Top 5 Multiplayer Maps in Halo: Reach

While it may have been Bungie’s swan song to the Halo franchise, Halo: Reach also marked the culmination of all their efforts over the nine years they spent crafting conflict of the Human-Covenant War. Though the narrative of Reach may have opted to go back in time, acting as a precursor to the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, the gameplay combined many of the best elements from the other games. Players were limited to one gun at a time, something that had not been a staple of the franchise for nine years, but the faster turnaround on reloads and mobility offered a satisfactory handling in the vein of Halo 2. Meanwhile, Halo 3’s equipment came into its own in the form of more well-balanced and practical loadouts that could be selected at the start of a multiplayer round (with some equipment options more heavily emphasized for certain gametypes). Playlists catered to a variety of fan-favorite game types, while also introducing a few new modes, encouraging community content via the incredibly user-friendly Forge World, and even added in a cleaner take on the Firefight mode first tested in Halo 3: ODST. Halo: Reach’s launch may have been marked by a somewhat smaller offering of multiplayer maps than fans were used to, but this was counteracted in part by the offerings of Forge World as well as the general polish on the maps that were readily available at launch. As was the case with the preceding Halo games, though, some of my personal favorite maps did not see the light of day until months later, when the DLC packs were released.

#5 – Boneyard: Among the multiplayer offerings in Halo: Reach were two new game types, Headhunter and Invasion. Invasion settled halfway between the Team Objective and Big Team Battle playlists, pitting teams of six or more against one another. While one team attempted to capture one of two points designated on the map at a time, the other defended in hopes that they could thwart the invaders’ three-stage assault. Boneyard was a massive map, with multiple structures that provided many high vantage points for the defending Spartans, while the invading team of Elites relied on their more varied loadouts and the long distance from one objective point to the other to try and breach the shipyard’s defenses. Boneyard was also a rare breed, in that, while it ranked among the largest Reach had to offer, the hollowed-out ship situated at the center, the warehouse off to the far side, and the large sections of cover that littered the dirt below encouraged strategic play. No vehicle, nor any particular weapon loadout, guaranteed a longstanding advantage over the competition, given the multiple routes players could use to push on through from one end to the other, and this proved similarly in the more pure and free-form Big Team Battles.

#4 – Anchor 9: While it was amusing to see how Bungie managed to work in most of the multiplayer maps that shipped with the retail release of Reach into the campaign missions in a genuinely cohesive manner, Some of the DLC maps were arguably a better illustration of Bungie’s creativity in design. Anchor 9 took a look inside the UNSC docking station orbiting Reach that was introduced in the mission Long Night of Solace. The map took advantage of the game’s previously-established low-gravity physics, offering a section that ran the far edge of the map for players to land heavy strikes on foes as they attempted quick pushes toward the other base. The more roundabout method of traversing the medium size map required players to duck behind crates and make use of Anchor 9’s power weapons. Defending bases, meanwhile, was a matter of one team making the most of their high ground, and the limited cover from short hallways, narrow staircases, and mounted turrets that came with said territory. While rounds of Capture the Flag on Anchor 9 formed somewhat predictable strategies on part of the attacking team, Slayer matches were anything but, and the kill count could suddenly shift with players capitalizing on the element of surprise.

#3 – Reflection: There are certainly a few patterns in my choices of favorite maps thus far, one of the most noteworthy being the return to my Halo 2 roots. Ivory Tower was a map that I had always enjoyed in its original Halo 2 incarnation, but one that never quite matched up to my previously detailed favorites. It’s almost wholly unchanged remake, Reflection, was a great pick for Bungie to include in Halo: Reach, as the equipment functions add an extra dynamic to the small-scale, multi-level map, improving the balance in the advantages opposing teams have. Reflection is at its best during Slayer matches, but variants for Infection and Headhunter run quite smooth as well. The map looks gorgeous to boot, with a gold glow setting in over nearly every reflective texture on the appropriately titled map.

#2 – Powerhouse: Despite its large, open and round center, most of Powerhouse’s kills were earned within the structures set off to the sides, as well as along the top ring of the water reservoir. Over-confident players might attempt to scope out player’s locations on the map by using the jetpack, but this typically resulted in their being swiftly shot down. Powerhouse’s semi-symmetrical design and medium size offered a great setting for SWAT, Team Slayer, and Rumble Pit matches, with the later two often resulting in kills from less traditional weapons. Lobbing grenades around corners and bouncing them off walls to finish off a foe who crouched in hiding just out of sight at the bottom of one of the staircases was always satisfying, while curiously enough the Needler proved one of the most prized weapons that players would scramble for at the start of a match.

#1 – Condemned: Unfortunately pushed to the wayside after the Anniversary playlist updates, Condemned was a map that I loved for all of the same reasons I enjoyed Halo 3's Orbital – coincidentally, they share a similar aesthetic, both falling into the territory of UNSC space stations. Condemned’s semi-symmetrical layout offered some emphasis on the stage’s more powerful weapons, but not as consistently as maps originating from a similar school of thought. The most frantic scuffles often took place in the low-gravity center, where the rockets spawned. The switch between normal gravity and the slower jumps of outer space played a more consistently impactful role here than they did on Anchor 9, as the low-gravity environment was situated at the center of the map. Every shot counted as much as every lunge across this middle portion did, setting an extra layer of tension over team-based matches, and demanding a greater degree of care in lining up headshots or making sure your weapon loadout could provide an advantage as you floated through the muffled space, sectioned off from the normal conditions of the outer ring.

"You Look Terrible, Snake" #2 - Halo 4

"Don't make a girl a promise... if you know you can't keep it." - Cortana (Halo 2)

The release of Halo: Reach marked the end of Bungie’s exclusivity contract with Microsoft, and the end of their days developing Halo games, as they looked towards new frontiers with their next project, Destiny. But Halo was destined to remain a property under the ownership of Microsoft, who had created a department specifically for continuing the Halo storyline, dubbed 343 Industries. 343 Industries would be tasked not only with the development of future games in the bestelling series, but weaving tales for novels, comic books, and live action series that helped to fill the gaps between games. During the Bungie era, there were a number of Halo novels written that provided greater context to the Spartan program, the UNSC vs. Insurrectionist conflict that preceded the Human-Covenant War, and explored other Forerunner artifacts that Doctor Halsey had examined prior to the crew of The Pillar of Autumn stumbling across Alpha Halo at the beginning of the first game.

As part of the buildup to the 343 Industries-directed Halo 4, which would signal the start of the new ‘Reclaimer Trilogy’, two novel trilogies were launched. The first dealt with a UNSC team known as Kilo Five, and took place in the then-present day of the Halo universe, bridging the gap between Halo 3 and Halo 4, and exploring the fragile peace that existed between the Human race and their reluctant Sangheili comrades. This trilogy would go on to explain how some of the Sangheili grew restless in the post-war peace time, and opted to splinter off into their own faction to continue their warrior-like ways in seeking out Forerunner artifacts, thus setting the stage for Master Chief’s unexpected encounter with antagonistic Elites and Grunts early in Halo 4. The other trilogy of novels went far back in time to provide a direct narrative of the last days of the Forerunner empire, setting up for Halo 4’s major plotline that saw the return of the Ur-Didact and his desire to wipe humankind from the galaxy, under the belief that they proved the greatest threat to its stability in the absence of The Flood.

