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[Red]

Man, I could still play Halo 1 and love every second. Halo 3 was great as well, absolutely love it.

I abhor Halo 2, have tried liking it and still hate it with every fiber of my being. Its existence offends me, and just thinking about it makes me angry. I thought it was total shit when it came out, recently played through the PC version, and yes, my verdict still stands: total waste of time.

I think what upsets me the most about it is that I was so damn excited leading up to its release. I got very into the ilovebees ARG, replayed the first game a dozen times, arranged local LANs to play Combat Evolved's multiplayer, and then skipped school to camp out and play through Halo 2. The entire time I kept waiting for it to get good, for something to blow me away like nearly every level of the first game, and that thing never came. The ending arrived with no fanfare and left me so pissed off I still rage to this day.

Went into Halo 3 with those lowered expectations and was pretty much blown away. Thought it lived up to the first game gloriously.

Now I'm in a bad mood, shouldn't have ever looked at this thread :lol

 

[J-Roderton]

Yea no shit on Cortana. Legendary with skulls on trying to get the score for that one was the biggest pain. And not to mention the last level of halo 3 too. Such a pain in the arse.

 

[Sibylus]

I put the blame for most of that on the whiny fans that couldn't stand the idea of not playing as Master Chief for even two seconds. Which sucks, because I always found the Arbiter more interesting. I quite enjoyed the fact that he never REALLY turned against the Covenant in 2 until he was pretty much forced to, that kind of "shatter your belief" story was an interesting prospective to get, as opposed to the Chief, who's story in any of the game's never changes beyond "lady what in my head tells me to shoot aliens."

I really did hate what Bungie did to the Arbiter in 3 though...

Yea, MC has badass quality and all that, but the screentime in Halo 2 that he got was more than enough. The Arbiter was always the deeper character, he had a lot more potential too. This shouldn't irritate me, but it does. Soooo much wasted potential.

 

[Veelk]

I put the blame for most of that on the whiny fans that couldn't stand the idea of not playing as Master Chief for even two seconds. Which sucks, because I always found the Arbiter more interesting. I quite enjoyed the fact that he never REALLY turned against the Covenant in 2 until he was pretty much forced to, that kind of "shatter your belief" story was an interesting prospective to get, as opposed to the Chief, who's story in any of the game's never changes beyond "lady what in my head tells me to shoot aliens."

I really did hate what Bungie did to the Arbiter in 3 though...

As I mentioned, it was a wasted opportunity to not really give him any missions in Halo 3 where he can develop, but, given the ridiculous outcry of the fans, that wasn't really going to happen. Still, I really liked his line when he killed Truth, so that's something. But Halo doesn't need a complex or emotional story. "Do what the lady in my head tells me to do" is just fine for me.

 

[permutated]

They were all fucking awesome. Loved Halo 3 the best, then 1, then 2 last. but still, had alot of fun on each.

 

[Alucrid]

Story

1 3 2.

Online

2 3 1.

Time/Money Spent

3 2 1.

Yeah...that's more or less how I fell. Although all three campaigns are pretty good in my opinion. Although Halo 3's multiplayer just ins't as addicting as Halo 2's was.

 

[REV 09]

Story
2>1>3

Gameplay
3>1>2

MP
3>2>1

 

[Havok]

Again, this is the general argument I hear, that Halo 3 is more balanced, has more weapons, more features, etc, but the majority still consider Halo 2 better. The only argument I have ever heard on this front is that the Halo 2 maps are better, but is that really the only reason, or can someone offer a better explanation of why Halo 2 is widely considered to be the better multiplayer game?

Its the Halo "fan" cycle. Everybody bitched about how much better Halo 1's multiplayer was than Halo 2's back in 2005, and now everybody bitches about how much better Halo 2 was than Halo 3. When Halo 4 comes out, everybody will bitch about how much better Halo 3 was. Its not really an accurate indicator of the quality of the multiplayer. Although Halo 2 absolutely did have the greatest maps in the series.

