History YMMV / Halo4

* IronWoobie: The Master Chief.

** Cortana slowly succumbing to rampancy [[spoiler: and her death]].

* UncannyValley: Holograms of [=AIs=] and Captains are all one uniform color, which can be disconcerting, especially during closeups.

* VindicatedByHistory: While ''Halo 4'' was well received on launch, with the campaign in particular being praised for the emotional bond between John and Cortana, the technical side of things was more derided, with multiplayer and Spartan Ops in particular being seen as a weak first effort. However, ''Guardians'' has caused many fans to look back on ''4'' with a much more favourable light than before, in particular when it came to the campaign.

* GoddamnedBats: Watchers, flying {{Mooks}} which can pull up shields for their teammates and revive them (Including those Promethean Knights you just killed) at an alarming rate. To make things worse, when you shoot them, they tend to fly away and fold their wings to reduce their hitboxes, which can make killing them much more difficult if you're using a slow firing weapon, or firing at them from far away while probably also getting shot at by other baddies.

** Original to ''4'' are [[http://soundcloud.com/neil-davidge/awakening-sample Awakening]]. [[http://soundcloud.com/neil-davidge/to-galaxy-sample To Galaxy]]. [[http://soundcloud.com/neil-davidge/revival-sample Revival]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqL5eu8DOgI Arrival]], and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWiKqjm2TPg it's dubstep remix.]] [[http://soundcloud.com/neil-davidge/06-haven-ost Haven]] is a truly marvelous experience.

* AnticlimaxBoss:

** In addition to old "favorites" such as Stealth Elites and Jackal Snipers (now with the damage output of their ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' version,) this installment brings the [[EliteMook Promethean Knights]]. They possess an astounding array of abilities including mini-turret deployment, (with help) a damage proof shield, teleportation, (including a DesperationAttack where the Lancers TeleportSpam to your location and skewer you) and have access to all of the best Forerunner weapons, including the [[SniperRifle Binary Rifle]], [[ShortRangeShotgun Scattershot]] and [[{{BFG}} Incinerator.]] On Heroic and Legendary, they always come in groups of 2-3 or more, often with a diverse combination of weapons that ensures you can be killed [[OneHitKill in one shot]] at any range. The strong shields and fatal melee (endemic to those difficulties) are just another slap in the face.

** [[spoiler:In saving Earth from UnwillingRoboticisation, the player destroys the digitized remnant of the inhabitants of a research station and a major city. You could rationalize it as a MercyKill since the only other fate for them would be to serve as robotic slaves to the Didact, forced to capture or kill even more humans, but then Spartan Ops reveals that the memories of composed individuals from New Phoenix are on Requiem]].

* {{Gamebreaker}}:

* GoddamnedBats: Watchers, flying {{Mook}}s which can pull up shields for their teammates and revive them (Including those Promethean Knights you just killed) at an alarming rate. To make things worse, when you shoot them, they tend to fly away and fold their wings to reduce their hitboxes, which can make killing them much more difficult if you're using a slow firing weapon, or firing at them from far away while probably also getting shot at by other baddies.

** ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' [[spoiler: reveals the same about Cortana, although [[CameBackWrong in a far different state]].]]

** [[spoiler: If the Didact didn't cross it in the terminals, he sure as hell crossed it when he fired The Composer on Ivanoff Station. [[UpToEleven Then he destroys a city on Earth with it]]]].

** Thorne and Gek fight each other in a brutal fistfight but during it get in an... ''awkward'' position. [[{{Rule 34}} Slash art will ensue]].

** On the level "Composer" you desperately try to save the scientists and soldiers on Ivanoff Station from a Covenant attack. The first ship to try and get survivors away is destroyed. [[spoiler:[[ShootTheShaggyDogStory Then the Didact fires the Composer, and kills everyone on the station]]]].

* TheScrappy: [[BigBad The Didact]], a GenericDoomsdayVillain who indulges in eloquent speech (that might remind you of Gravemind), instead of, you know, killing his enemy. The Chief and the player do not even get the satisfaction of beating him in a boss fight, instead he gets beaten in a QuickTimeEvent. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHDnCyeoQJc WatchMojo]] even described him as the [[Franhise/StarWars General Grievous]] of videogames, in the sense that his origins and motivations are only explored in secondary material but in the main event he comes off as bland and unoriginal.
* SpecialEffectsFailure: The exploding Lich clearly just vanishes with an blue smoke cloud and debris taking its place, rather than actually bursting apart. The same thing happens with Phantoms. The destroyed Cruiser is even worse, since it simply breaks apart into four large pieces, despite how [[SceneryGorn gorgeous the ensuing malestrom looks]].

