Halo 4

Overview

Halo 4 is a 2012 first-person shooter developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. You play Master Chief, a genetically enhanced supersoldier, with his artificial intelligence Cortana, exploring an ancient civilisation's planet. You fight a splinter faction of the old Covenant alliance and a new enemy, the Prometheans, mechanical warriors of the Forerunner empire.

Play is mostly first-person, switching to third person for some weapons, abilities and vehicles. The game brings back the armour abilities from Halo: Reach and adds new ones, and it adds new weapons for humans, the Covenant and the Prometheans. Sprinting is back and can be used on its own. The campaign can be played alone, in split screen with a second player, or with up to three others over Xbox Live.

Multiplayer is called Infinity. You build a customisable Spartan-IV and rank up to unlock gear, with Specializations after rank SR-50. War Games is the competitive matchmaking side, for up to sixteen players online and four in split screen. Spartan Ops is a story-driven, episodic co-op mode that replaced Firefight, with ten episodes released between launch and early 2013. Forge, Theater and file sharing return.

Development began in 2009 and ran to September 2012. It is the first Halo game made by 343 Industries instead of Bungie, and the team grew from about a dozen people to nearly 200, with over 350 people involved in total. The team chose to explore the Forerunner side of the Halo story and built a new setting, enemies and main villain. Neil Davidge wrote the score and Sotaro Tojima was the audio director.

Steve Downes returned as Master Chief and Jen Taylor as Cortana and Dr Halsey. Mark Rolston, Jennifer Hale, Adrienne Barbeau and Keith Szarabajka joined the cast. The game was announced at E3 on June 6, 2011 and released on November 6, 2012 everywhere except Japan, where it came out on November 8. It earned 220 million US dollars on launch day and 300 million in its first week, a record for the series.

Reviews were mostly positive, with a Metacritic score of 87 from 87 reviews. Critics praised the campaign and the bond between Chief and Cortana, and the competitive multiplayer. Spartan Ops drew mixed responses because it replaced Firefight and its missions were short.

Halo 4 was re-released in Halo: The Master Chief Collection for Xbox One on November 11, 2014 and for Windows on November 17, 2020. A sequel, Halo 5: Guardians, followed in 2015.

Official trailer

Halo 4 Launch Gameplay Trailer, HALO. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

HALO 4 | Xbox 360 Gameplay, BenedictPlays. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

First-person shooter

Developer

343 Industries

Publisher

Microsoft Studios

Series

Halo (fourth main game)

Directors

Josh Holmes

Composers

Neil Davidge, Kazuma Jinnouchi

Designers

Scott Warner

Writers

Christopher Schlerf, Josh Holmes

Producers

Chris Lee

Platforms

Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

4

Online multiplayer

16

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Achievements

Achievements86 (2,000G)

1000G possibleNo

Total

86

Gamerscore

2000

100% time

40 to 50 hours

Difficulty

8 out of 10

Playthroughs for 1000G

2

Playthroughs for 100%

2

1000G without online

No

Online trophies

26

Online note

26 achievements needed the Xbox 360 online services, which ended on 13 January 2022.

DLC has trophies

Yes

1000G includes DLC

No

100% includes DLC

Yes

DLC still for sale

Yes

DLC note

Five packs add 37 achievements worth 1,000G. The War Games map packs are free on the Xbox store.

