All Halo Maps Ranked (Opinion and Discussion)

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Because I’m a masochist, and I guess I feel like being told I’m wrong today, I’m gonna do something very dangerous here: I’m gonna give my opinion on the greatest Halo maps of all time. All of them. From Best to Worst. (On Waypoint, because I don’t have a Youtube Channel)

These will include:
All Halo CE: Xbox + PC
All Halo 2: Xbox + PC
All Halo 3 (minus Sandbox)
All Halo Reach (minus the base Forge World)
All Halo 4 (minus Forge Island)
Halo 5 (not the BTB, Breakout or WZA maps, or Orion)
So basically, the MCC - H2A + Halo 5 maps specified above.

Before the list: This will not exactly match your own. This is more to build discussion about the new maps in Halo 5: Guardians. Two main points:

  • I have some unpopular opinions. Not many, but you probably won’t like where Wizard or Warlock are on this. I’ve never liked them. I’m open to hearing a reasoned argument as to why they should be higher, but please don’t berate me for my opinion. - I have another unpopular opinion. I like the Halo 5 maps. Some of them I like a lot, as you will soon see. Please, again, reasoned debate, not vitrol, is kindly asked for.Bold and italicized means it’s a Halo 5 map.

Here we go.

  • Halo 2 - Coagulation - Halo 2 - Midship - Halo 2 - Lockout - Halo 5: Guardians - Coliseum - Halo 3 - Guardian - Halo: Combat Evolved - Hang 'Em High - Halo 4 - Exile - Halo 3 - Last Resort - Halo 3 - The Pit - Halo: Combat Evolved - Battle Creek - Halo 2 - Sanctuary - Halo 3 - Valhalla - Halo 2 - Ivory Tower - Halo 5: Guardians - Plaza - Halo 3 - Narrows - Halo: Reach - Forge World - The Cage - Halo: Combat Evolved - Blood Gulch - Halo 3 - Standoff - Halo 2 - Ascension - Halo 3 - High Ground - Halo 5: Guardians - Empire - Halo 2 - Zanzibar - Halo: Reach - Spire - Halo 3 - Construct - Halo 4 - Haven - Halo 5: Guardians - Battle of Noctus - Halo 3 - Ghost Town - Halo 4 - Ragnarok - Halo: Reach - Countdown - Halo: Combat Evolved - Damnation - Halo 5: Guardians - Truth - Halo: Reach - Reflection - Halo 5: Guardians - Fathom - Halo 4 - Complex - Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) - Timberland - Halo 3 - Sandtrap - Halo 2 - Warlock - Halo 4 - Meltdown - Halo: Reach - Sword Base - Halo: Combat Evolved - Prisoner - Halo 5: Guardians - The Rig - Halo 2 - Containment - Halo: Combat Evolved - Sidewinder - Halo 3 - Avalanche - Halo 2 - Beaver Creek - Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) - Ice Fields - Halo 2 - Elongation - Halo 4 - Skyline - Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) - Gephyrophobia - Halo 5: Guardians - Eden - Halo: Combat Evolved - Chiron TL-34 - Halo 2 - Headlong - Halo 4 - Solace - Halo: Reach - Powerhouse - Halo 5: Guardians - Regret - Halo 3 - Citadel - Halo 2 - Turf - Halo: Reach - Zealot - Halo 5: Guardians - Raid on Apex 7 - Halo 2 Vista (PC) - Uplift - Halo 2 - Tombstone - Halo 3 - Snowbound - Halo 3 - Assembly - Halo 5: Guardians - Attack on A.R.C. - Halo 2 - Gemini - Halo 2 - Backwash - Halo 3 - Rat’s Nest - Halo 4 - Vortex - Halo: Reach - Highlands - Halo: Reach - Forge World - Hemmorhage - Halo: Combat Evolved - Longest - Halo 3 - Cold Storage - Halo 4 - Adrift - Halo 2 - Terminal - Halo 5: Guardians - March on Stormbreak - Halo 3 - Blackout - Halo 4 - Ravine - Halo: Reach - Bomeyard - Halo 3 - Epitaph - Halo 4 - Wreckage - Halo 2 - Colossus - Halo 4 - Longbow - Halo 3 - Isolation - Halo 4 - Impact - Halo: Combat Evolved - Wizard - Halo 3 - Heretic - Halo: Reach - Condemned - Halo 5: Guardians - Torque - Halo 4 - Daybreak - Halo 2 - Relic - Halo 5: Guardians - Overgrowth (now that sword and shotgun have been removed) - Halo: Reach - Forge World - Pinnacle - Halo: Combat Evolved - Derelict - Halo 4 - Vertigo - Halo 2 - Desolation - Halo: Reach - Tempest - Halo 4 - Landfall - Halo: Combat Evolved - Chill Out - Halo 4 - Pitfall - Halo: Reach - Breakpoint - Halo 3 - Foundry - Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) - Danger Canyon - Halo 4 - Erosion - Halo: Reach - Anchor 9 - Halo: Reach - Forge World - Asylum - Halo 5: Guardians - Riptide - Halo 4 - Shatter - Halo 2 - Burial Mounds - Halo: Combat Evolved - Rat Race - Halo 4 - Outcast - Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) - Infinity - Halo: Reach - Boardwalk - Halo 4 - Abandon - Halo 4 - Perdition - Halo 3 - Longshore - Halo 4 - Harvest - Halo 2 - Foundation - Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) - Death Island - Halo 2 - Waterworks - Halo 4 - Monolith - Halo 3 - Orbital - Halo: Combat Evolved - Boarding Action - Halo 5: Guardians - Pegasus - Halo 2 Vista (PC) - District - Halo: Reach - Forge World - Paradiso
    Thoughts?
2

