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[inoperativ]

I thought Halo 2 was considered the best Halo ever?

For multiplayer, sure (although I think 5 will take over quite quickly). The campaign is much weaker than 1 and 3 and I'd only put it slightly above 4. Some people really loved it though, but that's just the Halo community for you -- there's never really been much of a consensus on the relative merits of the different games except for everyone thinking Halo 4 is the weakest. I remember 2 being more polarising than 5 when it came out.

 

[DarthWalden]

I thought Halo 2 was considered the best Halo ever?

Go into any halo comparison thread.. There is no consensus here as everyone has wildly different opinions on that. Even 4 for all the shit it gets has some people that put it near the top

Without question halo 3 is my favorite.

 

[Lion Heart]

I've already complained a ton about the campaign, it's just so boring. Worst fps campaign since Resistance 2.

Mp has a good foundation but I need proper CTF, like OG blood glutch 4v4 , but vehicles aren't as good as CE either so that would hinder it.

Btb is cool and all and I look forward to the new maps but medium sized ones are important too. Remember Zanzibar? Played the shit out of that. There doesn't feel like there are any legendary maps like in past halo MP, instead they are all pretty good.

 

[Leyasu]

Good question.

For anyone who thinks this is one of the best halo campaigns:
How old are ya'll?
How many halos have you played?
When did you last play them?

I would be surprised if anyone answers "25+ years old, all, within the last 3 years"

39, played em all many times, and h5 is my second favorite campaign..

GOAT multiplayer though.

 

[Poodlestrike]

I've already complained a ton about the campaign, it's just so boring. Worst fps campaign since Resistance 2.

Mp has a good foundation but I need proper CTF, like OG blood glutch 4v4 , but vehicles aren't as good as CE either so that would hinder it.

Btb is cool and all and I look forward to the new maps but medium sized ones are important too. Remember Zanzibar? Played the shit out of that. There doesn't feel like there are any legendary maps like in past halo MP, instead they are all pretty good.

Wat

 

[Lion Heart]

Wat

Lan bro.

 

[wumster3000]

I thought the campaign was really freaking good. I enjoyed every minute of it. Probably my second favorite after ODST. Warden battles were good a well. I do think they should have limit the amount of times you encounter him.

 

[Black Mantis]

Good question.

For anyone who thinks this is one of the best halo campaigns:
How old are ya'll?
How many halos have you played?
When did you last play them?

I would be surprised if anyone answers "25+ years old, all, within the last 3 years"

36
All of them, at least 3 times.
Within the past year, bar Reach, due to MCC.

Halo 3 is still the best for me, would place 5 2nd. Just feels great and I liked the direction the story is going.

 

[jet1911]

Man. I just don't get it at all. You don't feel like the great gameplay was let down by the slapdash encounter/level design?

The level design was amazing, flanking routes everywhere, lots of places to explore. I really liked how most of the levels looked too. The Elite homeworld was an amazing setting ang Genesis looked so alien, loved it.

 

[RSB]

343's bad Halo campaign is Halo 4's. Terrible enemies, awful linear design, etc. Halo 5 fixes all of Halo 4's major problems and then some. It's a wonderful campaign, much much much better than I expected.

Agreed. I still prefer Halo CE and Halo 3, but it is a great campaign. I'd put it around the same level as Reach and ODST, and definitely above 4 and 2.

My only big problem with the campaign is the lack of big vehicle encounters (sadly, the last Halo that delivered on that front was released 8 years ago) The small/medium encounters are great (for the most part) The new movement mechanics, coupled with the more intrincate level design, create some really fun battles.

That said, please 343, stop with the teleporting enemies, or at least make the cooldown for their teleporting way longer.

PS: Oh, and I want Campaign Scoring and Campaign Theatre back for Halo 6.

 

[DarthWalden]

I'd rank halo 5 right after halo 3 as well

 

[Y2Kev]

The enemy design didn't really help. Covenant are still more or less their uninteresting Halo 4 variants, and while the prometheans have significantly less in the way of actively annoying behaviors,

I agree with the second part at least! The Prometheans are flat out awful, but at least the Watchers weren't super annoying this time.

