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Rank the Halo Campaigns

Z..

Z..

Member
Halo fan, but never really been into the multiplayer side of things.

I'm not the hugest Halo fan (have never played ODST or 4), but I do enjoy it, even if I've become somewhat disillusioned with the IP, lately.

I have a weird ranking for the campaigns which seems to be the opposite of what most people think, lol, but here goes my (losing) ballot, out of the ones I played (1/2/3/Reach)

#1 - Halo 2. Yeah, that's right... the most hated Halo campaign is my favourite! Unlike everyone else, I LOVED the arbiter missions (as well as the character itself) and I was so into the game that it's what really sold me into the Halo games, as I had somewhat disliked the first one. Space vaccum battles, the new rifle, the fucking scarab, and then the arbiters levels, which were so much more intimate and spellbinding! Along with the best soundtrack in the entire series, to boot? I was completely sold!

I think people hate it for being less frantic, but I love that about it.

Yeah, it was short but it was sweet and though it ended in a cliffhanger, I liked it a lot!


#2 - Halo: Reach. Second best but it's almost tied with #3! NO FUCKING FLOOD! I hate those fucking fart bags AND their levels. Bleargh!
Also, the game had fucking heart, and that finale is just completely unforgettable! It's a shame it didn't deviate from the formula a bit more...


#3 - Halo 3. Not much to say about this one. It was a great ride, but the story was all over the place, lol. Doesn't really matter, though, as the game itself still delivered!

#4 - Halo: Combat Evolved. It introduced everything, but that means it's also responsible for Halo's overall ghastly mission structure and level design, which are the single worst thing about the games! Plus the levels were all the same! And The Library is a fucking sin against mankind! The game was definitely good and it made me instantly fall in love with it's art direction and overall mood (the soundtrack was such a pleasant surprise), but it just never clicked.



So, how would Gaf rank them? Including ODST and 4, too (and I'd like your opinion on how essential they are, btw)!!
 
L

Lingitiz

Member
Halo 3: I really enjoyed 4 player coop, the big open arenas, and campaign theater mode. Story was a bit of a mess towards the end, but I had a lot of great moments with friends messing with the open vehicle levels.

Halo CE: Best level design of the mainline games, although the repeat missions towards the end really hurt. Story and atmosphere wise it was easily the best.

Halo 2: Despite the shitty cliffhanger, I liked playing as the Arbiter and getting a different perspective of the Covenant. Missions were a little too linear, but there were still a couple of great moments. It probably had the best soundtrack of the mainline games.

Halo Reach: Fun missions, but a little too rote and by the book. Story was really rushed although the ending was great.

Halo ODST: Amazing hub world atmosphere, but dull mainline missions that didn't do much for me. Being full price and only 4 hours long also sucked.

Halo 4: Not a bad game in any way, but terribly disappointing and wasted a potentially interesting premise. Like Reach it's very by the book and doesn't do anything new or unique.

MP: 2>3>CE>Reach>4
 
W

WickedLaharl

Member
Halo 4 - It took another studio but a halo game finally got some decent characterization (also has the best MP).
Reach
Halo 2
Halo 3
ODST
Halo
 
T

Timeless

Member
1. Halo Wars
2. Halo 3: ODST
3. Halo Reach

Barely played Halo 1

Didn't play Halo 2, 3, 4.

"Holy hell, they have locusts!" - Sgt. Forge

(I actually do love the HW campaign. Much more interesting than what I played of Starcraft / Starcraft 2.)
 
G

Green Mamba

Member
CE>4>2>3>Reach

I understand my views on this are pretty unorthodox though.

Reach's campaign I consider so bad that it's the only one I haven't played through more than once (all of the others at least three times, many more for some of them).
 
T

Tenumi

Banned
Personally mine would be, from best to worst:

ODST
CE
Reach
3
2
4

I think ODST's fresh, human characters really helped it, as it had to introduce and develop characters in that one game, and it did it well enough.
 
B

Big_Al

Unconfirmed Member
Halo 1 is the best campaign Bungie ever did, they struck gold with it and after that I don't think any of their campaigns were ever that great tbh. I just don't like any of the sequels single player as much as Halo 1.

If I had to rank though it would be:

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

Aksala

Banned
Halo 2

Halo CE

Halo 3

Halo Reach and Halo 4 both shit-tier.

Halo 2 was great for the reasons OP stated.

Halo CE was still very good but it's second place because Halo 2's arbiter missions put it over the top.

Halo 3's campaign was average but it was better than Reach and 4.

That's about it.

People who hated Halo 2 probably remember the last or second to last Arbiter mission which was pretty bad. But every other Arbiter mission was top notch and most or all of MC's missions were enjoyable. It's a good game with a much more balanced story.
 
H

hurzelein

Member
1. Halo 1
2. Halo 2
3. Odst and Reach
4. Halo 4
5. Halo 3

I just don't get why people love 3 so much. I replayed it several times but still don't get it. It just doesn't have this feeling that I could play it 20 times and still wouldn't be bored like the others do. What is so great about 3s campaign?
 
Shrennin

Shrennin

Didn't get the memo regarding the 14th Amendment
Halo CE
Halo: Reach
Halo 3: ODST
Halo 3
Halo 4
Halo 2

My reasons for Halo 2 being the worst pretty much has to do with the fact that I feel that game is where the Halo universe takes a wrong turn after the amazing world building of the original and its feeling of mysteriousness. Halo 2 faulted in explaining the Covenant, letting the player play as one to understand them, and overall just taking away any mystery the universe had. Also, that horrible ending. That also pretty much explains the rest of my list as well with the exception of Halo 4 - that game didn't explain enough, instead relying on outside sources to completely understand it.
 
statham

statham

Member
1. Halo 1
2. Halo 3
3. Halo Reach
4. Halo 2
5. Halo 4
6. Halo ODST

Ive enjoyed them all except ODST, it was good not like what I wanted. And the only Halo I didn't complete.
 