I have a lot of thoughts (Prisoner rated below Complex, the -Yoink-?) but since this is a Halo 5 thread I’ll keep it mostly Halo 5 related.

Pegasus, -Yoink- as it is, is still better than Snowbound. At least Pegasus is an actual map with some form of structure and power positions. Snowbound is just two bases plopped lazily into a snow-covered plane, where the entire meta revolves around camping behind the awkward shield doors in the tunnels. Either way they both belong clear at the bottom.

Colliseum is a good map, no major complaints about it, but it doesn’t belong in the number four spot. There’s definitely more deserving maps.

The Rig is basically Lockout 2.0 in that the meta revolves around setting up in and staying in one spot, except it’s even more exaggerated than Lockout in that one corner of the map has direct view of the Sniper Rifle, Active Camo, and Plasma Caster (basically all of the power items). If fundamentally imbalanced, uphill-battle kind of maps like those are your thing then they’re your thing, but it’s something that deserves to be pointed out as something potentially game breaking for a lot of people. It’s why I’d personally rate Guardian above Lockout, because it’s basically the same map except it flows a hundred times better. I will say Rig makes for pretty good strongholds, but
any gametype that doesn’t promote movement is just going to have problems.

Death Island vs Raid on Apex 7…I’m leaning towards Death Island. One thing I hate about RoA7 is that there’s obnoxious visual clutter everywhere, grass and palm leaves constantly blocking your view. Doesn’t help I’m really not a fan of tropical environments to begin with. The home bases are arguably easier to camp on RoA7. Both maps suffer from large sections going unused. While the top of Death Island leaves you completely prone to overhead banshees it still had room for interesting infantry fights, the middle of RoA7 leaves you prone to people camping the impenetrable tower of doom.

3

1: Spire
2: Deathisland
3: Powerhouse
4: Danger Canyon
5: Uncaged
6: Bone/-Graveyard
7: Waterworks
8: High Ground
9: Ragnarok
10: Sword Base

Just how I would do a top 10 list, in my opinion Halo Reach and CE had the best maps but that might be this way since I’m a BTB fan and reach is my favorite Halo (haters incoming in 3…2…1)

343 has yet to show me that they can make really good maps for btb (the arena ones are okay) because besides ragnarok they are too small and include many death traps for vehicles

Oh and vehicles suck since 343 took over, I mean they are doing a good job with mp and it’s cool that they continue Halo but seriously why are vehicles so -Yoink!- weak since they took over?? Kinda destroys the point of BTB in my opinion
…

4

you put some time into this post. I prefer small arena maps myself my favs not in order are:

The pit ~Halo 3
Midship ~ Halo 2,3
Sanctuary ~ Halo 2
Assembly ~ Halo 3
and i was also a massive fan of Onslaught for halo 3 mlg. Its the BEST map to show who the better team was it’s all about team shot and manipulating spawns it was great

