The franchise that defined the Xbox, Halo contains some of the most popular games ever released. The Halo FPS titles are revered for their excellent gamepad control and high-quality online multiplayer. The franchise now contains novels, soda tie-ins, an RTS spin-off, toys, and more.
While I'm awaiting for reviews for Halo: Reach today. I'm going pass the time by asking Halo fan: What are the most memorable moments to you from Halo: CE's, 2's, and 3's campaign?
I have two moments that I fondly remember from Halo: Combat Evolved. One was the storming of the beach, to assault a Covenant Platoon from The Silent Cartographer. There was this massive battle between waves of Covenant and Flood in an open, snowy field. It gave me the choice to take out all of the enemies, or sneak past them to hi-jack a Banshee. From Halo 2, the landing on a Halo ring in Delta Halo was pretty exhilarating. It was a heated fire fight against the Covenant, and alongside with your ODST buddies. My favorite moment from Halo 3, is without the doubt the battle between two Scarabs in a Hornet from The Covenant. In Halo 3 ODST, I liked The Rookie missions the most because of the atmosphere and the feeling of isolation it provided.
I have literally none from Halo 2 or 3 because I only played through them once and never picked them up again. However, I've played the first one to death (and as recently as a few hours ago). I'd say my fondest memory is every time you jumped into a buggy with a gunner and just zipped past enemies while your buddy mowed them down. Every vehicle sequence in that game was memorable.
Other than that, walking into any wide open area for the first time and seeing troops from either side battling was pretty amazing for the time. It's not like it hadn't ever been done in video games before, but it was special. Doesn't quite hold up so well today in light of the larger scale battles in subsequent Halo games, but it's still somehow more fun to me. Maybe it's the level design... even though it's mostly a linear and straight path through corridors.
The beach assault on Silent Cartographer is my most memorable moment too. It was the first time i played Halo and that was the moment i realized i needed an Xbox. Basically every moment of CE has a special place in my heart, and even though i love all the other Halo games, nothing has come even close to the awesome moments i had with CE. I think it's probably because it was all so new and strange at the time, now i'm this jaded excuse of a gamer :P
So many really. I love the Halo games. But the first time you get introduced to the Flood in Halo:CE was pretty shocking and amazing at the time. Many epic moments in the first game: the light bridge, the first Hunter, the whole feeling as you land on the surface of Halo and it appeared to be so open and explorable, and on and on...
Lots from Halo: CE. That first level, when you're outdoors, and the Banshees fly over your head and Cortana tells you to be careful. So awesome. That whole world looked great. The Flood's first appearance was another one. Playing The Library co-op at like 2 in the morning, blazing through with shotguns. And of course The Silent Cartographer.
Also, that last driving level, I believe it was called The Maw. Great stuff.
Halo 1: The Silent Cartographer was definitely a highlight, but my favorite mission was Assault on the Control room. I remember specifically exiting a building out into a snowy landscape and it was just bedlam. Bullets and lasers and plasma flying everywhere. And of course the final part of the game where you're escaping on a Warthog. That will always be one of the most memorable ending sequences to me.
Halo 2: I really didn't like Halo 2 all that much so I don't have many memories of it. I guess my most vivid memory of that game yelling "WHAT THE FUCK!?" when the credits started rolling and then at like twenty minute intervals hearing people in other dorms shouting similar sentiments. Also, I thought playing as the Arbiter was pretty cool, though I know I'm alone in that.
Halo 3: Halo 3 definitely has its moments, but the one that really stands out was in the last level (I think?) when you're on the rebuilt Installation 04 and you're essentially playing a remake of Assault on the Control Room from Halo 1, god I thought that was awesome.
Oh and my most memorable moment? It is from Halo CE. The last mission where you are driving the warthog in the ship with the covenant and flood fight each other and Cortana screaming in your ear that we have to go......NOW!
All the classic moments and levels that everyone likes but some of my favorite stuff is just the crazy shit that happens with physics and AI, oh and driving the Warthog in any game I love that damn thing so much.
Actually from Halo 2 it was probably the grunts birthday party skull and the extra explosive damage skull combined to make some crazy shit happen.
The flood. How could I forget the damn flood. The moment you touch down in that jungle and you see the hazard lights blinking on the crashed Pelican, you know shit's about to get real.
