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[Pie and Beans]

Halo Reach is the better I feel, with Halo 1 perhaps as the best but I can't separate the nostalgia from the quality to determine.

Halo 3 fell to shit at the end with the flood, but it did have the great multi-tiered Warthog through to Banshee/Hornet level (was it called The Island or... can't remember)

 

[Nick]

I really would love to see a poll where we can definitively see what people feel is the best Halo campaign. The answers are always so varied.

I'm Team Halo 2, btw.

 

[Impala26]

Halo Reach is the better I feel, with Halo 1 perhaps as the best but I can't separate the nostalgia from the quality to determine.

Halo 3 fell to shit at the end with the flood, but it did have the great multi-tiered Warthog through to Banshee/Hornet level (was it called The Island or... can't remember)

I do feel like a lot of the people jumping in here to say like "Halo CE, unequivocally" are having trouble removing their rose-tinted shades. Playing through CE Anniversary reminded me that, while there are some EXCELLENT encounters in that game, some of the levels overall can become a bit of a chore. "The Silent Cartographer" and "Assault on the Control Room" will go down forever in the annals of FPS history as some of the greatest campaign levels ever, but that doesn't make CE's campaign perfect overall by any stretch of the imagination.

The level you're thinking of is called "The Covenant" and I would argue, is one of, if not THE greatest single campaign mission in the entire Halo series.

 

[J@hranimo]

"Cortana". Legendary. The Flood turrets that can protect themselves and one shot you. All over the place. Fuck them and that level forever, haha.

Seriously. That level is the worst on Legendary x_x

Somehow I managed to get through it once.

Never again.

I agree OP, Halo 3 has my favorite campaign.

 

[kittens]

I don't think any game will top the pre release hype Halo 3 had. It was huge. I could walk up to any gamer and ask what their Halo 3 rank was, Miss the good ol days. Halo 5 save us.

Yeah, the pre release hype for Halo 3 was nuts. There was a rumor here on GAF that 7-11 stores were selling the game early (back when 7-11 was experimenting with selling games), and I went to every 7-11 in my part of town every day for a week before release, lol.

 

[turcy]

wtf?

sometimes i don't understand what people like about Halo at all...

Halo 3 was terrible [outside of multiplayer], and easily the most forgettable Halo game.

I guess all the divisiveness between people on which game is better [yes, I'm a Halo 4 lover, and yes, I've been following Halo since it's Mac days] demonstrates precisely why Halo is such a widely loved game / universe.

 

[Impala26]

"Cortana". Legendary. The Flood turrets that can protect themselves and one shot you. All over the place. Fuck them and that level forever, haha.

Seriously. That level is the worst on Legendary x_x

Somehow I managed to get through it once.

Never again.

I agree OP, Halo 3 has my favorite campaign.

Same, did it once for the solo-legendary-cheevo, but never since.

You seriously had to trial-and-error grenade stick (and/or needler supercombine) each of the ranged flood every time to have any hope. Energy sword was a Godsend at times too. Regardless, restarted checkpoint/died countless times.

 

[The Librarian]

wtf?

sometimes i don't understand what people like about Halo at all...

Halo 3 was terrible [outside of multiplayer], and easily the most forgettable Halo game.

I guess all the divisiveness between people on which game is better [yes, I'm a Halo 4 lover, and yes, I've been following Halo since it's Mac days] demonstrates precisely why Halo is such a widely loved game / universe.

It's fun.

 

[McBradders]

Elites > Brutes ergo CE is the superior game. Just finished playing through Anniversary Edition and that game still packs a hell of a punch. Only the Library drags... 3 is fantastic but man Brutes are just not that much fun.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

The point wasn't that a game couldn't be fun if the story sucks; it's that gameplay and storytelling are not entirely separable (or at least, they shouldn't be; if they are, your game is probably an inelegant piece of shit produced by dropping a video game and a film into a blender).

On that note, I don't agree that Halo 3 is an entirely appropriate example of a game with great gameplay and poor storytelling. It has some spots of poor spoken dialogue, and it doesn't follow up well on Halo 2's villain setups (although where Truth is concerned I'm inclined to drop some of the blame on Halo 2 for setting up an act that couldn't be followed).