5

> 2533274819302824;2:
> I have a lot of thoughts (Prisoner rated below Complex, the -Yoink-?) but since this is a Halo 5 thread I’ll keep it mostly Halo 5 related.
>
> Pegasus, -Yoink- as it is, is still better than Snowbound. At least Pegasus is an actual map with some form of structure and power positions. Snowbound is just two bases plopped lazily into a snow-covered plane, where the entire meta revolves around camping behind the awkward shield doors in the tunnels. Either way they both belong clear at the bottom.
>
> Colliseum is a good map, no major complaints about it, but it doesn’t belong in the number four spot. There’s definitely more deserving maps.
>
> The Rig is basically Lockout 2.0 in that the meta revolves around setting up in and staying in one spot, except it’s even more exaggerated than Lockout in that one corner of the map has direct view of the Sniper Rifle, Active Camo, and Plasma Caster (basically all of the power items). If fundamentally imbalanced, uphill-battle kind of maps like those are your thing then they’re your thing, but it’s something that deserves to be pointed out as something potentially game breaking for a lot of people. It’s why I’d personally rate Guardian above Lockout, because it’s basically the same map except it flows a hundred times better. I will say Rig makes for pretty good strongholds, but
> any gametype that doesn’t promote movement is just going to have problems.
>
> Death Island vs Raid on Apex 7…I’m leaning towards Death Island. One thing I hate about RoA7 is that there’s obnoxious visual clutter everywhere, grass and palm leaves constantly blocking your view. Doesn’t help I’m really not a fan of tropical environments to begin with. The home bases are arguably easier to camp on RoA7. Both maps suffer from large sections going unused. While the top of Death Island leaves you completely prone to overhead banshees it still had room for interesting infantry fights, the middle of RoA7 leaves you prone to people camping the impenetrable tower of doom.

Yeah Snowbound was one of my “unpopular opinions.” I’ve always liked the chaos that was centered around the middle of the map. I know it wasn’t competitive, or particularly inspired, but I guess I’m one of the few that thought it was even fun.

Prisoner…ehhh. I guess in comparison to what everyone else thought of it, I was not as impressed. It was always good to play on, but I never held a deep love for it. And I actually loved Complex. I thought it had a lot of different theaters of battle, with some really long sightlines and CQC in the yard and tunnel areas.

And yeah, I do understand the problem with the Rig. If you control the outside, the team who spawns at bunker is kind of stuck. But it allows for some maneuverability. Unless the ones stuck in the corner are less competent, I see the hold broken all of the time. And it may be nostalgia, as well as memory of all of the pro battles I remember on Lockout, both H2 and H2A. Idk. I think Guardian is better for FFA, whereas Lockout seemed to always have great team battles.

Death Island… Yeah I think I forgot about Death Island on this list. Like, it got lost in the maps, as I started with CE ranks, then put Halo 2 in where I thought they fit, and so on… And I guess I left Death Island way down. I thought I reviewed better. I think it was meant to be significantly higher, around 80 or so. But I just like the jungle theme, so RoA7 gets a slight boost there. And it is a pain in the butt to go up to or around the spire, but I find that, unless you’re going with a group or while people are after the bosses, you’re not going to take the “tower of doom” on your own anyways.

6

Also, given the hate for the game, I would have thought that I’d get more dislike for Exile’s place than Coliseum’s place. I just really think that Coliseum is great at taking advantage of all of the new mechanics. It fits with the sandbox so well. I’ve heard some complaints about where to spawn the power weapons, but it feels right to have them on the sides. Like you have to make a decision as to which one, if either, is more important to you to get.

7

I’ve always been a huge fan of smaller levels so the likes of Battle Creek, Lockout and The Pit will score highly for me. Blood Gulch has a rose tinted glasses effect of being a fan favourite but actually pretty basic when you replay it. Valhalla is also a favourite bigger map of mine.

8

> 2601632999026533;7:
> I’ve always been a huge fan of smaller levels so the likes of Battle Creek, Lockout and The Pit will score highly for me. Blood Gulch has a rose tinted glasses effect of being a fan favourite but actually pretty basic when you replay it. Valhalla is also a favourite bigger map of mine.

I guess Blood Glulch has always been pretty basic. But even replaying it on the MCC (once I got a match) was great, and I can’t fully explain why. Maybe it’s the simplicity. But I think it’s that, for Halo fans, it was the first map that introduced the idea of BTB, even if that was not doable at the time. I always thought: You know this is fun with 4 players, but how great would this be with 8, or 12, or 16 players? Which is why I thought Coagulation and Valhalla were better maps. The space was filled properly.

9

I know this is an old post, but I have to say that Blood Gulch/ Coagulation is definitely the best map in all of Halo. Nearly every Halo game has had it or something VERY similar to it (ex. Valhalla). But IMO i like Blood Gulch more than Coagulation, merely because i never though that the Banshee really fit well into the map, it just didn’t seem right to me.

10

> 2533274803958019;9:
> I know this is an old post

Please don’t revive old threads. Acknowledging that it is a necro doesn’t make it a good idea.