Whats up everybody? This is The Act Man here! And today, were going to discuss quite possibly
the most heated topic amongst the Halo community. A topic so fiercely argued across the stars,
internet forums. A subject debated throughout history, and
Time itself. Im talking of course, JENKINS! About Which Halo game had the best multiplayer?! So grab yourself a nice hot cup of Joe, or
a cold glass of whiskey if its that time, because were gonna take a look at all the
different multiplayers throughout these mainline Halo games, to find out which one was the
best! Now without even getting 30 seconds into this
video, theres gonna be people in the comments throwing out their favorites! So you know what, lets play a little game. Comment which one you think is the best or
do a list from best to worst. Then when you finish watching the video edit
your comment and let me know if your thoughts have changed or if they havent. There are so many variables that make up a
Halo multiplayer, it might seem daunting to really look at them in-depth, but I believe
Ive narrowed down the most important categories here. One: Map Design, Map Selection, and Movement. Two: Weapons, Vehicles, Balancing & Controls,
Three: Variety, Game Modes, Playlists, Custom Game options, Forge. Four: Skill Gap and Learning Curve. Five: Innovation, DLC, & Time of Release. This basically means, how did the game launch? What was the gaming industry like at the time? Did the multiplayer innovate in a positive
way overall? And was the DLC, if it had any, of good quality
and worth the price? And number six: the Overall Fun Factor
Well judge each game based on these focal points and give them a grade from 1 to 10. Of course, this will be entirely, uhhhh ummmm
whats the word again? SUBJECTIVE! So try not to get your jet pack all in a bunch. At the end, Ill stack them up against each
other and give you the order from worst to best. Im not claiming to be an expert game designer,
Im not claiming to have all the answers. But I will say I have played each one of these
games a hefty amount and I think Im in a position to judge them. Im down for all types of discussion because
I could very well be wrong with some of the things I say. One last thing, were gonna be taking off those
NOSTALGIA GOGGLES! And Im going to look at each game as objectively
as I possibly can. So lets set up a LAN Party, get on Xbox Live
for the first time, smash people with a hammer, armor lock like a little bitch, spawn with
a boltshot, and ground pound our way straight into this. First up, Halo Combat Evolved. This is where it all started! Not just the Halo Series, but console FPS
games in general. Without CE, who knows how long it wouldve
taken for first person shooters to actually become viable on consoles. Because of the ground it broke, the integration
of LAN parties and 4 player splitscreen, Combat Evolved gets an automatic 10 in Category 5. As the Xbox version never had any DLC and
was released during a time when games were sold when they were actually complete! YOU REMEMBER THOSE DAYS?! Halo 1 had 13 Maps plus 6 on the PC version. So to be clear, Im judging the original Xbox
version, as PC did bring a new type of warthog along with the flamethrower and fuel rod which
were great additions but again, not in the original. Now seeing as how this game couldve flopped
and had no Xbox Live to support its multiplayer, I believe those are the reasons why CE has
some of the most unique maps in the franchise. No other Halo Game has a level like Chiron
TL34, with its maze like design, the many rooms and teleporters. Or Boarding Action, with two vertical platforms
separated by an abyss. The game had a great variety of small, middle,
and large scale maps. CE had a heavy emphasis on power weapons,
powerups and map control. Only issue is spawning could be pretty bad
at times. And granted, that could be because Im playing
the MCC right now. Even though this was the new frontier, the
spawning problems become especially apparent when going against skilled players. The only real issue with the maps, through
no real fault of their own, was actually getting enough people to play on them, the way they
were intended. So unless you knew 15 other people, and understood
how to hook up a LAN party, chances are with only 4 people, youd just stick to the small
to medium maps. Meaning the bigger ones were hardly played. Because of these potentially unplayable maps,
and the spawning, we gotta knock two points off. Giving it 8/10 in category one
What made CE unique from other shooters was the incorporation of vehicles. Once again, moving into new territory for
the FPS genre. There was nothing more fun than getting 3
people to ride around in a warthog shooting everything that moves, and still to this day
that is true. The weapons were all fun to use and unique. But of course, and some might disagree, the
balancing was far from perfect. In a normal game, if you spawn with two weapons
and everytime you switch to your secondary, thats a problem with balancing. In multiplayer, the pistol is just way better
than the Assault rifle even up close. Course you cant talk vehicles without bringing
up their hilarious physics. I die laughing everytime a vehicle with the
slightest momentum possible manages to kill someone. You might think I should knock a point off
or two, but I consider this a part of CEs gameplay and charm. You gotta do your goddamn best to not touch
a moving vehicle. Controls are fluid, responsive and to this
day feel quite good. Category two 9/10
As far as variety goes, Combat Evolved had so many different ways to play. Side note, one of my favorite parts about
CE is how hilarious the custom game descriptions are. I mean, instead of writing exactly what changes
based on the settings, somebody actually took the time to write through and add some character
