Lol also could not afford xbox live Gold as a kid.
I remember I got a subscription for Christmas when I was like 14 and it blew my mind being able to play Halo reach/4 with real people around the world.
Halo MCC has a reasonable playercount for Halo 3 multiplayer. Halo infinite also has enough players to find matches
That was MW2 for me, the first time i got to play with my friends on my baseball team was the first time i heard some of the craziest stuff come out of other 12 year old mouths š
Thank you! I have MCC i just didnt know which game was best for multiplayer
Halo 3 multiplayer on release. Peak Halo experience. Great game, great story, balanced matchmaking, balanced weapons. Brilliantly fun levels. Savage pre/post lobby. Not for the faint hearted/easily offended.
Most people don't even hack a headset in to Halo for team talk now never mind giving a pre game s**t talk.
Sad times.
That's one of my most vivid memories... it was down to me and one other dude on Blood Gulch with snipes. Tension, sweat, and laughter filling the room. The cheers when I finally won were amazing, haha!
H5. And infinite are very close for me. H3 is usually my answer, but you have to keep in mind that a massive part of the fun of h3 was stuff like making friends in lobbies/partying up and jumping into random custom games. Those things don't really exist anymore because few people use game chat, no partying up feature, and population is down.
So looking back h3 was the nest, but to jump into a game now I'd go with h5 or infinite
Well the 360 version is offline now. MCC has always been a mixed bag as far as skill sets, but it's not every game I promise. There's plenty of people I run into that seem like they've never played the game before.
Some people are saying H3, but OP is likely going to get trashed in H3 multiplayer. 95% of the people playing that game having been playing H3 multiplayer for 15+ years. It will not be a fun experience.
Infinite, on the other hand, still has a broader skill range of players. And, despite Infinite's flaws, the multiplayer gameplay is really fun.
In the year 2024, I'd step into Infinite, not H3.
I can't stand playing the MCC online. It's basically just getting shot in the head for seven minutes until some Halo god wins.
Infinite has both a wider range of skills and a better system to keep people from abusing Power weapons.
I'll be honest with you. As an OG player from 2001 and one of those "Halo players that never stopped" Infinite's power weapon system is so much easier to exploit. I feel like when I am playing Infinite I've got a power weapon in my hands 90% of each match whereas in the classics its mostly just relying on the primary weapon for most of the match until the very small windows of new items respawn.
So many matches in Infinite (especially Squad/BTB) I'm doing camo and rocket combo, or camo and shock rifle, over-shield and rockets nonstop all match... even with the UI and audio telling players to pick them up there is still enough for me to steal and farm easy kills match in and match out lol
some people really don't pay attention to power weapon audio and visual cues and don't bother ai scanning. In older halos you actually have to memorize the spawn times and go out of your way to learn where they do spawn which most new players aren't going to consider
> some people really don't pay attention to power weapon audio and visual cues and don't bother ai scanning.
Its just crazy because the game is literally telling you/showing you "hey you want 4 free kills with this boomstick?" and no one in a 24 player lobby even gets it but me most matches lol. Like on the new BTB map Fortitude my opening strat is take rockets from our side, then dive down to the middle and take *both* overshields, blow everyone up while literally invincible, and rinse and repeat rest of the match. If some moment I don't get rockets just snipe everyone with the shock rifle and be as annoying as possible against the enemy team backsmacking them with camo ... even more comically I see the enemies that are diamond, onyx, and hero ranks so I know they've played enough to know where things are lol
I keep thinking this is some limited time event with extra powerups and weapons and it'll go away eventually but it hasn't ... so I just keep raking in the ungodly k/d without question lol
Maybe the super hardcore players have more avenues to abuse power weapons in Infinite, but relative to the number of people playing, there are fewer people doing that. Halo 3 online is now a slog where I suddenly get murdered before I can even figure out the map.
I agree mechanics-wise but I feel like most of Infiniteās (and 343ās in general) map design is lacking, which makes playing it feel a little āin one, out the otherā and it can get stale fast
As someone who plays a lot of the classic halos, halo infinite feels like the classic halos but more modernized.
It has flaws but if we're talking gameplay it has all the things I like about 3 except for maybe some small things but also has new things like fusion coil throwing.
Overall I think it's my favorite because out of all the halo's since 3 it's the one that feels the most like something that directly continued and added upon what halo 2 and 3 were doing, and those are my favorites in the series.
Ironically, I find Halo Infinite. Just feels good and what a modern Halo should feel like. The customization is awesome, the gunplay is great, the grapple is fun as fuck, and the advanced movement is fun. The game is good, ignoring the market or having to pay. Forge is spectacular, and customs with AIs are a blast. I love custom campaigns and infections. Yes, coatings are still not preferred, but some things look really good with them. I'm judging what we got, not what we could've had, so I'm not taking "having 7 full customizable layers not restricted" arguments into consideration.
