Halo Review Roundup

ComicBook.com - Rollin Bishop

"The storytelling can overall be a bit clunky at times, but it largely hits the mark while nailing the visuals and overall vibe of what it broadly means to be part of the greater Halo franchise. That clunkiness is likely thanks in part to the attempt to crystallize all things Halo into a digestible package for a much broader audience. Not everyone that watches the show will have years of experience with Master Chief, but for those that do, it only makes the moments where Schreiber is fully armored up, taking on Elites with precision that much sweeter."

Rating: 4 out of 5

You can check out the rest of our review right here.

IndieWire - Ben Travers

"The action feels more like watching kids play with their toys than slickly choreographed cinema, but the money invested in this massive production is certainly up on screen. "Halo" may very well evolve into something more than a math equation ("Game of Thrones" + "The Mandalorian" = "Halo"). What's unclear is whether Paramount+ actually wants it to, or if these obvious comparisons are precisely the point."

Rating: C+

You can check out IndieWire's full review right here.

Paste - Kevin Fox, Jr.

"As a casual fan of the games, I'll accept any changes that end in making a good story. I'm apprehensive by nature, but I'm enamored by the cast and generally impressed by the composition of the design. A lot of expensive projects end up looking cheap these days, but when I say it feels more like a high-end SyFy show than a low-end HBO show, I don't mean the production values are bad; but rather, that this collaboration between Showtime and Amblin Entertainment does feel, in its bones, like it's made for people that want to visit the world of the Halo franchise."

You can check out Paste's full review right here.

The Hollywood Reporter - Daniel Fienberg

"And maybe Halo does play as more exciting and specific if you have an internal checklist of game elements — weapon types, helpful acquisitions, character or planetary allusions — you're looking to have acknowledged. For those of us who don't necessarily crave or appreciate those things, Halo has a generic story, limitedly engaging characters and a clearly high special-effects budget that yields respectable but unremarkable results. In the absence of prior attachment, that's insufficient for ongoing interest."

You can check out THR's full review right here.

Variety - Caroline Framke

"Whether or not those who've loved the "Halo" game might enjoy watching something that makes all the choices for them, and takes pains to balance its violent wars with headier dialogue, will ultimately be up to them. In order to make a successful TV show, however, Killen and Kane (who will not be showrunning Season 2) simply had no choice but to devote more time to character and worldbuilding. Seeing the world through a vacant perspective might work for a game in which the audience has its own agency, but not for a show that requires its own point of view. In its first two episodes, "Halo" doesn't quite have that yet. But as another entrant in the ever expanding "Halo" universe, it at least has enough ambition to make it worth a closer look."

You can check out Variety's full review right here.

Decider - Kayla Cobb

"This is all to say that there are good parts to Halo, and scenes and characters that should interest to new and old fans. But at least in its first two episodes, there is also room to grow. Halo has the potential to be the big-budget, hugely-watched space epic it wants to be. It just needs to take a breath and focus on its story — instead of its backstory — to do that."

You can check out Decider's full review right here.

Ars Technica - Sam Machkovech

"As far as the generally low bar of live-action game translations goes, Halo clears it handily. But the script and production values are too inconsistent so far, and that means I do not urge anyone with less Halo faith than me or other long-time fans to feel anywhere near as optimistic about the remaining seven episodes."

You can check out Ars Technica's full review right here.

Entertainment Weekly - Darren Franich

"Necessary to point out that I played three Halo games to story completion, and spent a few hundred hours of the mid-2000s in multiplayer matches. This relatively moderate level of awareness probably makes me the show's absolute worst demographic. The story variously tilts toward canonical completionists and confounded newbies, with dialogue variously impenetrable and explanatory. I want to stress that these two episodes basically comprise a prologue to multiple intrigues. The nine-episode first season could either speed up from here, or slow to a crawl."

Rating: C-

You can check out the rest of EW's review right here.