by csl316
Halo is the best FPS series there has ever been. Love the world, the combat, the factions. It's the only multiplayer shooter I'm really good at. And it has some of the most memorable and fun campaigns in any shooter series.
I cannot, however, rank the first game. It had such a profound effect on me and the industry that I can't approach it with a scientific lens. The open combat puzzle campaign design still holds up, the multiplayer still feels great, the levels all feel unique, and there's a simplicity to it that really delivers on the "30 seconds of fun" goal. It has its flaws and later games would add and improve a ton of stuff. But there's so much nostalgia and so many wonderful memories tied to that first game. It's a stone cold classic and I'm really looking forward to the remake.
So here's my personal ranking of every Halo that came after! (outside of stuff like Halo Wars, which you should play)
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Halo Infinite is the worst Halo. The campaign has no momentum and no memorable levels. The story wants to pretend that previous cliffhanger never happened after 6 years of anticipation, focused way too much on that pilot guy, and ends with even more cliffhangers that no one really cared about. And the multiplayer spent a year or two feeling unfinished. It plays well, sure, but so does every other game on this list. The problem with Infinite is that it's doesn't really improve on anything. It had 20 years of games to learn from, but wound up with good shooting in a bland open world and... that's kind of it. There's no reason to play it, really. If I want the best campaign levels, I can load up the Master Chief Collection. If I want the best multiplayer, I can load up the Master Chief Collection. If you're into live service, you're probably playing another game with better support. Halo Infinite exists. And that would be fantastic if it was the only Halo. Luckily, there's more out there. (p.s. Doom: Eternal and Tenchu have better grappling hooks, but let's move on)
Halo 2 was a cultural event. The original established Xbox as a brand and established the console FPS as a dominant genre. How do you build off that? Well, first you write The Fall of Reach and get everyone invested in the lore. Then Peter Moore shows off a release date tattoo on his bicep (what a time to be alive). Then you create ilovebees to really get the diehards. Along the way, you show off a demo video that's so grand, so unbelievable, that the expectations get out of control. Turns out games aren't 10 minute vertical slices, after all. While an essential piece to expand the franchise, I just didn't think it was as fun as the original. It's still really fun and takes some big swings. It's still Halo and it rules and you go to a bunch of cool places. But... the campaign dragged on and felt less like the combat sandbox of the original. Online multiplayer on consoles changed everything, sure, but I had more fun fighting my friends and rival neighborhoods in Blood Gulch, not Coagulation. And the gameplay just seemed less polished overall, as they added a ton of mechanics but didn't fine tune them quite yet. So as hyped as I was, the enthusiasm fizzled quickly and never returned. The final game was messy. It added to the gameplay and the story, then added Incubus, Breaking Benjamin, and... Steve Vai? Halo 2 seemed to have an endless budget but the results seemed to spread Bungie too thin. Its expectations sort of feel like the expectations for GTA VI now. I appreciated it more when playing the Anniversary release and it's certainly not a bad game. Some really great times with Halo 2. It's just nowhere near my favorite.
Halo 3: ODST is a gem. People focus on its jazzy vibes and running around a semi-open world at night, but that's not the part that stuck with me. It was Firefight! There was a purity in that mode that let you focus on Halo 3's perfect combat loop. It was fairly bare-bones compared to later expansions on the concept, but I loved Horde mode in Gears 2 and was so excited to see Halo's take on it. It was Halo co-op at its best. Now, the campaign. I'm actually not a fan of the open world stuff since it got in the way of the main levels, which are all super fun and feel unique. One has you relying on the Warthog, one's about tanks, another's about sniping. They're focused combat vignettes that don't have any filler. Like Firefight, those levels zero in on the fun. I don't have too much to say about ODST except that it's a great time and that Halo: Recon was a better name.
Halo 4's awesome. The multiplayer didn't grab me, but the campaign sure did. This was towards the end of the 360 era, where linear campaigns were at their peak before the open world boom of the next console cycle. I'll occasionally go back and play a 4 level because the pacing's so good. Really, load up MCC and play Infinity or Composer to see what I mean. They nailed the ebb and flow of a great Halo level, with varied sections that build to a gripping climax. The music and sound design in this game also stood out to me. Folks were upset that classic themes were left behind, but there's an experimental quality that gives this game its own feel. I liked the subtle changes to the art, too, with a more gritty look that didn't go too hard into the grays and browns of the time. The new faction wasn't as fun to fight as the Covenant, but I liked the new direction of the series overall (even if some of the added lore didn't land). It's an underrated game worth revisiting.