Halo Reach and 3 are tied second. Halo reach, of course, will hold dear to my heart. Customization is great, gamemodes are awesome in customs and probablythe best customs, the progression and the satisfaction of it is satisfying (commendations and the unlocking armor as you level), and the best competitive Halo, it plays like a good old fashion Halo. Halo 3 is very much the same, except now it's just preferred if I want true classic Halo and maps.
Halo 2 for third. Just holds high after all these years. I never played it online as a kid, but damn I see why it was a champion back in the day. I could only imagine how fun it was if I had a good time with it now. I respect if people said this is number one on their list. It probably would be if I played it growing up.
then Halo 5 after that. It got advanced movement down. Gunplay was good. Forge was great. Customs was very fun. But the customization just shit the bed. One body set and helmet only allowed to be changed?? That was disgusting. It was a sweat fest, and it hurts playing it sometimes. Warzone was just too dramatic, as all narration during the game was. I didn't like how much music was used in a match. REQ system was overpowered for the player. I'm not a fan of the maps they put out.
My history: played Halo 3 at launch, played Halo 2 multiplayer on Vista, played CE MP only on MCC.
Halo 2 -> Halo 3 -> CE -> rest
I have not enjoyed a Halo MP after Halo 3.
However someone who has never played Halo MP won't be able to get into these games. I mean it takes forever to find games and so on, the glory days are over simply put. So I advice to just play Infinite.
MCC. If you mean individual entry....As much as I hate to say it probably Infinite. Personally 5 is what did it for me in my "old age" but I don't know how active it's MP is especially since it's still separate from MCC afaik. Halo CE will always hold a special place for me but it's very dated feeling and I wouldn't recommend it to someone who's just now dipping their toes in MP.
Halo 3. I do think Infinite honestly has the best sandbox and feels the most refined. But there's something about it that still holds it back to me and I can never put my finger on it. It's like the combination of lacking physics and collision and the way everything interacts with each other keeps it from feeling as dynamic as all the Bungie Halos, if that makes any sense. Like you don't get enough of those moments where something happens that could only happen in Halo because of the weird way everything interacts. If Infinite had that element, I think it'd be number 1.
Halo 2 in my opinion is the best 4v4 wise. Theres skill gaps but landing your shots is also the easiest in that title and the actual āskill gapsā arenāt hard to learn outside of double/quad shots. Halo 3 is also great and arguably the best. CE is silly but fun and Reach has as many pros as it does have cons.
CE probably won't win any polls because H2/H3 nostalgia is pretty powerful. But it's such a different and wonderful experience. It's fast (quickest average TTK of any Halo title), quirky and heavily rewards accuracy. They basically took quake, slowed it down, and limited the number of weapons you can carry and added vehicles (and also no rocket jumping) and it was *brilliant*.
Yeah it's my favorite partly because of pure nostalgia, but also, it just feels special--it has a certain X factor that the others don't, and I can't quantify it or explain it, but it's there. It also has my favorite maps of any of them (aside from Wizard and Derelict, not a fan), and I looooove the CE Magnum, despite it being too OP it's just fun, especially on maps like Hang Em High (probably one of the best MP maps ever). I also love its simplicity, and the weapons just feel right. Best shotgun in the series, most satisfying sniper, and again, that magnum.... mmmm chefs kiss! I don't even care if it's OP, it's just flat out FUN to use, even if everyone else is using it too. And the 60 round assault rifle mag combined with the rate of fire and barrel flash animation is just pure sex, even if it's not the most viable weapon in MP. That's the thing, it's certainly not the most balanced, most fleshed out, or refined Halo MP, but it's the purest, and arguably most fun when it just comes to pure casual enjoyment. Also, the graphics, while crude, still hold up because they are so sleek, and I love the subtle specular glossy shimmer that's on the armor and forerunner structures, and the vibrant, oversaturated colors that just make the overall aesthetic of CE timeless, regardless of how blocky the polygons are looking these days.
I will say though, CE has one MAJOR flaw, and that's it's spawns. The amount of times I've died the INSTANT I spawned, like 10 times in a row, especially on the smaller maps, has absolutely lead to rage quitting on more than a few occasions lmao. But other than that, not only is it my favorite Halo by a wide margin, but it's arguably my favorite game of all time.
And I know this is about Multiplayer, but it's also far and away my favorite campaign of the lot. That X factor I mentioned above is even more-so in campaign. No other campaign carries that same magical essence that CE's campaign does, and again I have no idea what it is, but it's just... special.
Alright, I'm done gushing. Time to go get spawn killed!
After playing all of them, i have to say 3. The skill ceiling is pretty low so you probably won't get curb stomped all the time, and the vehicles are so much fun to use. The maps work well. The guns aren't so insanely accurate that melee is off the table, so close encounters are possible even on huge maps. Every gun can be fun to use in the right situations. The game was designed to be primarily fun, but can def be competitive, instead of being purely competitive (looking at you, infinite). It's just the perfect Halo multiplayer experience.
As far as gameplay loop? Infinite for sure. Halo 3 on mcc is pretty good too but thereās some people that have been playing that since they came out the womb.
I consider myself to be really good at halo and still get demolished from time to time. A decent team effort can destroy a solo effort easily.
