Halo: Ranking Every Game From Worst To Best
2. Halo 2 (And Halo 2: Anniversary)
While which campaign is better is a fairly close call, Halo 2 ultimately gets the nod as a result of the more complex characters, more complex gameplay (even allowing players to play from the Covenant's perspective), and just how urgent and personal everything felt. Say what you like about the cliffhanger ending, you can't say it wasn't impactful.
If Halo 4 was the series' Force Awakens, then Halo 2 was its Empire Strikes Back.
Plus, the controls were much tighter in Halo 2 than they were in Combat Evolved, which made gunplay even more satisfying. And speaking of gunplay, the one major improvement Halo 2 made over the original was online multiplayer on console.
Thanks to the advent of Xbox Live, the necessity for impractical LAN parties to experience Halo multiplayer at its fullest was a thing of the past, especially since Halo 2 also established the franchise's matchmaking playlist system. So, not only did players have some great new maps to battle in, but joining a game was easier than ever before.
Also, like the original, Halo 2 was given the remake treatment for its ten-year anniversary, which was every bit as great as the 2004 version (even if it was ultimately made exclusive to the Master Chief Collection.)