here. Compared to later games, the 5 modes and custom
options might seem primitive, but this was the 1st in the series. And I feel the same way about its variety
back then as I do now. I never felt like the game didnt have enough
content. It has and always will be a fun as hell party
game to play with friends. Category three 10/10
Playing this game with your buddies, chances are nobody is gonna be a pro and itll all
be good fun. However if you play against someone that knows
the game, someone that can do this type of shit! Well youre as good fucked. The skill gap and learning curve can be BRUTAL. But this is only an issue that arises on MCC. The game can be super competitive, and also
great casual fun. Its easy to pick up, and extremely hard to
be a pro. Category four 9/10
Combat Evolved is as I said before, is a fucking masterpiece, and the multiplayer is no exception. Not since Starcraft Brood War, has a games
multiplayer been so old yet so replayable and fun. Id give the multiplayer a 10/10, but realistically,
I think back to those days of hopelessly WISHING I could play the bigger maps with more than
4 people, the frustration of the overpowered pistol. And to be true to myself, Combat Evolved gets
a 9/10 in the Fun Factor. Real pretty. Friend of yours? Nah, we just met. Halo 2, The Older Brother. No doubt those of us that played this game
on OG Xbox Live back in the day, have memories so good theyre hard to describe. Halo 2, like the original, innovated in a
way that changed the gaming industry. This time for online play. Halo 2 basically launched Xbox Live nobody
can deny that. And if you think Im being generous here, the
DLC map packs were made free just 2 months after they were released, with the Bonus Map
Pack being free outright. That type of generosity is UNHEARD of in todays
gaming industry. It should be noted, that many players at launch
had trouble finding games. Now I dont have personal experience on the
matter, and I know there were many bugs in game like rocket-sword flying, superbounces,
but I think because this was stepping into new territory at the time, it was gonna be
a bit rocky. Still, Halo 2 narrowly avoids a perfect score
in this category because of its launch issues. 9.5 out of 10 in category 5. So without the DLC, Halo 2 had 12 maps at
release. And talk about variety! You got remakes of the classic Blood Gulch,
there was Elongation, based off of Longest. All time favorites would be added, like Zanzibar,
Ivory Tower, Lockout, Ascension AND THE ALMIGHTY MIDSHIP! Having been remade 4 times in later games,
this map is an all time classic. Not to mention my favorite and coincidentally
underrated map in Halo 2, Backwash. A remake of the final section of 343 Guilty
Spark. The map variety is nothing short of spectacular,
building upon the Foundation the 1st game set, and making the bigger maps more accessible
through Xbox Live. 10/10 in Category 1
Halo 2 expanded the sandbox for vehicles, weapons, turrets, and also added one of the
greatest features known to man. DUAL-WIELDING!!! Theres something just so badass about holding
two guns at the same time, I dont know why more games dont do this. But theres something about Halo 2s gameplay
that is just so smooth. The control is basically perfect, it plays
so well and back then, a game this fluid mixed with online play was quite impressive. Although ghost melees were a problem. I absolutely loved being able to pilot a Wraith
and the Spectre. Though not utilized as much in multiplayer,
Covenant themed game types were a nice change of pace. And the addition of playable elites opened
up a lot of doors for creativity. Balancing was a bit more off this time. Rocket Launcher was basically a guaranteed
kill against vehicles. The sword had insane range and infinite ammo. And modded controllers, button combos and
exploits were rampant. Dual wielding some weapons was good in campaign
but multiplayer, ehhhhhhhhh. Category two 9/10
The variety was expanded upon in every way, more custom game options, more modes, and
a nice selection of playlists. Race was left out, which was a bummer but
not too terrible a loss considering it was pretty archaic in Combat Evolved. Not much to say here, the game improved and
added onto what was offered in the 1st. 10/10 Category 3
Now the skill gap in Halo 2 is pretty big. Many will argue button combos are part of
the game, and I kind of agree. But to the casual player, they wouldnt have
known or understood them. Meaning that if you could pull off some of
these ridiculous combos, youd have a HUGE advantage over those that couldnt. There was more than just the BXR, alright. And this could really suck the fun outta the
game for new players because these mechanics are not told or shown to them. So people would get destroyed in a flash and
not have the slightest clue why. This happened to me a lot when I was younger
and it could be very frustrating. Making the learning curve especially brutal
this time around. But on the flipside, this was another layer
of depth in Halos gameplay that made the competitive side THRIVE, and made it so entertaining to
watch! Category four 8/10
Halo 2 has one of the greatest multiplayers of all time. Improving what the 1st game set up, and adding
onto the variety. Theres something so hilariously fun about
having a Needler only fight, or swords only. Assault was a great game mode and Halo 2 offered
a lot of asymmetric game types. You know, one bomb, one flag. Just like the original, this multiplayer is
fun no matter how many years have passed since its release. Really the only downside is how oppressive
the game could be to casual players and of course the launch issues. Even playing custom games now on MCC, I think
its way more fun to play without the combos. But thats just me. Because of this, Halo 2 dodges a perfect fun
