How does Halo 4 stack up?

Games Other Halo
#1

How does Halo 4 stack up to the other Halo games for multiplayer purposes? I have been compiling some numbers through various sources and so far this is how it stacks up:

Halo 3
Halo 2
Halo Reach
Halo CE
Halo 4

I am looking for a larger sample size, so what do your ranked lists look like? And remember this is for multiplayer only, and please only post if you have actually played the multiplayer for all of these games.

Please don’t ignore Halo CE just because it didn’t have online. If you played LAN or split screen matches that is enough to judge the games multiplayer.

Thanks

#2

I have played multiplayer on xbox live for all the games except for CE, which I have only played on XBC (Software to play Halo CE and Halo 2 online). Only game I have ever played on LAN is Reach ZBNS. In my opinion…

Halo 3
Halo 2
Halo Reach: Zero Bloom No Sprint
Halo Reach
Halo 4
Halo CE (like 3 people online)

Halo 4 is ranked so low because of lopsided matchups, join in progress, ridiculously easy BR 4 shots, and low throwdown population to name a few. I hope the original multiplayer formula will soon return.

#3

What sources are these? Do they account for all other Halo fans? Because ALOT don’t even go online to rate it or give feedback or whatever. Like myself, I NEVER did for YEARS, dating back to Halo 2 actually. I only recently have become more involved online with all what I said.

#4

My favorite multiplayer memories of Halo were in Halo 2. I personally wasn’t to impressed with Halo 3 though I admit it was good. Reach was fun, and I never played CE multiplayer other than awesome lan parties. Halo 4, however, is awesome I think. Honestly though, it would be so much better if the DLC was free and we can play on those maps. Also, I wish there was a level designed for AA use, especially the jet pack. It would be awesome to play a vertical level where everyone has jetpack and it would add a new dimension to the gameplay. Anyways, my list is as follows:

Halo 2
Halo 4
Halo 3/Reach

Never played online with CE

#5

Reach
4
3
2
CE

Haters gon’ hate

#6

> Halo 2
> Halo 3
> Halo Reach
> Halo CE
> Halo 4

Halo 2 is at the top of that list and Halo CE is almost at the bottom…

Ok, how are we even rating this list? By what standards are we judging?

> Haters gon’ hate

I’m going to die if you people keep shocking me like that.

#7

> > Halo 2
> > Halo 3
> > Halo Reach
> > Halo CE
> > Halo 4
>
> Halo 2 is at the top of that list and Halo CE is almost at the bottom…
>
> <mark>Ok, how are we even rating this list? By what standards are we judging?</mark>
>
>
>
> > Haters gon’ hate
>
> I’m going to die if you people keep shocking me like that.

Personal.

#8

> Personal.

By what, though? Mechanics? Options available? Average quality of matches? Eugh I can’t even make up my mind.

Halo CE, best combat.
Halo 3, best BTB.
Halo 4 Legendary, pretty good combat.
Halo Reach NBNS, haven’t really played it enough.
Vanilla Halo 4, better than Reach.
Vanilla Reach, blegh.
Halo 2, isn’t it just Legendary Slayer but without sprint and with ridiculously broken gameplay aspects?

#9

> > Personal.
>
> By what, though? Mechanics? Options available? Average quality of matches? Eugh I can’t even make up my mind.

I’d say how much it draws you back to play everyday.

#10

Title update reach is better than title update halo 4. The only things 4 has over reach are no bloom and gameplay speed, and even then reach isn’t slow(depending on the map). Reach has better balanced loadouts, better maps and better balanced weapons. The AAs between them are the same except for 4 benefiting from thruster.

#11

> Reach
> 4
> 3
> 2
> CE
>
> Haters gon’ hate

Reach
4
3
CE
2

Im the same dude. Reach for me was where i started playing Online. I would swap 2 and CE around though cause Halo 2 (for me off line) was a B#### to finish. Didn’t like dual wielding and CE was the beginning of Halo!

I think people will HATE we rated Reach and 4 so highly hehehe :wink:

#12

> > Reach
> > 4
> > 3
> > 2
> > CE
> >
> > Haters gon’ hate
>
> Im the same dude. Reach for me was where i started playing Online. I would swap 2 and CE around though cause <mark>Halo 2 (for me off line) was a B#### to finish.</mark> Didn’t like dual wielding and CE was the beginning of Halo!
>
> I think people will HATE we rated Reach and 4 so highly hehehe :wink:

I think it had the hardest Legendary.

#13

> > > Reach
> > > 4
> > > 3
> > > 2
> > > CE
> > >
> > > Haters gon’ hate
> >
> > Im the same dude. Reach for me was where i started playing Online. I would swap 2 and CE around though cause <mark>Halo 2 (for me off line) was a B#### to finish.</mark> Didn’t like dual wielding and CE was the beginning of Halo!
> >
> > I think people will HATE we rated Reach and 4 so highly hehehe :wink:
>
> I think it had the hardest Legendary.