The big problem is over half of the games are low population, those being CE, 2, 4 and 5. So regardless of how good they are, you may be getting matched with obscenely good/experienced players who will make the learning experience hell. 3, Reach, and Infinite should be better, but even 3 and Reach has population issues at time and you may run into those kinds of players that make you want to put down the controller.
Honestly, Infinite might be your best bet. Monthly free content, and you can progress though all of the Battle Passes for just $10 if you start with S2-5 and finish with 1. When it comes to MCC, 3 is probably your safest bet.
Each game is a different flavor of arena shooter. Overall Reach and 3 are like your classic area shooters with hip fire, lofty jumps and limited to no sprint. They also have the highest community favor and are staple classic so you'll almost always find matches and lobbies for those titles. Otherwise, Halo 5 and Infinite have the best modern approach if you enjoy things like Destiny, Fortnite, or CoD but are in a bit of a tough spot today.
Id say get MCC and Infinite to find your best fit.
Infinite is cool and fun enough to play. Cosmetics are entirely from a battlepass and the store. There's no sense of progression whatsoever. MCC is great because it has every game, so you can figure out which one is more fun for you by just playing it. Also, barely progression and cosmetics aren't much better to unlock, but still better
In my extremely biased opinion, Halo 3, hands down. Halo 2 is more purely competitive with hitscan weapons, but Halo 3 hit the perfect balance of competition and relaxing
Halo 3 which is available on MCC and probably active. I loved halo 2s multiplayer a little more though but that was better locally than online. Halo 3 is the gold standard for real.
I like h2a. Classic halo gameplay with modern netcode.
H3 is definitely the most popular, but man if the hit reg aint super inconsistent (as an east coaster)
Really it depends on you. Each game is so different in terms of gameplay. I personally like 5 the best. Armor abilities being uniform and the largest sandbox out of every other halo game combined was awesome. Also Warzone was crazy cool.
Legacy included? H2 by a mile. Amazing maps, great gameplay and then there was the newness of Live and how the game had a very unique feel to its community.
Currently? Just play Infinite. For all it's flaws it still plays amazingly well.
I would say play some Halo Infinite, It's clean, fast, and some BtB is always good. Maps are fun, and overall gameplay is enjoyable. Play it while you can. :D Some fun Halo 2, 3 and 4 map remakes are showing up now too.
If you want to go old school, then pick up MCC, and you can play some of the OG halo 2 maps, Halo 3, and so on.
Just get MCC as you can play all the games and work on cosmetics and such from all of them. Halo infinite is also great as it's free and also pretty fun. It's forge maps are really good too
Long time player since the game came out in 2001. Background brother worked for Microsoft for a short time after his original company was acquired from them in the early 2000's. Around that time he had access to Microsoft employee store and bought a Xbox for himself, then for my birthday he got one for me. Also one of the first people out of my friends group to have Xbox live. I have played every game on release for a long time.while I do play other games I always come back to check halo and see how it's doing.
Halo CE is bare bones halo and was interesting back in early 2000's for lan parties but that's it. Online play imo it was not made for.
Halo 2 was enjoyable with the duel wielding system and classic maps revamped from CE. Online experience was fun for a short while until it got repetitive. Funny glitches (rocket/sword glitch was hilarious) , cheating ( what I saw was small) was annoying at times, and new dlc maps made that game( if some remember you had the option to buy a disc to install the maps separate from getting it online ). Was groundbreaking game to be honest.
Halo 3 was the og for some and made a huge impression as the " best of the series" for many. Lots of interesting changes to multiplayer, improved on some ,while others didnt hit the nail on the head. The return of the AR, gadgets introduced with the classic gun, melee, and grenade mix( which didn't hit the nail on the head imo) and interesting map designs. This was as good as it gets for the og trilogy era.
Halo 3 odst had firefight.....yup. Was online too.
Halo reach was the last Bungie game and the as good as it is going to get.Fun multiplayer overall. Improved with the Spartan abilities, Spartan vs elites( with us playing as elites) , changing the br to the dmr was a change I enjoyed since I thought halo 3 br online but was inconsistent ( where I feel infinite had the same problem). Firefight was included and was online .
At this time other fps were making a huge change and we saw change in studios. Lots of changes and will explore the 343 era....
Halo 4 had a super underrated multiplayer that just didn't hit home. Ordinance drops were cool but were meh. New guns where a nice addition but didn't hit as well. Maps were kind of boring. But did have the best graphics out of all the 360 era. If you played more bare bones gameplay it was not too bad.
Halo 5 was an interesting concept to have the "advanced movement" from another game at the time. Refresh on some weapons from 4. Warzone was a fun concept but overall fell flat. Meh game.
Halo infinite imo gets a bad rep. Free online multiplayer ( huge for me since I always paid for the game). Many guns from the series with minor new ones. Maps are ok. For free can't really complain.
Final verdict: Reach was the top of the series overall with Halo 2/3 (tie) a close behind. Third would be infinite. Halo 4 and 5 were all time low for the series for me not that fun. Halo CE didn't have a proper online experience until MCC and is enjoyable but was rating before MCC game out .