I feel like I've lost interest in the plot of Halo once they started bringing in all the EU stuff.

 

[Princess Carl]

I agree with the second part at least! The Prometheans are flat out awful, but at least the Watchers weren't super annoying this time.

I loathe fighting the prometheans, it always felt like a chore to kill them.

 

[Feel_The_Pain]

I would love it if the halo 5 mechanics/movement was incorporated into the MCC.
That'll be awesome. (And the servers)

 

[ryan299]

Halo 5 campaign is significantly better than 4. 4 is by far the worst in the series, while 5 has the worst story.

 

[Doodis]

I loathe fighting the prometheans, it always felt like a chore to kill them.

I just realized this, but I think it's just not satisfying killing enemies in Halo like it is in Destiny, which I've been playing non-stop since it released. You have clear animations/sound effects/health bar signifiers when you make a kill in Destiny. None of those things exist in Halo. It didn't bother me before Destiny, but after experiencing it there, it felt like something was missing in Halo.

 

[Samurai G0SU]

Came in here hoping to see some type of intervention..

See him questioning people's age.... Sigh -_-

Anyway:

Campaign was hype son! HYYYYPPPEEE!!!
All the reliability!? 8 different huds?! BLUE TEAM IN THE STORY!!!? Multiple ways to approach enemies? Verticality that we NEVER seen in ANY HALO? Spartan abilities that really make you a bad ass, and not just another camera shooting a gun. You actually can do what the armor is intended for. Come on now. lol AMAZING VEHICLE COMBAT!? one word - Mantis. Also about some of the campaign, HOW can an AI choose loyalty!? So many GOOD questions and not one that would make me think " THATS STUDPID" .. although I do think Humanity is doomed. And the Halo installation still intact!? How? Where? Who is on it? Exuberant?? Where is she?

IS BlackBox our savior? Most likely not since he is about to expire and will side with Cortana. Maybe Fero?

 

[Certinty]

Hated both 4 and 5's campaign. Shame becuase I quite enjoyed the campaigns of the first 3 games.

I'm really done with this franchise now if I'm honest unless another dev takes over.

 

[Trup1aya]

I'll never understand the hate halo 5 campaign gets...

The story was campy, but outside of Halo:CE none of the narratives have been all that great...

The level design, while not as open as some of halo's classic levels, was mostly great. the Sanghelios chapters were some of the best encounters in franchise history...

Unlike Halo 1 2 and 3, there were no horrible levels in this game.

The only thing missing was a vehicle chase level.

All things considered I'd say this campaign comes just behind halo CE, and just beyond Halo 3. The latter is held back by Bungie's decision to ruin most of the guns.

Edit: I feel bad for bumping this thread. Is there a single franchise that gets as much shit as Halo?

 

[TEH-CJ]

Spot on brother! I went back to play the first 3 Halo games and I was astonished at how much better they are compared to Halo 4 - 5

Halo will never be the same. I respect 343 a lot and I am sure they put in tremendous amount of effort in their games but they have no idea what makes Halo.

 

[TEH-CJ]

The weapons were awesome and I loved the prometheuns. It is the best halo campaign I've played.

I know opinions and all, but fuck me this boggles my mind.

 

[Toxi]

I'm just glad 343 did a better job than they did with Halo 4's dumpster fire campaign.

 

[soulassssns]

Spot on brother! I went back to play the first 3 Halo games and I was astonished at how much better they are compared to Halo 4 - 5

Halo will never be the same. I respect 343 a lot and I am sure they put in tremendous amount of effort in their games but they have no idea what makes Halo.

What makes Halo you know.....Halo?

 

[bomblord1]

The Promethean enemies, especially the Knights add much needed variety/strategy into your use of gunplay when engaging the enemies. Whereas covenant all have the same weakspot these guys each have variable spots on their bodies and some that only open when certain conditions are met.