Thats for sure, i still have not finished Halo 2 legendary but am Halfway through Halo 4 on LASO… Go figure lol. Maybe thats why i dont like it as much haha

#14

> > > > Reach
> > > > 4
> > > > 3
> > > > 2
> > > > CE
> > > >
> > > > Haters gon’ hate
> > >
> > > Im the same dude. Reach for me was where i started playing Online. I would swap 2 and CE around though cause <mark>Halo 2 (for me off line) was a B#### to finish.</mark> Didn’t like dual wielding and CE was the beginning of Halo!
> > >
> > > I think people will HATE we rated Reach and 4 so highly hehehe :wink:
> >
> > I think it had the hardest Legendary.
>
> Thats for sure, i still have not finished Halo 2 legendary but am Halfway through Halo 4 on LASO… Go figure lol. Maybe thats why i dont like it as much haha

Lol 2’s legendary was super tough. I’d rather do 4’s LASO over again than 2’s legendary lol. Mainly due to the skips in 4 however.

#15

Halo 3
Halo 4
huge gap
Halo CE
huge gap
Reach
Halo 2

#16

Halo 3 (It had issues of it’s own, but is currently Halo’s golden age)
Halo 4 (I love it, but we all know the problems)
Halo Reach (Again, we all know the problems)
Halo 2 (Not much going for it besides being first on LIVE)
Halo CE (Multiplayer was an afterthought)

#17

> Title update reach is better than title update halo 4. The only things 4 has over reach are no bloom and gameplay speed, and even then reach isn’t slow(depending on the map). Reach has better balanced loadouts, better maps and better balanced weapons. The AAs between them are the same except for 4 benefiting from thruster.

AA’s in Halo 4 are significantly nerfed.

#18

I don’t know why people keep putting Reach in a list like this and then exclude ODST.

In CE, 2, 3 and 4 you are Master Chief, SPARTAN II in campaign. In CE, 2 and 3 you are a SPARTAN II in matchmaking. In Halo 4 you are a SPARTAN IV.

In Reach you are a SPARTAN III, functionally inferior to either a SPARTAN II or SPARTAN IV. Compared to those two, as a SPARTAN III you are closer to an ODST Marine, especially since in Reach you are playing on a planet with stronger gravity than any other place you’ve played in Halo.

It is wrong to compare Reach to either CE, 2, 3 or 4 because Reach is a spinoff game that was never intended to be compared to those games any more than ODST was. If anything, Bungie said compare Reach to CE. Reach’s online gameplay was not like Halo 3 because it was not supposed to be like Halo 3. It was supposed to be unique. Like ODST. That’s why the AA’s were in there.

You might as well compare Halo 4 to Halo Wars. And while you’re at it, throw in Spartan Assault. Let’s be fair.

I, for one, don’t like the idea of saying any Halo game is better or worse than any other. They all have good and bad points, and for each one the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. With a little spit and polish Halo 4 could easily be right up there with whichever game you put at the top. Let’s face it, if you liked, say, Halo 2 best, then the Halo 3 fans are going to have a bone to pick with you, and so on and so forth.

Halo 4’s problems don’t have anything to do with the fact that whatever you liked about one of the other games doesn’t work so well or at all in Halo 4. It’s more like what you could possibly like in Halo 4 doesn’t work so well.

If you really want to compare games, how about looking at which games needed Title Updates and why they needed them. I’m having trouble remembering if Halo 3 needed an update to address any gameplay issues. Reach got updates to make it more like 3 which, in my opinion, should never have happened for reasons stated earlier. Halo 2’s update was legendary because it needed one badly, and when it happened everyone was happy. CE had no online multiplayer so… If you compare games by which one required the least maintenance to keep the fans pleased, Halo 3 wins.

Although I will argue with anyone that Reach never required any maintenance and should have been left alone, as I believe more people would appreciate it now for what it was instead of what they thought it should have been. And Reach has the best custom games, and Forge World is awesome. I’m still not going to compare it to CE, 2, 3 or 4.

#19

“>” are to represent how far away each title is for me.

Halo CE/Halo 2
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Halo 4
>
>
Halo Reach
>
Halo 3

Halo CE and 2 are interchangeable.

#20

Each game was a product of its time. And the way it was played. For example, CE LAN games across my college dorm were probably the most fun I’ve ever had with a Halo, but that doesn’t mean it’s the greatest of all time.

I guess broadly speaking I most appreciate Halos that stick true to the “Combat Evolved” slogan from CE. So my list looks like this – multiplayer POV only:

  1. CE. Nothing will ever top that newness, even if it’s a moonjumping, pistol sniping offering

  2. Reach. Gametypes, vehicles, UI, AAs… this one was the most measured and meaningful leap forward IMHO. A definite building block of Halo 5 IMHO.

  3. Halo 3. It perfected the CE formula and offered the most competitive/intense matches. The other major building block for Halo 5.

  4. Halo 4. Not a bad game, but too much scope creep for Halo. Stick to the formula of keeping it small and delivering big, not vice versa. Some of the new ideas should have legs if reimagined for Halo 5.

  5. Halo 2. Also lots of fun for me, but nothing about this stands out over time for me. Some solid maps, though.