factor and gets a 9/10 overall. Would it help if I said please? Halo 3, The Record Setter
I dont think theres any doubt that just about everyone loves Halo 3s Multiplayer. I mean, how could you not? But on the real, Halo 3 broke so many records
on release and theres a reason for that. So lets take a closer look at it. Map Variety for Halo 3 is kind of tricky,
as this game launched with fewer maps than both of the previous ones. Snowbound and Isolations (for reasons I never
quite understood) would be viewed as the two ugly ducklings amongst Halo fans. On a positive note, the game did remake some
older maps, but Bungie made them in a way that they basically became entirely new maps
with the same formula. Guardian is the same style of map as Lockout. Valhalla is a different take on Blood Gulch. Narrows once again, being reminiscent of Elongation
and Longest. And my personal favorite map out of all the
games, Sand Trap. Because those two elephants offered so many
awesome, unique moments in gaming and to this day I have not seen or heard of a map quite
like Sand Trap. Halo 3s map design was so creative with each
level offering a different type of experience. Mancannons and Mongooses added fun ways to
traverse the map, movement overall was pretty solid and simple. Although I personally think every map at release
was great, a lot of fans didnt. Meaning the selection of good maps was roughly
9. But matchmaking was vastly improved this time
around with a simple system. The veto. Dont like a map? Veto it and hopefully get one you do like? Had Halo 3 launched with 2 more high quality
maps especially FOUNDRY. Id give it a 10 and without the veto system
itd be 8 so naturally, category one 9/10. The sandbox and balancing were at its best
in Halo 3. Older weapons had been updated and refined
to work better. We got the Gravity Hammer, Spartan Laser,
Hornet, the mongoose, and probably the coolest vehicle, the chopper! Heavy weapons were added, giving the game
another layer of depth. And equipment, though not perfect, was a welcome
and fun addition that spiced up the gameplay. One of the biggest issues people had was with
the battle rifle. I admit, back in the day I was accustomed
to Halo 2 and this time around the battle rifle threw me off. I felt like my shots should have been hitting
my opponents when they werent. And this was because the change from hitscan
to projectile really changed the mechanics of the weapon. Seeing as how its the universal go to gun,
this was a huge hurdle for many players to overcome and understand. The control wasnt quite as good as Halo 2,
and Im sure most people had the same problem I did of throwing their equipment out when
they meant to reload. As the 360 controller had two bumpers which
took a lot of time getting used to. The field of view for some, was too close. But overall the gameplay is great, weapon
balance was refined to near perfection, everything had a level of counterplay to it. And the game offered a stunning amount of
new vehicles, weapons and sandbox elements to play around with. Category two 10/10
The variety of gameplay options that Halo 3 offered is something VERY few games have
managed to achieve. Not only had the previous modes returned,
they also added VIP and fan favorite Infection. Also for Fan service and as a nod to Red Vs.
Blue, Bungie made Grifball a full-fledged game mode, adding it into the Action Sack
playlist. Along with MASSIVE additions to custom game
options. You could tweak and change anything! This would be good enough on its own, but
Bungie came out with something incredible. Forge. No, no not that guy. THIS! In my opinion, the most important addition
the Halo series ever had. What you could play in Halo 3, was only limited
to your imagination. And theater was almost equally as important,
but not really relevant to multiplayer. Though it did allow people to create their
own videos, montages, or just save their favorite clips. This was Halos community at its absolute peak. With so many things to do, game modes to play,
the variety Halo 3 offered was the reason its one of the most beloved games in the series. Of course the online portion of the game had
several playlists, a ranking system with XP for competitive players, armor customization,
achievements. The list goes on and on. Category three 10/10
In terms of skill gap and learning curve, this is when Halo was once again, at its best
in my opinion. The nerfs to the BR made it so cross mapping
people wasnt as easy as it was with the pistol and battle rifle in Halo 2. The limit to 2 nades each lowered the amount
of grenade spam. But the game still was very competitive! And it wasnt as punishing as the last two,
it was more about knowing who to shoot, when, and from what position, rather than who could
exploit bad spawns or button combos the best. Players could go into forge to see everything
about the map. Where weapons spawn, how long the timer is,
where players respawn. All this important information about every
single map was available to everyone, so if you did research youd have a leg up! Your average or mediocre player could in almost
all cases, contribute to the team. Yet, a person who knew what they were doing,
could still kick some serious ass! Its very difficult to make a game both accessible
and fun on a casual and competitive level. And Halo 3 nailed that perfectly! Category four 10/10
As I said earlier, Halo 3 made massive innovations with Forge, Theater, armor customization,
and multiplayer ranking. Theres no doubt the game brought with it many
good changes. And at its release it was one of, if not the
best game on the market. So its time of release was great. It didnt suffer from any game breaking issues
as far as I remember. But its when we get the DLC thats when things