 

[watership]

Go into any halo comparison thread.. There is no consensus here as everyone has wildly different opinions on that. Even 4 for all the shit it gets has some people that put it near the top

Without question halo 3 is my favorite.

Yep, No one will agree on one game.

 

[hawk2025]

I'll never understand the hate halo 5 campaign gets...

The story was campy, but outside of Halo:CE none of the narratives have been all that great...

The level design, while not as open as some of halo's classic levels, was mostly great. the Sanghelios chapters were some of the best encounters in franchise history...

Unlike Halo 1 2 and 3, there were no horrible levels in this game.

The only thing missing was a vehicle chase level.

All things considered I'd say this campaign comes just behind halo CE, and just beyond Halo 3. The latter is held back by Bungie's decision to ruin most of the guns.

Edit: I feel bad for bumping this thread. Is there a single franchise that gets as much shit as Halo?

The last blue team level is an absolute joke. I'd argue it is the worst level in the series history.

There's a whole mission that is the exact same hub from two missions back.

There are 6 or 7 of the exact same boss fight. But now with two of them. Then three of them.

There's a lot to like, but damn if it doesn't feel like they were just throwing shit to see what sticks for a vast part of it.

 

[Tunavi]

Campaign sucked

 

[Boston]

Whoever decided to not include split screen... I'd like to punch in the face.

 

[Pimpbaa]

The series is pretty much dead to me now. Campaign felt more like a COD campaign than a Halo one. Playing the MCC just before Halo 5 made it so blatant how bad 343i's Halo games are.

 

[shandy706]

I enjoyed it.

Spent 13 hours admiring the levels and combat.

Was happy to spend $50 for just the campaign and move on to Fallout 4.

 

[TheDanger]

loved it, completed it twice already.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

The story is really bad and 343 have followed in Bungies footsteps of having no idea how to craft interesting characters or a compelling narrative but....It's great fun co-op. Played it with 3 friends got the legendary ending and will likely never play it again unlike previous entries but it was still quite entertaining.

One thing I'll agree with you on is its a very visually subpar game.

 

[FoeHammer]

The story is really bad and 343 have followed in Bungies footsteps of having no idea how to craft interesting characters or a compelling narrative but....It's great fun co-op. Played it with 3 friends got the legendary ending and will likely never play it again unlike previous entries but it was still quite entertaining.

One thing I'll agree with you on is its a very visually subpar game.

I hear this complaint repeated but I don't get it regarding the graphics. I thought it looked pretty amazing. To each his own I guess.

I loved Halo 5 but I have admittedly loved them all. The lore is right up my alley. The gameplay in 5 is beyond anything in the series. It would honestly be hard to go back to the other games control wise.

Just so I'm not bordering on fanboy delusions regarding the graphics, I thought 3 was super ugly even at launch.

 

[OverHeat]

Op you are wrong

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I hear this complaint repeated but I don't get it regarding the graphics. I thought it looked pretty amazing. To each his own I guess.

I loved Halo 5 but I have admittedly loved them all. The lore is right up my alley. The gameplay in 5 is beyond anything in the series. It would honestly be hard to go back to the other games control wise.

Just so I'm not bordering on fanboy delusions regarding the graphics, I thought 3 was super ugly even at launch.

3 definitely wasn't a looker but Bungie does have some great artists that really brought some life to the environments. I actually thought H4 had some amazing art but 5 seems to be a big step back. It's not always the case but I found a lot of areas to be sparse and underwhelming. Still plays great though.

Op you are wrong

Don't think too hard. Wouldn't want you to get a nosebleed or something

 

[tearsintherain]

Halo 5 was the first Halo game I played and I thought the campaign was utter shit. Every time I started getting into the character I was playing they switched to another character. Locke was boring as hell, I wanted to play more Master Chief. As said in the OP, the Warden was a terrible boss and fighting him over, and over, and over was just the worst.

I did enjoy the vehicle stuff, as short as it was. Still, the story was just all over the place and felt like 2 or 3 teams put together a story without talking about any of it before hand. Not a fan of the way they did collectibles either, unless you either went really slow or knew where all the items were - I stopped trying after missing so many after a few levels.

