Kotaku: The Unusual Excellence Of Halo's Best Level
- Thread starter Deadly Cyclone
- Start date
The Covenant and the previous level The Ark are both genuinely excellent levels that do a great job at combining the best elements of the series.
Also, I really agree with his comments regarding the clarity of visuals in Halo.
NameGenerated
Who paid you to grab Dr. Pavel?
My favorite Halo CE level.
FUNKNOWN iXi
Member
Probably the most fun level to speedrun in any Halo game. Several great shortcuts. Only fools need to unlock the door. Real men get through it before it locks in the first place 
P.S. The Warthog run in the final level of Halo 3? You drive around the island from Silent Cartographer.
P.S. The Warthog run in the final level of Halo 3? You drive around the island from Silent Cartographer.
Those are Halo Anniversary's graphics in the article. Original Halo:CE's graphics, while not bad for the time, have certainly aged.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
Played this shit not stop back in '02. Co-op with my cousin (who had Xbox a year before me) every weekend that I was home that summer.
S0cc3rpunk
Unconfirmed Member
343i needs to make a silent cartographer Multiplayer map, just imagine big team battle D: i would play that map 24/7 <3
dancrane212
Member
Probably the most fun level to speedrun in any Halo game. Several great shortcuts. Only fools need to unlock the door. Real men get through it before it locks in the first place
P.S. The Warthog run in the final level of Halo 3? You drive around the island from Silent Cartographer.
Oh wow, that's really cool!
FUNKNOWN iXi
Member
CE's graphics still hold up today IMO: recent video I watched from As7traios.
I believe The Master Chief Collection will include the Halo PC exclusive map "Death Island" which is based on Silent Cartographer.
I love that level as much as anyone, but Tsavo Highway, The Storm, The Ark, and the Covenant are the best "group" of levels I have ever played in my 35 years of gaming. Floodgate acts like an "intermission" I guess. Getting to play those 4 levels again in 1080p/ 60 FPS is going to be GLORIOUS in a few months
TheFightingFish
Member
This here is a super important point. FPS games without at least the risk of permanent health loss just don't really work for me. The way my brain works is that I'm always figuring out how to play games in the "optimal" manner and I have trouble deviating from that even if it's boring unless the game design pushed me out of that in some manner. Games that provide ranged weapons and fully regenerating health just tell me that I should sit behind a rock and plink away at enemies slowly and carefully while not risking too much damage. Having the possibility of health loss forces me to make better and faster choices in combat as I'm having to weight more the damage that I might take against the damage that I might inflict with any specific maneuver.
I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that I remember later Halo games doing away with health (or at least letting it fully regenerate) which is why I didn't like them as much.
Messofanego
Banned
Yup, that level is still a standout and shows that Halo strove for a different combat design. The points on hitscan from enemies were great.
UnluckyKate
Member
Probably the most fun level to speedrun in any Halo game. Several great shortcuts. Only fools need to unlock the door. Real men get through it before it locks in the first place
P.S. The Warthog run in the final level of Halo 3? You drive around the island from Silent Cartographer.
What ?
slimfitcasual
Neo Member
Agreed. Attention gaming press: MOAR plz!
Fatbody
Member
Has that been confirmed? I was just gonna post about how that was my favorite map for CTF in any Halo game ever, and how I would love to see it in the collection.
All maps from the PC versions are in, baby.
I can't wait to play those maps online with console buddies.
If they would let you bypass the space combat I would I agree with this. The space combat was fun the first few times, after that it was a drag
Coffee Dog
Banned
That isn't assault on the control room!
Halo used to have such great level design, It's a shame bungie realized that it wasn't why it succeeded.
Halo used to have such great level design, It's a shame bungie realized that it wasn't why it succeeded.
BeamImpact
Member
its multiplayer map Deathisland also brings some very unique gameplay to the table
for those that havent tried it give it a chance in the Halo MCC when its out, with 16 players its quite an experience for both, on the ground and in the air
as a Halo Campain level i liked Halo CE Truth and Reconciliation the most, starting with that sniper was just awesome back in the days
for those that havent tried it give it a chance in the Halo MCC when its out, with 16 players its quite an experience for both, on the ground and in the air
as a Halo Campain level i liked Halo CE Truth and Reconciliation the most, starting with that sniper was just awesome back in the days
Ol No Bones
Banned
I'm more of an assault on the control room type guy. Silent cartographer was probably all around a better level but the scale blew me away in Assault on the control room. The best halo moment for me was the final warthog ride though.
Ol No Bones
Banned
I'm with you. Library was the shit.
NJDEN
Member
This and Assault on the Control Room were my favorites...
My friend would come over when I was younger and we would just play the 'Snow Level' (What we called it) over and over again.
My favorite levels in Halo 2 were when you play as Chief on the ring trying to kill the Prophet and as Arbiter when you go to the Library for the Index... I'm really excited to see those redone in the Collection.
To bad I don't have an Xbox One : (
My friend would come over when I was younger and we would just play the 'Snow Level' (What we called it) over and over again.
My favorite levels in Halo 2 were when you play as Chief on the ring trying to kill the Prophet and as Arbiter when you go to the Library for the Index... I'm really excited to see those redone in the Collection.
To bad I don't have an Xbox One : (
John Rabbit
Banned
reminds me of this article from several years ago: One More Go: Why Halo makes me want to lay down and die
also about the beauty of The Silent Cartographer.
also about the beauty of The Silent Cartographer.