Many of Halo 4's highest points come courtesy of the Didact being such an intimidating villain.

While I personally found the Forerunner trilogy to be among the best Halo tie-in novels released to date, there was something exceptionally odd about their being so contextually important to the events of Halo 4. The same went for the Kilo Five trilogy – sure, I had read these precursor texts as my anticipation for the new game built, but in the grand scheme of things, only a small portion of the Halo fanbase would go out of their way to acquire and read these novels. Previous Halo novels like Ghosts of Onyx, Contact Harvest, The Fall of Reach, and The Cole Protocol did well to expand upon the existing universe, but not a single one of these was necessary reading in order to grasp the context of the games. Anyone could play from Halo: Combat Evolved up through Halo 3 and successfully gather the core of Master Chief’s story – the aforementioned novels provided further backstory to other characters and events, the majority of which preceded the events of the games by many years. But both the Forerunner and Kilo Five trilogies were so tightly connected to the narrative of Halo 4, I find it a wonder the delivery of the single-player campaign managed to come across as well as it did.

Consider this required reading material.

Halo 4’s campaign is incredibly short-lived, even when compared to the games that came before it. Yet, it hits high notes from start to finish, with Master Chief’s race to stop the Didact’s plans standing strong as the core conflict of the game. It’s quite surprising, in fact, that this smaller-scale and more personal battle between two men out of their own time handles so convincingly in a series that has long been about a large-scale conflict between an alien conglomerate and the human military. The game delivers a satisfying conclusion that wraps up its own story without too much in the way of cliffhanger content, yet leaves enough doors open the ensure future games and associated media have sufficient material to draw from.

The combination of the campaign being so brief, yet so well-written, certainly left me with somewhat complicated feelings toward it, and perhaps more importantly, toward the future of the franchise under the banner of 343 Industries. But with Bungie veteran Frank O’Connor relocating to the 343 Industries team, I was hopeful that Halo 4’s story was more a reflection of the studio wanting to play things safe during their first proper outing than a signifier that the series would teeter toward the realm of Metal Gear with a highly complicated narrative than would be as spun up in the core games as it would any and all spinoff material. While the former may very well have been the case for the campaign mode, the online multiplayer and Spartan Ops modes revealed an uglier truth.

The Halo games have provided me with a ludicrous number of hours of entertainment in online play. From Halo 2 onward, friends and I would take part in a variety of Slayer and objective-based matches, from the close quarters of Lockout and Turf, to the vehicular carnage on Valhalla and Sandtrap, to the new game types of Invasion and Headhunter introduced in Halo: Reach. Halo retained a unique identity in the online multiplayer scene. While Halo 3 and Halo: Reach both offered players the option to alter the appearance of their multiplayer Spartan avatar, these were purely for aesthetic purposes, and no restrictions on unlocks were associated with any weapons or ability loadouts. Halo 4, however, painted a much different picture – one that wandered a tad too far into the realm of every other first-person shooter on the market for my own tastes.

Highly-detailed Spartan armor cannot disguise the huge steps backwards the competitive multiplayer took.

Better weapons and abilities were unlocked at higher levels, and this sucked a large amount of the fun from the multiplayer experience. Ordinance drops of heavy weapons rewarding the winning team even more of an edge over the competition led team matches to feel incredibly lopsided. The map layouts either evoked rather direct memories of their Halo 3 and Reach predecessors, in that their designs deviated so little from what had already been established, or were too outlandish and impractical for more than one or two game types. While I abhor the competitive multiplayer format of practically every other major first-person shooter, I think it is worth mentioning that I actually performed quite well in the majority of the Halo 4 Slayer matches I did play. But the lack of enjoyment I found from them led me to abandon them so quickly, that my objective with Halo 4 became solely focused on completing the campaign, a feat which was completed in a grand total of three sittings – and I was by no means attempting to rush through it.

Spartan Ops was an abysmal series of short missions that lacked any inspiration in either design or narrative, asking little more of you, the player, than to kill every enemy along the path from point A to point B. To think that Spartan Ops replaced the spectacular horde mode that was Firefight boggled my mind, especially considering how well-received Reach's Firefight was by the Halo community. Maybe the later updates that Spartan Ops received offered more interesting missions, but one playthrough of all the default missions left me with a foul opinion of them. Perhaps if they had been included alongside the Firefight mode, I might not have received them so poorly.

Spartan Ops: for when you want to team up with friends to tackle repeatedly lackluster missions.

With all of these factors combined, it was abundantly apparent to me that 343 Industries had lost sight of what Halo was really all about somewhere during the development of this new game – at least with regards to every facet of this project outside of the campaign. But even there, the lack of consideration to how easily audiences would be able to settle into the new narrative was a significant oversight on the part of Halo’s new management. Since the release of Halo 4, 343 Industries has gone on record as stating that they will do better with the next installment in the series, though what specific points they intend to improve on remains to be seen. The push for current storylines in both tie-in novels and comic books to emphasize rebellious factions of both Sangheili and Humans leaves me concerned that Halo 5 might see Master Chief fighting other human soldiers as opposed to the Promethean Knights or some other kind of Forerunner combatants.

While I wasn’t particularly hot on the notion of fighting Elites and Grunts again for the sake of convenience in 343 Industries not having to design a whole new slew of foes, I understand that something familiar needed to be retained to avoid wholly alienating longtime fans. But the potential for future games to teeter even further into the realm of Call of Duty or Battlefield by having Master Chief fighting militarized human forces is a truly upsetting notion. With any luck, the team at 343 Industries will recognize how much the Halo community loved the old multiplayer format, and return to the series’ roots with Halo 5: Guardians, as Halo’s online component has always accounted for a good half of its identity.

Top 5 Multiplayer Maps in Halo 3

I have never been quite as big a fan of the multiplayer in Halo 3 as I have of the multiplayer in Bungie’s other three major Halo creations. The equipment was clunky and unbalanced, an awkward first step on the road to Reach’s more carefully-designed loadouts. Certain weapons, like the Mauler and Incendiary Grenades did not see much in the way of practical application in the company of their more well-established brethren, while the Assault Rifle’s return was largely moot in the presence of the obviously superior Battle Rifle. Halo 3 also played host to Snowbound, one of my least favorite Halo multiplayer maps to date. Yet, I still found online matches with friends to be quite enjoyable, and the playlist offerings only seemed to get better as time passed, with the official adoption of Grifball and Infection, as well as thirteen new maps offered as DLC. While my memories of Halo 3 may not be quite as fond as those I made while playing Halo 2 or Halo: Reach, the game still offered some solid map designs, and the five below stand out to me as being among the best Halo 3 had to offer.