And in one of the last levels, the one where you have to punch Flood Keyes in the face and pull that chip out of his head, you're under constant assault by the Flood, waves and waves of them, neverending.You're surrounded on all sides, you're nearly out of ammo, and you feel like you're about die, when suddenly...*BAM* some elite black-armored Covenant bust through a sealed door drawing the Flood to their position allowing you to escape. That particular moment always stuck with me for some reason.
Halo 1 when you get off the ship cause you crash (I think?) - or you are searching for some friends who crashed, or something like that. And you touch down outside. A nice jazz going on in Halo 1.
The ending of Halo 2 and the beginning of 3. And the mission in CE where you started out being dropped from a pelican, fighting along a beach and someone(Cortana?) says something along the lines of "Someone order a warthog? We deliever" I played that mission so many times that it just stuck. Also the ending of Halo 3 "WAKE ME... WHEN YOU NEED ME" so emotional.
A lot of memories, both as a result of the games' design and as a result of me and my friends just fucking around in the gamespace.
In terms of, like, most memorable levels from the campaigns or bits that I reacted to most strongly, I'd have to say the entirety of Assault on the Control Room was probably the singular defining Halo level for me. It was so diverse, the vistas were huge, and despite that level's length it never really ever got stagnant. That's also the first time you rock the Scorpion, and that's sort of a clairvoyant experience, because even by today's standards the explosions are really nicely rendered.
I might have to come back to this thread with my favorite moments from each entry in the series, but for now, Assault on the Control Room really stands out.
No to sound mean or something, even tho i enjoyed the warhog run on the end of Halo 3 as i was practically drunk. My favorite campaign would be the day i stop playing Halo 3. :D Anything aside that was bad experience all around, so badly i had to get drunk to finish it! lol
Assault on the Control room and Silent Cartographer. also screwing around in original halo at a few LAN parties back in the day. Not much in halo 2 expect some multiplayer fun again. Ending of 3 was fun on Legendary with 3 others.
I played Halo 2 before 1 so it had a much bigger impact on me. Outskirts was my favorite level because of the tight alleys and twangy guitar piece. It had short range, long range, and vehicle battles. The sword and sniper rifle hidden on the rooftops were cool to find as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9TyjOgBlYU&feature=related
Halo 1 - The Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room missions were awesome! Also the very memorable Warthog race at the end.
Halo 2 - I really hate this game. Though hearing Master Chief say "To give the Covenant back their bomb." never gets old. Oh and playing as the Arbiter for the first time surprised the hell outta' me.
Halo 3 - Fighting two Scarabs at once was fun. The Warthog race at the end was awesome. But the amazing ending line in that game. "Wake me, when you need me." was super emotional for me. Also, I so love the idea of Master Chief becoming an Eternal Hero like Link.
Halo 3: ODST - The drop pod sequence at the beginning of that game IS FUCKING AWESOME!!! Also I have a lot of fond moments of the night levels in that game where I was creeping through the city and listening to that jazzy soundtrack. Really cool game.
Halo Wars - Fuck this game too. Though the Spartan vs. Elite cutscene at the end was cool to watch.
@SynisterSpacer: Yeah, the whole first cutscene in ODST is really impressive. It's a neat perspective on that moment, with the Covenant freighter jumping to Slipstream in the city and all that. Awesome.
Halo 1: The Silent Cartographer remains to this day my favorite campaign level in any FPS. I could (and did) play that level hundreds of times without getting bored. I was also pretty fond of the second level, Halo, if only because I liked driving the Warthog off of the cliff located right before the part where Cortana says "this cave is not a natural formation."
Halo 2: I know that the Arbiter levels in the H2 campaign were rather polarizing, but I'm one of the few who really enjoyed the change in perspective. The first Arbiter level (the name is escaping me at the moment) where you go to assassinate the Heretic leader is one of my favorite. Also, the level on Delta Halo (I think it's just called Delta Halo, actually) where you drop in with the ODSTs and then get to drive a Scorpion through the Forerunner ruins was pretty fun, though the boss fight against the Prophet of Regret at the end was a bit annoying.
Halo 3: In all honesty, I didn't enjoy much about the Halo 3 campaign. I liked The Covenant, especially the final sequence with the dual Scarab fight, but other than that I didn't find any of the missions to be memorable or replayable.
Halo Reach: Haven't finished the game yet (I'd estimate that I'm about 75% of the way through) and I don't want to spoil anything for the others reading this thread, but I think by the time I'm finished it will be my second favorite behind Halo 1. I may have a different opinion after I complete it, but so far it has been very good.
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