Something to take note of: Bungie was bought by Microsoft in June 2000, giving them just over a year to rework the game for the Xbox, which lead to the repetition you see in the campaign (see: Jason Jones' answer to why the last three levels reused entire BSPs during the commentary in the Halo 3 LE: "Because the game would have been three levels shorter."). Similarly, Halo 2 was stripped apart with around 10 months left until their deadline, leading to horrific crunches and plenty of bad feelings about the game. They've gone on record about how wonderful having a normal dev cycle for Halo 3 was, and the end result was a much better game for it (my personal favorite in the series).

 

[Poimandres]

Yeah...that's more or less how I fell. Although all three campaigns are pretty good in my opinion. Although Halo 3's multiplayer just ins't as addicting as Halo 2's was.

I don't know, I think this is mainy a case of changed expectations with the new generation. When Halo 2 was king, it was all I played. It pissed me off online no end- what with the shitty SMG spawn, ridiculous lagging, cheating and cheap bastardy. But there were no other real viable options on Live. While I agree that the maps in Halo 3 aren't on the same level as the best H2 maps- the superior weapon set and lack of cheating makes it a better game IMO.

In terms of campaign's Halo 1 had the greatest impact by far. As soon as the Covenant started talking in english and their extremelly simple "religious" shitck was revealed in Halo 2 any sense of mystery/awe was totally lost...

 

[FateBreaker]

1 >>>> 3 >> 2. All of them were fantastic, though.

 

[Stinkles]

I rate the Halo games based on the Miranda-Keyes-Scale.


Halo 1 = no Mirandas. Great.
Halo 2 = one Mirandas. Bad.
Halo 3 = killed off one Mirandas. Ok.

:lol

 

[Kimosabae]

Next to SSBM, I consider Halo 1 to be one of the greatest console games developed in the past 10 years. I still play Halo 1 today, and I consider it the best looking game in the series, despite what the OP states.

The game has a clean, simple and effective geometry that isn't marred by excessive bloom and bump mapping like its sequels. The grenade effects are spectacular -- particularly on dirt. The melees, without a doubt, are most impressive in the first game, animation wise. The game overall has a more grounded, and earthly look to it. The sequels look hella cartoony by comparison. I still look around and marvel at stages such as Truth and Reconciliation, Halo and The Silent Cartographer.

The pistol unintentionally created one of the greatest competitive FPS systems out there.

The physics are the most fun in the first game.

The AI in the first game (particularly among the Elites), somehow managed to be the most engaging. Furthermore, the Elites didn't speak Shakespearean English, shattering the abstract and mystical quality of the Covenant that made them such compelling antagonists.

Halo 2 and 3 are the greatest disappointments in gaming for me.


-Kimo
(next to Brawl)

 

[Veelk]

Its the Halo "fan" cycle. Everybody bitched about how much better Halo 1's multiplayer was than Halo 2's back in 2005, and now everybody bitches about how much better Halo 2 was than Halo 3. When Halo 4 comes out, everybody will bitch about how much better Halo 3 was. Its not really an accurate indicator of the quality of the multiplayer. Although Halo 2 absolutely did have the greatest maps in the series.

Something to take note of: Bungie was bought by Microsoft in June 2000, giving them just over a year to rework the game for the Xbox, which lead to the repetition you see in the campaign (see: Jason Jones' answer to why the last three levels reused entire BSPs during the commentary in the Halo 3 LE: "Because the game would have been three levels shorter."). Similarly, Halo 2 was stripped apart with around 10 months left until their deadline, leading to horrific crunches and plenty of bad feelings about the game. They've gone on record about how wonderful having a normal dev cycle for Halo 3 was, and the end result was a much better game for it (my personal favorite in the series).

I see. I didn't know that people actually bitched about Halo 2's multiplayer in comparison to Halo 1's, though I do remember complaints about missing the ridiculously overpowered Pistol. Maybe I should try to player Halo 2's multiplayer somehow to try and get a feel for it, because I honestly have no clue what was so special about the maps that everyone loves so much, especially since I consider the Halo 3 maps to be pretty damn good. Still, I'd like to see you or someone else address the complaints of Poimandres below you, because I'd really like an indication of what made the Halo 2 maps so special.

