one of the best Halo campaigns.

Halo 5 proves, despite the hyperbole, that the worst Halo is still better than most games.

 

[Radicality Incident]

The parts of Halo 4 where you shoot covenant I found fun. The parts where you shoot prometheans I found agonizing. The parts where you watch cutscenes were generally good if you have some familiarity with the greater lore, if you've only played the games you wont care about half of what they are saying. Master Chief also talks to much and it weirds me out after coming off the Bungie games.

I hated Halo 5 so much I sold my Xbox One.

 

[Magic]

I'd say give them a chance, I've only played them once myself and I'd echo some people's thoughts in that my only gripe is that they're not very memorable.

I'm currently doing the same as OP, just finished Halo 3: ODST last night having played through CE, 2 & 3 so far this year (All on legendary).

Reach is next which I'm really excited for, but all games have been incredible so far and I've really enjoyed the replays. Even ODST surprised me with how much I enjoyed it.

 

[tbassett]

I've replayed through CE - 4 recently. I really liked the campaign in 4. It gets lots of hate, but I like it for what it's worth

 

[Iso]

Even if the levels aren't as memorable in Halo 4, it is my favorite campaign because of the story and the characterizations of Chief and Cortana.
Halo 5 is also a great game, even if it's not particularly amazing as as 'Halo' game. I think it has the reverse problem of 4; the level design and moment-to-moment gameplay in 5 is better than 4, but the story was not that great, unfortunately.

Both worth playing for their own reasons.

 

[litebrite]

Halo 4 has my favorite Halo campaign. Play it.

 

[FUNKNOWN iXi]

If you play H4, make sure to watch those terminals. They're crucial cutscenes that put the story together.

And by that point might as well play H5. Gameplay is generally fun and it's short. Story is a hot distaster tho.

 

[Depressed Panda]

Halo 4 is my fav of all Halo games
Halo 5 is still ok - great MP

 

[sedael]

Halo 4 has a decent campaign. Halo 5 has a crap campaign but the multiplayer is probably the best in the series so it at least has that.

 

[Shado]

4 is pretty decent. 5 is completely forgettable.

 

[Detective]

I would not bother really.
Nothing on 4 or 5 gives you that Halo feeling. Attempt to be something they are not. Went into one of the cheesiest and most cliche ways possible, SKYNET

And then they added lots of things to the lore just for the sake of it.
Honestly OP, I would recommend playing ODST.

 

[ghostcrew]

I think they're both worth playing, sure. There's hyperbole around the campaigns of those games, mainly because of how damn good the earlier games where. But they're still great, arguably top tier FPS games. They're still 87 and 84 Metacritic rated games.

Halo 5 has the series' best multiplayer too if that's of any interest.

 

[Nephtes]

I really love the Halo 4 campaign.
Not for the villain who is awful, but for the emotional impact Cortana's arc brings.

The graphics on 4 were just insane considering it ran on X360 and I still think they hold up well to this day.

The gameplay though is the roughest aspect. The new enemy types introduced are just awful and no fun to fight. There's a particular level in the game that's essentially a "raft that floats on a light beam" and dozens of encounters with these assholes and I hate it and I never want to play that level again.

But everything else is pretty good and has a really strong emotional impact that's worth experiencing at least once.

Fuck Halo 5.
Feel free to toss that shit in the trash if you find a copy unless you're just in it for the multiplayer.

 

[LilScooby77]

Halo 4 will blow your mind visually if you are going in with low expectations.