I'm bored, HaloGAF. Favorite MP map, and Campaign level. All of Halo. Go!
Me:
MP: Sandtrap. For the the hundreds of hours of tears of joy that came out of that map.
Campaign: "The Covenant" - Halo 3. Amazing vehicular combat, great cinematics, awesome story and really "feels like Halo".
This will be fun.
MP: Valhalla. People have brought up good criticisms about this map. Under the right circumstances the hill can be dominating, but the overall fun this map has brought me outclasses any other. There's nothing like going through a mancannon on Valhalla and landing dozens of feet away, safely. I love the atmosphere. I know I've linked to this video many times before, but this
game highlights everything I love about the map.
Campaign: tie between "The Ark" and "The Covenant." Maybe because they're back to back, the best one-two punch of any Halo campaign, but I can't choose between the two. Both blend indoor, infantry encounters and outdoor vehicular mayhem close to perfection. Each excels at implementing their own rising action, climax, and falling action. Both levels have their own crescendo that is memorable and spectacular: the battle outside the Cartographer in The Ark, and the dual Scarab battle before the Citadel in The Covenant. Bungie nailed the pacing in both levels too. You're always feeling like you're moving and doing something important: breaking through the wall to the Cartographer, securing a landing zone for the Forward Unto Dawn, shutting down a Citadel tower, securing a beach for troops and supplies.
Within these two levels are the majority of Halo 3's best cinematics. There are many good ones throughout the levels that offer up what players want in a Halo game – grand mystery, a feeling of exploration – but Bungie did an especially good job of setting you up, and leaving you with closer, for each level. The Ark:
opening and
closing. The Covenant:
opening and
closing.
Of course you can't mention the levels without the music. There's a part of "Farthest Outpost" that compliments perfectly your zipping along the sand dunes of The Ark. One of my favorite Halo moments comes in The Covenant when you're rounding the ice cave and you get your first proper view of the Citadel. One of the marines says over the radio: "Citadel in sight! Brutes are mobilizing everything they've got." *music starts*
Those levels are pure Halo to me, and the very definition of the word "grand."