 

[Stinkles]

Maps, nostalgia, and button combos for me. People will argue about BXR/Double shot/Double Melee but they really livened up the game.

That's because they gave you a magical advantage over most other players. And I mean, the VAST majority.

I get that the mechanic was fun - and if it was easy for the majority of players to learn, if not master, then great - but most players didn't read forums, didn't know it existed and BXR made their experience less fun and fundamentally unfair. You were basically griefing them - although in fairness, the game let you do that. It wasn't your fault.

Oh well.

 

[tass0]

Mostly PS3 guy here, but I'm getting pretty into Halo 3, in the mission "Full Circle" atm, pretty much the only 360 game I like :lol

 

[Ten-Song]

I see. I didn't know that people actually bitched about Halo 2's multiplayer in comparison to Halo 1's, though I do remember complaints about missing the ridiculously overpowered Pistol.

That's about where a LOT of the complaints were for Halo 2's multiplayer for the longest time. It took away the ultra broken pistol and replaced it with a weapon that would make sense to have those functions. Though, I remember people over Live back in those days bitching endlessly about anything in that game's multiplayer. Like when the patch came out for it, I remember days and days of bitching in regards to how that was meant to balance things out. "OMG GRENADES AND MELEE!"

 

[Phthisis]

I'm replaying the campaigns right now of all three games to get ready for ODST (actually my first time playing Halo 3 campaign ever), but good god have we come a long way. I forgot how utterly horrible Halo 1's campaign becomes. Some of that shit is ridiculous. Bungie are clone-stamp tool masters (thanks for making me run all the way back through the level I just spent 45 minutes fighting through!) and the 100% accuracy Flood that wield rockets is absolute bullshit.

 

[Havok]

I see. I didn't know that people actually bitched about Halo 2's multiplayer in comparison to Halo 1's, though I do remember complaints about missing the ridiculously overpowered Pistol. Maybe I should try to player Halo 2's multiplayer somehow to try and get a feel for it, because I honestly have no clue what was so special about the maps that everyone loves so much, especially since I consider the Halo 3 maps to be pretty damn good. Still, I'd like to see you or someone else address the complaints of Poimandres below you, because I'd really like an indication of what made the Halo 2 maps so special.

You're right that most of the complaints about Halo 2 involved not having the pistol. I remember constant complaining about how there was no "equalizer" in Halo 2, no starting weapon that could kill a sniper and a guy with a rocket launcher and a guy with a shotgun all without reloading once. Of course, the pistol was never meant to be as powerful as it was in the multiplayer, it was a mistake. (the campaign pistol was made much more powerful to combat against the Elites, and the attributes for the multiplayer pistol were mistakenly changed along with it).

I don't think there's any arguing with compaints of Halo 2's cheating and exploit issues. It was a massive problem and definitely brought down the multiplayer (although some will argue that the button glitches that let you shoot twice as fast or instakill with a melee and immediate headshot were for the benefit of the game) and its largely due to how solid Halo 3's online is in comparison, as well as that its definitely an iteration on Halo 2's fantastic multiplayer, that I consider it the best in the series.

As for the maps, its very hard to pin down what made them great. There was a very high ratio of small arena maps to large maps, but nearly all of them were a great deal of fun to play (the exceptions being things like Backwash, and even that wasn't necessarily a bad map, but it just wasn't as good as the rest), where Halo 3 definitely has some clunkers (Isolation, Narrows, Foundry). Additionally, the DLC maps (which were also great) in Halo 2 eventually became free so they popped up in matchmaking more often, but due to some publisher issues, this is not the case with Halo 3.

Since you're thinking about going back to try out Halo 2's multiplayer, I'll just say that that game is really rough today in comparison to its sequel. I tried to go back and it just did nothing for me, where it was basically all I played for three years before.

 

[Future PhaZe]

I'd really like an indication of what made the Halo 2 maps so special.

Not really much that can be said since it's pretty much based on opinion. I can say that even the inferior H2 maps were very playable for me. Ascension FFA, Colossus TS, Ivory Tower...all were very playable. Then you take into account some of the intense action on Lockout, Middy, Creek, Warlock, and Sanctuary and it's hard to find a lot that's bad about H2's maps.