#5 – High Ground: One of the earliest Halo 3 maps to see the light of day, High Ground first debuted as part of the game’s multiplayer beta. While the base set at the top of the hill does make a good defensive post for Capture the Flag and Assault, the damaged sections of the wall offer multiple openings for invaders to navigate on foot and open the main gate, giving their teammates a more direct route into the small fortress. When the gate is closed, matches, these objective-based matches often turn into battles of attrition, if not careful (or even simply lucky) timing for making a push inward. Once the gate is opened, however, the pacing of the matches speed up dramatically, increasing the tension and often forcing the defending team to carefully ration their heavy weaponry and grenades.

#4 – Foundry: Halo 3’s handling of the Forge customization mode may not have been as fully-realized nor as user-friendly as its counterpart in Halo: Reach, but it did allow players to make all sorts of wacky alterations to pre-existing maps, swapping out weapons and vehicles, and adding in blockades, turrets, and new equipment in places these had previously not been. However, Halo 3’s Forge mode did not properly come into its own until the release of Foundry. Set within a large warehouse, players were effectively given a blank canvas with which to build whatever structures they so desired with the allotted shipping containers, bridge pieces, staircases, and energy barriers. Players could also seal off the hallway that ran along the back end of the map between the bases in order to force more strategic team play, or leave them open to encourage unexpected rushes from either side during free-for-all matches. Foundry offered an unprecedented degree of freedom to fans, and a number of community creations were later adopted into official matchmaking playlists. That said, the default configuration was a great starting point for all of this, as its multiple areas of cover worked into a maze-like series of containers and platforms made for plenty of enjoyable matches.

#3 – Blackout: While its predecessor Lockout was one of the most popular Halo 2 maps, I’ve long since preferred the slightly wider ramps and platforms of Blackout, as well as this Halo 3 remake’s darker aesthetic. Having Lockout set along a the side of a cliff in a frozen tundra was certainly a cool design choice (no pun intended), but reimagining it as a lone weather station standing high above an arctic ocean gave it a greater sense of isolation and dread. The nighttime setting and lack of any other landmarks save for a distant glacial wall further emphasizes this notion. While small team-based Slayer, Swat, and Sniper matches fit the close-quarters map well, free-for-all Rumble Pit matches proved particularly great, as there is really no safe place to hide, given the open design of all the interconnecting areas of the structure. Just because you are crouched in a corner with the shotgun doesn’t mean that another player couldn’t easily lob a plasma grenade your way and stick it to your helmet, and just because you’ve nabbed the sniper rifle doesn’t mean someone else wasn’t tailing you as you made your way up the winding ramp just to beat you down as soon as you feel confident in its ability to earn you one-hit kill headshots.

#2 – Ghost Town: Something of a successor to Halo 2’s Turf, Ghost Town’s series of small buildings filled with small areas of cover and plenty of nooks and crannies to navigate made for some great small-scale skirmishes. Making a blind run across the outer bridges during a SWAT match was ill-advised, while backing into a corner with your shotgun at the ready during an Infection match was a strategy that would only last until either your ammo was depleted or the infected team overwhelmed your position in the central building. Players were most frequently mobile during Rumble Pit matches, as each of the dilapidated jungle structures offered unique vantage points over other areas of the map, and their multiple entrances meant that, while quick escapes were not out of the question, neither was the chance that an opponent could sneak up behind them and either beat them down or earn an easy kill with the stick of a plasma grenade.

#1 – Orbital: Set high above the Earth along one of the space tethers, Orbital is a brightly-lit, yet eerily abandoned UNSC dock. Players must exercise caution when peering around its tight corners or leaving the cover of crates to push forward down its two longest hallways set on separate floors of the structure, each offering a direct route to the respective team bases that also leaves incoming opponents very exposed. Stairwells and incredibly narrow server access tunnels to the sides offer alternate routes to those more patient in their approach strategies, while those who prefer a higher risk-reward play style can attempt to rush the opposing team’s base with a Mongoose, though the latter often results in spectacular explosions before these vehicles can get too far. The high ground certainly provides a straight line of fire upon those rounding the lower corners, but the low ceilings of Orbital’s tunnels make it difficult to fire too far down the approach path from above. The limited view to either side also makes it difficult to get a read on opponents from this vantage, and it is best to utilize it for quick tosses of grenades or two shots from the rocket launcher before abandoning the post for better defenses.

Top 5 Multiplayer Maps in Halo 2

My picks for the five best multiplayer maps from each of the Bungie-developed Halo titles continues with Halo 2, the game that is primarily responsible for my getting hooked on the video game series and its groundbreaking online multiplayer. Halo 2 was important not just for me as a gamer, but for console gaming as a whole. It was one of the first games to realize the full potential that online gaming on a home console had, with specialized matchmaking playlists, the ability to organize clans with friends, and the option to host custom game modes. My heyday with Halo 2 took place during my high school years, not long after its original release. To this day, I still consider Halo 2 to have the best overall multiplayer experience of any of the games in the franchise, a feat which is due in no small part to the wonderful selection of maps that were shipped with the game, as well as those that were later made available as downloadable content. With the other Halo titles, narrowing the multiplayer maps down to a mere five was relatively easy. But the consistently high quality in the design of Halo 2’s multiplayer maps made this process far and away the most challenging portion in writing this series of articles. While the five below certainly stand out as being among my all-time favorite Halo multiplayer maps, know that nearly every other Halo 2 map still stands as a strong accomplishment in my eyes.

#5 – Terminal: I’ve long been a fan of maps that incorporate vehicles into their layout, but do not rely expressly upon them for a lone gimmick. Terminal is one such map, falling somewhere between medium and large-scale, and allowing players to traverse its urban environment a few different ways. As previously mentioned, a couple of vehicles will spawn at the respective bases, and depending on the game type, can result in either one team attempting to defend their prized flag with the slow heavy shots of a Wraith, or the more agile dances of Warthog versus Ghost. A parking structure provides a good vantage point for snipers to pick off opponents from a nearby base, though the open nature of the parking structure coupled with the fact that the shotgun spawn point is located just down ramp means that snipers need to be ready to abandon said post at a moment’s notice. The more open spaces near the opposite base and the train station tend to host most of the close-quarters firefights, though players need to be aware of the lightning-fast trains that come barreling through from time to time, potentially running them over as one of the few active stage hazards worked into a Halo multiplayer map. And of course, the muffled chatter over the station's loudspeakers give Terminal an extra dash of personality.

#4 – Turf: A map great for Team Slayer, Swat, and Rumble Pit matches, Turf combined many elements of its close-quarters predecessors like Ivory Tower and Lockout, and placed them in a narrow urban environment. The map is, oddly enough, set up on something of an angle, with one of the far corners being a more open street level spawn point for Turf’s lone Warthog, while the complete opposite end of the map has, perhaps fittingly, a complete opposite setup, with tight corners, small archways to hide behind, and a handful of very small raised areas to gain a birds-eye-view of the action below. The difference between the raised sections in Turf and those in other maps, is that here, they only grant you so much of a visual leg-up on the competition. Crevices that offer you the best opportunity to spring a surprise attack on an opposing player can just as easily be death traps if a player spots you and decides to lob a grenade up into your tiny hiding space. Meanwhile, the raised ridge that runs along the inside of the streets provides a better view of everything and everyone below, but leaves you exposed from practically all sides.

