- Tupolev
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- Honorable Member
Halo: Combat Evolved.
Halo 2 has phenomenal scripted writing, and some beautiful environments, but aside from that it has its share of problems. Narrative flow was badly damaged by the development failures, and the gameplay leaves things to be desired and doesn't resonate as well with the narrative as it does with the other Halos.
With Halo 3, I actually think that, with a little better flow in the first two levels, and better dialogue writing, it could be absolutely incredible in and of itself. However, it really needed an extra campaign, one told from either Arby or Half Jaw's POV, telling the story of the schism and events between Halo 2 and Halo 3's opening. If it had that, I think that most of the "problems" with Halo 3's campaign would cease to be problematic; for example, Truth's pure zealot behavior during much of Halo 3 actually makes sense when you consider that the MC sees him as the brutes also do in that game, and it wouldn't be an issue if a Covenant-focused prequel campaign explored what was actually going on there. But as is, it's a fairly major flaw and a gap which really needs to be filled in.
ODST is pretty amazing on the storytelling side. However, its gameplay, while not bad by any means, can be tedious at times. Also, the audio logs should have been much more available and obvious rather than snuck in at specific points in the city; finding such a vital story component should not have been a grind.
Reach... Eh, I feel that it has high production values but little direction.
Halo CE is pretty much solidly phenomenal in just about every way. It's not just a good sum of parts, its how those parts work together. Superficially simple, it has a complex and brilliant internal structure which just plain works. Everything about it is almost always in resonance. It has one of the smoothest-flowing 3-act narratives in anything ever.
Also, the gameplay has an awesome, dynamic, and unique fluidity to it.
Also, it's a gorgeous game, even by Halo-series standards.