But the gameplay, plot, visual art, and music do an okay job of working together to produce a reasonably pleasing narrative structure, which is backed by some excellent vaguely-parallel terminals. The act structure is a bit lopsided, and as I already noted there are some ways in which it doesn't live up to it's potential, but overall I actually think Halo 3's storytelling is decent. Not in a way which will score well on a rubric that has you ranking plot and characters in their complexity as isolated entities, but in a way that can produce a good experience.


Err, are you expecting someone to call you out for changing your opinions? Are you expecting people to be shocked that someone who thinks Halo 4 is the best would also think that Halo 3 is the worst, or some such business?

Under normal situations, no, but I've come to know better. One might easily assume that I'm only saying this now because there's a recent OP calling it the best, and so having that thought process, I felt it important that I point out my consistency on the issue. Not that it really matters, but yea.

wtf?

sometimes i don't understand what people like about Halo at all...

Halo 3 was terrible [outside of multiplayer], and easily the most forgettable Halo game.

I guess all the divisiveness between people on which game is better [yes, I'm a Halo 4 lover, and yes, I've been following Halo since it's Mac days] demonstrates precisely why Halo is such a widely loved game / universe.

Probably not too far off with this one.

Halo 4 haters represent the kid on the losing end of this argument.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrG5UBzSJ-U

 

[shinobi602]

I do feel like a lot of the people jumping in here to say like "Halo CE, unequivocally" are having trouble removing their rose-tinted shades. Playing through CE Anniversary reminded me that, while there are some EXCELLENT encounters in that game, some of the levels overall can become a bit of a chore. "The Silent Cartographer" and "Assault on the Control Room" will go down forever in the annals of FPS history as some of the greatest campaign levels ever, but that doesn't make CE's campaign perfect overall by any stretch of the imagination.

The level you're thinking of is called "The Covenant" and I would argue, is one of, if not THE greatest single campaign mission in the entire Halo series.

I don't think anyone here is saying CE's campaign is "perfect". I'd like to see those posts if so...

Overall I found the missions in CE to be the most satisfying in terms of variation of combat encounters, scenarios, stealth options and layout. The best two levels in the series are in that game for me, Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room. Those aren't the only two. Two Betrayals, Halo (first level), Truth & Reconciliation and The Maw are also absolutely fantastic. It definitely has its low points (The Library no doubt) but so does every other Halo.

I love every Halo game hands down, but the overall best gameplay experience from a satisfaction perspective comes from CE for me.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

I'm playing Halo 1's campaign for the first time on a lent Xbox 360 and I don't know why I remember so many people always saying that the best single player was Halo 1's and I couldn't disagree more.

Halo 1's campaign turns out it's an overrated, bloated, padded and repetitive as all hell piece of single player first person shootin'.

I swear that more than once I've wondered if I wasn't unintentionally backtracking since levels seems so goddamn similar with the same exact rooms pasted over and over and over.

The worst culprit was "Assault on the Control Room". That needlessly and artififcially long level must've had at least 10 times pasted over and over the same octagonal room, rectangular room with bridge, square room with two floors and the same tunnel connecting to the next room at least. Don't tell me Halo 1 is the epitome of good level design when the developers felt the need to draw illuminated ARROWS on the floor of that level so you know you're not going backwards. Right now I'm up to the Library and im bored to tears. I'll wait to beat it in coop because I'm done playing it solo.

So yeah Halo 3's campaign which I did play before, is shaping up as definitely superior. I don't have the rose tinted nostalgic glasses and for me in 2014 Halo 1 is an overrated bore.

 

[Blueblur1]

I like Halo 2's campaign best.

 

[Saint of Killers]

Still Combat Evolved for me.

Same here. I actually can't wait to play it again on XB1.

Halo 3 on the other hand is one of the few games where, toward the end, I was disappointed at every turn when it didn't end and just went on and on and on and on. It killed Halo for me (a job Halo 2 started).

