Seven years later, Halo 3 is still the best Halo campaign

pocketaces said:
Arbiter: We must go. The Brutes have our scent.

Sergeant Johnson: Then they must love the smell of Bulgari. Yeah that's right I'm doing a little bit of product placement, I gotta make a living too you know?
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I captured Halo 3 footage some days ago, in order to compare it with the 60FPS footage from the MCC and I had to watch this scene a coupple of times. I love how it's an other sentence each time, but this is the best/funniest.

I already miss Sgt. Johnson. :(
 
Halo 3? Lol, I don't even remember what happened in 3, but I can remember every single thing that happened in the first one. That shows something.
 
Godtier campaign. Perfectly paced, awesome setpieces, incredible mission variety, with each one looking and feeling remarkably distinct from the last (whereas in 2 and even 1 the levels felt like they would blur together).

The Covenant is the best mission in the entire franchise, and I don't even mind the two Flood levels that followed it, that's how fucking good Halo 3's single player is. It's just more interesting and fun than any of the other games. And it's the only Halo where I actually bothered to finish it on Legendary solo.

Halo 3 was my game of the generation entirely because of its campaign. Absolutely loved it from start to finish, and on all of my replays.
 
Collingwood said:
Halo 2 >>>>>>>>> Halo 3
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Alright, this is a rare opinion, why do you think Halo 2's campaign plays better than Halo 3's?

I'm interested, not trying to judge.
For me, Halo 2's AI / battle puzzles are weaker, the brute's are charging sponges that often are not fun to fight on High Charity, especially on Legendary when they are ridiculously deadly, similarly with Jackal Snipers [on Legendary].
The combat scenarios, the bosses, etc, Halo 2 just felt like a weaker campaign in my book, less well designed.

The narrative however, ending aside, is arguably the best in my book. Bungie really blew up the Universe into a wider fiction with it.

But again, when I think about what is fun to play [and replay], Halo 3's Campaign easily outranks it in my book.
 
HTupolev said:
The re-used levels have enough variation in mood and structure that they're not even close to being redundant with each other. .
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Disagree completely. CE drags around halfway into the game and that feeling doesn't let up. They can redress the same spaces, but ultimately they're still the same spaces.

Halo 3 kept that variety coming and never let up besides Cortana.
 
Nothing beats CE and ODST.

Halo CE's campaign is well balanced and consistently great. There's no end to the different approaches you can take to each encounter, even in the more linear missions, and nothing else in the series has touched the brilliance of The Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room. They are perfect levels in a game full of top tier design.

ODST is a lean package, Halo boiled down to its essentials. Each level is a neat slice of classic Halo gameplay. You've got your light ground vehicle mission, your tank mission, your flying mission. Sniping, turret standoffs, straightforward firefights, rocket launcher action, even a bit of stealth... the game throws everything at you. It's the Halo's Greatest Hits Collection, and it feels fresh with its rain soaked noir-ish atmosphere and Marty O'Donnell's superb score (easily among his best work across the entire series). Tied together with a free-roam nighttime overworld and the nonlinear mission structure that lets you take on the middle levels in any order you choose, ODST's campaign comes closer than any of the other Halo sequels to recapturing the immortal spark that keeps Halo CE as engaging and fun as the day it was released.

Halo 3, with its violent spikes and nosedives in quality across a too-short campaign, is a less consistent, and for me less enjoyable, experience than CE or ODST. I could replay Crow's Nest, The Storm, The Ark, and The Covenant for years, and I have. I never want to touch Floodgate, Cortana, and Halo again.
 
As someone who isn't crazy about Halo, i must say i really liked Halo3. As well as the online. But i guess they were always pretty good at that.

Horrible character design though. Those faces...

Also, i liked The Flood.
 
Monocle said:
Nothing beats CE and ODST.

Halo CE's campaign is well balanced and consistently great. There's no end to the different approaches you can take to each encounter, even in the more linear missions, and nothing else in the series has touched the brilliance of The Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room. They are perfect levels in a game full of top tier design.

ODST is a lean package, Halo boiled down to its essentials. Each level is a neat slice of classic Halo gameplay. You've got your light ground vehicle mission, your tank mission, your flying mission. Sniping, turret standoffs, straightforward firefights, rocket launcher action, even a bit of stealth... the game throws everything at you. It's the Halo's Greatest Hits Collection, and it feels fresh with its rain soaked noir-ish atmosphere and Marty O'Donnell's superb score (easily among his best work across the entire series). Tied together with a free-roam nighttime overworld and the nonlinear mission structure that lets you take on the middle levels in any order you choose, ODST's campaign comes closer than any of the other Halo sequels to recapturing the immortal spark that keeps Halo CE as engaging and fun as the day it was released.

