disliking the concept of playing on the other side in a game that is supposed to be the 'Master Chief blows up some alien scum' show" was a plausible complaint. Among some fans, the character was reviled. A panel of Halo 2 reviewers argued that though the decision to humanize the Covenant by the introduction of the Arbiter was welcome, the execution in-game was lacking; critics highlighted the perceived poor quality of the Arbiter's missions compared to those played as the Master Chief. Looking back at the game's release ten years later, Den of Geek described players as having a "love–hate relationship" with the character, and that the furor over the twist was only overshadowed because of the controversy of the game's cliffhanger ending. The reception of the Arbiter's elimination as a main playable character in Halo 3 was similarly mixed. Hilary Goldstein of IGN decided the change took away the "intriguing side-story of the Arbiter and his Elites", in the process reducing the character's role to that of "a dude with a weird mandible and a cool sword". Likewise, Steve West of Cinemablend stated that the one important event in the game for the Arbiter would be lost on anyone for whom Halo 3 was their first game in the series. Goldstein took issue with the poor artificial intelligence of allies in the game and singled out the Arbiter in particular, describing the character as useless. The New York Times Charles Herold found that in comparison to Halo 2, where the character played a central role, the Arbiter in Halo 3 was "extraneous". On the opposite end of the spectrum were reviewers like G4tv, who argued that the Arbiter was more likeable, not to mention more useful, as an AI sidekick instead of the main player. MSNBC rated the Arbiter one of game's top alien characters, and Comic Book Resources described the Arbiter's reception as a transition from divisive character to fan favorite. Halo Warss cinematics and voice acting were widely lauded, although one reviewer wrote that the characters were stereotypical and unlikeable. Dakota Grabowski of PlanetXbox360 considered the Arbiter the most confusing character in the game's story. Conversely, GamePro listed the Arbiter as one of the best things about the game, saying that while it was a different character than the Arbiter seen in Halo 2 and Halo 3, he was "like an alien Jack Bauer amped up