 

[NukeLaser]

As much as I love 3's campaign, Reach is much better in my eyes. A recent passthrough play through revealed the truth I knew all along.

 

[mcz117chief]

As much as I love 3's campaign, Reach is much better in my eyes. A recent passthrough play through revealed the truth I knew all along.

These are also probably my top two, ODST is also very equal in quality, but Halo 3 is a hair above both of them, especially because of relationship between Johnson, MC, Cortana and Arbiter.

 

[Kill3r7]

I don't think anyone here is saying CE's campaign is "perfect". I'd like to see those posts if so...

Overall I found the missions in CE to be the most satisfying in terms of variation of combat encounters, scenarios, stealth options and layout. The best two levels in the series are in that game for me, Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room. Those aren't the only two. Two Betrayals, Halo (first level), Truth & Reconciliation and The Maw are also absolutely fantastic. It definitely has its low points (The Library no doubt) but so does every other Halo.

I love every Halo game hands down, but the overall best gameplay experience from a satisfaction perspective comes from CE for me.

^This.

Also, one's opinion of which Halo game/level is best is heavily influence by when they played the game. There was nothing like Halo CE on consoles when it launched. Silent Cartographer, Assault on the Control Room and Two Betrayals were years ahead of their time.

 

[Doctoglethorpe]

I think its the worst...

I mean, gameplay was fine and the settings were neat, but the story completely nosedived, every character turned into a caricature. Best example of this was the Prophet. He went from a cold and methodical leader to a bumbling saturday morning cartoon villain. And don't even get me started on how annoying Cortana's constant gameplay-halting interruptions were.

 

[The Librarian]

I don't think anyone here is saying CE's campaign is "perfect". I'd like to see those posts if so...

Overall I found the missions in CE to be the most satisfying in terms of variation of combat encounters, scenarios, stealth options and layout. The best two levels in the series are in that game for me, Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room. Those aren't the only two. Two Betrayals, Halo (first level), Truth & Reconciliation and The Maw are also absolutely fantastic. It definitely has its low points (The Library no doubt) but so does every other Halo.

I love every Halo game hands down, but the overall best gameplay experience from a satisfaction perspective comes from CE for me.

The repetitive level design in AotCR, Two Betrayals, The Maw, really bring down the experience for me, when they didn't used to.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Didn't like Combat Evolved's campaign that much. It got really repetitive near the end. Kept going into the same circular rooms.

My thoughts exactly. I'm playing it in 2014 for the very first time without nostalgia goggles on and it started good but now by "assault on the control room" the repetitiveness kicked into full gear and is boring me to tears. The library ain't much better either.

In fact I quitted playing. I'll beat it when I have someone to play coop with.

 

[Impala26]

Same here. I actually can't wait to play it again on XB1.

Halo 3 on the other hand is one of the few games where, toward the end, I was disappointed at every turn when it didn't end and just went on and on and on and on. It killed Halo for me (a job Halo 2 started).

Yeeesh...
So, those Ark levels (sans "Cortana") did absolutely nothing for you? I thought they are some of the best in the entire series. I actually slightly prefer the final "Warthog Run" in Halo 3 than Halo CE's. And then there's also the fact that those introduce the intriguing Didact/Librarian/Gravemind/Mendicant Bias Forerunner backstory as well.

 

[Blue Ninja]

I can't believe it's been seven years. *sniff* Still got the cat helmet on display.

Gonna be ballin' to replay this in glorious 1080p. Some of the best encounters and music the series has to offer. Its story was a bit of a letdown after all the great pre-release stuff like Iris, and I felt like the game would've been better if it'd continued the split between the Chief and the Arbiter, but those are just minor gripes.

Its terminals were great, I still think the story Bear and the 343 crew spun them into is a great waste of potential.

 

[stay gold]

Combat Evolved, 3 & ODST all have 10/10 campaigns imo.

I think i'd still rank CE as the best, but November will tell me whether thats just nostalgia talking!

