Recommended Posts

I actually just dropped my copy of Halo 4 into a UPS drop box. Amazon was offering $32 trade in credit, and I wanted to get what I could before that number got even lower.

I tried to like the Campaign, put about 3 or so hours into it, but I just found it incredibly boring and repititve. Maybe it eventually gets better, but I will not know, as I am on to playing Black Ops II, which I already find to be much more entertaining than Halo 4 overall.

The way I see it, the FPS genre on a whole is a pretty dumb genre with no real progression in it for years now. it really is just glorified shooting galleries at the end of the day. So it might as well be over the top of fun, and Halo 4 possessed neither characteristic in my opinion.

No, Halo 4 doesn't get any better.. Actually the ending itself is beyond deflating.. there is no big boss fight, there is nothing.. just more flipping freakin' switches.

BOPS2 will surprise you pleasantly.. it's a blast.

I'm so into the game, I only have 7 achievements left and I need a buddy for Co-Op and the rest of the terminals along with one other for the campaign. No seriously, I've been a fan of Halo since I was 8 or 9.

Same, I was 11 when the first Xbox and Halo came out, I have 13 achievements left, but most are of the remaining Spartan Ops, and the terminals. Solo legendary, I have Co-Op legendary.

This game... its. Ugh. So I didn't realize this when I first picked up the game since I immediately changed my controls to Boxer. But the default controls are not Halo controls, in fact they are a CoD/Halo hybrid. Why is this game trying so unbelievably hard to be a game it most certainly isn't? It just puzzles me to no end. I still can't comment on the campaign since I still haven't finished it but it is the first Halo campaign that hasn't been too good at keeping me engaged.

This game... its. Ugh. So I didn't realize this when I first picked up the game since I immediately changed my controls to Boxer. But the default controls are not Halo controls, in fact they are a CoD/Halo hybrid. Why is this game trying so unbelievably hard to be a game it most certainly isn't? It just puzzles me to no end. I still can't comment on the campaign since I still haven't finished it but it is the first Halo campaign that hasn't been too good at keeping me engaged.

That's interesting. What makes the controls CoD/Halo hybrid?

I'm enjoying this game. I never REALLY got into the other Halo games (although I played them all). For me it is just another FPS, and Halo 4 is a decent enough FPS and popular enough to keep the multiplayer going and interesting that I think I'll be playing it throughout the holidays (even though I suck terribly at it).

I think people who had too big of a hard-on for Bungie need to get over it. Its a freaken franchise game at this point. So long as you have all the graphics, guns, and badies right it really doesn't matter if Martha Stewart makes the game. Does anyone care that Shigeru Miyamoto isn't actively involved in making the new Zelda or Mario games anymore, NOPE.

Here's an interesting look at it. The article isn't really about it specifically but it does comment on it: http://thecontroller...utton-mappings/

While I do appreciate their effort, it?s not the ideal remedy because not everyone is going to use the default controls in Call of Duty and they are still left out. It also doesn?t help me because I actually prefer the Halo 4 Recon controls over Call of Duty?s so I don?t want to now have to play both games in a way that I don?t enjoy as much, just for it to be familiar.

Don't understand how these are COD controls. They're Halo. There's no iron sights or anything.

Except that they moved crouch from the Joystick to B (Call of Duty) and put sprint on the joystick (Call of Duty) as well as moved grenade switching in Halo to the same place as weapon switching in CoD.

Sorry, but that's a bit of a weak argument. The controller button layout has little to do with "Halo trying to be more like CoD". A better argument for that may be something like "the Spec Ops or the individual Rank-up System or even the Weapon Drops" those are certainly inspired by what CoD has done so well the past few years but that doesn't make Halo a CoD wanna-be. It is very much its own game with its own unique flavor to the crowded FPS genre.

For example, I like that the Weapon Drops are not based on kill-streaks but rather point-based (assists, vehicle takedowns, etc.) In my opinion this is a huge improvement over the previous kill-streak based Weapon Drop system in previous CoD and it's good to see that both Halo 4 and Black Ops 2 are now using it. This system fosters teamwork and provides for a much better overall enjoyable experience in Multiplayer.

With all that being said, however, the same (albeit, weak) argument can be made for CoD being a "Halo wannabe". There's no denying that a lot of what makes CoD such a great game is inspired by what the Halo franchise has done to the console genre (Party System, Forge/Map builder, etc). One thing I wish BO2 would do that Halo has been doing pretty well is Co-op Campaign It's a lot of fun playing through the storyline on a heightened difficulty level with friends online -- above and beyond what Special Ops has to offer.

