Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a no-brainer for either fan of the franchise or newcomers like me to experience these classics for the first time. For a mere $40, you get six full-length campaigns as well as fully fleshed and feature-rich multiplayer that all have dedicated communities and matchmaking that will last for years and years past most games’ expiration date. It has been a real journey to play through all of these great games campaigns on Heroic for the first time and I have no qualms calling this one of the best series of all time. So without further ado here is a ranking of each campaign accompanied with a short review describing them from worst to best.

6) Halo 2: Anniversary: The combat feels more refined and generally a lot tighter and faster-paced than CE but the scourge of filler is just as much in effect with the worst pacing in the series and only a handful of the levels being fun and memorable. The open-ended level design has almost entirely been cast aside for linear hallways and boring Arbiter sections that make this a pretty mediocre entry in the series and not one worth revisiting now.

5) Halo 4: A lot of the design issues with CE and 2 are back in full force with the most restrictive and linear levels since 2 and a lot of the game feels pretty bland and derivative with the same copy/paste halls from CE. It seems a lot of the scale and AI has been sacrificed to increase the graphical fidelity which just isn’t a very good trade. Furthermore, the Prometheans are not very fun to fight and since you fight them for the majority of the game it can feel like a bit of a chore. It is consistently just a little worse than Halo 2 but it has two tricks up its sleeve that make it only maniacally better than Halo 2. The short length of six hours makes this game go by too super quick and I was never fatigued to the point of boredom as I was with Halo 2 and the Cortana storyline which is a truly fantastic story and probably the best in the series. I know this is a bit of a controversial take but I feel like, with those aspects laid out, Halo 4 is only just barely better than 2.

4) Halo: CE Anniversary: The combat, sandbox, and scale of the levels are amazing and the first half still holds up tremendously but then it completely falls apart in the second half with awful level design, overuse of the flood, and a comically huge amount of filler which halts the pacing of the story to a screeching halt. I have no issues with calling it influential but it’s only a good game now and certainly not great anymore.

3) Halo 3: ODST: While not the longest or flashiest game in the series, the neo-noir aesthetic and excellent pacing make this one of the better games in the whole series despite how short it is. The atmosphere and presentation are top-notch stuff and it all comes together with an excellent story with a likable cast with real emotional stakes and some truly excellent missions that never overstay their welcome.

2) Halo: Reach: This would’ve been such a great game to end the franchise, the combat feels great here and is accompanied by the best pacing and the most consistent level design in the franchise with some incredible moments with New Alexandria being one of my favorite missions in the whole series. Unfortunately, the game is held down by its super self-serious story with a super predictable ending and boring characters. Still an incredible game but 3 just beats it as a more well-rounded game in my opinion.


1) Halo 3: This is really where all the stars aligned. The combat, level design, and story all reach their peak here with not only the best set of levels in the series but also the biggest and most versatile with The Ark, The Covenant, and Tsavo Highway being my favorite in the whole series. This is just a thoroughly enjoyable campaign that is hard to dislike and it is for sure my favorite in the series. One of my favorite first-person shooters of all-time.