To be fair there isn't a lot about the H3 maps that are BAD...it's just that I don't find a lot of them to be anything worth anticipating. The Pitt is the only map that I really love playing. The other maps aren't bad, just nothing special. But that's just my opinion, obviously someone could have an opposite reaction.

That's because they gave you a magical advantage over most other players. And I mean, the VAST majority.

I get that the mechanic was fun - and if it was easy for the majority of players to learn, if not master, then great - but most players didn't read forums, didn't know it existed and BXR made their experience less fun and fundamentally unfair. You were basically griefing them - although in fairness, the game let you do that. It wasn't your fault.

Oh well.

Obviously it sucked for players who didn't know what they were doing. At the end of the day bad players are bad players anyway and they will get beaten down with or without the use of button combos. The point is that the mechanic itself brought a unique aspect to H2's multiplayer that was very appealing to many. I still hope a shooter comes out and copies those combos as well as expands upon them. Hard to do though.

 

[Striker]

I'm replaying the campaigns right now of all three games to get ready for ODST (actually my first time playing Halo 3 campaign ever), but good god have we come a long way. I forgot how utterly horrible Halo 1's campaign becomes. Some of that shit is ridiculous. Bungie are clone-stamp tool masters (thanks for making me run all the way back through the level I just spent 45 minutes fighting through!) and the 100% accuracy Flood that wield rockets is absolute bullshit.

The "patchwork" level people usually speak of is Two Betrayals, and that's more commonly one of the very best Halo series levels created by Bungie. It has everything intended for the single player playthrough. From sniping out the Covenant in the beginning, hi-jacking the Banshees, destroying the infantry Covenant, using a Ghost or by foot to evade a three-way battle between Chief/Flood/Covenant, then onto a battle against a Wraith and others in a Warthog. The final battle with multiple, multiple Wraiths? Many Elites running around in front of the awaiting Banshees with Plasma Swords, and two beastly Hunters as well. The invisible Elite near the frozen lake also is a trick to defeat, since he's never in a place you would expect.

Havok,

You got the maps fairly laid out. I think of the great amount of the smaller 4v4 style maps like Lockout, Midship, Beaver Creek, Sanctuary, and Turf plus larger scale battle maps like Coagulation, Waterworks, Terminal, Headlong, and Relic. Even Burial Mounds, Zanzibar, and Colossus were very fun maps and carried a lot of variety of game-variants to them.

 

[SpacLock]

Halo 3 is such an unbelievably awesome game.

I'm still a huge fan of Halo 1's campaign and Halo 2's multiplayer though.

Best FPS series ever made.

 

[Subitai]

I pretty much agree w/ everything in the 1st 2 posts. The only thing I'd add is the let down legendary in Halo 3 was. Halo 2 was a small let down that i thought they'd rectify in 3. There was never a part in Halo 3 we're I think ahead and say to myself, "OMG how the hell am I gonna do this?!" like I did the first time transport after transport were about to drop covenant near you after you land on Halo in Halo 1 or when I was about to go up the gravity lift to just wait for Covenant to come out the doors and surround me and the friendly AIs.

Even Legendary with skulls can't make up for gimping i feel Bungie gave into for the masses. That's fine for normal and heroic, but if you're gonna make a hardcore setting, MAKE IT HARDCORE. I mean, when Halo 3 came out, everyone I talked to had beaten it on Legendary the 1st day!? Halo 3 was better over all and no game does a better job of putting you into the middle of huge action. So ya, that's why the Halo 1 campaign has a special place on my game shelf.

 

[VALIS]

Purely from a single player gameplay view since I'm a very light multiplayer and ignore stories in (almost) all video games as a rule...

3 > 1 > 2

It's hard to top the first time feeling of 1, but 3 just had some spectacular settings and enemies and vehicles and firefights. Then again, so did 1. And 2. Don't make me choose!