#3 – Midship: Classic Halo map design at its finest, Midship is a jack-of-all-trades death pit. Its rounded small interior makes for fast-paced Slayer matches, while the outlying ramps and lifts ensure that players will have to keep a close eye on their radar at all times. Three pillars in the center, along with rounded roof covers on opposite ends of the map provide limited cover, and though the bowl-shaped center does offer the most direct route from one team’s base to the other, flag and bomb handlers should be wary of the excessive amount of fire they will call upon themselves the moment they are spotted.

#2 – Headlong: With the updated graphical capabilities of Halo 2 came more impressive level details, many of which carried over from the single player missions into the multiplayer maps. The warm glow of New Mombassa’s industrial environment makes for one of the most aesthetically impressive large-scale maps in the Halo series. The grungy construction site of Headlong has plenty of different pathways that capitalize on both big-team vehicular carnage and smaller-scale tactical matches. Headlong’s handling of four-on-four sniper matches is arguably unmatched by any other Halo map to date, as the varying heights of the different structures and the many corridors and stairwells of each perpetuates a tense air of uncertainty, with players constantly scanning the area for foes, wary that remaining in one spot for too long will make them an easy target.

#1 – Relic: While not all large-scale maps in the Halo games are made equal, Relic stands out as a map that - despite appearances - works beautifully with many different gametypes. The giant central structure offers up some of the most intense, strategic, and just plain fun objective matches – more specifically, Capture the Flag and Assault. While one team spawns within the raised structure and must use its limited fortifications to their advantage in defending the far edge objective point, the other team pushes forward from the beach, able to collect power weapons along the way and even lay down fire upon foes from a hovering sniper nest. Relic does typically spawn a few vehicles, but they serve greater purpose as transport to the central structure rather than for full-on assaults against enemy team members. Making a daring escape from the fortress as you carry the flag in the passenger seat of a Warthog is an exhilarating experience, one that few other maps of this size have managed to evoke so consistently.

Top 5 Multiplayer Maps in Halo: Combat Evolved

The number of hours I have put into online multiplayer in the Halo series has grown far beyond my estimation. There have been some great games I’ve played over the years, as well as the occasional round where I got my butt handed to me (the latter being more frequent during my early days with the franchise). There have also been a number of multiplayer maps that have stood out to me over the years, be it due to their layout, their aesthetic appeal, their practicality for a myriad of different game types, or simply fond memories I have from playing with friends. This collection of ‘top five’ lists will highlight my five favorite maps from across the four Bungie-developed Halo games (Halo 3: ODST will not be included, as it did not have competitive multiplayer of its own, instead offering extra maps to those who owned Halo 3 while simultaneously kicking off the cooperative Firefight mode). While remakes of older Halo maps are eligible for these lists, I will not be double-dipping and placing both the original version of a map and its remake, lest things become lopsided in favor of one map or another (example: if Midship were to make the cut for my Halo 2 map list, its remake of Heretic would not be eligible for the Halo 3 list, but if Longest did not make the cut for my Halo: CE list, then Elongation would still be eligible for the Halo 2 list). I will be tackling these titles in chronological order of their release, which naturally places Halo: Combat Evolved at the start of this series.

#5 – Sidewinder: Halo: Combat Evolved is the Bungie Halo title I have sunk the least amount of time into, especially with regards to multiplayer. Part of this is due to the fact that Halo: CE did not include any sort of Xbox Live functionality, though the fact that Halo 2 had already been released by the time I got into the franchise played a greater factor in my having less direct exposure to the first game in the series. For being something of an afterthought, the multiplayer in Halo: Combat Evolved is surprisingly solid. True, some of the stages feel a little more inclined toward one gimmick or another than their successors did, as is the case with Sidewinder, a wintery map that places heavy emphasis on vehicular combat. There’s a certain charm to Sidewinder that lends its cold, desolate landscape to stand out among the other maps packaged with Combat Evolved. Sure, the bases might be small and a tad impractical, but there’s something genuinely impressive about the large scale of this arena, about taking the Scorpion tank for a drive up to the opposing team’s front door, and about how much of an important step this map would be in shaping the design of future maps centered around large team-oriented game types.

#4 – Derelict: Similar in size and format to Wizard, Derelict design was a shining example of smart design choices in small space in the company of Wizard’s shortcomings. Whereas Wizard consisted of a series of platforms and ramps circling the outside of the arena, Derelict’s platforms spread from the center out, offering better small covered spaces for those low on health quickly duck behind and plan their next course of action. While the high ground may have provided a better vantage of the arena, it did not guarantee safety, as the open format of the platforms meant that players could aim their sights up or lob grenades at foes on that raised section with relative ease. Derelict offered up small-scale matches that demanded player be able to think quickly in the midst of frenetic firefights, and was a great setting for both fast-paced team matches and more chaotic free-for-all bouts.

#3 – Damnation: Designing maps that are more long than they are wide is always a tricky process, but Halo: Combat Evolved offered up a couple with these schools of thought in mind. Whereas Longest was a more literal set of adjacent hallways, Damnation mixed things up a bit with varying height to its walkways and a distinctly alien design aesthetic. A more open area consisting of gaps between platforms and the general non-linear design seen in Damnation placed special emphasis on carefully plotting your next move, as well as making the most out of the stage’s power weapons. Though it took an decade for the map to return to Halo multiplayer in any form, the Halo: Reach remake known as Penance did little to alter the map’s design, embracing even the faint purple coloration of the original and pushing for a full-blown Covenant aesthetic.

#2 – Battle Creek: Set in relatively close quarters, Battle Creek generally pits two teams of four against one another, granting each a home base that is just as effective for housing a flag as it is for defending against enemy team members. The geography of the map is simple, yet effective, with a small creek running through the middle and a rocky arch that runs diagonal through the center space, situated between the opposing bases. While the original Halo: Combat Evolved’s graphical prowess may not hold a candle to that of its Xbox successor Halo 2, Battle Creek is one of those rare maps that is still holds a particular visual charm all these many years later. While the crew at Bungie may not have expected the multiplayer aspect of the Halo games to really take off at the launch of this Xbox-exclusive property, it’s thanks to maps like Battle Creek that the original Halo: Combat Evolved’s system link matches gained such popularity and pushed for the sequel to have such a heavy emphasis on the Xbox Live functionality.

#1 – Blood Gulch: Arguably the most iconic of all multiplayer maps across the Halo franchise, Blood Gulch has seen multiple remakes in sequel games since its initial debut. A wide expanse sets the stage for vehicular combat, while the two bases on opposite ends of the valley make for great objective-based skirmishes with larger teams. Meanwhile, snipers can use the snaking ridges to their advantage, furthering the importance of team strategy, while still offering plenty of space to engage in fun matches with plenty of carnage. There’s a reason that Blood Gulch has returned time and time again, whether as a slight reimagining in the form of Halo 2’s Coagulation or a Forge World variant in Halo: Reach – its design is just too darn perfect to ignore.