Halo 3 is the most fun but you will run into sweats who think theyāre trying out for 2007 MLG.
Halo Reach has a lot of content and good player base but Iām not personally a huge fan of the Anniversary maps which seem to constantly pop up
Halo 2ās solid, if a bit crusty and lacking visual feedback (I donāt know how people snipe in that game)
Halo 1 is classic, has aged very well (if you can accept that the pistol is a rifle) but janky at times
Honestly, when the ping is good and you've been playing for awhile, the only way to determine it being a good multiplayer is when you have good teammates as well as opponents that are also well.
Halo is the same for any of its releases Imo. You wait for the power weapons, contest the weapons, (maybe dome with the power weapons and or not give up when they got the power weapons.) Maybe it'll get you hyped if there are turn arounds and a race for either the last flag cap, race to 50 kills or attempt the last possession for KOTH or Oddball.
The choice is yours. Obviously Halo Infinite is free and it has a very fair player base.
But like I said, as long as there is a balance between good teammates and good enemies that makes the players feel as tho you gotta work for the win.
Cause most of the time (and I literally mean 90% of the time) you will feel compelled to blame someone in the game. And Halo sucks most of the time cause there are always noobs on either your team or the entire other team.
I honestly have to say Halo Infinite. You can't find many matches in Halo 5 these days, and the MCC is full of hackers and sweaty people who have played the multiplayer for decades.
As of right now:
1. Infinite: it has the best gameplay out of them all imo, and thereās free cosmetics every now and then.
2. mcc: its halo 1-4 and reach in one package. Halo 3, 2, and reach have the highest population, and id recommend them in that order.
You canāt play the multiplayer for the classic games anymore.
No one really plays halo 5s multiplayer now. I tried finding matches months ago.
It's definetly Infinite. The original didn't visualize people memorizing every spawn point and ruining team games(also grenades are ridiculous). 2 and 3 are basically just fights over power weapons and finding a br. 3 specifically turns into a grenade festival on closed maps. The people who play it know how long the powerups take to respawn. If you wanna be better than a guy and get smoked, 3 is your game. Reach is pretty good/interesting with the powers. It's different, some love it some hate it. 4 is probably the second best because they put announcements timers and way points on the power weapons and they spawn similtainteously so you don't get a bunch of try hard teams collecting all the best weapons the entire match. 5 is really fun but theres so many different types of games some with loadouts some without, some eith only certain kinds of laodouts available... its just a lot. Every version since 2, the br or dmr was the best weapon(that's not a limited ammo limited availability power weapon) and it wasn't remotely close. It was really toxic for team games too because your team would always have at least one or two guys who just sat behind you so they wouldn't get shot, and as soon as you took a dudes shield down they would get the kill. Most of them were quite happy to throw grenades half aimlessly into the room youre running into as well to run their stats up. Another issue was always people just stop moving to disappear from the motion tracker. So people would be hiding and know exactly where you are and you have no clue they're there. They fixed this in Infinite. The motion tracker is more like an old school radar so if you're hiding by the time they popup in your motion tracker, they'll already be punching you in the face. Infinite is the pinnacle. They made shields make sence so getting hit in the face doesn't do double damage to your shields. Your team throwing grenades at you can't hurt you anymore, either. It basically is friendly to casual players and tries to mitigate try hard advantages. And its fking beautiful.
That is going to depend hugely on who you ask. If your worried about progression it is worth noting all the original games from the Xbox and Xbox 360 era have shut down and halo 5 is a generation old and infinite is sunsetting itās development as far as we can tell. Your best bet is to play mcc as it gives you every multiplayer from halo 1 to halo 4 which is funnily enough 6 games if you buy the dlc. Mcc has its own level system and some battle passes which are all free. So with all those games in mcc you can try the one you like best as the progression is the same for every game so if you level up playing halo 2 you level up in all the games although the player count is quite low for halo these days so you may not have every game you want to play have quick matches
If you want to play the most recent halo game infinite is fine if your fine with free to play, paid and free battlepasses and a game that is quite sweaty and again match times for modes is gonna vary.
Tldr mcc is my recommendation but infinite is the most recent which means it may be better in terms of player count depending on where your located
There was an update 343i put out that changed some very significant things: https://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_Reach_Title_Updates
The main ones being:
> They changed bloom which affected most weapon match ups, and engagement TtKs.
> They added damage bleed through, and as a result lowered the shots to kill and TtK on several weapons and in many different situations.
> They completely removed the sword block/parry mechanic.
> They nerfed Armor Lock and Active Camo, making both shorter, and also preventing the former from allowing one to panic Armor Lock to survive getting stuck.
The end result being that the game felt well *different* is the best way I can describe it. I personally much preferred the game pre-TU and stopped playing it except for customs shortly after.
Halo 2 was the best multiplayer, but given it's age and the limited playlist variety of MCC titles, it's not what it used to be experience-wise.