I did enjoy sanghelios and the last few bits though.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Good question.

For anyone who thinks this is one of the best halo campaigns:
How old are ya'll?
How many halos have you played?
When did you last play them?

I would be surprised if anyone answers "25+ years old, all, within the last 3 years"

34 played all at release. Top 3 campaign. Reach, Halo 5, ODST.

Played through all again on legendary before launch.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Halo 5 is the best damn campaign a Halo game has ever seen. It isn't even in question. Complain about there not being enough Chief and Blue Team, but even then I understand the reason for it and don't object. It took incredible levels of restraint for 343i to handle this the way they did, and I commend them completely for it.

Even with the Warden Fights, they are easily manageable if you properly take advantage of all the gameplay tools that 343i gave us. There's also plenty of advantageous things you can do with the level design being as it is that really puts you at the advantage. And take advantage of the squad commands. Don't just have them target Warden, have them also target the lesser enemies that are helping him. You do that, Warden becomes almost like a sitting duck when up against an entire squad of Spartans.

I really enjoyed my play thru of the campaign, and despite the fact that it was decidedly one sided I actually enjoyed team Osiris's perspective.

I may be in the minority, but I felt like Halo four and five actually had the best campaigns of the series because of the additional extended universe content that was integrated into the plot. My two cents, probably not worth yet another thread.

Agree totally. Halo 4 and 5 are my favorite of the series easily.

 

[Final Verdict]

Honestly OP, I disagree with just about everything except the bit about the warden fight...and honestly I don't mind fighting him multiple times so much as I hate how poorly he is designed.
Sure he isn't much of a problem if you are playing Co-Op, but I just don't think it is wise to develop the entire boss fight around Co-Op....
Sighs...

Anyways, I thought that the levels were way more open...while that doesn't always equate to pure open space, it shows in terms of the sheer amount of alternative pathways and level design that allows you to tackle a situation any way you want to. Not to mention all the hidden weapons and stuff.

Art wise I thought the first six or so missions were not so great, but it really picked up with Genesis, Sanghelios, and sunion which I thought were all well designed.

I personally liked the ADS which made it more immersive for me, and I used the abilities like Spartan charge and ground pound a lot and even found parts where you could chain stuff together for epic takedowns!

Now I do think that there were some serious problems with the story (my least favorite part), but I don't think it's anything they can't fix with the next game...

In any case though, this is the first time I found myself wanting to go back and play the campaign just for the gameplay...in past Halo games it was really the story that drew me back in, but here it was (oddly) the gameplay.

 

[Double Donut]

The last blue team level is an absolute joke. I'd argue it is the worst level in the series history.

This is a joke, right?

The Breaking was one of the best levels of the game.

 

[BuggeryBugz]

Can't a guy stir some shit?

It may not having anything to do with age, but "one of the best halos" is pretty directly related to how many halos you've played..

I was genuinely curious and actually surprised by the responses. It's really confusing to me that a long time fan of the series would place this campaign anywhere near the top.

I figured the people who actually like H5 were either new to the series or younger, turns out I was wrong. I learned something.



Man. I just don't get it at all. You don't feel like the great gameplay was let down by the slapdash encounter/level design?

You can do what you like but just know that you'll get called out on bullshit comments.

Like I said, you can dislike the game but don't think your opinion is fact and realise that people will like what you don't.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

The last blue team level is an absolute joke. I'd argue it is the worst level in the series history.

There's a whole mission that is the exact same hub from two missions back.

There are 6 or 7 of the exact same boss fight. But now with two of them. Then three of them.

There's a lot to like, but damn if it doesn't feel like they were just throwing shit to see what sticks for a vast part of it.

I would say it represents the absolute peak of Halo.

 

[Azriell]

I liked the campaign. I played it with a buddy and had a good time. The Warden fights were stupid, lazy, and boring though. A lot of the story is pretty dumb. And hubs were stupid and broke the flow of the game.