Missable trophies

0

Chapter select fixes a miss

Yes

Separate trophy lists by region

No

Only in a language other than English

No

Languages

English

Online-only version

No

Digital-only

No

Disc-only

No

Players with 1000G

4.7%

Gamerscore, base game

1000

Gamerscore with DLC

2000

Grind

• Campaign on Legendary
• Terminals and skulls

• Dawn Completed mission 1 on any difficulty. 10G 89.79% of players
• Requiem Completed mission 2 on any difficulty. 10G 78.52% of players
• Forerunner Completed mission 3 on any difficulty. 10G 70.74% of players
• Infinity Completed mission 4 on any difficulty. 10G 66.43% of players
• Reclaimer Completed mission 5 on any difficulty. 10G 62.46% of players
• Shutdown Completed mission 6 on any difficulty. 10G 59.98% of players
• Composer Completed mission 7 on any difficulty. 10G 59.13% of players
• Midnight Completed mission 8 on any difficulty. 10G 57.82% of players
• Wake Up, John Completed the Campaign on Normal or harder. 20G 47.42% of players
• I Need a Hero Completed the Campaign on Heroic or harder. 40G 29.16% of players
• The Legend of 117 Completed the Campaign on Legendary difficulty. 70G 21.79% of players
• Lone Wolf Legend Completed the Campaign solo on Legendary difficulty. 90G 12.58% of players
• Skullduggery Completed any Campaign mission with 3 or more Skulls on Heroic or harder. 15G 25.07% of players
• Bropocalypse Completed any Campaign mission cooperatively on Heroic or harder. 10G 39.61% of players
• Contact the Domain Found a Terminal in the Campaign. 10G 68.42% of players
• Terminus Found all of the Terminals in the Campaign. 50G 15.48% of players
• Digging up the Past Found and accessed Chief's record in mission 1. 20G 52.85% of players
• Midnight Launch Got significant air in the Warthog at midnight in mission 2. 20G 12.65% of players
• This is my Rifle, This is my Gun Carried a UNSC weapon all the way through mission 3 on Heroic or harder. 20G 11.47% of players
• Bros to the Close Completed mission 4 without one preventable Marine death on Heroic or harder. 20G 7.58% of players
• Mortardom Stole a Wraith and used it to kill at least four enemy Wraiths in mission 5 on Heroic or harder. 20G 8.42% of players
• Explore the Floor Tricked or forced a Hunter to fall to his demise in mission 6. 20G 23.43% of players
• Give Him the Stick Took out both Hunters using only the Sticky Detonator in mission 7. 20G 22.89% of players
• Chief, Smash! Killed 3 Crawlers in one hit with the Gravity Hammer in mission 8. 20G 15.74% of players
• Not Some Recruit Anymore Ranked up your Spartan-IV to SR-5. 15G 75.87% of players
• Movin' On Up Ranked up your Spartan-IV to SR-20. 25G 53.29% of players
• I <3 Red vs Blue Won 5 War Games matchmaking matches. 15G Needs online 62.12% of players
• Hanging on the Combat Deck Won 20 War Games matchmaking matches. 30G Needs online 46.53% of players
• Operation Completion Completed a Spartan Ops Mission on any difficulty. 15G 55.84% of players
• A Legendary Episode Completed all chapters in Spartan Ops Episode 1 on Legendary difficulty. 40G 22.08% of players
• Dedicated to Crimson Completed all chapters in any 5 episodes of Spartan Ops on any difficulty. 80G 17.8% of players
• Crimson Alone Completed a Spartan Ops chapter solo on Legendary. 20G 20.82% of players
• Roses vs Violets Found one of the RvB Easter Eggs in Episodes 1 to 5 of Spartan Ops. 20G 24.1% of players
• No One Left Behind Saved at least one Marine in Chapter 3 of Episode 2 of Spartan Ops on Heroic or harder. 20G 14.37% of players
• Knight in White Assassination Assassinated a Knight in any Spartan Ops mission. 20G 28.68% of players
• What Power Outage? Completed Chapter 4, Episode 5 of Spartan Ops without losing a generator on Heroic or harder. 20G 13.26% of players
• No Easy Way Out In Ch 1, Ep 5 of Spartan Ops survived the enemy assault during the defense on Normal or harder. 20G 11.75% of players
• The Challenged Completed a Challenge. 10G 66.53% of players
• The Challenger Completed 25 Challenges. 20G 20.5% of players
• Armorer Changed your Spartan's armor in the Spartan Armor card. 5G 69.74% of players
• Badge Changed your Emblem in the Spartan ID card. 5G 81.26% of players
• PWND Changed your Service Tag in the Spartan ID card. 5G 77.96% of players
• What a Poser! Changed your Spartan's pose in the Spartan ID card. 5G 56.73% of players
• The Cartographer Created and saved a Custom Map in Forge. 5G 30.02% of players
• Game Changer Created and saved a Custom Game type in War Games. 5G 17.69% of players
• Snapshot! Saved a Screenshot from the Theater. 5G 25.34% of players
• The Director Saved a Film Clip from the Theater. 5G 26.9% of players
• Sharing is Caring Uploaded a File to your File Share. 5G 25.04% of players