get a little muddled. You see, Halo 2s map pack not only brought
9 new maps.Two months later was made free, but it also updated the game for those who
didnt have a connection to Xbox Live or the internet. Halo 3 on the other hand, had, 4 map packs
each priced at $10 Now many people didnt have a problem with
paying for these maps, I didnt as they are all quite good and expanded upon Halo 3s gameplay
opportunities. But at this point it really seemed like Microsoft
was really milking Halo 3 for all it was worth. Lot of people were upset and even Arby & the
Chief had a meaningful discussion on it. Do you think the maps were worth 10 dollars? Ya who dusnt hav ten dol3rz? I wipe my ass with 10 dol3rz!1 Thats not what
I asked. I think a big concern was Halo 3 didnt launch
with a dedicated Forge Map, you know just a blank canvas that could take advantage of
the new feature. It wasnt until the heroic map pack came out
that they even offered that and you had to pay for it. I think the biggest concern was the more map
packs came out, the more segmented the population became. Youd be locked out of certain playlists if
you didnt pay for em. Halo 3 did nearly everything right, but for
DLC, they really did piss a lot of people off. Still, the innovations made across the board
make me give it a 9/10 in category 5. Overall, Halo 3 offers some of the best FPS
multiplayer experiences ever. It had loads of content, so many ways to play. And there was something for everyone be it
competitive, casual, map creation, video production. Maps like Last Resort were so intense when
playing One bomb or one flag. Sand Trap was one of the best the series has
to offer. Theres so many reasons and I cant list them
all, that make me give Halo 3 a perfect 10/10 fun factor. YES! YES! Then they must love the smell of bulgary. Yeah Im doing a little product placement. I gotta get paid too! Halo: Reach The Finale And now we come to Bungies last, and most
controversial addition in the Halo franchise. This is where a lot of people thought they
dropped the ball, but many others loved it for its return to the more traditional formula
found in the first game. But lets go ahead and put Reach under the
microscope. Map design and selection is definitely not
Reachs strong suit. Dont get me wrong, I think the maps themselves
are great, but theres a few critical problems here. First off, the game only launched with 9 multiplayer
maps, add onto this two of those are remakes and it doesnt look good at first glance. Although the game had 17 maps total including
the Firefight ones, the biggest issue is all these locations are ripped straight from the
campaign. Its not a bad idea to have a few maps like
this. But that doesnt make it ok for the entire
selection to be like that! Gamers were seeing and playing through the
same locations in the campaign, firefight and multiplayer! And that can get pretty tiring. 2nd issue is the Spartan abilities radically
change the way each player moves around. So the maps had to be made for campaign AND
multiplayer which then had to be balanced with sprint, jet packs, evade, all this shit
had to be taken into account and it overcomplicated the design. The game got rid of the veto system and instead
added straight up voting. Which meant oftentimes youd be replaying the
same game types in the same locations over and over again. And lastly, Reach depended too much on forged
maps, which arent bad but just cant match real dev made maps. Though these are, in my eyes pretty big flaws,
Reach is able to partially make up for this because the maps are competent and fun and
because of Forge World, Spire & Boneyard. Bungies greatest, biggest, and most versatile
maps. Were it not for Forge World, Reach wouldve
lost A LOT more points here. Category 1 7/10
For weapons, vehicles, and balancing this is where the game is a lot different than
its predecessors. Its a prequel, which means the technology
is going to be quite a bit different. Well since Bungie wanted to return to where
they started, they try to recreate a game similar to Combat Evolved. Health packs are back, and dual-wielding is
gone. I remember my disappointment with the lack
of dual-wielding. And to this day I still think it was the wrong
move. If Halo 3 could balance equipment and dual
wielding, Reach couldve done the same with Armor Abilities. Reach was the first game in the series to
actually take away more sandbox elements than it added. Which is disappointing no matter which way
you slice it. Reach was the 1st game in the series, to take
away more weapons and vehicles than it added, which is disappointing no matter which way
you slice it. We lost the chopper, hornet, prowler, elephant,
and in return got the Revenant, Falcon and Rocket Hog. We lost the mauler, Beam Rifle, Brute Shot,
Missile Pod, Spike & Firebomb Grenades, Carbine, SMG, BR, Sentinel beam, and Flamethrower. In return we got the Plasma Launcher, Concussion,
Focus, and Needle Rifles, Plasma Repeater, Grenade Launcher and DMR. Being the last Halo game made by Bungie, it
was stupid that it didnt have as many sandbox elements as 3. With so many possibilities, with one last
hurrah, they really shouldve gone all out here. But again, what Reach does have is all extremely
fun to use, the falcon is without a doubt, one of the coolest vehicles in video game
history. And I think we can agree the needle rifle
and grenade launcher are two of the best things Reach added. Balancing was another problem people had,
as I said, the maps had to accommodate all the different armor abilities. Which is hard to do! Not to mention the dreaded fucking armor lock. Probably the worst decision Bungie ever made. Its a cool idea in theory and it works in
the campaign, but to have gun fights completely stop in their tracks is one of the most infuriating