R

RoKKeR

Member
3
ODST
CE
Reach
2
4

Man, very excited for whatever Halo game is coming this year.

Edit: Definitely forgot about 4. Guess I know where to put that one.
 
V

ViewtifulJC

Banned
Oops, you didn't ask people to explain why, now you're gonna get a bunch of lists without explanations before the lock!

live and learn, OP. Live and learn

But to actually contribute...

For my money, Halo 3 has the pound for pound best encounter design in the series, the one that really makes that "30 seconds of fun" sparkle, and just seems infinitely replayable. Cortana is utter horseshit of course, but the stretch of levels before that is pretty fantastic, and The Covenant in particular is like all the good things about Halo campaign design rolled into one.
 
Krappadizzle

Krappadizzle

Member
1.Halo: CE
2.Reach
3.Halo 3
4.Halo 4
5.Halo 2
6.ODST.

Halo 2's ending was just so abrupt. I remember my buddy and I thinking, that's it? It just ended. It looked great though, and it ushered in Xbox Live for my buddies and I, which was awesome. I can say though, across all of them the OST's are fantastic regardless of title.
 
The Elite

The Elite

BOSS
Halo 3 - Loved the co-op and felt this game had the best sandbox design campaign out of all of them. Also has my favourite multiplayer.

Halo CE - What else can I say, this set the template. The mystery surrounding the Reclaimer and the Forerunners had me intrigued enough to buy the books soon after. Also, that Flood introduction is one of my favourite gaming moments, ever.

Halo: Reach - Really enjoyed the story of this one and how it expanded on the lore of Reach.

Halo: ODST - I know many people say this is their favourite campaign. I thought it was a great departure from the Halo formula but didn't quite deliver the memorable encounters I expect out of Halo.

Halo 4: Was so glad to be back in the fight that I instantly loved this game. The more I look back on it however, the more I doubt I will ever play it again. The Promethean encounters were dull and many of the encounters felt to ridged in their execution.

Halo 2: Good game but nothing memorable. My favourite part of this experience was the introduction of online multiplayer. I'll still grab that Anniversary edition though.
 
D

Dictator93

Member
I like halo 1 and reach.-.. they actually feel like war instead of strange colorful space jesus stuff.

The others are OK but harder to rate among eachother.
 
O

Ocaso

Member
Agree about Halo 2. The way it ends probably left a sour taste in many people's mouths but I thought it was epic and awesome. I too loved the Arbiter (gee, an actual character with backstory and motivations. Of course gamers would prefer the bland faceless marine), and was sad to see him get yanked for 3.
 
DJ_Lae

DJ_Lae

Member
I liked Reach's the best, I think, followed by 3 and ODST.

CE is somewhere in the middle, but I would have rated it higher a few years back - I replayed it through Anniversary recently and man has it not aged well. The backtracking is absolute shit, though the library is nowhere near as bad as I remembered because the shotgun is so much fun.

4 would probably come after that, with 2 far in the back because it's so unmemorable I remember basically nothing about it.

Didn't play enough Halo Wars to rank it.
 
Z..

Z..

Member
Jesus, the orders are all over the place, there's barely any consensus, ahahah. :D Lovin' it!
 
A

Anustart

Member
I can only chime in on Halo 3 as that's the only one I've played, but compared to other fps games i've played it ranks pretty damn low.

There was a very few amount of stages, and what they did present wasn't all that interesting to me. I guess I did play some Halo 1 or 2 co-op with a buddy and did like that. Could have been because it was co-op, but whatever it was, it was way more fun for me.
 
O

Overdoziz

Banned
1. Halo 1
Has the best gunplay and has some of the best levels out of all the Halo games.

2. Halo 3
Has the best encounters out of the series and is the most consistent and polished Halo game. Story is too safe after Halo 2's.

3. Halo ODST
Lack of Battle Rifle reminded me of Halo 1 in a good way. Made gameplay better than 3's because you have to get up close.

4. Halo 2
Gameplay isn't as fun mostly because of the sometimes cheap and unfair enemies. Story and storytelling is miles above any of the other Halo games.

5. Halo Reach
Long range weapons turn this campaign in a snorefest. Story and character are uninteresting. Game is still very polished and has a nice ending.

6. Halo 4
Only about a quarter of the game's story is actually told in the game itself. Covenant AI is dumb, Prometheans are bullet sponges and boring to fight. Level design is linear. Cortana touches Chief's nipple.
 
A

Ashtar

Member
Combat evolved
Must have played through it like 20 times, used to run the last mission on co op for fun
Halo reach
My favorite co op campaign, played through with my cousin one weekend and immediately wanted to run through it again
Halo 3
I really liked this game too, it's pretty much neck and neck with reach, tons of fun and I loved taking down those scarabs
Halo 2
It was my least favorite story, the boss fights weren't that good and the arbiter kind of messed with my chief flow
Halo 4
Poop on a stick the new weapons were whack the mech was basically on rails and I'd much rather fight covenant than Prometheans also I had no clue what was going on story wise.
 
Krappadizzle

Krappadizzle

Member
Z.. said:
Jesus, the orders are all over the place, there's barely any consensus, ahahah. :D Lovin' it!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm surprised to see such diversity in the ranking of the campaigns. Especially since everyone else's list are wrong if they aren't like my list posted above.

I'd really thought there'd be lists more similar than not. That's awesome that different people got such vastly different experiences from each game.
 
E

EBE

Member
to everyone who will rank Halo Reach poorly in their lists: you are the most refined men and women i will ever have the grace to post in the same thread with
 
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