Before I take my daily trip into the cesspool known as Xbox Live, I like going back to play the campaigns of the Halo games every once in a while. Now that Bungie's magnum opus has come to a halt (Until Microsoft's 343 begins the milking), I thought it would be fitting to countdown my top 5 favorite campaign in the series. My list will be quite controversial to many, but this is purely an opinion piece and you can feel free to disagree. So, here are my top 5 favorite campaigns in the Halo series. 
 

5. Halo 2:

Watching the E3 2003 game demo was a lot more enjoyable than playing the actual campaign. It was an incredibly underwhelming campaign compared to the original. It never had a single memorable set-piece, the mission design was uninventive, lacked open levels, the A.I. was dumb downed and the pacing was inconsistent. The story had an interesting premise by having to play as an Elite and showing the Covenant’s side of the conflict, but the transition from Master Chief’s tale to the Arbiter’s was jarring and convoluted. Then there’s the infamous cliff-hanger “ending” that we all know and hate. The campaign isn’t bad; it’s just mediocre. 

4. Halo: Reach:

This is a controversial pick, as fans consider it to be one of the best, except for me. The story tried to be emotional, but it was less heartfelt and more half-hearted. The characters were undeveloped and dull for a character driven story. Bungie didn’t expand some of the new elements it brought to the series, such as the jetpack plat-forming, zero-g gravity segments, space combat, and on-rails shooting segments. The planet wasn’t as atmospheric or immersive as Bungie claimed. It also lacked memorable set-pieces or big battles that Bungie were hyping up; where were the Scarab battles? While the enemy A.I. was excellent, the friendlies are dumber than they were in Halo 2 & 3. But I have to admit, the Elites were a bit too hyperactive and occasionally cheap on higher difficulty levels.  

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the campaign. The level design was rock solid, it was well paced, and there were good variations in the mission design. It’s just that the campaign had so much potential that Bungie didn’t tap. I will say that the ending was phenomenal; easily the best part of the entire campaign.

3. Halo 3:

This is controversial choice, as fans would consider it as one of the weakest. I’d say it was one of the strongest. It brought back the compelling mission structure, big battles, great enemy A.I. and open environments I loved from Halo: CE. The Scarab battles were one of the game’s biggest highlights; they made Half-Life 2’s Striders pale in comparison. The four-player co-op component was awesome too. The only complaints I had were its short length, the mission Cortana, friendly A.I. and its storytelling. The storytelling was very lackluster; it had so much potential to be more than a macho war story. Well, at least the ending was good. 

2. Halo 3: ODST:

Once again, along with Halo 3, it’s considered to have one of the weakest campaigns in the series. I on the other hand, find it to be much underappreciated. The contrast between moody night-time and high-octane day-time levels was brilliantly executed. The campaign is expertly paced and had the level design is superbly. The film-noir approach to the story worked very well too, and the characters were most humane in the series. It’s also, by far, the most tactical game in the series. The night-time levels were a fresh change of pace to the chaotic action of the series, focusing on exploration and atmosphere. It’s short, but sweet. I liked it, so bite me. 

1. Halo: Combat Evolved:

Well, this was expected. Even today, many fans consider CE to contain the best campaign. Why not? It had everything; inventive mission design, epic set-pieces, tight pacing, compelling storyline, great level design (The corridors aren’t as repetitive as people make them out to be), smart A.I., and a great ending. Sure, The Library was painful, but a lot of great games had one bad level. Play Half-Life's Xen and Ocarina of Time's Water Temple if you don't believe me. Every other mission was superbly designed, and brimmed with memorable moments. I will never forget storming an assault on the covenant infested beach on The Silent Cartographer. This was the game that started-off the series with a bang. Till this day, I consider it to have one of the best single-player experiences in the genre. 

While a lot of good game get a lot of flak (Like the Halo and Call of Duty franchise. Yup, I said. I have to admit that MW2 and Halo Wars weren't very good though.). There are a lot of good movies that received a lot of hate, usually for no legitimate reason. 
 
Here are examples. 
 

• No Country for Old Men

• Lost in Translation

• The Hurtlocker

• Titanic:

• Crash

• There Will Be Blood: 

I'm just going to list a bunch a games and game franchises that I firmly believe get a lot of unneeded hatred by gamers, mainly from the hardcore audience.

• Call of Duty franchise (Probably with the exception of Modern Warfare 2)

• Grand Theft Auto IV

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
  

• Halo franchise

• Casual gaming in general:

• Silent Hill 4: The Room

• Final Fantasy VII