Jessie.Bristol
Member
It's almost as if people don't see the orange weak spot on it's back
. I loved sniping it's back and sneaking around and shotgunning it's back.Messofanego
Banned
And written by a fellow GAFer!
I might be imagining this but I'm sure getting the Warthog past that tree didn't work because something particular was set or happened like setting console to PAL60 rather than PAL50 which made the games juddery. I got the warthog past so many times but others it just wouldn't happen even though it's a piece of piss.
Anyway, always jumped down onto the trees to break my fall instead of backtracking in this level and for so long missed that battle. Love Halo.
Anyway, always jumped down onto the trees to break my fall instead of backtracking in this level and for so long missed that battle. Love Halo.
The designer of the last mission in Halo 3 (Dan Miller) used the geometry from The Silent Cartographer for the Warthog run part of the mission. Great egg/reference.
One of the best levels in any game ever. I really wish more of later Halo games borrowed some of its ideas about non-linearity and open environments.
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
One of the greatest of all time. Such great memories.
Final Boss
Banned
One of the best levels ever
Rodney McKay
Member
That was definitely my favorite level of Halo 1 (and probably any Halo).
Huge outdoor environments with lots of vehicle combat (ghost, tank, banshee, warthog, whatever you want!), lots of tight indoor battles and the excellent bridge sections, and it really kicked off the story of the game IMO by Cortana going a little crazy when she syncs with the computer and forces you to head to the next area.
I replayed it so many times and never got bored of it.
Silent Cartographer is also a very impressive level. Probably even more impressive in the sense that it's so open and you can go about it in different ways, but I never really experienced the level that way. I'd always go the same way each time through.
Ol No Bones
Banned
The grenade and rocket explosions in Halo CE are better than Halo 2. The insane warthog physics were amazing.
CloudyTuba
Member
The last time I played Anniversary it was on this level, and I was planning on taking my warthog up there to mess shit up but the game froze when I got halfway there. Guess I beat the shit out of that confrontation, xbox couldnt handle my swagger.
Probably the most fun level to speedrun in any Halo game. Several great shortcuts. Only fools need to unlock the door. Real men get through it before it locks in the first place
P.S. The Warthog run in the final level of Halo 3? You drive around the island from Silent Cartographer.
mindblown.gif
Holy shit......how do people find this stuff?
Byron Bluth
Banned
Yup, the last half of the game is a blurred mess of repeating corridors, which is exactly what the writer says Halo defied against traditional FPS design.
Pfff, it had some of the worst in those levels of all FPSs.
You can pretty much write an article like this on how it has one of the worst levels of all time.
Muffdraul
Member
I didn't see it mentioned in the article-
One reason Silent Cartographer is so great is that it's literally the first level they made, and spent the most time polishing. The first demos they showed, even before they decided to make it an FPS, were early prototypes of SC.
Halo E3 2000 demo
One reason Silent Cartographer is so great is that it's literally the first level they made, and spent the most time polishing. The first demos they showed, even before they decided to make it an FPS, were early prototypes of SC.
Halo E3 2000 demo
Jason, my love for gaming's best genre should be totally understandable.
I really hope 343 goes back to Halo 1 and thinks about its levels when making Halo 5. After Halo 4 seemed to miss the mark, I'm eager for a return to a smarter, more varied experience like the original.
I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. Was a blast to write. I've got more published on Kotaku--one on Dishonored and one on The Witcher, and if it's not considered spam, I'll link them.
For everyone wondering why I didn't pick this or that level when I wrote, it's because The Silent Cartographer has Warthogs AND every major/distinct Covenant type in it, from Elites with Swords to grunts to jackals to Inviselites to Hunters. If I remember right, all the covenant types are in Truth & Reconciliation, but Warthogs are not.
I had two other articles planned in my head. One was about The Library, which is way better than people give it credit for, and another is about Assault on the Control Room/Two Betrayals.
Ultimately, I chose not to pitch The Library because, even if it was the best work of writing on video games ever, people would pile on and say it was horrible, because of the dislike for The Library, and Assault/Betrayals need to be written as one piece, but it would end up being huge, and this puppy's sitting on about 3,000 words as it is.
There's a lot of repetition, but I believe there's a reason for that.
I really hope 343 goes back to Halo 1 and thinks about its levels when making Halo 5. After Halo 4 seemed to miss the mark, I'm eager for a return to a smarter, more varied experience like the original.
I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. Was a blast to write. I've got more published on Kotaku--one on Dishonored and one on The Witcher, and if it's not considered spam, I'll link them.
For everyone wondering why I didn't pick this or that level when I wrote, it's because The Silent Cartographer has Warthogs AND every major/distinct Covenant type in it, from Elites with Swords to grunts to jackals to Inviselites to Hunters. If I remember right, all the covenant types are in Truth & Reconciliation, but Warthogs are not.
I had two other articles planned in my head. One was about The Library, which is way better than people give it credit for, and another is about Assault on the Control Room/Two Betrayals.
Ultimately, I chose not to pitch The Library because, even if it was the best work of writing on video games ever, people would pile on and say it was horrible, because of the dislike for The Library, and Assault/Betrayals need to be written as one piece, but it would end up being huge, and this puppy's sitting on about 3,000 words as it is.
There's a lot of repetition, but I believe there's a reason for that.
Dictator93
Member
This is the level that convinced me I was playing something beyond that "half life" like part of the first game. "Halo" in Halo is just amazing, but Silent Cartographer is extremely impressive.