Halo 3, with its violent spikes and nosedives in quality across a too-short campaign, is a less consistent, and for me less enjoyable, experience than CE or ODST. I could replay Crow's Nest, The Storm, The Ark, and The Covenant for years, and I have. I never want to touch Floodgate, Cortana, and Halo again.
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This should be in the OP ;)
 
Nope. No sequel will ever top CE for me. Bungie just made worse and worse campaigns. I was never really into the whole multiplayer aspect, so I cared deeply about the campaign. 2 was a mess of epic proportions. 3 was somewhat better technically, but the story of CE was the best. Not to mention, I like the A.I. in the CE than in all the other games.
 
I like ODST a lot for what it was, but every time someone overrates it and puts it on a pedestal, I flip off a box of kittens.
 
TriangleMasher said:
yeah I really liked that Gravemind fight
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Har har...

I think after the fan backlash against boss enemies like those in Halo 2, Bungie was likely pretty apprehensive about doing one for Gravemind. Besides, how would you even DESIGN a fight against an enemy that's literally a giant mass of calcified tissue that's ten stories tall?
 
After pondering it a bit, Halo 3 and ODST were both missing Elites as enemies. That along with the Cortana level brings it down. So it'll be a tie between Reach and CE for me.
 
All post-CE Halo games are inferior to Halo:CE.

- The battle rifle and dual smg's never felt as good as the assault rifle from CE, and even the assault rifle itself never got back to its CE-glory.
- The addition of Brutes was unnecessary and took the spotlight away from the Elites which were a much cooler enemy.
- Most importantly: the Arbiter storyline took away the mystique surrounding the Covenant. In Halo:CE they were this mysterious, powerful enemy. I HATE what they did to the Covenant in the sequels.

Bungie caught lightning in a bottle with Combat Evolved, and tried to replicate it ever since. Reach was pretty good though.
 
Eh, I have to say, if I had to pick one Halo campaign I liked the most, it'd be ODST, just for the music alone. Nothing in the other games felt as atmospheric (except maybe certain parts in Reach, that "final mission" the first time was really something) as walking around the city with that saxophone playing. By far my favorite soundtrack composed by Marty.

What was with Halo 2's soundtrack, anyways? There was plenty of "normal" music, but I swear there was one mission where some Breaking Benjamin song started playing out of nowhere.. really weird and out of place.
 
Reach was my favorite.

Pistol returns.

Awesome set pieces, each level was unique.

Classic Covenant enemies and tactics.

Tons of vehicle combat.

Final level on Legendary is one of the most satisfying missions I've grinded through.

Epilogue mission is so perfect.

I'd rank them:

CE > Reach > 3 > ODST > 4 > 2

For campaigns, anyways. 2 gets the snub for having you fight the last boss as the Arbiter.
 
NullPointer said:
After pondering it a bit, Halo 3 and ODST were both missing Elites as enemies. That along with the Cortana level brings it down. So it'll be a tie between Reach and CE for me.
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This guy gets it.

Elites are the best enemy in the Halo Franchise, both Reach and CE showcased them the best.

Although I think CE is far ahead of Reach, but Reach is above the others.
 
I have played every halo game at launch EXCEPT Halo 3 (don't ask me how that happened, I really have no idea despite having a 360).

So I never played Halo 3 until it became free on GWG. Not having nostalgia of any sort and going through it with friends I can safely say that yes, Halo 3 campaign was goddamn amazing.

The scarab fight trumps Halo 2's, Johnsons death and the level afterwards was extremely satisfying, the cortana drops where hype. My only complaint was that it felt soooooo short, I found cortana and immediately wanted to do 4-5 more levels.

Whats there is great. I wish I can say the same about MP but its neutered if you don't have all the map packs so I can't really speak about that. I appreciate Reach MP better as you at least have more options if you don't own any of the map packs.
 
ODST for me. It just oozes with atmosphere especially the nighttime hubworld where you are trying to piece together what happened with the searching for clues.
 
The original Halo/CE will always be my favourite. I don't feel like any of the sequels come close to how much I like that game or how good that campaign is. Plus Elites will always be more fun to fight than the godawful Brutes, fuck I hate the Brutes. Never liked them or fighting them.
 
Schweinehund said:
4 > odst > reach > 2 > 3 > 1
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1>reach>2>3>4>odst IMO

I really dislike the guns in ODST. Guns in FPS have to have kick, meaning, kinetics. The pistol and the silenced SMG on top of the already weak as hell sounding Halo 3 arsenal just did not get me pumped. I constantly felt weak even against grunts.
 