things about the multiplayer. The inclusion of reticule Bloom caused a big
stir as well as an element of chance when engaging in a firefight, because sometimes
you could just spam shots and get lucky. And if you didnt pace your shots, it was really
annoying for the weapon to lose SO much accuracy. And to have your opponent get away. If you look at Reach as its own game, the
balancing isnt terrible, but its not what people expected from a new Halo game, and
I gotta take that into account. Control in this game is just as good as others,
but not as fluid as Halo 2. Reach struggles in a few areas and weapons,
vehicles, and balance are arguably the most important. Category two 7/10
Oh but all the smack I been talking on Reach thus far is gonna be flipped on its head. Because the game offers the most variety out
of any of the Halos! They went all out here, nearly every game
mode from the last 3 entries is back in full force with a couple new ones. Custom game options were somehow increased
and firefight was fully customizable. You could play it on the most ridiculous imaginable
and thats something no other Halo game has. And who could forget the armor customization? I couldnt tell you how much time I spent looking
over my Spartan mixing and matching pieces, colors, emblems. Saving up for something I really wanted only
to level up and see another piece of armor I wanted to save for. The only disappointing part was Reach didnt
offer a lot of Elite customization. Forge was even more refined, new objects there
and Forge World is just the coolest most versatile map ever created in the franchise. And Invasion is one of the more unique and
fun game modes Halo has ever had. Ill quickly mention the UI here even though
its not necessarily related, but its flawless. Navigating the menus, seeing your friends
online on the sidebar, I mean it all flows together to create this gaming experience
that offers an incredible amount of content and an easy way to access it all. Its hard to say anything bad about what Reach
offered as a game, because theres no denying it had more content than all the others. Despite it cutting a lot of sandbox elements. Reach EASILY gets a 10/10 in category 3
The skill gap and learning curve, you know the competitive and casual sides of the game
were dumbed down quite a bit. Its not Halo 4 esque, but its not as difficult
to be really good at the game. You always have a get out of jail card in
your armor ability. The lack of even starts was a big controversy
amongst the hardcore fanbase. Bloom kind of fucked competitive play, and
with no ranked playlists or ranking system, the game was mostly a casual experience. Now it does get points for not being brutally
oppressive, but at the same time, it doesnt gain points because high level play just wasnt
as interesting as Halo 2 & 3. Seeing as how players can sprint and jet pack
all over the place, or hide with active camo meant map control was less important. Category four, 6/10 Reachs DLC basically had the same problem
as 3, except for the fact that the game didnt force you to pay for a dedicated forge map. Anniversary map pack was really freakin sweet
if you were a big fan of CE and down to drop the money. Unlike Halo 2, and Halo 5 the game launched
with all the features intact and working properly. Had it not been missing a few genuine competitive
playlists and legit ranking system, Id call it a perfect launch. The issue in this category is Innovation. The game simply took away more sandbox elements
than it added. And I think most people would agree, even
if you think Reach is the best, it didnt improve upon Halo 3s formula. Rather, it changed it. Its a prequel so it has somewhat of an excuse. At the same time, its the follow up game to
Halo 3 and thus it was expected Reach would innovate and add just like the last two games. So in category 5, Reach gets a 7/10
The overall fun factor for Reach greatly depends on whether or not you enjoy the gameplay. That sounds obvious, but this time its a more
relevant point. Because of the sheer variety it has. The game suffered in the competitive scene
with the skill gap, and map selection. And matchmaking forced players to choose armor
abilities and loadouts. But you cant ignore that Reach simply offers
far too many ways to play. Nor could you forget the refined forge, custom
game options and all of that. Overall Fun Factor for Halo: Reach 7.5/10
Beautiful. Someone should take a picture. Nice work by the way. Halo 4, The Experiment
Woof. So now we arrive at the black sheep and boy
oh boy do I have some things to say about it. To be fair for just a moment, were this a
new IP, it wouldnt have had nearly as bad a wrap. At this point Bungie was gone and 343 had
taken over. Giving us a brand new Halo just two short
years after Reach, and man that extra year wouldve helped them out a LOT. You thought Reachs map were bad? Halo 4 will make you cringe. Dont get me wrong there are some really cool
maps here, Exile, Haven, Longbow. The biggest weakness of Halo 4s selection,
ties into category 2, which is that the weapon and grenade spawns are completely fucking
random. The maps feel barren, empty because theres
hardly ever a reason to go looking for weapons, powerups or anything. Also because of loadouts, not even basic weapons
are on the maps and because of this, map control, power positions are nearly nonexistent. So it turned Halo 4 into a cheap Call of Duty
game where 99% of the time youre just looking for someone to shoot. It really is a chain reaction of bad decisions
because now that specific weapons dont spawn on the map, they start to blend together and
all feel the same. The sword at the top of midship. The Spartan laser in the middle of standoff. The rockets on top of the pillar in Chill
out. The simple placement of these guns is what