Even still, I liked the combat. I liked being constantly rewarded for putting a little effort in to exploring and finding tons of cool weapons. I wish they had done some things different, but ultimately I really liked what I played.

 

[Zvonimir Boban]

The last blue team level is an absolute joke. I'd argue it is the worst level in the series history.

There's a whole mission that is the exact same hub from two missions back.

There are 6 or 7 of the exact same boss fight. But now with two of them. Then three of them.

There's a lot to like, but damn if it doesn't feel like they were just throwing shit to see what sticks for a vast part of it.

Nope.

 

[Monocle]

Agreed. I still prefer Halo CE and Halo 3, but it is a great campaign. I'd put it around the same level as Reach and ODST, and definitely above 4 and 2.

My only big problem with the campaign is the lack of big vehicle encounters (sadly, the last Halo that delivered on that front was released 8 years ago) The small/medium encounters are great (for the most part) The new movement mechanics, coupled with the more intrincate level design, create some really fun battles.

That said, please 343, stop with the teleporting enemies, or at least make the cooldown for their teleporting way longer.

PS: Oh, and I want Campaign Scoring and Campaign Theatre back for Halo 6.

Good points all around. I'd love to see those changes and features in Halo 6.

This is a joke, right?

The Breaking was one of the best levels of the game.

I agree, it's great.

 

[killer rin]

I personality enjoyed it. It was much better than Halo 4, though I still found it lacking compared to Halo 3.

That said, how could you leave out the best

Spoiler

new character in the game, Exuberant

 

[NullPointer]

I would say it represents the absolute peak of Halo.

An iteration of linear Forerunner arenas of increasing difficulty that end with a triple Warden fight (that the friendly AI have no capability to deal with), and a surprise ring of floating turrets? Where the whole tactical plan was " I don't know, but we have to keep going forward!" and where the drama centered around Cortana's strange spat with whoever the fuck the Warden is supposed to be?

That's the absolute peak of Halo? Oh God no. Please no.

And it was followed up by a level with even more random logic to it, where the drama centers around trying to free Blue team from a Forerunner meditation sphere (the horror). I still can't believe that that was the plan for the game's finale all along. I just can't.

I wish Halo 5 had more missions like Argent Moon. That intro shows Spartans acting like Spartans (daring+smarts+tricksiness rather than Iron Man brrrap-brrrap everything dies easily opener), each area is bleak with Oni mystery, and the space itself makes for some incredible firefights that take full advantage of the new Spartan move-set (the verticality, the clambering, even walls to charge through, and the spacing that allows you to use your thrusters to great effect) and provides dangers and opportunities at all ranges, including a nice Banshee interlude, and ending with a holdout against covenant and hunters before taking off in your new stealth ship.

Too bad its the random mission level, mostly disconnected from the story, save for The Chief's "vision", that ended up having the most punch to it for me. The fact that my favorite level had no Prometheans in it isn't lost on me either.

Edit: To be sure, I enjoyed a lot of the campaign, mostly because of that new moveset and the multi-faceted environments, but seriously think it fell off a cliff in its final act. And that it had some important missions cut or something.

 

[hawk2025]

The level is a series of terrible horde rooms, followed by the 6th version of a terrible boss fight.

I can't believe I'm hearing that people actually liked that.

That's not the peak of Halo, it's Halo at its most indulgent worst. Gameplay, story, and level design wise. It's awful.

 

[Kai Ozu]

I think it's pretty good, I am having more fun with it than Reach and 4.

 

[vasametropolis]

Easily the worst Halo campaign. Very easily.

I don't understand anyone who disagrees, honestly.It was probably the worst shooter campaign I've played in 10 years. For all the reasons OP says and more. I was a die hard, but I didn't even finish it... first time ever. After what seemed to be the last Warden fight of continuously going higher and higher replaying the same looking metal floaty area for like 4 or 5 times, I just looked at the screen in disgust and shut it off. Not to mention, 3 chief missions max with a lame as all fuck story that was reminiscent of i Robot and Mass Effect 3. Yes I agree... fuck this game.