Top 10 Games of the Seventh Generation Consoles - #6: Halo: Reach

The first-person shooter is generally one of my least favorite genres in video gaming, due to the sheer number of FPS titles that are released each year with minimal effort or inspiration. As much as I have enjoyed the Halo series over the years, it is still rather surprising to me that Bungie’s swansong to their monumentally successful series landed a spot this high on my top ten list. While I will always consider the story, gameplay, and multiplayer offerings of Halo 2 to be the best in the series, Halo: Reach follows not far behind the title that essentially shaped online gaming for consoles into what it is today.

The tale of Noble Team is really a side story to the main tale of Master Chief and Cortana. While the fall of planet Reach is one of the most pivotal events in the Human-Covenant War, it’s content that is largely unfamiliar to anyone who has not read the Halo novels, and NPCs only make brief mention of the battle in any of the three main games or spin-off title ODST. Witnessing an earlier conflict in the Human-Covenant War firsthand is entertaining and does well to separate the story from the all-too familiar routine of Master Chief blowing away every Covenant and Flood foe that stands in his way. But throwing five squadmates into the equation, giving them each a unique and interesting personality, and showing players just what is at stake with the loss of a planet so critical to UNSC operations lends to Halo: Reach an atmosphere notably different from previous Halo titles.

While dual-wielding was done away with, the balance of weapons Reach offered up was darn near perfect and plenty of fun to experiment with. The armor abilities were a much more intelligent implementation of the rather awkward equipment introduced in Halo 3. The Vehicles were largely familiar, though a couple of new additions felt right at home in the UNSC and Covenant squadrons respectively. The campaign is decently lengthy, and the highest difficulty setting offers up a genuinely challenging trek that requires a far more careful and tactical approach without feeling the least bit aggravating or unfair.

As for the multiplayer side of things, Halo: Reach’s offerings may not be as consistently high caliber as Halo 2’s maps, but many of them return in the form of remakes (whether full-fledged, or variations in the make-whatever-your-heart-so-desires expanse of Forge World). Classic game modes like Slayer and Infection return, while a few new modes like Headhunter and Invasion may be drastically different in their implementation (the former being silly and frenetic, the latter requiring finesse and teamwork) but are a blast to partake in. Add in Firefight, a team-based mode where waves of Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, Elites, and the occasional Hunters advance toward your location, and you have the most complete package a Halo title has ever offered.

When it all boils down to it, the story of Noble Team’s last stand on Reach is basically a countdown to extinction. But the presentation is damn good, from Marty O’Donell’s masterful soundtrack, to the oddly gorgeous decay of a planet ravaged by battle. Though chronologically Halo: Reach takes place prior to the original Halo, there’s little more I could ask for from Bungie in bringing a conclusion to their long-running series. Nobody knows the Halo property quite like Bungie.

Halo 4 wishlist

Though we still know very little about the campaign mode in Halo 4, a few things have been made clear. The rampancy of the AIs, or the number of years they can operate for before they begin to decay and outlive their usefulness, will be important as it pertains to Cortana. 343 Industries has also expressed a desire to explore who Master Chief is on the inside, territory that has been primarily reserved for the Halo novels and barely ever been touched in the games. On the multiplayer side of things, we will learn why it is possible that some red Spartan-IVs and blue Spartan-IVs can go into combat against one another. What I have compiled below is a wishlist of things I would like to see, not just in Halo 4, but from the Reclaimer trilogy as a whole (ie - Halos 4, 5, and 6). I recognize some of these may be a bit more farfetched than others, but only time will tell if 343 Industries decides to incorporate any of them.

A longer campaign

I'm not asking for Halo 4 to be the length of Final Fantasy XIII. But I am asking that it last around the same amount of time, if not longer than Halo: Reach did. Halo 2's campaign did just about everything right, save for the rushed ending. And while Bungie promised Halo 3 would have a longer campaign, that ended up not being the case. Halo 3 had a lot of ground to cover, and while it did wrap up every loose end that it needed to, the execution of its story was weaker than those of Halo 2 and Halo: Reach because of the fact that Halo 3 rarely slowed down enough to explore who the characters were at their core. I'm not asking for elaborate, hour-long cutscenes in the vein of Metal Gear Solid. But we barely got a sense of Master Chief and Cortana's dynamic in Halo 3, something that seemed to be the focal point of John 117's story.

Greater variety of enemies

343 Industries has already stated that there will be new enemies in Halo 4. Judging from the fact that the new games are part of the 'Reclaimer trilogy', I think it is safe to assume that these new enemies will have ties to the Forerunners. But there will also be Elites and Grunts who have broken away from the Separatists, and who once more view Master Chief as an enemy. Prior to humanity's contact with the Covenant, the many colonies of Earth were plagued by rebel uprisings that, in turn, led to the training of the Spartan-IIs. In the novel Halo: Glasslands, it is made apparent that some of these rebel groups view the victory over the Covenant as a prime opportunity to refocus their own goals. How greatly the Halo experience would be altered if players were pitted against other human characters instead of the many alien species they have become so familiar with gunning down.

More Spartans

While Halo 4 is being advertised with the Chief as the main character, there are still a few Spartans left in the galaxy; most notably the Spartan-IIs Fred, Kelly, and Linda (former squad mates of Master Chief) and the remaining Spartan-IIIs that Kurt trained on the Forerunner shield world of Onyx. Granted, the games would need to provide a brief synopsis of who these other Spartans are and how they ended up in the company of Dr. Catharine Halsey, as not everyone who has played the games will be familiar with the novels. But it could present the opportunity for some rich and deeper storytelling, as the Spartan program is explored to a greater degree. Having Master Chief reunite with his comrades could also present an excellent opportunity to draw out his character.

Return of the Arbiter

Halo 2's campaign split into two separate stories that culminated toward the game's last few hours. In carrying on the torch from the original Halo, Master Chief fought the Covenant forces and the Flood, while the Arbiter provided players with a curious look at the inner workings of the Covenant hierarchy and a concrete idea of what their misguided faith was all about. Prior to Halo 3's release, there were a number of naysayers who complained about the Master Chief not having been granted the spotlight for the entirety of Halo 2. But for me, playing as the Arbiter was a big part of what made Halo 2's campaign the best of the entire series. Forcing players to take on the role of a member of the Covenant expanded the Halo universe in so many ways. To be completely honest, I always found the Arbiter to be a far more believable and interesting character than the Chief because this Sangheili was constantly forced to question the decisions of the Prophets - first in their decision to spare him and dub him the new Arbiter, and second after the changing of the guard and the subsequent schism between the Covenant Loyalists and Separatists. The Arbiter became a tragic hero, a face of liberty for his people.

At the end of Halo 3, The Arbiter and Half Jaw lead the Sangheili forces back to their homeworld to make certain it is safe. Ever since Bungie concluded the main trilogy, I have pondered what the Sangheili homeworld might look like. The Halo Legends anime presented a glimpse of a very primitive Sangheilios, but we have no idea what the planet or its culture are like as of now. In placing players back into the role of the Arbiter, I think it would present a great opportunity to once more expand the story, while simultaneously revisiting what it is that makes the Arbiter tick now that the Covenant has disbanded.