made Halos maps feel unique, special and different, because you knew these weapons were on the
map and where they would spawn thus making them highly contested areas. BTB really suffered here, because even the
large maps felt enclosed for vehicle combat. Exile is great, but just look at how little
room you have to navigate. I mean, they feel cramped. How is it the maps in Combat Evolved felt
so much more expansive than this. Another misstep was lack of asymmetrical maps,
you know like Last Resort, High ground, which made the selection ever worse. Movement in the other Halo games was pretty
much the same except for Reach. But this time every player has sprint and
armor abilities. And any remakes of past maps are ruined because
they arent to scale. Not to mention sprinting is so weird in Halo
4, you just feel like youre sliding all over the place. A first person shooter can only be so fun
if it doesnt have good, replayable and unique maps. And thats where Halo 4 utterly dropped the
ball Category one 3/10
Where did you go wrong, Halo 4? Where did you GO WRONG?! Well lets talk positives here. The Sticky Detonator is really cool. The mantis was a fucking awesome addition
to the vehicle selection and the rail gun made ya feel pretty badass. Uhhhh thats about it. I cant remember a game that created so many
new weapons that looked awesome, only for them to fall flat on their face. The weapon selection is atrociously BAD. A big part of that is you can spawn with anything
that isnt a power weapon. This was the thing I hated most about 4, every
gun fight is plagued by precision weapons and the goddamn boltshot. They were fucking everywhere, and trying to
use anything else or experiment with different combos was simply not viable because the balance
was fucked. I mean they were fun to use for the first
couple weeks, but everyone soon realized how shallow they were and the gameplay overall. I will say, the new armor abilities were pretty
cool, satisfying to use, had the rest of the game been made well, better. I think this element would have shined a lot
brighter. A minor but important note, the sound effects
are nothing alike what they were in the past. Making the game feel and sound like something
that just isnt Halo. And whats worse is we lost even more weapons
and vehicles than we did in Reach! Not to mention being able to spawn with a
plasma pistol pretty fucked up vehicle combat entirely. I dont care that theres perks to help with
that, its shitty design. And thats another thing, you might remember
when you hit a certain level youd unlock a specialization, right? What the fuck is that about?! You play the game longer than other players
and suddenly youre given an advantage simply for putting more in time? Are you SERIOUS? And then loadoust, man. Loadouts. To be honest, this is nice idea on paper,
the idea of killstreaks in Halo is something I had always hoped for. But not like this. If you want loadouts and killstreaks in a
Halo game? Have one or two modes, thats it and the rest
of the game plays without them. Bungie shouldve done this, 343 shouldve done
this. So the majority of the guns arent fun to use
OR balanced, the game lacks more sandbox elements than both the previous games, and the map
design is centered around random weapon spawns, making Halo 4s gunplay the worst in the series. Theres hardly any saving graces here, its
just fucking bad. Category two a pitiful 2.5/10
Im not gonna knock points off for variety because Halo 4 doesnt match or improve upon
Reach. I give 343 a bit of a pass because they were
making a new Halo game and you its unrealistic to expect a brand new developer to match the
success of a seasoned veteran. That being said, Halo 4s variety in terms
of gameplay is not bad, Id say its about average in terms of the core multiplayer. It wasnt until about a year later that Forge
Island was released, which really screwed with the forge community and custom games
overall. Dominion is definitely Halo 4s highlight though,
without a doubt the best thing it has to offer. Its so good, I was actually disappointed not
to see it in Halo 5. Since Spartan Ops was something you could
play with your buddies, Ill include it here. Lemme just say to replace firefight with THIS. Was not worth it at all. Its not terrible, you can have some casual
fun playing with your buddies. Now at first it was fun to customize your
loadouts, perks, whatnot. Again, the good elements of the COD series
couldve worked well here, but the more you look at it, the more shallow it becomes. But apart from that, Halo 4 doesnt really
offer much that will WOW you. Its kind of at the baseline average of what
youd expect from a Halo game. Cateogry three 6/10
Skill gap? Learning curve? PFFT! Pick up a boltshot and a precision weapon,
youre good to go! 3/10
The way Halo 4 innovated was infinitely worse than anything Reach had done. Customizable loadouts couldve worked for 1
or two modes, but being the core of the multiplayer? That messed up the whole game! And you wanna talk sprint? Thats another thing! Just look at all the commotion sprint has
caused in the Halo community. Apart from that nearly everything new Halo
4 tried to do only made the game worse. They even somehow managed to ruin infection
by giving the infected these ridiculous designs and forcing them to use a sword at all times. It launched in a functional state, but the
game was notorious for how quickly its population fell. And its belief, the decisions made for Halo
4s multiplayer are the biggest reasons the series has had a fall from grace. Category five, 2/10
Despite all of this, Halo 4s multiplayer can still be fun. Mostly at the casual level though, its not
the type of game that could maintain a playerbase and Id be lying if I told you I didnt have