 

[Havok]

I pretty much agree w/ everything in the 1st 2 posts. The only thing I'd add is the let down legendary in Halo 3 was. Halo 2 was a small let down that i thought they'd rectify in 3. There was never a part in Halo 3 we're I think ahead and say to myself, "OMG how the hell am I gonna do this?!" like I did the first time transport after transport were about to drop covenant near you after you land on Halo in Halo 1 or when I was about to go up the gravity lift to just wait for Covenant to come out the doors and surround me and the friendly AIs.

Even Legendary with skulls can't make up for gimping i feel Bungie gave into for the masses. That's fine for normal and heroic, but if you're gonna make a hardcore setting, MAKE IT HARDCORE. I mean, when Halo 3 came out, everyone I talked to had beaten it on Legendary the 1st day!? Halo 3 was better over all and no game does a better job of putting you into the middle of huge action. So ya, that's why the Halo 1 campaign has a special place on my game shelf.

Have you tried to go back and play Halo 1's Legendary lately? Its much easier than the sequels. It's at about the same level as Halo 2's Heroic was, and Halo 2's Legendary was harder than Halo 1's by a magnitude of about a million (instakill Elite melees, plasma rifles that dropped shields in 2 bolts and fired at a stupidly fast rate), and Halo 3's is somewhere in between. I think that the ease of progression between games was just your skill level with the Halo toolset increasing, honestly.

 

[Veelk]

You're right that most of the complaints about Halo 2 involved not having the pistol. I remember constant complaining about how there was no "equalizer" in Halo 2, no starting weapon that could kill a sniper and a guy with a rocket launcher and a guy with a shotgun all without reloading once. Of course, the pistol was never meant to be as powerful as it was in the multiplayer, it was a mistake. (the campaign pistol was made much more powerful to combat against the Elites, and the attributes for the multiplayer pistol were mistakenly changed along with it).

I don't think there's any arguing with compaints of Halo 2's cheating and exploit issues. It was a massive problem and definitely brought down the multiplayer (although some will argue that the button glitches that let you shoot twice as fast or instakill with a melee and immediate headshot were for the benefit of the game) and its largely due to how solid Halo 3's online is in comparison, as well as that its definitely an iteration on Halo 2's fantastic multiplayer, that I consider it the best in the series.

As for the maps, its very hard to pin down what made them great. There was a very high ratio of small arena maps to large maps, but nearly all of them were a great deal of fun to play (the exceptions being things like Backwash, and even that wasn't necessarily a bad map, but it just wasn't as good as the rest), where Halo 3 definitely has some clunkers (Isolation, Narrows, Foundry). Additionally, the DLC maps (which were also great) in Halo 2 eventually became free so they popped up in matchmaking more often, but due to some publisher issues, this is not the case with Halo 3.

Since you're thinking about going back to try out Halo 2's multiplayer, I'll just say that that game is really rough today in comparison to its sequel. I tried to go back and it just did nothing for me, where it was basically all I played for three years before.

Honestly, I'd say that the pistol was overpowered even in the campaign. That thing took out damn near anything (ESPECIALLY Hunters, lol). And I agree that finding and exploiting cheats in a game is not the same as being good at it. Still, I'd like to try Halo 2 to see how far Halo 3 has really come. Maybe it'll be different for me since I never played before.

And on the subject of Halo 3's maps, I actually liked Isolation and Narrows. It's Foundary, the pit, and Construct ("camper haven" is the more appropriate title) that I hate.

 

[SpacLock]

Honestly, I'd say that the pistol was overpowered even in the campaign. That thing took out damn near anything (ESPECIALLY Hunters, lol). And I agree that finding and exploiting cheats in a game is not the same as being good at it. Still, I'd like to try Halo 2 to see how far Halo 3 has really come. Maybe it'll be different for me since I never played before.

And on the subject of Halo 3's maps, I actually liked Isolation and Narrows. It's Foundary, the pit, and Construct ("camper haven" is the more appropriate title) that I hate.

Whoa. The Pit is pure genius in my opinion. I love that map. I'd say it's my 3rd favorite with Chillout being number 1 and Lockout being my number 2.