Anyway, it's awesome seeing how huge these two titles are and how much they're pushing 10-year old hardware. I'm really looking forward to what's to come! :)

I really enjoyed the game but I was surprised at how the story progressed. I'm not really sure what to expect from Halo 5, other than I know I will begin to pre-order the Halo series again.

I dunno where Halo 5 will go but the spartan ops episodes could be tying the story together. I'll be gone from home for a month so I won't be able to play episode 3+.

I hope they won't make another Halo movie. :)

What?!?!? I think they did a good job on the mini-series. I like how it tied into the game's story to an extent and also gave us character development on someone who will probably be in Halo 5 as well.

well, finally got into it, campaign is OK, not bad so far. MP is awesome, much better than Reach or ODST. big maps. and what was this nonsense about Halo becoming COD, I still don't get it?

I agree that the game plays well. In fact I started sweep sniping the moment I picked up the sniper which is sort of a good thing. But I swapped the controls immediately to boxer. The only thing that truly irks me about mp so far is that none of the things they changed made the game better. I think the kill streak system in Halo 4 is the best way to implement it, but at the same time I really miss weapons being on the map and getting much less chaotic combat as a result. I have hated loadouts since Reach and realized Armor Abilities since they were Equipment. In the end it's not so much the gameplay that bad as the philosophy and concepts of CoD making the game a lot less likeable. I was shocked to know I had to unlock emblems, personally.

I really hate games that force you to invest hours into them after paying full price to have access to all of the content. Emblems have been completely open for 4 titles, 3 titles have given marginal armor variant choices at start. Halo 4 gives you no choices. I half expected the colors to be locked as well.