Halo 5 has some of the best gameplay in the entire series. I remember playing the beta and instantly being hooked. The new movement options addressed any complaints about Halo being sluggish, with the on-demand thrust being a favorite that I'll miss forever. The weapons feel great, the enemies are fun to fight, and the game jumping to 60fps made everything feel more crisp. The multiplayer is some of the best in the entire series. Fast-paced, excellent maps, cool modes. Warzone was controversial but it was my favorite online thing to do for years. The whole thing with the summon cards was overblown, since an hour in you had more cards than you'd ever need. There's nothing like it when it comes to PvPvE. These were gigantic battles, and unlike a game like Battlefield, the downtime was minimal. You could fight in the front lines, or explore the fringes and capture a base from the AI squads. And as it went, they got more experimental with silly boss types and overpowered weapons and vehicles. If there's one thing you take away from this list, it's that Warzone needs to return to Halo. So the campaign. The generic complaint I hear is that you fight a boss like 3 times. Whatever, just charge him for a stun and it makes it easy. Outside of that, you're constantly doing something new and exciting. From the battle on a giant elevator, to the war at the Elite homeworld, to running away from those enormous Guardians. Look, typing this out just led to me reinstalling the game. I know you don't play as Master Chief as much as you'd like, but hey, you don't in ODST either. It continues the well-paced level design from 4, leaves on a cliffhanger that grabbed me as much as 2's ending, and left me feeling so good about the franchise. Can't wait to see what happens with Durandal! Uhh, I mean... Cortana! Halo 6 was gonna be the best game of all time. No way that would land at the bottom of a ranked Halo list, no sir. I wish 5 got a proper patch update and Microsoft would acknowledge that it exists.
Halo: Reach is occasionally #1, depending on the day. It's really tied with 3 but you gotta order these things somehow. Reach looked like a disappointment. 3's ending was great, they're probably done with FPS games for now, right? Oh, they're not? Oh, you don't play as Chief? It's a prequel where you know the ending? And it's not even telling the exact story from Fall of Reach? Why bother? I was a fool. Reach may be the peak of Bungie. The campaign, the multiplayer, the story, everything is stellar. I'm reaching for flaws and can't really find any. I guess the locations are less fantastical? Anyway, this is the most emotional Halo campaign, with tragedy and triumph and a palpable sense of dread as things become more and more dire. Whereas most of the other games are sci fi romps, this feels like a true war story. It's also fun as hell, but yeah... it's all a bit hopeless in the back half. The combat design is some of the best in the series, with excellent arenas and a great mix of enemies and weapons. I first beat this co-op and basically ignored all the sadness, so you can certainly treat it like a romp if you skip the cutscenes and ignore the dialogue. I also played a ton of multiplayer. Again, this is peak Bungie. Great levels and incremental gameplay additions to 3. And then Halo: Anniversary came out and they added all those maps. We had it so good. There was a time where I'd be playing this on a daily basis, as they brought in daily/weekly challenges to unlock credits for customization. It wasn't a live service game by any means and I didn't really care about the rewards. They just gave me reasons to play the game and I was happy to do it. And then they remastered it for the MCC at the end of 2019. The world was content.
Halo 3 was "the biggest entertainment launch in history." I went to the midnight launch on a work night, won the store tournament for a gift card, logged in, and my entire friends list was playing at 1am. Halo 3 took the hype of Halo 2 and delivered. It's not only (tied for) the best in the series by me, but it was universally accepted as a damn fine game. The thing about Halo 3 is that it took lessons from the first two and merged them to perfection. Big open sandbox level design. A fully-featured online suite. Unique combat encounters constantly thrown at you. An ambitious story that sticks the landing. Next-gen graphics. The Warthog escape sequence but better. Everything was better. This is how you do it, Infinite. Co-op, solo, online, it was all wonderful. The game had my total attention from that first teaser trailer. The beta convinced me that they learned some big lessons from Halo 2's gameplay expansion. The campaign was full of engaging battles that play out differently every time. They figured out the weapon balance, polished the enemy design, nailed the difficulty, and tightened up the pacing on the campaign. I still load it up to play a level or two, but I wind up doing way more. This game just never gets old, man. Since I wasn't a huge fan of Halo 2, it was nice to have an online shooter that I absolutely loved. One of the first for me, really. I was bouncing around the 45 to 50 ranking and took every match seriously. These maps are burned into my brain and I played it all the way until Reach came out. While that game had the more emotional campaign and improved on some of the stuff in 3, this is the finale of a trilogy that left me satisfied in every way. Loved the ending, and I was happy to end the series there and play this one forever. But then I got the legendary ending, and those last 10 seconds almost messed up that satisfaction because now I needed to know what came next! I also have the Legendary Edition helmet, still displayed when you walk through my door. Anyway, Halo 3 is one of the best games ever made. Is it better than Combat Evolved? Who cares, ranking stuff is stupid, who would do that?
