ChaosZeus999

6. Halo 3: ODST

ODST was a low point of the series. As fans, we have come to know and love a certain kind of Halo, one that follows the MasterChief and Cortana, and has a focus on the Halo rings, the flood outbreak, the war with the Covenant, and numerous other things. All this was stripped away from us with ODST, when we found ourselves as normal humans, who were given no character development, fighting the Covenant on the surface, with no space travel, big wide battles, or any of the other things we came to know and love in Halo games.

5. Halo Reach

Somewhat mirroring the above statement, Reach removed some of the classic Halo elements. We were presented with six individuals who quickly died, and did we care? Not really. They were bland and uninteresting characters not worthy of our time. Whilst the gameplay was fun, and we loved the opportunity to fight on Reach, this Halo game lacked the brilliant storytelling that others provided in bucket loads.

4. Halo 4

This game was great when it came out, though when all the fuss had died down, it allowed us to take a step back and really look at the game. There was something missing from it. Something that just can't be explained. Could it be the way the new captains acted? Could it be the lack of grunt speech? Whatever it was, the transition between Bungie and 343 was noticeable. The story in this game progressed nicely, but we just found ourselves hating everyone on the Infinity, due to a style of script writing that Halo isn't accustomed for. In the earlier games, there was complete understanding among the higher ups, allowing for efficient victories, and the way Lasky addresses the MasterChief, in that off hand manner, just makes us hate him even though we shouldn't. And, I can't believe these words are being said, I kind of missed the flood...

3. Halo CE

We are out of the deep end and are now getting in to the best of the best. The next three games are brilliant, though there are just small things setting them apart. The story of CE was brilliantly told, introducing this bold, new world that had never been seen before. There was the danger for over complication, but Bungie managed to avoid that through some top-line script writing. This game is in third merely because of those long missions that could have been cut down, namely running through exactly the same corridor time and time again in The Library and Attack on the Control Room.

2. Halo 2

Continuing the MasterChief's story is Halo 2. This game topped the story telling and gameplay from Halo CE, although everyone did miss the assault rifle. Halo 2 brought something new into the mix. The Arbiter. Most notably at the beginning of the campaign, when there were the cut scenes comparing the MasterChief's success to the Arbiter's failures, this new angle of approaching fighting was brilliant. Being in the Covenant, and experiencing the hierarchy's betrayal, added new feeling to the campaign. It would have been nice to end on a MasterChief mission though. Fans were surely expecting more when the Arbiter killed Tartarus, another short fight with the Cheif, maybe...

1. Halo 3

Halo 3 is quite a controversial choice, but this game, whilst being over-hyped pre-release, has been under-hyped post-release. This campaign saw some of the best missions of all time, notably the Ark and the Covenant, and moments like taking on the two Scarabs, and completing that Warthog obstacle course with that iconic music running at the end of the game, were able to make up for that mission (Cortana). This game brought out the best of Bungie, and saw the world that they had developed evolve even further. For that, I congratulate them.