25 Days of Villains - #7: Prophet of Truth

"You are, all of you, vermin! Cowering in the dirt, thinking... what, I wonder? That you might escape the coming fire? No! Your world will burn until its surface is but glass! And not even your Demon will live to creep - blackened - from its hole to mar the reflection of our passage, the culmination of our Journey. For your destruction is the will of the gods. And I? I am their instrument!"

Religious fanatic and one of the hierarchs of the Covenant, the Prophet of Truth commands his forces with a calm but passionate demeanor. He is constantly spouting forth propaganda to boost the morale of the various species that make up the Covenant, while demonizing the humans they are in a constant race against to recover Forerunner artifacts.

Though the three Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret all technically oversee the Covenant and help to maintain its path toward the Great Journey, the events of Halo 2 make it abundantly clear that Truth is the one pulling most of the strings. While the Covenant forces respect each Prophet, following their commands without question, Truth is the one Tartarus, the Arbiter, and Half-Jaw all turn to for their next orders. He is always at the forefront during any proclamations to the Covenant masses.

When Regret makes his preemptive strike on Earth, Truth informs him that his actions nearly jeopardized the Great Journey. When Master Chief crosses paths with Regret and kills him, Truth orders a ship to fire on their location, implying that he would have killed Truth whether Chief beat him to it or not - Master Chief's presence there was merely an excuse. Toward the end of Halo 2, when the Prophets and the Brutes are leaving High Charity for Earth, a flood spore attacks Mercy. Tartarus tries to help him, but Truth stops him, claiming that the Great Journey will wait for no one. With both Mercy and Regret out of the picture, Truth officially assumes complete control of the Covenant.

There are a few things that Truth indirectly caused without realizing the impact it would have. In ordering Tartarus and the Arbiter to retrieve the Icon on Delta Halo, his unleashed the Flood from containment, allowing the Gravemind to leave, claim High Charity, and invade both Earth and the Ark. Also, Truth's aims are misguided. He believes that activating the Halo array will lead to the Great Journey, some sort of spiritual transcendence, when in reality, activation of the rings will wipe out all life in the galaxy.

However, Truth knows full well that the humans want information from any and all Forerunner technology they can get their hands on, and sees this as a threat to the Great Journey. He sees humans as a significant threat to the Covenant, as well as the Separatist forces. In Halo 3, the Covenant Separatists are a full-fledged fighting force allied with the humans of the UNSC. But in Halo 2 they are scattered rebel groups, and Truth orders the Arbiter to quell them with edge of his blade.

Truth comes very close to achieving his dream, initiating the entire Halo array at once near the end of Halo 3. But Master Chief and the Arbiter manage to stop him just before the rings can fire. The Arbiter then kills the Prophet who tarnished his image.

Truth always keeps his wits about him, save perhaps in his final hours, when he sends his forces out in desperation, hoping they can buy him enough time to complete his work. For someone so delusional, Truth is always depicted as calm and confident, if not power-hungry. And the fact that he was able to command so many who would follow his word to their dying breaths says a lot about his leadership and manipulation skills.

Theme:

There isn't ever any boss fight against Truth. But the Sacred Icon Suite from Halo 2's soundtrack is perhaps the single tune most closely tied to him. Plus, it's easily one of the best tunes from any of the Halo games.

Xbox 360 review: Halo 3: ODST

As the game opens, Dutch, Romeo, and Mickey are keeping a close eye on the battle ensuing both in orbit above and on the surface of planet Earth. Buck, their commanding officer, and Dare, an ONI operative, inform the squad members to get prepped for combat (the former stating so in a more gruff manner to try and get his Orbital Drop Shock Troopers focused on the mission at hand). Romeo seems the least moved by Buck's words, and knocks the Rookie upside the head with the butt of his sniper rifle to wake up the Rookie, the newest member of the squad, whom Dutch describes as 'the strong silent type'. As Dutch assures the Rookie that Romeo didn't mean him any real harm, the ODSTs take to their drop pods with the intent of landing on the Covenant supercarrier hovering over New Mombasa. As the pods plummet through Earth's atmosphere and towards the ship, Dare informs Buck that she has orders that are not concerned with the Covenant vessel. Before any further explanation can be conveyed, the supercarrier makes a slipspace jump, taking a large chunk of the mega-city below with it, and subsequently knocking another drop pod into the Rookie's, which sends him flying off course into the city streets below.

Following what is easily one of the biggest adrenaline-rushes of an introduction in any first-person shooter, the Rookie wakes up in his pod, which has landed a few feet above street level. He drops down and - with the assistance of the city's AI named Vergil - begins to meander his way through the city in search of his squadmates. This nighttime setting allows players to freely roam within the confines of the city in search of clues to what happened to Buck, Dutch, Mickey, Romeo, and Dare. As each new clue is discovered, the story will jump back a few hours to explain where each team member fell in New Mombasa, and how they regrouped with the rest of the squad. It is during these segments that players will control each ODST in a more traditional Halo vein. Once each mission is completed, the story will return to the Rookie, who will then have access to new areas within the 'overworld'.


Longtime Halo fans will find they will have to be more strategic in Halo 3: ODST than in past entries to the series. Ammunition for human weapons is often scarce, so players should familiarize themselves with Covenant weaponry if they are not prone to using them much in other Halo games. The default loadout presents players with a pistol and a silenced SMG. The former is not quite as powerful as the magnum from past Halo games, but will still get the job done with some carefully-placed headshots. The silenced SMG is meant to fill in for the SMG and the Battle Rifle, both of which are absent from ODST. Unfortunately, the short range combined with the more narrow line of fire and awful inaccuracy of this weapon makes it impractical for almost any situation, regardless of what difficulty setting players are tackling. Equipment from Halo 3 is still present, though it is only available to enemy Brutes, and has been limited to the flare, power drain, and bubble shield. The flare's brightness has been toned down, while the power drain will only affect vehicles, as ODSTs rely on health and not energy shields. Overshields are reserved for Brute chieftains, unless there is an Engineer nearby, in which case all Covenant species in the immediate area will be granted extra protection.

VISR mode is a new addition to ODST, which, when activated, allows players to see low-light environments and enemies more clearly. While VISR mode can be activated at any point during the campaign, players will find it most useful during their nighttime exploration of New Mombasa as the Rookie. In any of the daytime missions, VISR mode is too bright to the point where it is almost impossible for players to see anything. This presents little to no problem, though, considering how naturally well-lit the daytime environments are. Each ODST squad member is able to check up on their mission objectives, map, and collectable audio logs in the midst of a mission, in a style similar to Metroid Prime. This is not the same as pausing the game, however, as players will still be open to enemy fire while checking up on their objectives. As with VISR mode, players will likely reference objectives as the Rookie more often than as anyone else, as most of the game's missions are rather linear.