 

[Etnos]

I personally liked Reach more, but both Halo 3 and Reach are the best IMO.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

I thought it was dire, I couldn't finish it.

Halo 4 > Reach > ODST > 1 > 2 >>>>>>> 3

It does have the best multi though.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Combat Evolved is my pick. I'll even take 4 over 3. I just didnt much care for 3. Better than 2 though.

I support this guy. CE>4>3>ODST>2>Reach

Combat Evolved was such a special experience, and it's not even just nostalgia. I still have little desire to replay through most of the Halo campaigns, but I can do CE all day every day.

 

[Tadale]

I didn't realize that Halo 3 was seven years old today when I saw this thread earlier today. I can't believe it's been that long.

I was a junior in college when that game came out, sharing an apartment with three friends who were all equally excited about the game. It was pretty much all we did for the rest of the year.

 

[shinobi602]

The repetitive level design in AotCR, Two Betrayals, The Maw, really bring down the experience for me, when they didn't used to.

There were definitely some sections in each where you backtracked or at least seemed to go through the same area more than once, but the combat encounters in those areas were just so damn good that I didn't feel it too much. Finally hitting the ground on AoTCR and hopping in that Warthog, coming upon the tank and ruining the Covenant's day still feels great to this day to me.

Lots of verticality in Two Betrayals that I really loved, some great sections in the Maw including the best ending warthog sequence in the series imo

 

[TheXbox]

CE > 3 > Reach > 2 > ODST > others

CE is still the best. Halo 3 is masterful from top to bottom, but the pacing in the third act is wonky as fuck. The Covenant was so bombastic and so final that it could have easily passed for the climax... and then there's Cortana, which in terms of urgency is the kind of shit you expect to find halfway through a game. THEN they set you up again for ANOTHER climax, and then the game is really over.

Not to mention the game is way too short. It's a six and a half hour ride for a decent player, and while those hours are tight as fuck, there should have been more.

 

[Valkerionseven]

Meh 3 was the last full Halo I played aside from like the first 30mins of Reach. Thought it was boring and they made a big deal about these set piece moments... even though you literally did them all 3 times in the campaign completely stealing the impact they would have had.

 

[Twin Tails]

Halo 3 is pretty sick, I like reach campaign a tad more

 

[Loxley]

For my money, Halo campaigns are at their best when there's a mystery to solve. As such, CE and ODST are my two personal favorites. With CE it's, "What exactly is Halo?", "What did the Covenant find on Halo that's causing them to panic so much?", and with ODST it's piecing together what happened to your team. After those two, I'd say Halo Reach is probably a solid third-place. Halo 3 & 2 fill in the other spots, I didn't enjoy them nearly as much as the others.

 

[Faltimar]

I like Reach the best. Hell, I dont even remember the other ones.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

There were definitely some sections in each where you backtracked or at least seemed to go through the same area more than once, but the combat encounters in those areas were just so damn good that I didn't feel it too much. Finally hitting the ground on AoTCR and hopping in that Warthog, coming upon the tank and ruining the Covenant's day still feels great to this day to me.

Lots of verticality in Two Betrayals that I really loved, some great sections in the Maw including the best ending warthog sequence in the series imo

No doubt. Completely different experiences going through the rehashed levels - the presence of the flood for one and getting to see the covenant deal with the flood at various points as well. so good.

EDIT: Games with reused levels that apparently get a free pass:
Mario 3D World
Racing games - omg we've done this track before. this game sucks!
Fighting games - omg im on the same stage again!
Animal Crossing - the whole game takes place in a single village? you can't be serious... must be awful.

 

[danwarb]

Yes, and it will look better than Halo 4 at 1080/60.

3 has all the best co-op set pieces. 3 and CE had the better campaigns, ODST and Reach are in the middle, and 2 is way behind.

 

[hao chi]

Halo 3 all around (campaign and multi) is just alright to me. I prefer the campaigns of CE (favorite multi, too), Reach, and ODST over Halo 3.