• Bromageddon Completed the Campaign cooperatively on Heroic or harder. 40G 18.07% of players
• Now they Fly? In Crimson DLC matchmaking, got a kill while airborne in a Warthog. 50G Needs online 7.86% of players
• Size is Everything In Crimson DLC matchmaking, killed 20 enemies with a detached Machine Gun Turret. 20G Needs online 8.18% of players
• ODST In Crimson DLC matchmaking, killed a player while airborne from a Man Cannon. 30G Needs online 14.39% of players
• Bigfoot In Crimson DLC matchmaking, killed 20 enemies using the Mantis' stomp attack. 20G Needs online 7.47% of players
• David and Goliath In Crimson DLC matchmaking, boarded an enemy Mantis. 20G Needs online 11.34% of players
• Pump Yer Brakes In Crimson DLC matchmaking, scored the killing blow on a Mantis. 40G Needs online 11.95% of players
• Clay Pigeon In Crimson DLC matchmaking, shot an enemy who’s airborne from a Man Cannon. 40G Needs online 9.35% of players
• Special Delivery In Crimson DLC matchmaking, killed an enemy with melee when landing from a Man Cannon. 30G Needs online 10.98% of players
• Didn't See It Comin' In Majestic DLC matchmaking, assassinated an enemy who's in zoom mode. 10G Needs online 6.62% of players
• Bird of Prey In Majestic DLC matchmaking, performed 5 'airsassinations.' 50G Needs online 6.29% of players
• Bullet Sponge In Majestic DLC matchmaking, got the 'Close Call' medal twice during one match. 30G Needs online 8.21% of players
• I See You! In Majestic DLC matchmaking, killed 5 enemies while Promethean Vision is active. 10G Needs online 7.23% of players
• Clever Girl In Majestic DLC matchmaking, killed 5 enemies while Active Camo is active. 10G Needs online 7.22% of players
• Flash of Light In Majestic DLC matchmaking, got a Double Kill or higher with one Pulse Grenade. 30G Needs online 6.22% of players
• Last Man Grinning In Majestic DLC matchmaking, got 4 kills using the SAW without dying. 20G Needs online 7.04% of players
• Pigs Can Fly In Majestic DLC matchmaking, kill 3 enemies while they are using Jet Packs. 30G Needs online 7.18% of players
• Callin' in the Big Guns In Majestic DLC matchmaking, called in 3 ordnance drops during the same game. 40G Needs online 7.52% of players
• I Thrust at Thee In Majestic DLC matchmaking, perform a melee kill right after using Thrust Pack. 20G Needs online 6.97% of players
• What Is Yours Is Also Mine In Castle DLC matchmaking, disabled a vehicle and then hijack it. 40G Needs online 5.45% of players
• Dodge This! In Castle DLC matchmaking, got two direct Spartan Laser kills in one match. 20G Needs online 5.36% of players
• Hello Nurse! In Castle DLC matchmaking, healed a near-death teammate with Regen Field 5 times. 30G Needs online 5.26% of players
• That Won't Save You In Castle DLC matchmaking, assassinated an enemy who is using a Hardlight Shield. 30G Needs online 5.04% of players
• Ashes to Ashes In Castle DLC matchmaking, disintegrated 6 enemies using Forerunner weapons. 10G Needs online 5.36% of players
• Beating Up the Beat In Castle DLC matchmaking, performed 5 melee kills in a single match. 30G Needs online 7% of players
• Sight Seeing In Castle DLC matchmaking, completed a match in any mode for each Castle map. 20G Needs online 6.62% of players
• Scrapyard In Castle DLC matchmaking, destroyed 2 vehicles during a single game. 30G Needs online 5.94% of players
• Outta My Way! In Castle DLC matchmaking, killed 5 enemies during a match by running them over. 40G Needs online 5.26% of players
• Protect This House In matchmaking, assassinated the ball carrier within five meters of your own goal in Ricochet. 30G Needs online 2.9% of players
• Hat Trick In matchmaking, scored three times in one round of Ricochet. 33G Needs online 6.6% of players
• From Downtown In matchmaking, scored by throwing the ball from 30 meters in Ricochet. 25G Needs online 4.59% of players
• Repeat Survivor In matchmaking, survived three vehicle explosions in a row with the Survivor package. 25G Needs online 3.16% of players
• Can’t Catch Me In matchmaking, scored a goal in Ricochet while taking damage with the Resistor active. 20G Needs online 3.5% of players
• Just a Scratch In matchmaking, recovered full shields from low health with both Resistor and Recharge active. 20G Needs online 6.92% of players
• Pitchin' a Tent In matchmaking, effectively camped one location without dying for a full 60 seconds. 40G Needs online 19.3% of players
• One Man Army In matchmaking, got four consecutive kills with the Rocket Launcher without dying. 27G Needs online 9.79% of players
• Shocking In Bullseye DLC matchmaking, activated both electrical surge systems during a match on Vertigo. 10G Needs online 3.19% of players
• Got it! In Bullseye DLC matchmaking, acquired the Rocket Launcher at the start of a match on Pitfall. 20G Needs online 4.5% of players

