Excluding the campaign which was pretty good, I have such bitter feelings toward H3. The pistol is such hot garbage in H3 and the BR spread is horrendous. I also was never a big fan of Halo 3's graphics. I remember seeing the multiplayer for the first time and thinking that looks pretty bland. Then there was the fact that players in vehicles were next to unstoppable. It all led to a very bad taste. Still, despite that, I despise Reach even more. Bloom, sprint, armor lock, and the sluggish and less than floaty movement just ruined the entire experience for me. Oh and then 343 made the pistol a 5 shot kill weapon in Reach, which was just asinine. The only way for it to be effective was to fire it as rapidly as possible, which was pointless thanks to bloom. Getting a double kill with the pistol was challenging with only 12 rounds. Like what's the point? (Obviously i have very strong feelings regarding the pistol lol). One of the only good things that came out of Reach for me was the needle rifle and of course the pro-pipe.
Then there was H4. H4 matchmaking was so smooth. Movement and aiming were perfect. Weapons felt great... only to be completely ruined by horrible abilities, perks and random ordnance. Otherwise I would have totally put H4 up with H1 and H2. Honestly, it could have been that great, up there with the best Halo games in the series. Reeeeee!!!!!
Campaign: H1>H4=H3>ODST>H2>Reach>>>>>>>>>>>>>H5
Multiplayer: H1>H2>H5>H3>Reach=H4>ODST