 

[Havok]

Honestly, I'd say that the pistol was overpowered even in the campaign. That thing took out damn near anything (ESPECIALLY Hunters, lol). And I agree that finding and exploiting cheats in a game is not the same as being good at it. Still, I'd like to try Halo 2 to see how far Halo 3 has really come. Maybe it'll be different for me since I never played before.

And on the subject of Halo 3's maps, I actually liked Isolation and Narrows. It's Foundary, the pit, and Construct ("camper haven" is the more appropriate title) that I hate.

I find that rather strange, but it may simply be a difference in how players at that level play. On Narrows, if you get trapped in your base and there are competent people camping in the middle with a sniper and Battle Rifles, its basically over for you. This may simply be a difference of opinion, however, because I love The Pit and Construct

 

[Tashi]

I'm a big co-op whore so for me Halo 3 is the campaign I enjoyed the most. And since everyone is doing the <, > ish...

4 Players > 2 Players

 

[IceMarker]

Since I've never owned and Xbox or Xbox360, I've had to do all my Halo gaming on PC, to which I've had some enjoyable experiences, especially on Halo 1. Halo 2 I completed for the first time a couple weeks ago, and while not as great as the first, was still a great game.

THIS ONLY WANTS ME TO PLAY HALO 3 ON THE PC. It would look so sexy at 1080p on my GTX 260. PC is the only way I can play Halo 3, and only then if they port it. Come on Windows 7 marketing push, you can do it! (But make it Vista compatible!)

 

[Veelk]

Whoa. The Pit is pure genius in my opinion. I love that map. I'd say it's my 3rd favorite with Chillout being number 1 and Lockout being my number 2.

I find that rather strange, but it may simply be a difference in how players at that level play. On Narrows, if you get trapped in your base and there are competent people camping in the middle with a sniper and Battle Rifles, its basically over for you. This may simply be a difference of opinion, however, because I love The Pit and Construct

I could say the same thing. Campers camp in the room with the energy sword in the pit and people just wait to shoot anyone who tries the grav lifts in Construct. I like Narrows because it requires teamwork, I guess.

All opinion, obviously, but maybe that's why the maps are considered worse in Halo 3, there are many more split opinions on the matter, even if there is always someone who likes the maps you don't. Maybe because they accommodate more varied playstyles (Havok said that there were much more numerous small maps in Halo 2)?

 

[big_z]

excluding multiplayer

3 is the best overall
2 has the best story
1 is pure trash

 

[Asmodai]

1 is the best overall
1 has the best story
2 and 3 are pure trash

Fixed.

 

[Plywood]

excluding multiplayer

3 is the best overall
2 has the best story
1 is pure trash

For me on story:
1 is good
2 is the best
3 is CORTANA YOU DAMN BUZZ KILL STOP APPEARING IN FRONT OF ME AN MAKING ME WALK SLOW, ARGH. (I pretty much don't touch campaign if at all ever, because of this.) Besides that H3's story just didn't do it for me. :/

 

[Truant]

1 was amazing at the time. The sense of wonder, exploration, excitement disappeared completely in the sequels. With that said, Halo 3 was a lot more similar to 1 than 2.

I played Halo 2 right after I played Half-Life 2. It was like listening to Chopin, and then suddenly putting on Linkin Park.

 

[pumpkinpunker]

2>3>1

The maps in Halo 2 are timeless like the Counterstrike 1.6 maps and I wish Bungie would just reskin them for Halo Reach.

 

[Kevtones]

Halo CE is so much better in terms of pacing (helps that it felt fresh too), that it sometimes feels like Bungie got lucky. Either that or they forgot how to make interesting levels or things resembling fun when it doesn't contain 8+ human players. Sure, 2 and 3 have had fun moments here and there (2 > 3) but the memorable moments in those campaigns were few and far between. It's like there is some sort of checklist they need to mark off in order to appease their own level design standards instead of relying on the one important necessity: SHITS GOTTA BE FUN.

2>3>1

The maps in Halo 2 are timeless like the Counterstrike 1.6 maps and I wish Bungie would just reskin them for Halo Reach.

In terms of multiplayer I'm 100% with you. I miss all of them that aren't in 3

 

[Sleeker]

My best memories are with halo 3.