Space and patches

Space needed14.5 GB

Update patchTitle update 10

The title updates on record for this game.

DLC

Three War Games map packs of three maps each, a free Forge map, and the Champions Bundle came out between December 2012 and August 2013. Spartan Ops episodes were free. The three War Games map packs are free on the Xbox store as the War Games Map Pass.

Items

Name	Adds
Crimson Map Pack	Released 10 December 2012. Three War Games maps.
Majestic Map Pack	Released 25 February 2013. Three War Games maps.
Forge Island	Released 29 March 2013. A map made for Forge creations. Free.
Castle Map Pack	Released 8 April 2013. Three War Games maps.
Champions Bundle (Bullseye Pack, Steel Skin Pack, Infinity Armor Pack)	Released 20 August 2013. Two multiplayer maps and early access to the Ricochet game type, steampunk weapon skins, and new armour.

Playable today

Playable offline todayPartly

The campaign, split screen and system link still work. Matchmaking and other Xbox 360 online services ended on 13 January 2022.

Online

Online servers runningNo

Plays offlinePartly

The Xbox 360 online services for Halo 4, including matchmaking, ended on January 13, 2022. Campaign, Spartan Ops, custom games, Forge, split screen and system link still work, and online multiplayer lives on in Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Services

Service	Status	Shutdown date
Xbox 360 online services for Halo 4 (matchmaking and related features)	ended	2022-01-13

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale	Reviews
Metacritic	Xbox 360	87	100	87

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
1UP	A-	A to F
Computer and Video Games	8	10
Edge	8	10
G4	4.5	5
Game Informer	9.25	10
GameSpot	9	10
GamesRadar	4.5	5
IGN	9.8	10
Official Xbox Magazine	9.5	10
Polygon	9.5	10

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Director	Josh Holmes
Producer	Chris Lee
Designer	Scott Warner
Programmer	David Berger
Artist	Kenneth Scott
Writer	Christopher Schlerf
Writer	Josh Holmes
Composer	Neil Davidge
Composer	Kazuma Jinnouchi
Audio director	Sotaro Tojima

Cast

Character	Actor
Master Chief	Steve Downes
Cortana and Halsey	Jen Taylor
Captain Andrew Del Rio	Mark Rolston
Thomas Lasky	Darren O'Hare
Sarah Palmer	Jennifer Hale
Dr Tillson	Adrienne Barbeau
The Didact	Keith Szarabajka
Jul 'Mdama	Travis Willingham
The Librarian	Lori Tritel

Notes for collectors

• New Zealand censors labelled many copies R13 after the first copies had gone on sale unrestricted.
• At launch only owners of the Limited Edition had all eight Specializations. Others were unlocked gradually in the months after.
• Many of the achievements need matchmaking, so with the 360 services ended in January 2022 they are out of reach on this version.
• The list has 86 achievements and 2,000 gamerscore once the DLC achievements are counted.
• A Game of the Year Edition came out on October 8, 2013 with the season pass content.
• The Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn live-action series was made to promote the game.

Credits

Publisher

Microsoft Studios

Developer

343 Industries

Director

Josh Holmes

Released

2013-02-05

Age rating

M (Mature)

Disc ID

4D530919

Region

US

Time to beat

about 7 hours

Copies in the shop

• Halo 4 (XBOX 360) CA$14.99