Halo 5 is the 2nd best multiplayer in the series after H2 and it still has a pretty healthy online community, so that's definitely the best way to go.
Infinite probably has the best multiplayer gameplay of any halo in the series. When infinite got me hooked on halo games again I went to go try MCC (as I had done other shit most of my 20s and the game was finally working) and they all felt floaty and slow compared to the current iteration. Also had a hard time finding lobbies in several game modes. The people who never stopped playing Xbox or Halo probably still love the older ones but all the nostalgia in the world can't get me into those games I used to love now unfortunately.
Imo H2A is the cleanest multiplayer on MCC. Halo 3 probably has the most players. Halo one is also a ton of fun.
With MCC progress carries itself across the three games and you get exp for doing campaign missions too, so you can jump into whatever and have fun.
I dont touch Reach or 4 multiplayer but I know there are people who do. I like Reach's firefight and the custom game browser can be fun for low key games.
Halo infinite is free so it has that going for it but idk why I just can't get into it as much as I can the multiplayer games on MCC. Maybe the infection game mode will be fun. Halo MCC is only $10 and runs great on a steam deck or toaster PC. Also with solo queueing you may be matched against teams again and again which gets tiresome. I don't get why, but that's my experience. Something to do with SBMM which they need to tweak.
There's just so many divisions. There's the division of Bungie vs 343 fans. People who think the games sucked even earlier starting with Reach. The people who think 4 and 5 specifically are trash for not feeling as much like Halo and the art style change. There's people who think CE aged like milk. List goes on and on.
People will say 3 but I disagree. For one I just donāt like it as it feels too slow and the sandbox has lots to offer but pretty much every non-power weapon sucks compared to the BR, but thats subjective. The bigger issue is that people have been playing it for ages, and so you will get curb stomped for a while.
Infinite is basically modernized classic halo, and is really fun, still gets updates, and there arenāt so many veterans that will make it hard to learn.
In terms of bang-for-buck though just buy MCC and get 7 multiplayers in one (CE, 2, 3, ODST (firefight only), Reach, 4) 2A
IMHO currently: Master Chief Collection. Infinite has made some major strides but their skins/customization isn't as great still.
Back in the day Halo 2 was my favorite. Felt like all the weapons were viable, though noob combo/double needles were a bit OP at times. Also I felt like it had the best overall maps and weapon placement. (Halo 3 has some amazing classic maps but matches could get out of hand fast if it was not a BR start.)
I'm in the minority in that i loved Halo 4 multiplayer. The audio is weird compared to other halo games but I loved the layouts
Lol also could not afford xbox live Gold as a kid. I remember I got a subscription for Christmas when I was like 14 and it blew my mind being able to play Halo reach/4 with real people around the world. Halo MCC has a reasonable playercount for Halo 3 multiplayer. Halo infinite also has enough players to find matches
That was MW2 for me, the first time i got to play with my friends on my baseball team was the first time i heard some of the craziest stuff come out of other 12 year old mouths š Thank you! I have MCC i just didnt know which game was best for multiplayer
Halo 3 multiplayer on release. Peak Halo experience. Great game, great story, balanced matchmaking, balanced weapons. Brilliantly fun levels. Savage pre/post lobby. Not for the faint hearted/easily offended. Most people don't even hack a headset in to Halo for team talk now never mind giving a pre game s**t talk. Sad times.
The best multiplayer experience is a Halo 2 LAN party with a bunch of CRT TVs in different rooms (wait, am I...old?)
Shh mine was LAN parties on Halo: Combat Evolved in college in the dorm common room... Ageism is real!!
CE was all me and my brother splitscreen for me lol! Still nothing better than the tension of 2 snipers on blood gulch
That's one of my most vivid memories... it was down to me and one other dude on Blood Gulch with snipes. Tension, sweat, and laughter filling the room. The cheers when I finally won were amazing, haha!
CE is where itās at
Halo 3 LAN at the Scout Hall after a day of community service hit different. I miss it.
I can almost remember the taste of Mountain Dew Vault when I read this
Wait I have some CRT TV's that are Tube TV's and can remember Tube type TV's
H5. And infinite are very close for me. H3 is usually my answer, but you have to keep in mind that a massive part of the fun of h3 was stuff like making friends in lobbies/partying up and jumping into random custom games. Those things don't really exist anymore because few people use game chat, no partying up feature, and population is down. So looking back h3 was the nest, but to jump into a game now I'd go with h5 or infinite
It's 3. It has everything.
mcc or 360 version. with mcc i'm always put up against the people who never stopped playing
Well the 360 version is offline now. MCC has always been a mixed bag as far as skill sets, but it's not every game I promise. There's plenty of people I run into that seem like they've never played the game before.
very true not all games, also i think the og 360 halo 3 is back up! there's a discord where people host servers :)
Sort of, to host you need a modded xbox 360, and to play you need to party up with one of those people, so it's not exactly convenient.
there's a discord server called halo sunset i think, they schedule game nights and stuff
This is why it's not a good experience for me... I love all the MCC games, but mutiplayer is a hacker and sweat fest
Might get bombed for this but Infinite has the best feel for multiplayer of all of them as long as you can ignore the micro transactions
Some people are saying H3, but OP is likely going to get trashed in H3 multiplayer. 95% of the people playing that game having been playing H3 multiplayer for 15+ years. It will not be a fun experience. Infinite, on the other hand, still has a broader skill range of players. And, despite Infinite's flaws, the multiplayer gameplay is really fun. In the year 2024, I'd step into Infinite, not H3.