Looks like the next Spartan Ops episode has been delayed till mid January, which is good for me since I've been away from home on a trip and haven't played through episodes 3-5, though I watched the movies for them. Also work on Halo 5 has already started, I hope, and this is probably the case, that it'll be for the next Xbox and not for the 360 again. Also hope this allows them to make SP longer as well.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • I'm still on Windows 10 22H2 because I didn't want to deal with all the issues in Windows 11, so I waited almost a week before installing the latest Patch Tuesday update (KB5094127), I went ahead and did it, and it was a huge mistake—ever since then, my File Explorer has seen a performance drop of about 30% when transferring large files... Once again, Microsoft has outdone itself! This update cannot be uninstalled, either through the Control Panel (via Settings) or by accessing Advanced Startup Options. The only possible alternative would be to use system restore points, but I’d have to reinstall all app and driver updates (and there’s no guarantee it would work). Or there’s the “nuclear option” of a in-place repair without losing files or apps, but even then, all my customizations would be lost! Microsoft just can’t help but mess everything up! Way to go, Microsoft! But I still don’t want your c****y Windows 11!
    • Microsoft: Windows 11 could finally solve a major issue across AMD, Nvidia, and Intel GPUs by Sayan Sen While Microsoft has been trying to improve it, Windows 11 is definitely not flawless, as even today some issues are taking a year to publicly acknowledge. However, one area of trouble that may finally see much better results soon is graphics driver crashes. Work on graphics driver timeouts, also called Timeout and Detection Recovery (TDR), is not new as the latest WDDM 3.2 also has specific improvements regarding it. Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) version 3.2 is supported on Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2. However, with the upcoming version 26H2, TDR crash diagnosis could go to the next level as Microsoft is introducing a new DirectX 12 API feature called "DirectX Dump Files". Similar to how system memory dump files work when a system crashes or freezes or encounters any such major issue, DirectX Dump Files (DDF) will essentially record a snapshot of the GPU execution right at the moment a graphics-related crash or hang or freeze occurs, so that developers can better understand and diagnoze these TDR and timeout detection errors. The dump will be available as a .dxdmp file for analysis and it will be a comprehensive dump file generated with detailed insights about the hardware, drivers, Windows, as well as the affected application. This should be another welcome change in this department. Earlier at GDC 2026, when the technology was first debuted, Microsoft had shared more details regarding it. The company had explained how DDF is designed to gather data from every layer of the graphics stack into a single file, eliminating the need for developers to manually correlate logs from multiple tools. As mentioned above, the dump can contain a lot of useful details like GPU hardware state information such as register values, shader program counters, page fault virtual addresses, shader memory data, and command buffers. Alongside that, it also captures DirectX runtime and kernel information, including D3D objects, pipeline state objects, device error data, adapter details, and CPU call stacks. Microsoft says the feature has been built around two primary use cases: retail device removals and local device removals. The former allows developers to collect crash information from end users' systems in the field, while the latter helps QA teams and developers investigate issues on test machines. Developers will also be able to include up to 2 MB of custom application data through new D3D12 APIs, providing additional context for troubleshooting. In addition, Microsoft is introducing three dump collection modes ranging from zero-overhead capture, which has no runtime performance impact on supported hardware, to higher-detail modes that collect more vendor-specific debugging data. On compatible Tier 2 hardware, zero-overhead dumps will be enabled by default, meaning developers may begin receiving useful crash diagnostics without making any code changes. The table below explains the three tiers: Tier Description NO_OVERHEAD Enables crash capture with no runtime cost and is suitable for broad deployment MEDIUM_OVERHEAD Provides a balance, capturing additional diagnostic data with moderate impact HIGH_OVERHEAD Collects the most detailed GPU and driver state available, enabling deeper investigation at the cost of higher runtime overhead In terms of availability, the company expects broader release to be around the fall of 2026, which should be right around the time when Windows 11 version 26H2 lands. Right now, DirectX Dump Files are available as a preview and currently, only AMD has the compatible AgilitySDK Developer Preview driver version 26.10.07.02. You can find the official announcement post here on Microsoft's website.
    • And with SO much better perf than the laggy mess that is Files.
    • BrowserOS 0.46.0 by Razvan Serea BrowserOS is a free, open-source Chromium-based browser that runs AI agents natively, offering a smarter, more productive browsing experience. It supports Chrome extensions and integrates AI agents to automate tasks, fill forms, and streamline workflows. Your data stays on your computer: you can use your own API keys or run local models via Ollama, making it a privacy-first alternative to tools like Perplexity, Comet, or Dia. With built-in productivity tools and app integrations, BrowserOS boosts efficiency while keeping control firmly in your hands. Being Chromium-based, BrowserOS lets you effortlessly import your bookmarks, passwords, and Chrome extensions in just a few clicks. BrowserOS works with OpenAI GPT models, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, and local AI models via Ollama or LMStudio. You can use your own API keys and effortlessly switch between providers. BrowserOS Agent Your AI productivity assistant that organizes and manages your browsing effortlessly Quickly list, group, or close tabs Save and resume browsing sessions Search your history and organize bookmarks Switch instantly to the tab you need BrowserOS Navigator – Automate web tasks with ease Navigate websites and search automatically Interact with pages without manual effort Handle repetitive tasks in seconds What makes BrowserOS special Feels like home - same familiar interface as Google Chrome, works with all your extensions AI agents that run on YOUR browser, not in the cloud Privacy first - bring your own keys or use local models with Ollama. Your browsing history stays on your computer Open source and community driven - see exactly what's happening under the hood MCP store to one-click install popular MCPs and use them directly in the browser bar (coming soon) Built-in AI ad blocker that works across more scenarios! BrowserOS 0.46.0 changelog: Run Claude Code & Codex right in your browser — We've extended the agent harness to bring full coding agents into BrowserOS. Claude Code and Codex now come bundled and plug straight into the assistant, so you can drive your browser with the agent — and the subscription — you already use. A brand new experience — A redesigned new tab, a calmer composer, and a rebuilt command center for switching between agents. The whole assistant is cleaner, faster to reach, and easier to live in. New MCP tools — We rebuilt the browser tool surface from the ground up — a tighter, more reliable set of tools for agents to drive the browser. Plus one-click install of BrowserOS as an MCP server into the agents you already run, with automatic URL sync. Chromium 148 — Updated to the latest Chromium base with all recent upstream fixes and security patches. Streamlined — We've pulled back a few features that weren't getting much use — Skills, Soul, and Memory — so we can focus and ship better versions of them soon. Download: BrowserOS 0.46.0 | 181.0 MB (Open Source) Download: BrowserOS for macOS | 485.0 MB Links: BrowserOS Homepage | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Jordan Smith earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Reacting Well
      BizSAR earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • First Post
      AndreaB earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      Huge Trailer earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      Classifyskilleducation earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      590
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      186
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      76
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      73
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      67
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!