One of the biggest selling points of ODST prior to its release was the inclusion of Firefight mode, which sends waves of enemies at players so that they can rack up points. While players can host an online game with up to three friends, there is no matchmaking system supported for it. The default loadouts, which present players with the pistol and silenced SMG, can prove frustrating during the stronger waves late in each set, and this is only compounded by the fact that players are granted a single respawn location. There are, however, a nice variety of maps presented, each of which is a small section pulled from the various campaign levels. Most are more heavily focused on close-quarters skirmishes within multi-leveled structures, though a couple do bring vehicular combat into the mix.


The soundtrack is host to a number of tunes that fans of the Halo series will no doubt be intimately familiar with. But the melodic string and piano sounds as well as smooth jazz stylings give ODST's soundtrack an identity all its own. The same can be said for the graphics - true, ODST still runs on the same engine as Halo 3, and as such vehicles and weapon details will carry the same look they did in 2007. But the character models have been improved upon, with smoother facial features and more natural, relaxed motions. The lighting effects and environments are significantly more stylized, presenting a beautiful marriage of Halo 3's graphics engine will the depiction of New Mombasa from Halo 2. The cast does a phenomenal job with the voice acting. While Nathan Fillion is given center stage as Buck, Dutch, Mickey, and Romeo all prove an entertaining bunch. Their stories develop as well as anyone could hope for a six hour long campaign, and while things maintain a fairly serious tone throughout, there are also some good laughs to be had along the way.

Halo 3: ODST is a highly-experimental entry for the series. It's a breed all its own, aiming for a more strategic FPS experience without sacrificing the style that Halo has built over the years. The solo portions as the Rookie truly present a feel of isolation as players scour the streets in search of clues, while also being the only force to combat the Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts still roaming the abandoned city. Conversely, each intermittent mission as Buck, Dutch, Mickey, and Romeo returns to the familiar formula of Halo, even if these are presented as shorter and more linear. The throwbacks to players' dependency on health packs and the removal of dual-wielding certainly ring close to the original Halo, but the combination of this with the gameplay elements established in the sequels shows that Bungie understands they ought to keep some elements of familiarity, but are - at the same time - not afraid to trail a little ways off the beaten path.

My rating: 8.75 (out of 10)

"Bet you can't stick it" - Ten years of Halo

"Ten years ago, Halo changed the way we play video games" - I understand Microsoft and 343 Industries' desire to pump up their audience for the upcoming Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. And let's face it, it's not like the aforementioned statement hasn't been recycled to try and sell a myriad of other video games, movies, products, etc. But I feel it's also a grand exaggeration. As someone who was not particularly fond of the original Halo when it hit the Xbox, I am still willing to give it credit where credit is due. Among the ranks of Perfect Dark and Goldeneye, Halo was one of the best first-person shooters developed for consoles. It wasn't afraid to do its own thing with the multiplayer aspect, straying from typical level designs with levels like Chiron TL-34, Boarding Action, and Hang 'em High. And it certainly helped pave the way for other games that would steal some of the PC-dominance over the genre.

My favorite genre has always been adventure games, whether they are more free-roam adventure titles like Ocarina of Time and Metroid Prime, or platform adventure games like those of the Sonic the Hedgehog and Kirby series. Aside from a few titles on the N64, I had almost zero experience playing first-person shooters, and those that I had watched others play seemed to be - with perhaps a few rare exceptions - the same game regurgitated over and over, with clunky controls and storytelling that was mediocre at best. While I don't feel that was necessarily the case with the original Halo, I kept my distance from it because, to me, it felt lacking. Yes, the multiplayer could be great fun, but only shined brightest if your friends lugged their own Xboxes and televisions over to your house to play. The story was creative, but the characters weren't particularly fleshed out, and thus I had little reason to care for them - most notably, leading man Master Chief.

I carried my skepticism towards the sequel for a few months after its release, until a friend of mine invited me over to his house for a LAN party. I was reluctant to try Halo 2, but eventually I gave in, as all eight of us playing would be staying up until well past three in the morning anyways. To put it bluntly, I was absolutely horrendous at the game. For the first few matches, I spent more time exploring the levels and subsequently being shot up than I did trying to learn the controls. I tried to stick with what I knew, and with Halo 2 being a first-person shooter, that wasn't much, save for the ability to drive vehicles. Granted, this was no Mario Kart, but I got a feel for how the Warthog, Ghost, Spectre, and Wraith all handled fairly quickly. And that became my calling for the evening - a cabbie, if you will, providing a mobile turret for slayer matches and quick getaways during capture the flag. Many hours later, I decided that perhaps my skepticism had been proven wrong - at least as far as the multiplayer was concerned. The fact that we had played so many matches with people in different states (some in different countries) was genuinely exciting.


As most of the group dozed off for the night, a few of us stragglers were still willing to have another go at the game, but decided to take turns in the cooperative campaign. Graphically, the game blew me away. It was wildly colorful and infinitely more detailed than the original Halo. The soundtrack was phenomenal to boot. I wasn't overly impressed with the events of the first few missions - sure, the segment in zero-gravity on Cairo Station and boarding the Scarab to destroy it from the inside were both pretty cool, but I felt this was more or less a highlight reel of Master Chief doing his thing - being a tough guy and killing aliens. Everything changed when things shifted to the Arbiter's perspective, which initially led me to be quite confused. Wasn't the Covenant supposed to be the enemy? Why was I controlling an Elite? Why was he being sent to kill other Elites? I soon stopped asking these questions, embracing what Halo 2 had trumped its predecessor a thousand times over with - effective storytelling, memorable characters, and a much more expansive universe.

A few LAN parties later and I went out and purchased my own Xbox, registered an account for Xbox Live, and joined in the fray. In hindsight, it was all very impulsive, as I never actually bought another game for the original Xbox - I had every intention to, but purchased Knights of the Old Republic for the PC and most other multiplatform games for either the Gamecube or Playstation 2. Eventually I upgraded to the Xbox 360, though not until almost two years after the system's launch. And of course, the first game I picked up for it was Halo 3.

I'm positive that I logged more hours of playtime in Halo 2, but I spent plenty of time in Halo 3's multiplayer matchmaking as well. Certain elements felt refined from the previous games, while others - like the equipment and Brute vehicles - felt a bit clunky and unnecessary. The story was brilliantly executed, despite my disappointment at it being shorter in length than Halo 2's campaign. Unlike many others, I had thoroughly enjoyed the Arbiter's campaign missions in Halo 2 and was sad to hear that Master Chief would be receiving the spotlight for the majority of Halo 3. I was, however, satisfied to see how the Arbiter's role in Halo 3 played out, and (as with many of the other cutscenes) I cheered as Arbiter used his energy sword to dispatch the Prophet of Truth. Ultimately, Halo 3 never felt as perfect a game as so many claimed it to be. I felt it was a fitting conclusion to the story of Master Chief, but there were so many other directions Bungie could go with this universe.