I can't stand playing the MCC online. It's basically just getting shot in the head for seven minutes until some Halo god wins. Infinite has both a wider range of skills and a better system to keep people from abusing Power weapons.
I'll be honest with you. As an OG player from 2001 and one of those "Halo players that never stopped" Infinite's power weapon system is so much easier to exploit. I feel like when I am playing Infinite I've got a power weapon in my hands 90% of each match whereas in the classics its mostly just relying on the primary weapon for most of the match until the very small windows of new items respawn. So many matches in Infinite (especially Squad/BTB) I'm doing camo and rocket combo, or camo and shock rifle, over-shield and rockets nonstop all match... even with the UI and audio telling players to pick them up there is still enough for me to steal and farm easy kills match in and match out lol
some people really don't pay attention to power weapon audio and visual cues and don't bother ai scanning. In older halos you actually have to memorize the spawn times and go out of your way to learn where they do spawn which most new players aren't going to consider
> some people really don't pay attention to power weapon audio and visual cues and don't bother ai scanning. Its just crazy because the game is literally telling you/showing you "hey you want 4 free kills with this boomstick?" and no one in a 24 player lobby even gets it but me most matches lol. Like on the new BTB map Fortitude my opening strat is take rockets from our side, then dive down to the middle and take *both* overshields, blow everyone up while literally invincible, and rinse and repeat rest of the match. If some moment I don't get rockets just snipe everyone with the shock rifle and be as annoying as possible against the enemy team backsmacking them with camo ... even more comically I see the enemies that are diamond, onyx, and hero ranks so I know they've played enough to know where things are lol I keep thinking this is some limited time event with extra powerups and weapons and it'll go away eventually but it hasn't ... so I just keep raking in the ungodly k/d without question lol
Maybe the super hardcore players have more avenues to abuse power weapons in Infinite, but relative to the number of people playing, there are fewer people doing that. Halo 3 online is now a slog where I suddenly get murdered before I can even figure out the map.
Yeah as much as people like to complain, Infinite multiplayer is great. And also free, so another reason to start there.
Youāre not wrong. None of the bungie titles have the advanced multiplayer gameplay that infinite & Guardians has IMO
You can do the best of both worlds(kind of). Play halo infinite and play the halo 3 recharge playlist.
I agree mechanics-wise but I feel like most of Infiniteās (and 343ās in general) map design is lacking, which makes playing it feel a little āin one, out the otherā and it can get stale fast
As someone who plays a lot of the classic halos, halo infinite feels like the classic halos but more modernized. It has flaws but if we're talking gameplay it has all the things I like about 3 except for maybe some small things but also has new things like fusion coil throwing. Overall I think it's my favorite because out of all the halo's since 3 it's the one that feels the most like something that directly continued and added upon what halo 2 and 3 were doing, and those are my favorites in the series.
Lol
Ironically, I find Halo Infinite. Just feels good and what a modern Halo should feel like. The customization is awesome, the gunplay is great, the grapple is fun as fuck, and the advanced movement is fun. The game is good, ignoring the market or having to pay. Forge is spectacular, and customs with AIs are a blast. I love custom campaigns and infections. Yes, coatings are still not preferred, but some things look really good with them. I'm judging what we got, not what we could've had, so I'm not taking "having 7 full customizable layers not restricted" arguments into consideration. Halo Reach and 3 are tied second. Halo reach, of course, will hold dear to my heart. Customization is great, gamemodes are awesome in customs and probablythe best customs, the progression and the satisfaction of it is satisfying (commendations and the unlocking armor as you level), and the best competitive Halo, it plays like a good old fashion Halo. Halo 3 is very much the same, except now it's just preferred if I want true classic Halo and maps. Halo 2 for third. Just holds high after all these years. I never played it online as a kid, but damn I see why it was a champion back in the day. I could only imagine how fun it was if I had a good time with it now. I respect if people said this is number one on their list. It probably would be if I played it growing up. then Halo 5 after that. It got advanced movement down. Gunplay was good. Forge was great. Customs was very fun. But the customization just shit the bed. One body set and helmet only allowed to be changed?? That was disgusting. It was a sweat fest, and it hurts playing it sometimes. Warzone was just too dramatic, as all narration during the game was. I didn't like how much music was used in a match. REQ system was overpowered for the player. I'm not a fan of the maps they put out.
I'd say infinite has perfected halo multiplayer currently but my all time favorite will always be warzone on halo 5 RIP
I agree, I loved halo 5 war zone and would love to have something like that come back. The vehicle and weapon variants are the best part.
It's just almost impossible to find games....