I've been playing since the original came out. 3 (aside from Cortana) is definitely my favorite, followed by 1, reach, odst and 4 and 2. I consider all of them to be good. I'm getting an xbone soon and look forward to playing through 3 again with friends.
 
I've just finished the first Flood level in Halo 3... and the campaign is feeling as much as a grind as the first Halo.

The first Halo had the stupidest level design and weak-feeling weapons. Halo 2 at least made the guns feel like they had a kick to them. But still with some shitty levels.

After this I'll play ODST, Reach and 4.
 
imo Halo 3 is the best overall Halo game, especially if you add Halo 3: ODST into the mix.

multiplayer:

-multiplayer gameplay was solid, lots of memorable maps.

-forge and theater mode were introduced

-armor variants and color schemes were added

-new weapons and equipment

-matchmaking and custom game hosting was made easy and the grouping of players worked well

-nice varied playlists
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campaign:
-story arch was satisfying

-cinematics, cutscenes, characters, and voice acting were all great

-campaign levels were solid

-2-4 player co-op was added

-skulls were addes

-gameplay during the campaign had good variety and fun objectives
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then of course you have Halo 3: ODST which was totally different from Halo 3 but extremely fun with an interesting narrative, memorable characters and creative gameplay. and lets not forget firefight.

my Halo ranking:

H2>H1>H3>H3ODST>H4>HR.
 
From a pure gameplay standpoint, I don't think it's even a close call. It's the game where the cumulative expansion and refinements in the combat sandbox reached their peak. The vehicle/infantry balance is pretty much perfect, and it's the only Halo game to feature good internal pacing over the course of the campaign. The gradual escalation of the battles is a real treat to play through, as it hits one crescendo (the Tsavo Highway Chopper/Wraith brawl) after another (The Storm, The Ark, The Covenant), with a good mix of mission styles in between.

The lack of three-way battles is a disappointment given the opportunities for them, and the story is disappointing. But goddamn was it a superbly crafted combat game. Legendary was well balanced as well, which was nice coming off Halo 2.
 
GhaleonEB said:
From a pure gameplay standpoint, I don't think it's even a close call. It's the game where the cumulative expansion and refinements in the combat sandbox reached their peak. The vehicle/infantry balance is pretty much perfect, and it's the only Halo game to feature good internal pacing over the course of the campaign. The gradual escalation of the battles is a real treat to play through, as it hits one crescendo (the Tsavo Highway Chopper/Wraith brawl) after another (The Storm, The Ark, The Covenant), with a good mix of mission styles in between.

The lack of three-way battles is a disappointment given the opportunities for them, and the story is disappointing. But goddamn was it a superbly crafted combat game. Legendary was well balanced as well, which was nice coming off Halo 2.
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Tsavo Highway from start to finish is perfection.
 
Halo 3 was the game that made me realize just how much Halo was meant to be a co-op game. The Ark and The Covenant missions are the best in the series and they were back-to-back. So many great memories with this game.

Still a toss up between it and CE for my favorite Halo. Can't wait for MCC so I can play it again.

Edit:

Rank: CE > H3 > ODST > H2 > H4 > Reach
 
I think Halo 3 probably has the best levels in the series (haven't played Halo 4) but it also has a few real stinkers. For some reason I really dislike the second level, as well as the crappy flood ones towards the end.
 
I love Halo 3's campaign. I'm not sure if I would call it "the best", though. ODST included. >_>

Hell, I'm not sure if I'd call any Halo's campaign "the best". But I sure have tons and tons of memories of it. Frustrations, friends, and achievements galore. Halo 3 provided so much with it's campaign, especially being four-player co-op.

I don't think it hits the highs of Halo 1/2 as much, but it's still great. The Covenant is one of the best levels in the series and it was great to FINALLY kill 343 Guilty Spark. The levels that are good I will replay until the end of time, and Cortana I will avoid as much as The Library as it is my own personal hell. The Vidmaster Annual achievement is still one of the best and worst things to do in the campaign and I had to do it twice. The skull and terminal hunting were great.

Story-wise, it was dull up until the end of Voi into Floodgate, which blew my mind that the Flood reached Earth and spread across Africa. Great stuff, even if the game really didn't make you feel the urgency, it was pretty big. It dies down again when you hit Cortana up until the (bad) boss fight with 343 Guilty Spark. Although, I'd argue that even Floodgate got mind-numbing midway through as you're just going across Voi again. Another issue is that after developing the Arbiter, he gets shafted a bit. I can understand why, but with Halsey, he's still one of the best characters in the entire franchise. Marty's music was great, too, even if it is "Halo Remastered" I loved it, along with the new themes like Cortana's when you find her.