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Compare ''4'' to ''3'' and be amazed. The game looks absolutely gorgeous on almost every level, particularly in the pre-rendered Prologue and Epilogue cutscenes (think the precursor to blur's work), and whenever something disintegrates. It actually looks even better as part of ''The Master Chief Collection''.

** Dr. Tillson also deserves a mention. She's terrified the entire time she's onscreen, sees her life's work more or less destroyed in front of her, and [[spoiler: is killed by the composer to be re-used in making a Promethean Knight along with the rest of the humans onboard her station, all in the span of a little over an hour.]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[http://soundcloud.com/neil-davidge/awakening-sample Awakening]]. [[http://soundcloud.com/neil-davidge/to-galaxy-sample To Galaxy]]. [[http://soundcloud.com/neil-davidge/revival-sample Revival]].
** Don't forget [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqL5eu8DOgI Arrival]], and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWiKqjm2TPg it's dubstep remix.]] Nothing short of godly.
** With the OST now online, [[http://soundcloud.com/neil-davidge/06-haven-ost Haven]] is a truly marvelous experience.

* AnticlimaxBoss: [[spoiler:The Didact ends up being a CutsceneBoss, taken down in a quick-time event with a single grenade.]]
** [[spoiler: Also Parg Vol, a Covenant leader and main villain of Spartan Ops Episode 3, is nothing more than an Elite Warrior armed with a Fuel Rod Gun when you meet him.]]

* [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels Best Level Ever]]: Midnight opens on epic, with the player [[spoiler:piloting a Broadsword through the Didact's ship while he battles the fleet around Earth]]. This level is where you feel like a hero.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: It's obviously meant to be an EasterEgg, but the Didact's ship in the final mission contains a Gravity Hammer despite the fact that the player never encounters a single Brute throughout the campaign.

* DemonicSpiders: In addition to old "favorites" such as Stealth Elites and Jackal Snipers (now with the damage output of their ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' version,) this installment brings the [[EliteMook Promethean Knights]]. They possess an astounding array of abilities including mini-turret deployment, (with help) a damage proof shield, teleportation, (including a DesperationAttack where they TeleportSpam to your location and skewer you) and have access to all of the best Forerunner weapons, including the [[SniperRifle Binary Rifle]], [[ShortRangeShotgun Scattershot]] and [[{{BFG}} Incinerator.]] On Heroic and Legendary, they always come in groups of 2-3 or more, often with a diverse combination of weapons that ensures you can be killed [[OneHitKill in one shot]] at any range. The strong shields and fatal melee (endemic to those difficulties) are just another slap in the face.
** Elite Zealots. They have much stronger shields in this game, and especially since they prefer Fuel Rod Cannons.
** Enemies in campaign can now create needler supercombines (something they couldn't do since ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved''). Be ''very'' careful when fighting Grunts or Jackals wielding the weapon - as soon as you get shot with seven needles, you ''will'' explode violently.
* FridgeBrilliance: Despite the Flood not making an actual appearance in game, astute fans should know that the Forerunners spent a long time fighting them. Every one of the Forerunner weapons would be ''excellent'' against the Flood - even the nightmarish Carrier Forms (and just about anything, really) would be perfectly countered by the delayed secondary explosions of the Incinerator Cannon. Even the Prometheans are a perfect counter to every known Flood form - a small squad of them could have walked through [[NightmareFuel The Library]] like it was nothing.

* FridgeHorror: [[spoiler:In saving Earth from UnwillingRoboticisation, the player destroys the digitized remnant of the inhabitants of a research station and a major city.]]
** [[spoiler: Although when you realize the only other fate for them would be to serve as robotic slaves to the Didact, forced to capture or kill even more humans, it's more of a MercyKill.]]
*** [[spoiler: Actually it's not. Spartan Ops reveals that the memories of composed individuals from at least New Phoenix are on Requiem.]]

* {{Gamebreaker}}: You wouldn't really think that the Faster Reload tactical pack would be this, but it is. We can expect a nerf at some point in the near future.

* GoddamnedBats: Watchers, flying mooks which can pull up shields for their teammates and revive them (Including those Promethean Knights you just killed)at an alarming rate. To make things worse, when you shoot them, they tend to fly away, which can make killing them much more difficult if you're using a slow firing weapon, or firing at them from far away while probably also getting shot at by other baddies.

* IronWoobie: Master Chief.

* MemeticMutation: "Palmer has the [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved Halo CE pistol]]." / "Palmer was playing on Easy." From Episode 7 comments joking about how Sarah was defeating the Prometheans with [[HandCannon one pistol shot each]].