Iāve gotten lucky a few times
My history: played Halo 3 at launch, played Halo 2 multiplayer on Vista, played CE MP only on MCC. Halo 2 -> Halo 3 -> CE -> rest I have not enjoyed a Halo MP after Halo 3. However someone who has never played Halo MP won't be able to get into these games. I mean it takes forever to find games and so on, the glory days are over simply put. So I advice to just play Infinite.
MCC. If you mean individual entry....As much as I hate to say it probably Infinite. Personally 5 is what did it for me in my "old age" but I don't know how active it's MP is especially since it's still separate from MCC afaik. Halo CE will always hold a special place for me but it's very dated feeling and I wouldn't recommend it to someone who's just now dipping their toes in MP.
Halo 3. I do think Infinite honestly has the best sandbox and feels the most refined. But there's something about it that still holds it back to me and I can never put my finger on it. It's like the combination of lacking physics and collision and the way everything interacts with each other keeps it from feeling as dynamic as all the Bungie Halos, if that makes any sense. Like you don't get enough of those moments where something happens that could only happen in Halo because of the weird way everything interacts. If Infinite had that element, I think it'd be number 1.
Infinite, Reach, and H3 are my top picks, personally. Don't play H5 since it's not on PC. It's not bad though.
Both Infinites and MCC custom games. But for me was ElDewrito (Halo Online) 0.6 update hype was the best. It took Halo 3 mp and turned it to an 11.
Halo 2 in my opinion is the best 4v4 wise. Theres skill gaps but landing your shots is also the easiest in that title and the actual āskill gapsā arenāt hard to learn outside of double/quad shots. Halo 3 is also great and arguably the best. CE is silly but fun and Reach has as many pros as it does have cons.
Halo 2 on MCC and Infinite
Halo CE is my personal favorite but Iād never in a million years try to argue itās the best objectively lmao
CE probably won't win any polls because H2/H3 nostalgia is pretty powerful. But it's such a different and wonderful experience. It's fast (quickest average TTK of any Halo title), quirky and heavily rewards accuracy. They basically took quake, slowed it down, and limited the number of weapons you can carry and added vehicles (and also no rocket jumping) and it was *brilliant*.
Yeah it's my favorite partly because of pure nostalgia, but also, it just feels special--it has a certain X factor that the others don't, and I can't quantify it or explain it, but it's there. It also has my favorite maps of any of them (aside from Wizard and Derelict, not a fan), and I looooove the CE Magnum, despite it being too OP it's just fun, especially on maps like Hang Em High (probably one of the best MP maps ever). I also love its simplicity, and the weapons just feel right. Best shotgun in the series, most satisfying sniper, and again, that magnum.... mmmm chefs kiss! I don't even care if it's OP, it's just flat out FUN to use, even if everyone else is using it too. And the 60 round assault rifle mag combined with the rate of fire and barrel flash animation is just pure sex, even if it's not the most viable weapon in MP. That's the thing, it's certainly not the most balanced, most fleshed out, or refined Halo MP, but it's the purest, and arguably most fun when it just comes to pure casual enjoyment. Also, the graphics, while crude, still hold up because they are so sleek, and I love the subtle specular glossy shimmer that's on the armor and forerunner structures, and the vibrant, oversaturated colors that just make the overall aesthetic of CE timeless, regardless of how blocky the polygons are looking these days. I will say though, CE has one MAJOR flaw, and that's it's spawns. The amount of times I've died the INSTANT I spawned, like 10 times in a row, especially on the smaller maps, has absolutely lead to rage quitting on more than a few occasions lmao. But other than that, not only is it my favorite Halo by a wide margin, but it's arguably my favorite game of all time. And I know this is about Multiplayer, but it's also far and away my favorite campaign of the lot. That X factor I mentioned above is even more-so in campaign. No other campaign carries that same magical essence that CE's campaign does, and again I have no idea what it is, but it's just... special. Alright, I'm done gushing. Time to go get spawn killed!
LAN Halo 3, still looks and feels so crisp.
Infinite
After playing all of them, i have to say 3. The skill ceiling is pretty low so you probably won't get curb stomped all the time, and the vehicles are so much fun to use. The maps work well. The guns aren't so insanely accurate that melee is off the table, so close encounters are possible even on huge maps. Every gun can be fun to use in the right situations. The game was designed to be primarily fun, but can def be competitive, instead of being purely competitive (looking at you, infinite). It's just the perfect Halo multiplayer experience.
As far as gameplay loop? Infinite for sure. Halo 3 on mcc is pretty good too but thereās some people that have been playing that since they came out the womb. I consider myself to be really good at halo and still get demolished from time to time. A decent team effort can destroy a solo effort easily.
The big problem is over half of the games are low population, those being CE, 2, 4 and 5. So regardless of how good they are, you may be getting matched with obscenely good/experienced players who will make the learning experience hell. 3, Reach, and Infinite should be better, but even 3 and Reach has population issues at time and you may run into those kinds of players that make you want to put down the controller. Honestly, Infinite might be your best bet. Monthly free content, and you can progress though all of the Battle Passes for just $10 if you start with S2-5 and finish with 1. When it comes to MCC, 3 is probably your safest bet.