fun at all playing this back when it came out. This is a Halo game, the pieces are all there
so it still does have value. What you can say about Halo 4 is it switched
up the formula and give us something new. Might not be much, but its some praise Im
willing to give. You could also argue 343 just continued what
Bungie set up in Reach. However if 343 had paid attention to the criticisms
made about Reach, they wouldnt have made those same mistakes in 4. Unfortunately the decisions to copy CODs formula,
while ditching the staples of the previous games left Halo 4 in a pretty unremarkable
spot. Dominion is enjoyable, but the other games
are just way more fun. Overall fun factor 4/10
I dont know about you, but I usually like a little more intel with my intel. Halo 5: Guardians, The Revival? So now we move onto the last game, and 343s
most recent entry. Its hard to judge Halo 5 at any one point
in time because the game has had far more changes and updates to it than ever before. But lets take a look. Maps in Halo 5 were decent. But the game tried so hard to be competitive
it often made maps without the unique elements of previous games. It also has no developer made BTB maps which
is a real letdown and pretty much killed my desire to play that. Halo 5 heavily relied on remixes, and recycled
content to give the impression of a larger selection. Now later in the games lifespan 343 created
many more unique maps, but they werent there at launch so thats gonna affect the score. Movement is much more fluid, free. Sprint is no longer like ice skating. And the Spartan abilities offer a lot of unique
movement opportunities. Though as noted, these movement abilities
are a nightmare to balance within the map design. Id give Warzone some big points here but the
problem is it launched with 3 maps and it took far too long for new Warzone maps to
come out so I quickly got tired of the mode. Category one 6/10
Weapons and vehicles have a lot of good and bad here. On one hand, the game had a buttload of variants
for forge and Warzone. On the other hand, there was only one truly
new vehicle, and all these variants added a lot of redundancy and complication. So much of the sandbox was locked behind req
packs and it took a long time for them to put all the different variants into Forge. Halo 5 was able to balance the weapons from
Halo 4 in a way that didnt make them overpowered or completely useless. Though the binary rifle is far inferior to
the other two snipers. Suppressor, Boltshot, and Incineration Cannon
were given lock on capabilities, which seems pretty redundant. The game was very much balanced, but the control
is where Halo 5 suffers. Without an elite controller it simply feels
like youre at a disadvantage. Trying to manage thrusters, melee, reload,
jumping, everything, it was the most complex in terms of control. Though with the amount of crazy awesome weapons
you can use and how creative they got with them, Halo 5 gets an 8/10 in category 2
Variety is where the game shines and falters. Again, after all the updates the features
everyone expected were trickling in. Warzone was REALLY fun for the first couple
months but lost its luster without the map variety to back it up. BTB was terrible, Theater became an absolute
joke, and no splitscreen severely limited players abilities to enjoy the game with friends. But the biggest issue here, is the inconsistency
in variety. Throughout its lifespan, Halo 5 has never
been able to settle on a selection of playlists, maps, and game modes. Instead opting for adding, and removing them
at a whim. For a month or two we had shotty snipes and
team snipers, then they were gone. This has happened 100 times within the games
lifespan. Maps have been consistently tweaked, added,
removed. Making it nearly impossible to get accustomed
to them and understand where all weapons spawn. It was hard to ever feel contentment, like
there was a point where Halo 5 was the way it was meant to be. The MASSIVE improvements to forge can only
go so far in providing new ways to play, and they cant cover the pitfalls of the multiplayer
as a whole. Still, it is able to recoup from an otherwise
bad score here. Category 3 7/10
Halo 5 returns to the competitive roots of Combat Evolved and Halo 2, but it does so
with a much too heavy emphasis. The game is really not accessible to casual
players and if you take a break it takes a lot of time to readjust to the controls and
flow of the game. Halo 5 succeeded in creating a very competitive
game with a huge skill gap and learning curve, but at the cost of sacrificing a lot of casual
fun. Where Halo 2 could be just as fun for casuals
as it was for competitive players, Halo 5 isnt able to recapture that perfect balance
between two audiences. And thus it gets a 7/10 in category 4. Now this is where shit gets rough. Aside from MCC, Halo 5 launched in a worse
state than any of the previous games. Not because it was broken, but because it
had barely any content. You couldnt even consider it barebones, it
was more like the dust of bones. To put things in perspective. Combat Evolved launched with 5 game modes,
Halo 5 launched with 4. It doesnt matter which way you spin it, all
the progress, features, content that the series had built up to this point, was just gone
at release. What are fans supposed to think when all their
favorite features theyve been playing for over a decade are just gone? Theres no longer splitscreen, AND microtransactions
have been added? Well it left a pretty shit taste in my mouth
for many months. I still played the game and had fun, but that
was accompanied by feelings of when is the next update, when are we getting Infection,
grifball, etc. Any potential innovation in the mechanics
or gameplay was heavily overshadowed by the games sheer lack of anything. And oftentimes, updates would break features