I see a lot of ODST comments and that's fine, I can understand why. I see even Reach and get why, too. Both of them have great gameplay for each level even if the story connecting it are extremely weak. ODST beats Reach easily in this regard if ONLY for having more likeable main characters. But even then, for both, the last two missions are the only ones that have any real weight in the universe and end up being them most interesting parts in the story. My reasons for not putting either one up is that for 1) ODST isn't particularly memorable. None of the enemy encounters are all that great and feel like shooting wave after wave. The open-world streets level is fantastic, but GOD is it dry. There's really nothing much to do in it beyond soaking up the incredible details of the world. The glyphs in the Engineer (yes Engineers, fuck that Huragok/EU/Species name crap, there's a reason why we just call them grunts, jackals etc. It's easier damn it) hidden spots are fascinating and I'm not sure if the meaning for those were ever found or if they have any. And finding Sadie's story was cool, too, but beyond that there's no reason to go back again. Having health again and the awesome silenced pistol was cool, but I never had great use with the Silenced SMG as the only thing I ever used it for was for drones and it was horrible if you're trying to be stealthy.

Reach I love as an overall package, and I always go back to play the campaign, but most of the issues are there. Poor story, most encounters aren't all that memorable (at least it doesn't suffer as much from wave after wave) and as amazing as it is to see Reach fall, the important stuff isn't hit until The Package. Bits of the game I would highlight are glitching through Nightfall, vehicular battles in Tip of the Spear, almost all of Long Night of Solace up until the gravity is turned back on, Exodus amongst civilians, New Alexandria's freedom of flight and Club Ererra, and Lone Wolf. The Pillar of Autumn is a personal favorite of mine, though.

Halo 2's campaign I felt was amazing, I loved seeing more of the Covenant through the schism and the Arbiter's eyes. Great character with a real arc in that game. The introduction of secondary characters was cool, too. The Prophets, Tartarus, Half-Jaw, Hood, Keyes, more Johnson and Spark (kinda. I hate that guy). The first couple Arbiter levels aren't all that I agree, minus the Heretic leader boss fight and the Banshee section. Quarantine Zone is scary, but Sacred Icon is epic. Gravemind was a highlight, Upsrising's dull, and the beginning of The Great Journey is, too. My issue with Halo 2's campaign is how it ends. I don't think we need to know more about that.

Halo CE is the one I'd probably put closest to "the top" or "the best" only because it nailed that sense of wonder and mystery. Seriously, the start is amazing, then you land on a giant hula-hoop and discovery after discovery with fun gameplay to boot. Being stealthy with the sniper rifle is a joy and an award unto itself, and I mean beyond the beginning of Truth and Reconciliation. The Library and Keyes aren't my personal highlight and if you asked me years ago I'd say the same for 343 Guilty Spark. But I've come to appreciate the level a lot more recently because of the constant state of dread. That feeling of foreboding is throughout the level, and I've come to like it. You're a big supersolider and now I'm scared of some freakish, disfigured, alien spore-zombies? Great stuff. The Maw is a personal favorite of mine, too. I love that level so much from start to finish.

And I think I've said enough about Halo 4 before. I've enjoyed all Halo campaigns, and to that extend, the series (even Wars) in its entirety. But Halo 3 should be remembered for being amazing and having The Covenant be one of the best levels in the series for both story and gameplay. Up there with The Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room for me.

I swear though, these games are the best in co-op. That's part of the reason why they've lasted so long for me because I can always count on having a good time or bonding through them. Any of them. Halo 3 is the epitome of amazing co-op fun, and Halo 1-2 co-op is how my friends and I used to chill with each other.

You know this thread and Halo 3's anniversary just make me thankful that this series exists. Without it I wouldn't be into this hobby nor would i have the friends I have to this day. Plus, it's pretty much the best game series ever.

Of all time.
 
GhaleonEB said:
From a pure gameplay standpoint, I don't think it's even a close call. It's the game where the cumulative expansion and refinements in the combat sandbox reached their peak. The vehicle/infantry balance is pretty much perfect, and it's the only Halo game to feature good internal pacing over the course of the campaign. The gradual escalation of the battles is a real treat to play through, as it hits one crescendo (the Tsavo Highway Chopper/Wraith brawl) after another (The Storm, The Ark, The Covenant), with a good mix of mission styles in between.

The lack of three-way battles is a disappointment given the opportunities for them, and the story is disappointing. But goddamn was it a superbly crafted combat game. Legendary was well balanced as well, which was nice coming off Halo 2.
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Exactly. CE fans are in denial.
 
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