Edit: Just to elaborate on why I like CE's campaign so much: while I'll admit the level design is lacking in variety with too many identical corridors, the faster movement speed, more powerful feeling weapons, satisfying grenades, and lack of melee lunges made the combat feel so satisfying for me. I also thought the AI - especially Elites, were more enjoyable to fight than the enemies in at least a few other Halo games, Halo 3 included.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I never understood the apparent intense dislike for the backtracking in Halo. It wasn't bad by any measure and going all around the areas tended to make those battle locations feel more like real places and not just an endless blur of three-dimensional wallpaper you sped through, never to get a greater feel for because the theme park ride never stops for long as is the norm for the modern FPS. Backtracking, as a negative, applies to a poorly designed Metroidvania or something, but Halo never made you spend that much time in those places and never made you go back through more than once.

 

[RSB]

There were definitely some sections in each where you backtracked or at least seemed to go through the same area more than once, but the combat encounters in those areas were just so damn good that I didn't feel it too much. Finally hitting the ground on AoTCR and hopping in that Warthog, coming upon the tank and ruining the Covenant's day still feels great to this day to me.

Lots of verticality in Two Betrayals that I really loved, some great sections in the Maw including the best ending warthog sequence in the series imo

Exactly.

Halo CE suffered from visual repetition, but the encounters themselves were actually pretty varied. AotCR for example has like 10 rooms that look almost exactly the same, and you play through them again in Two Betrayals, but it doesn't matter, because the actual battles happening in them are great and feel different from each other.

 

[MORTALIS]

Fighting to get Cortana back from the clutches of the flood. Epic and moving. Like a lot of instances throughout Halo campaign play, the sense of purpose is conveyed well to the player.

And Edit:Halo 2 "I need a weapon." Boner jam, you kidding me, amazing line, amazing moment. Then unraveling the deception of the hierarchs as the Arbiter, slick delivery.

 

[Roquentin]

You have my energy sword, Dax.

The Cortana level sucked and the story presentation was quite awful with those Cortana/Gravemind interruptions, but I've replayed some of Halo 3's levels so many times. Sure, Halo CE has some amazing levels and I also love Halo 2, but the encounter design in Halo 3 is unmatched in my opinion.

 

[poopninjamvc3mk]

I'll never understand how Halo 4 could be anyone's favorite Halo campaign. I remember when my friend called me when he got us his copy and told me to come over and play, never have I been so bored by a Halo Campaign in my life but different strokes for different folks.

But I agree with you OP on basically everything he said. H3 was love, H3 was life. I was broke kid in I think 8th or 9th grade too and ended up trading about 7 360 games to gamestop just for Halo 3 on releas and was barely able to afford it thanks to Gamestop giving me scrap prices.

It lived up to the hype for me, especially that multiplayer

 

[Impala26]

I don't think anyone here is saying CE's campaign is "perfect". I'd like to see those posts if so...

Overall I found the missions in CE to be the most satisfying in terms of variation of combat encounters, scenarios, stealth options and layout. The best two levels in the series are in that game for me, Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room. Those aren't the only two. Two Betrayals, Halo (first level), Truth & Reconciliation and The Maw are also absolutely fantastic. It definitely has its low points (The Library no doubt) but so does every other Halo.

I love every Halo game hands down, but the overall best gameplay experience from a satisfaction perspective comes from CE for me.

The one thing that Halo CE will ALWAYS have (and I think we're in agreement here) is the sense of wonder and awe. There is something magical about the exploration in that game that always made it feel mysterious and fantastical, but also simultaneously believable and real.

Halo 4 came close to this vibe, but just not quite. Requiem had the great look of a wonderous Forerunner world, with gorgeous, seemingly physics-defying vistas. But the overall experience still "felt" constrained compared to what 343i was striving for, and I think is directly a symptom of the game having to run on outdated Xbox 360 architecture.

EDIT: To be completely frank, I'm so in love with the Forerunner settings that I would more than happy with a game that was mostly or even entirely devoid of actual combat, just to freely roam and explore these places. Could you imagine like a Myst and/or RPG style game set in Halo universe like this? Maybe the role of a Forerunner before the firing of the Array? That'd be just spectacular and a great "offshoot" of the overall Halo franchise for sure.