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: If the Didact didn't cross it in the terminals, he sure as hell crossed it when he fired The Composer on Ivanoff Station. [[UpToEleven Then he destroys a city on Earth with it]]]].

* {{Narm}}: [[http://www.halopedia.org/File:TheLegendof117Achievement.png The Icon for Legendary Difficulty]] replaces the Elite Skull of the Prior Games (and Human Skull from ODST), with a Promethean Knight's. At least in the achievement icon, it looks pretty goofy.
** Near the end of the game, [[spoiler: the Didact destroys the terminal Cortana was on. Master Chief screams, "Cortana!"]] but his voice kind of died out there on the scene.
** Also, near the end of the game, [[spoiler: the Didact gets swarmed by a whole bunch of mini-Cortanas.]] It's just as silly as it sounds.

* PlayerPunch: Cortana slowly succumbing to rampancy [[spoiler: and her death]].

* SpecialEffectsFailure: The exploding Lich clearly just vanishes with an blue smoke cloud and debris taking its place, rather than actually bursting apart. The same thing happens with Phantoms.
* {{Squick}}: [[spoiler:Halsey's arm appears to have been very messily amputated.]]
** [[spoiler: It's possible the tied-up sleeve just looks this way, though; the actual point of amputation is not seen.]]

* TearJerker: Cortana's rampancy [[spoiler: and death]]. The massacre at [[spoiler: Ivanoff Station]].
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: See above re: the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''-esque changes. ''Halo 4'' has killcams, a hit indicator, grenade warnings, perks, an overhauled base-10 scoring system, and a dedicated sprint button, all of which enraged ''Halo'' purists.

* TheWoobie: Both Cortana and John-117. Neither of them seem to get their deserved break (Cortana is give or take) after all that has happened.

* NightmareFuel: [[spoiler: The effects of the Composer on Ivanoff Station. You're "treated" to a close look at its effects on Doctor Sandra Tillson.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: This may pull a few heartstrings but Cortana's rampancy is very similar to an actual human condition. Cortana's processors are eating themselves up until there's nothing left, while her closest friend seeks a solution that may or may not work. Essentially, Cortana has cancer for A.I. Or Alzheimers. In fact, one of the writers wrote the game while his mother was suffering from dementia.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: It's obviously meant to be an EasterEgg, but the Didact's ship in the final mission contains a Gravity Hammer despite the fact that the player never encounters a single Brute throughout the campaign.

* CreatorsPet: Sarah Palmer. Despite the fan reaction to her being mostly negative, she's gone on to receive her own game (''Halo: Spartan Assault'') and comic series (''Halo: Initiation'').

** ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' [[spoiler: reveals the same about Cortana.]]

* SpiritualLicensee[=/=]WholePlotReference: As noted in the {{WMG}} and [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] sections, ''4'', at times, plays out like an adaptation of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. Cortana and Chief's relationship in particular shares a lot of similarities between the relationship of Madoka and Homura.

* TheScrappy / LoveToHate: [[GeneralFailure Del Rio]]. Just Del Rio. Considering how 90% of Halo 4's plot only gets worse because of his mistakes, many fans hated him for making everything worse, or just love to hate him for how ignorant and idiotic the character turned out to be. Bonus points for being explicitly designed for players to hate him, and admit it,[[spoiler:[[TakeThatScrappy You cheered when the UNSC weren't happy when they found out what he did to Master Chief]]. ]]
** Another example would be the Didact, a GenericDoomsdayVillain who indulges in eloquent speech (that might remind you of Gravemind), instead of, you know, killing his enemy. The Chief and the player do not even get the satisfaction of beating him in a boss fight, instead he gets beaten in a QuickTimeEvent. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHDnCyeoQJc WatchMojo]] even described him as the [[Franhise/StarWars General Grievous]] of videogames, in the sense that his origins and motivations are only explored in secondary material but in the main event he comes off as bland and unoriginal.

* BaseBreaker: Sarah Palmer. Her fans love her for being a tough-as-nails leader and being voiced by Creator/JenniferHale. Her haters dislike her for constantly being rude to Halsey (or seemingly ''everybody'') and say she's a FauxActionGirl, since until Episode 7 she wasn't seen in a fight. Then when she ''was'' seen in a fight, complaints arose about her being overpowered due to her headshotting [[DemonicSpiders Promethean Knights]] with a single pistol shot each.