 

[EazyB]

Lists!
Story: 1>2>3
Campaign levels: 3>1>2
Small Team MP: 2>1=3
Big Team MP: 3>2>1

Overall:
New IP Game >1>3>2

 

[Feindflug]

I'm a big fan of the series and I love all 3 games, although I was never interested in MP - Halo was always about the campaign, co-op and awesome enemy AI for me - I find it funny that Halo: CE has better enemy AI than 98% of the FPS games today...Infinity Ward can you hear me?

BTW for me it's something like this:

Halo: CE = Halo 3 > Halo 2.

Can't fuckin' wait for ODST.

 

[ZealousD]

I haven't played Halo 3's campaign yet, but I much prefer Halo 2's campaign over Halo 1's.

The level design in Halo 1 is utter shit. Corridors and rooms are copy-pasted dozens of times per level. Even a whole level is copy and pasted. Halo 2 did a much better job in terms of pacing and level design and in switching up the action for you. It starts to falter a bit near the end when you're fighting in the covenant city, but otherwise I think Halo 2 had a much better campaign.

 

[Randy Lanzarote]

As I mentioned before, you need to play Halo 3 multiple times to truly appreciate it, because when I first played, I didn't like it very much at all. I played on Normal and felt that it was an overall average experience. However, on some blue moon, I got the urge to play through again, and this time I tried playing Heroic and I was amazed what a difference it made. Not only was it challenging, but I really saw how much flexibility I had with the combat.

Completely agree.

I started playing Halo 3 on heroic mode, but found it pretty tough going (I'm wasn't that proficient on FPS with a controller at the time) so switched back to normal. About 7 hours later I was done and was feeling pretty let down by the whole experience.

After putting in many hours into the MP side of things I decided to go back and put my mad controller skillz to the test on Heroic and it made such a difference to the game. The AI is much more challenging, they will duck in and out of cover, use grenades wisely, try to flank you etc etc.... You also start to realise that there are multiple ways to approach certain situations, little ways to flank the enemy and catch them by surprise. You also have to make full use of the space offered to you on the larger, vehicle orientated levels, rather than just bulldozing your way through the enemy lines. I got so much more out of the game and the SP side went from being a 6.5/10 to a 9. Some truly epic moments that are some of the best I've had in an FPS game.

My only gripe.... those bastard wall hanging fuckers who extinguish sticky grenades when they morph. Whoever left that in should be shot in the face with a shotgun full of rock salt.

 

[Kritz]

I play through Halo 1 once every year. It still holds up for me. The shooting mechanics are fantastic, the pacing is also really good and I still listen to the soundtrack today.

I beat Halo 2 the day I got it, went to replay it the next day, was bored by the time I finished the earth levels. To this day I still never play further than the earth levels. I didn't care for the new weapons, I didn't care for the loss of the two weapons from the previous game and I found the music a little underwhelming.

Halo 3, once again, was beaten the day I got it. I should note that I get bored of games very quickly, and I rarely beat games within the first week I buy them, let alone the first day. While I loved the visual style, music and basic gunplay, I wasn't too thrilled fighting Brutes instead of Elites (even though Bungie seemed to try to make them as much like Elites anyway). I think, eventually, I just got tired of the montage of world locations. Here's the grass level, here's the inside an army base level, here's the level on a Halo, here's the flood level, here's the city level, here's the snowy level. It kept jumping from location to location, which I really didn't like.

I felt Halo was a much more natural experience. You were always on the same planet ring (to the point where you basically went through each level twice), and I felt much more connection with the game world because of it. It was, for a lack of a better term, more coherent.

Halo basically got me back into Videogames. But I don't feel like I really want to play the series any more. My loss, I guess.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Halo 3 from a storytelling (Telling, I ain't gonna pretend the actual story of the series is worth a damn) perspective is so fuckin inferior to Halo 2. It basically took everything cool about Halo 2 and shat on it in order to let you play as MC while he ran around doing the most menial fucking missions you can think of. I love the campaign for all sorts of reasons, but more than once I found myself wondering why this God in Power Armor was being tasked with the military's grunt work. Or more accurately, why I had to accompany him for it. Those first four levels or so at the start are just so fucking underwhelming. You basically spend it trudging through a forest, rescuing some marines from their own base, and driving more marines down a road.