 

[MonkeyNuts]

It baffles me that the same company who made Halo 3's campaign gave us the boring dribble that is destiny's campaign.

Its just.... they don't even compare... destiny's campaign has NO set piece moments, no moments that make you go "WOAH AWESOME!!"
Like seeing the 2 scarabs jump down in the covenant level...like seeing the pillar of autumn touch down on the ark....like seeing the halo ring exploding as you put the pedal to the metal in the warthog... I could go on and on...

The most exciting thing I can recall happening in destiny's campaign is early on when you deploy the array and a load of hive drop ships start appearing... THAT'S IT... '._.

 

[alexbull_uk]

One of the best games I've ever played. Can't wait to replay it in 1080p60 in November.

 

[Euron]

I agree completely. It had the best encounters by far plus dat 4 player co-op. Oh and one of the best last levels in history.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Not even close.

CE >>>> ODST >>>>>>>>> Halo 2 >>>>>>>>> Halo 3 >>>>>>>>>>>>> Halo 4 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Halo Reach

Halo 3 unfortunately wasn't the best at anything. Wasn't the best looking on its console, wasn't the best campaign, wasn't the best multiplayer, nothing. But it was a fantastic game. Probably the best Forge?

 

[HTupolev]

There were definitely some sections in each where you backtracked or at least seemed to go through the same area more than once, but the combat encounters in those areas were just so damn good that I didn't feel it too much. Finally hitting the ground on AoTCR and hopping in that Warthog, coming upon the tank and ruining the Covenant's day still feels great to this day to me.

Lots of verticality in Two Betrayals that I really loved, some great sections in the Maw including the best ending warthog sequence in the series imo

The re-used levels have enough variation in mood and structure that they're not even close to being redundant with each other. And the contrast is used narratively in pretty cool ways. The backtracking is obviously sketchy as hell from a production point of view, but I think it actually does good things for the game.

As for the modular geometry? I think it might have bothered me on my very first playthrough; it's a bit hard to remember, because that was long ago. But the issue quickly faded. Once I was familiar with the geometries and encounters, although they were still similar, they were no longer same-y. Even T&R's hallways have very little full geometric repeat as far as how areas are actually laid out, and even when it does, the experiences of playing through two different areas are still very different. A big part of this is probably Halo 1's core gunplay, which is capable of elevating little things into big differences in how you perceive and approach encounters.

I don't feel like I'm willfully ignoring issues with the game; these obvious problems that people sometimes insist the game has simply don't feel like they're actually problems.

I do feel like a lot of the people jumping in here to say like "Halo CE, unequivocally" are having trouble removing their rose-tinted shades.

Yep, the two days since I last played Halo 1 have probably clouded my mind.

 

[Mollywhopping]

Halo 2 GOAT
Halo 3
Halo Combat Evolved
Halo 4

In that order

 

[Booshka]

Too many wide open Vehicle encounters, main adversary is Brutes, and the gameplay is not as smooth as Halo 2 or CE.

Halo CE is the best campaign for me. I like Reach more than Halo 3, because I really don't like fighting Brutes.

 

[Impala26]

As for the modular geometry? I think it might have bothered me on my very first playthrough; it's a bit hard to remember, because that was long ago. But the issue quickly faded. Once I was familiar with the geometries and encounters, although they were still similar, they were no longer same-y. Even T&R's hallways have very little full geometric repeat as far as how areas are actually laid out, and even when it does, the experiences of playing through two different areas are still very different. A big part of this is probably Halo 1's core gunplay, which is capable of elevating little things into big differences in how you perceive and approach encounters.

I don't feel like I'm willfully ignoring issues with the game; these obvious problems that people sometimes insist the game has simply don't feel like they're actually problems.

Wow, kinda funny because it seems like Destiny suffers from the OPPOSITE of this problem.

Halo CE: Often repetitive setpieces, but dynamic/unpredictable enemy encounters.
Destiny: Varied and gorgeous setpieces, but often very predictable enemy encounters.