** Sarah Palmer, though not everyone dislikes her; see BaseBreaker.

* ItGetsBetter[=/=]GrowingTheBeard: The Spartan Ops were created to bridge the gap between the story of campaign and the action of multiplayer. Unfortunately, critics were quick to point out that it was too sparse and slow for the story-focused players, while too story heavy for the gameplay-focused players, pleasing neither. However, as the season progresses the production value and story pacing have gradually gotten more interesting and enjoyable, partly because 343 Industries had more resources to devote to them after the game was released and partly out of them learning what worked and what did not and playing to their strengths.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: This may pull a few heartstrings but Cortana's rampancy is very similar to an actual human condition. Cortana's processors are eating themselves up until there's nothing left, while her closest friend seeks a solution that may or may not work. Essentially, Cortana has cancer for A.I. Or Alzheimers.

* AlasPoorScrappy: [[spoiler: Paul Demarco's ]] death in ''ComicBook/HaloEscalation'' was greeted by shock and sadness by the Halo community, many of whom hated him in Spartan Ops.

** In the story department, the complete swerve in regards to Catherine Halsey threw off many fans. A few cinematics show ONI interrogating Halsey and trying to blame her for the Spartans being anti-social or sociopathic, despite the Spartans clearly not being either. To some fans, it came off as very petty and forced, particularly considering that the Master Chief saved the entire galaxy in Halo 3.

* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: This is a sentiment held by a certain fraction of the ''Halo'' series' BrokenBase, as Bungie had no involvement with the development. There were some rather big changes made, but all Halo games have different gameplay long before the Developer changed hands. At its core it is still a Halo game and was well received. Some of the more valid complaints come from the absence of a few expected features and some technical aspects don't have quite the same polish (largely because there was a shortened development cycle compared to the previous games). Of course all this is more of a technicality as Bungie isn't a single organism but prone to rotating through employees as any other company. Most of the 343 Industries major players are {{Creator/Bungie}} alumni with ''Halo'' franchise experience. This has since ended after Bungie's ''{{VideoGame/Destiny}}'' proved to be a disappointment, though there's still frequent calls for its departed alumni Joseph Staten, Marcus Lehto, and Martin O'Donnell to return to ''Halo''..

** Similar comments were made about the Master Chief's... "[[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130515032339/halo/images/8/83/H4-Scanned-MasterChief-FrontBack.jpg lower back]]" armor[[note]]smiley face![[/note]] and [[http://i.imgur.com/ulyjuTQ.jpg fingers]].[[note]][[Funny/FalloutNewVegas fully erect hand penises!]][[/note]]

** Similar comments were made about the Master Chief's... "[[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130515032339/halo/images/8/83/H4-Scanned-MasterChief-FrontBack.jpg lower back]]" armor[[note]]smiley face![[/note]] and [[http://i.imgur.com/ulyjuTQ.jpg fingers]].[[note]][[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Funny/FalloutNewVegas fully erect hand penises!]][[/note]]

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: If the Didact didn't cross it in the terminals, he sure as hell crossed it when he fired The Composer on Ivanoff Station. [[UpToEleven Then he destroys a city on Earth with it]]]].
** The Office of Naval Intelligence never really had any morality to speak of, but it could at least say its morally ambiguous actions were done in the name of humanity's survival. However, ONI crosses the MoralEventHorizon from {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s to EvilIsPetty when you learn that [[spoiler:ONI deliberately withheld information of John-117's survival from Catherine Halsey. When you see her reaction in ''Spartan Ops'', there is no denying that they crossed a line]].
-->'''Halsey:''' [[spoiler:John's alive! He was here, on this ship. Nobody told me he was alive!]]

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: If the Didact didn't cross it in the terminals, he sure as hell crossed it when he fired The Composer on Ivanoff Station. [[UpToEleven Then he destroys a city on Earth with it]]]].
** The Office of Naval Intelligence never really had any morality to speak of, but it could at least say its morally ambiguous actions were done in the name of humanity's survival. However, ONI crosses the MoralEventHorizon from {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s to EvilIsPetty when you learn that [[spoiler:ONI deliberately withheld information of John-117's survival from Catherine Halsey. When you see her reaction in ''Spartan Ops'', there is no denying that they crossed a line]].
-->'''Halsey:''' [[spoiler:John's alive! He was here, on this ship. Nobody told me he was alive!]]

** Similar comments were made about the Master Chief's... "[[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130515032339/halo/images/8/83/H4-Scanned-MasterChief-FrontBack.jpg lower back]]" armor[[note]]smiley face![[/note]] and [[http://i.imgur.com/ulyjuTQ.jpg fingers]].[[note]][[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Funny/FalloutNewVegas fully erect hand penises]]![[/note]]