Frankly, I almost entirely ignored Halo 3: ODST when it was announced. The same went for Halo Wars. While both did present new perspectives on the Halo universe, they way they presented themselves failed to draw me in the same way the other games had. While I teased the prospect of picking up ODST, it eventually passed by, though I did take the demo of Halo Wars for a spin. I have always been quite fond of real-time strategy games on the PC, but found the resource management - or rather, lack thereof - removed much challenge from the gameplay.

I left Halo 3 behind for a while, exploring all the other games that I wanted to for the Xbox 360 - Bioshock, Resident Evil 5, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The Orange Box - until a teaser showed up online for a brand new Halo title. It was to be called Halo: Reach, and was set during one of the most important points in the Human-Covenant war. I knew the basics of what happened at Reach, as the same friend who hosted that first Halo 2 LAN party had also read a few of the Halo novels and passed on that information to me. But as Bungie unveiled new information about Halo: Reach, it was expressed that this would not be Master Chief's telling of the events. Rather, a new squad of Spartans - Noble Team - would take the helm.

The thriving world that was Reach - from its hilltop farmhouses to the sprawling metropolis of New Alexandria - coupled with the variety of personalities presented in each of the members of Noble Team brought me back to my first days with Halo 2. The campaign missions were set up as a sort of 'greatest hits', an homage to missions from every Halo title before it. The gameplay elements from Halo 3 that I was not so fond of (the equipment and weapons, primarily) were either cut or fine-tuned to work with Reach's gaming engine. And yet, despite all of the tributes to and influences from Halos of yesteryear, Halo: Reach felt like the most original and creative since the series' start.


Halo: Reach was the most fitting conclusion Bungie could have dealt to fans of their series. That said, I am still very curious to see where 343 Industries takes the franchise. Hopefully they will keep the games as community-driven as Bungie did. With Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary just two months away, I think I am going to work backwards and give ODST a fair shot before I revisit the events at Alpha Halo. I have no idea what changes lie ahead, but Halo 2 - with its phenomenal storytelling and brilliant multiplayer - will always be my favorite, and the most important game in the series to me. It was the single game that opened my eyes to everything that online console gaming could be, and turned me from a Halo skeptic to a Halo fan. In revisiting the point I made at the beginning of this article, do I think the original Halo changed the way video games are played? No. Do I think the franchise as a whole did? Without a doubt.

Favorite characters from the series:
- Arbiter
- Jun-A266
- Prophet of Truth
- Sgt. Johnson

Favorite songs:
- Sacred Icon Suite from Halo 2
- Behold a Pale Horse from Halo 3
- Finale from Halo 3: ODST
- The Pillar of Autumn from Halo: Reach

Favorite multiplayer maps:
- Blood Gulch (Halo)
- Sidewinder (Halo)
- Damnation (Halo)
- Midship (Halo 2)
- Headlong (Halo 2)
- Relic (Halo 2)
- Containment (Halo 2)
- Turf (Halo 2)
- Ghost Town (Halo 3)
- Orbital (Halo 3)
- Powerhouse (Halo: Reach)
- Condemned (Halo: Reach)

What makes a 'special edition' so special?

Special edition, collector's edition, and limited edition releases of video games are nothing new. They've been around for as long as companies have known they could make a few extra bucks by slapping on some new box art and including a few bonuses with the retail release. But these special edition releases weren't nearly as frequent ten (or even five) years ago as they are today. It seems like every major title has to provide this second option - or in some cases (like Halo), three flavors to choose from. Obviously the cost between standard and special editions is a major factor for gamers when they look into purchasing a game, but the contents can also be a dealbreaker. I certainly can't say that I'm speaking for the majority, but what I personally look for in these so-called special edition releases is, well, something different that makes the upsell seem worthwhile. The only criteria for the titles I'm going to cover is that they have to fit in the category of a special/collector's/limited edition, where the content comes packaged with the game for this special release, regardless of where the game is purchased. This means that any exclusive content promised by one store or another does not count, nor do re-releases that come packaged with an extra disc worth of DLC (ie. Game of the Year editions).

My copy of Majora's Mask is the collector's edition version, which was a promotional stint Nintendo put on for those who pre-ordered the game. Aside from the gold-colored cartridge and the holographic cover art, there's nothing to separate it from the standard game. And that's the sort of thing people expected from special edition releases of yesteryear - a little extra flair, perhaps, but the same game they could buy otherwise. I still think Majora's Mask is a phenomenal game, and I can use the gold cartridge for some bragging rights. But the content in today's special editions are usually divided into two categories - content for use in the game itself such as character costumes and weapons, or physical objects like posters and small statues.


However, I've found a lot of people tend to complain about the mini-statues included with games like Bioshock and the upcoming Batman: Arkham City. I have to agree with such sentiments - while they certainly look cool, they are likely going to sit on a shelf and gather dust. Those that include poseable parts are usually cheaply constructed and prone to break, and it's usually a better alternative to fork out a few bucks for a more sturdily-built action figure. In some cases, though, these statue-like items can serve a dual-purpose. In the case of Halo 3's Legendary edition, the Spartan Mk VI helmet (though not wearable) slid over the protective case that housed the game and the bonus material DVDs. Not to say that the Noble Team statue from the legendary edition of Halo: Reach isn't cool to look at, but Halo 3's helmet serves both aesthetic and practical purposes.

Focused more on physical bonuses, Bioshock 2's special edition release included three posters from Rapture, an artbook that detailed characters and locations from the game as well as those that were cut from the final product, the soundtrack to Bioshock 2 on a CD, and the soundtrack to the first Bioshock on a vinyl record. To top it off the box art featured a butterfly collage of handprints representative of Sofia Lamb's Rapture Family. As a huge fan of both Bioshock games, I feel this is the ultimate package 2K could have delivered to their fans. Even if you aren't as big a fan of Bioshock, there's still a nice mix of different inclusions to merit the price tag. Similarly, the recently-released Catherine had a deluxe edition that oozed the essence of what the game is all about - a pair of boxers, a t-shirt, a pillow case, and an artbook with the game's soundtrack, all packaged in a Stray Sheep pizza box.


Not all special editions have to include physical items, though they certainly should include more than two extra characters if they are going to cost an extra ten dollars (I'm looking at you, Marvel vs. Capcom 3). Going back to Halo 3, the majority of the bonus content for the Legendary release was on the included DVDs, which presented a great deal of information on the major characters, species, and events of the Halo universe. The collector's edition of Halo: Reach went a slightly different route by including a journal penned by Dr. Halsey and a number of files, photographs, and maps that served to elaborate on the events preceding the fall of Reach as well as to closer tie the game to the Halo novels. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots saw a limited edition release that included a bonus disc which served a similar purpose - present players with a digital encyclopedia that links together every event and character from the Metal Gear Solid storyline.

While there has been a constant increase in recent years in the number of games that see special edition releases, not every one of them receives as much praise as the next. It seems some companies are now listening to their consumers and including content that not only sets the special edition apart from the crowd, but also makes gamers feel like their money was well-spent. Personally, I'm a fan of such a motion. Obviously not all of them are going to change their tune to accommodate, but that's also a big part of the reason I seek out the few special editions that I do wish to splurge on - the more one-of-a-kind package it is, the more likely I am to purchase it.