or cause even more glitches to pop up. The fluidity of the gameplay, the 60FPS, returning
to Combat Evolveds roots it can only go so far when massive amounts of content and features
are either totally missing or totally broken. MCC being literally unplayable is as bad as
it gets, but this is the next worse thing. Being nearly devoid of all the reasons people
buy and play the Halo games. That is why it should come to no surprise
Halo 5 gets a 2/10 in this category. If you enjoy Halo 5s gameplay at its core,
all the new abilities, then youll be able to enjoy a fiercely competitive game with
a lot of nuanced strategies. Warzone was really fun and experimental. Breakout was cool, we got competitive ranking
back. And many other good things would come in time
through the updates. But thats really, Halo 5s biggest flaw. It relied so much on upcoming content that
people started to lose interest. And the inconsistent variety is something
I just cant get over. Its these things that made Halo 5s multiplayer
at odds with itself. An ultra competitive game that could never
find the right balance. I always have enjoyed Halo 5 despite all the
videos Ive made criticizing it. But thats exactly the point, there is far
too much of this game to criticize. Overall fun factor, 7/10
Im not so much hunting a Spartan, as I am hunting THE Spartan. So now its time to stack these all up against
each other and find out, Which Halo Has The Best Multiplayer? #6 Halo 4 because of its overall bad design,
radical change in formula for the worse. And attempt to steal CODs audience. Without a doubt, Halo 4 has the worst multiplayer
in the franchise. #5 This is going to cause some controversy,
Halo 5 takes the 5th spot. Even though the game is in a MUCH better state
now, with all the updates. When you consider that as a series, the Halo
games should build upon and add to the previous games, or at the very least match the content
of Halo 3, to see this game pull a massive 180 backwards in terms of content just sucked. The removal of splitscreen co-op is unacceptable. AND game-changing microtransactions, made
the game worse. Ideally, I wanted to put Halo 5 in the 2nd
or 3rd best spot, but realistically it had so many problems that distracted from its
great, core gameplay. #4 Halo: Reach Reach suffers because of its
map design & selection, lack of ranking system and its departure from the fundamental designs
of Halo, which shaped the series for the future. But it makes up for it by providing the greatest
variety out of all the games AT LAUNCH! And the way it managed to refine each and
every one of these features, making it more accessibility, is why the game is at Number
4. Many people dont like the gameplay, but I
feel the sheer variety it offered and t improvements it made for all modes, earns it the 4th best
multiplayer. #3 Combat Evolved This little guy changed
the industry! It proved First person shooters could work
to great success on consoles. To this day, its still one of the best party
games to play with a group of friends. And many argue it has the most competitive
multiplayer. CE is a classic, and nobody can argue the
foundation it laid for FPS games. However, its beaten by its older brothers. #2 Halo 2 CE might have changed consoles,
but Halo 2 changed online gaming. Xbox Live was so crazy to experience back
in the day, and it paved way for future FPS series to take root. It was majorly responsible for the success
of MLG and the origins of competitive eSports could definitely be traced back to Halo 2. Add onto this the playable elites, new sandbox
elements and incredible map design, and Halo 2 rightfully earns spot number 2. And finally, the best multiplayer in the Halo
franchise is none other than Halo 3 because of its incredible innovations with forge,
theater, custom games. The addicting ranking system, incredible maps,
additions to game modes, sandbox elements, customization, EVERYTHING! Halo 3 simply has the most bang for buck out
of the series. It is a close call between this and Halo 2. But when you consider that the skill gap in
H2 heavily relies on exploits, and button combos, its somewhat faulty launch, and balancing
issues. Halo 3 just narrowly manages to beat it for
the top spot! So thats my analysis of every Halo multiplayer
and how they stack up against each other! To avoid making this video being absurdly
long, I cant cover literally everything about all the games, but let me know what your thoughts
are in the comments below! Thats all I got for today, this is The Act
Man signing out. PEACE!
Whichever you like the most.
If Halo 3 had the Halo 2 BR then it would be the best thing ever. That gun feels so powerful and accurate compared to the Halo 3 version. The gameplay and balance is overall better in Halo 3, but Halo 2's guns feel better to use.
Halo 3 for the complete package, but I'm in love with Halo:CE ever since the MCC came out. It's just fun. It's simple, chill and gives me old-school Quake vibes. BTB in CE is the best bar none. I love the size of those maps, and the constant need to go on lengthy road trips with warthogs.
My only complaint is the teamkilling with vehicles. You can be going at a fraction of a MPH, but if you so much as graze a teammate, he's dead!
R A N D O M
Halo 1 is factually the most skilled and deep multiplayer Halo with the biggest skill gap.
In my opionion, which this question is entirely based around, is Halo 5.
Halo 2 destroys H5 for sure.
Since its Act Man we all know it's H2.
The most fun I had was the pre-patch Halo 4 Boltshot only class I made where I would stealth around with it... I would honestly say that Reach is the most fun to me but I can see the appeal for Halo 3 and Halo 1 but Halo 2's button combos/exploits are a little too much in my taste to make it enjoyable. However H2A is great!