Toss in what they did to Arbiter and Gravemind and the Elites... Well, Halo 2 was much more enjoyable.

The level design in Halo 1 is utter shit. Corridors and rooms are copy-pasted dozens of times per level.

I seriously never beat the Guilty Spark level because of how much the fucking rooms blended together and I kept getting lost.

 

[Kujo]

2>3>1

Brutes suck, but repetitive level design is worse. CTF BTB on Headlong is some of the greatest shit ever.

 

[Booshka]

I adore Halo CE;I was severely disappointed with Halo 2, but I still played it online because the User Interface and online experience was top notch, but never really liked the gameplay. I applaud Bungie for what they did for Xbox Live with Halo 2, but the gameplay just wasn't as smooth or as fun as Halo 1, and the campaign was pretty boring and felt thrown together.

When Halo 3 came out I played four-play co-op on XBL with friends on Legendary, we breezed through it picking up skulls along the way, it just wasn't fun, I didn't care about the game. Halo 3 still feels wrong to me, it feels sloppy and disconnected, the gun mechanics, the player movement, the melee and grenades all just feels a little off.

I tried playing a little campaign recently and was bored in like 10 mins, I just don't like fighting brutes, it's not very fun. Then I play matchmaking and the community is awful, most of the gametypes and maps are poorly designed, running around spraying AR's and picking up way too many silly weapons that aren't very worthwhile or fun to use. So I go into the MLG playlist because I can somewhat enjoy that gametype (BR starts, competitive 4v4, better map selection), but that playlist is littered with new accounts, quitters, boosters(ppl who intentionally lose exp to then rank up faster later) and worst of all network manipulators (DDoS attacks, stand-by,etc) all for the coveted MLG 50. Rank has destroyed that playlist and many others, every game I go into at least two people are on new accounts, trying to rank up to sell their account or whatever the reason.

Halo 3's game mechanics, game feel, and general design all disappoint me more than Halo 2 did. Halo 2 and 3 have revolutionized console online interface, it's great, but the games that support them aren't, and the community is mostly terrible. It's upsetting as a huge Halo fan to be let down twice, so I am pretty much done with Halo as a Franchise. I'll go back to Halo CE and play campaign and co-op and then every so often have amazing LAN's with friends.

Luckily, the Lead Designer of Halo CE, John Howard, along with the awesome guys at FASA went on to make another amazing shooter, Shadowrun. It has the great smooth, and fluid feel that Halo CE has, the weapons are satisfying and skill-based, and the game design is fantastic, great maps, a truly top-notch multiplayer shooter experience. So, at least I have that.

I just wish Halo could have blown me away with each new entry into the franchise, but it didn't happen. Fortunately, John Howard knows what he's doing with shooters on a console, I'll stick with his games.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

my personal favourite is three; it was just an all round fun game.


Halo has been one of those series that I never bother analyzing too much, I just play and enjoy them while they last, and then put them on the shelf. I do a similar thing with GOW.

 

[MNC]

This thread just got me to replay Halo 1/mapping for Halo Custom Edition. Thanks alot

 

[Truant]

1 takes place in one environment, yet it has several different areas. The other games rely too much on visiting all sorts of crazy places.

 

[truly101]

I haven't finished Halo 2 yet, but I've liked it better than Halo 1. Keep in mind that I played both well after the dust settled of fan disappointment so I was already aware of a lot of the fan complaints. I thought the levels and areas were more varied in 2 than 1, the AI seemed to be better, I like the arbiter levels, Audrey II doesn't bother me. The outdoor areas of Halo 1 were good, but the inside areas tended to repeat a lot. I don't see what the uproar of Halo 2 is. I've only played the first level of 3. I didn't want to get too far without finishing 2 first.

 

[Kydd BlaZe]

Combat Evolved's campaign is, without a doubt, the best in the series. Although, Halo 3 is fun as fuck in 4 player co-op.