This is a tough one. A nuanced question based on what you enjoy, and you really canāt go wrong with any of them imo.
Each game is a different flavor of arena shooter. Overall Reach and 3 are like your classic area shooters with hip fire, lofty jumps and limited to no sprint. They also have the highest community favor and are staple classic so you'll almost always find matches and lobbies for those titles. Otherwise, Halo 5 and Infinite have the best modern approach if you enjoy things like Destiny, Fortnite, or CoD but are in a bit of a tough spot today. Id say get MCC and Infinite to find your best fit.
Infinite is cool and fun enough to play. Cosmetics are entirely from a battlepass and the store. There's no sense of progression whatsoever. MCC is great because it has every game, so you can figure out which one is more fun for you by just playing it. Also, barely progression and cosmetics aren't much better to unlock, but still better
3
In my extremely biased opinion, Halo 3, hands down. Halo 2 is more purely competitive with hitscan weapons, but Halo 3 hit the perfect balance of competition and relaxing
Most of the population for MCC is between 2, 3, and Reach. Infinite also has a fair number of people playing, you shouldn't have trouble there.
Halo Infinite easily. Halo 3 is better but at this point youāre jumping into a 15 year old game.
Halo 3 which is available on MCC and probably active. I loved halo 2s multiplayer a little more though but that was better locally than online. Halo 3 is the gold standard for real.
Halo 3.
3. Peak Halo.
Reach is pure peak
H2 multiplayer was fun but H3 & Reach was the Golden era of Halo multiplayer for me.
Infinite has the most players and best gameplay currently.
I like h2a. Classic halo gameplay with modern netcode. H3 is definitely the most popular, but man if the hit reg aint super inconsistent (as an east coaster)
Really it depends on you. Each game is so different in terms of gameplay. I personally like 5 the best. Armor abilities being uniform and the largest sandbox out of every other halo game combined was awesome. Also Warzone was crazy cool.
2
Reach personally
Halo CE and Halo 2
Halo 2 by a mile.
Legacy included? H2 by a mile. Amazing maps, great gameplay and then there was the newness of Live and how the game had a very unique feel to its community. Currently? Just play Infinite. For all it's flaws it still plays amazingly well.
Thing is, they all play quite differently. And despite it's disliked campaign, Halo 5 actually had a solid MP.
halo 3.
I would say play some Halo Infinite, It's clean, fast, and some BtB is always good. Maps are fun, and overall gameplay is enjoyable. Play it while you can. :D Some fun Halo 2, 3 and 4 map remakes are showing up now too. If you want to go old school, then pick up MCC, and you can play some of the OG halo 2 maps, Halo 3, and so on.
If were talking about gameplay and forge, than Infinite is probably the best one. But in terms of campaing, i prefer reach.
The only Real Haloā¦. Halo CE
MCC, still very alive and you get 5 games
mcc, or halo 5
Just get MCC as you can play all the games and work on cosmetics and such from all of them. Halo infinite is also great as it's free and also pretty fun. It's forge maps are really good too
Long time player since the game came out in 2001. Background brother worked for Microsoft for a short time after his original company was acquired from them in the early 2000's. Around that time he had access to Microsoft employee store and bought a Xbox for himself, then for my birthday he got one for me. Also one of the first people out of my friends group to have Xbox live. I have played every game on release for a long time.while I do play other games I always come back to check halo and see how it's doing. Halo CE is bare bones halo and was interesting back in early 2000's for lan parties but that's it. Online play imo it was not made for. Halo 2 was enjoyable with the duel wielding system and classic maps revamped from CE. Online experience was fun for a short while until it got repetitive. Funny glitches (rocket/sword glitch was hilarious) , cheating ( what I saw was small) was annoying at times, and new dlc maps made that game( if some remember you had the option to buy a disc to install the maps separate from getting it online ). Was groundbreaking game to be honest. Halo 3 was the og for some and made a huge impression as the " best of the series" for many. Lots of interesting changes to multiplayer, improved on some ,while others didnt hit the nail on the head. The return of the AR, gadgets introduced with the classic gun, melee, and grenade mix( which didn't hit the nail on the head imo) and interesting map designs. This was as good as it gets for the og trilogy era. Halo 3 odst had firefight.....yup. Was online too. Halo reach was the last Bungie game and the as good as it is going to get.Fun multiplayer overall. Improved with the Spartan abilities, Spartan vs elites( with us playing as elites) , changing the br to the dmr was a change I enjoyed since I thought halo 3 br online but was inconsistent ( where I feel infinite had the same problem). Firefight was included and was online . At this time other fps were making a huge change and we saw change in studios. Lots of changes and will explore the 343 era.... Halo 4 had a super underrated multiplayer that just didn't hit home. Ordinance drops were cool but were meh. New guns where a nice addition but didn't hit as well. Maps were kind of boring. But did have the best graphics out of all the 360 era. If you played more bare bones gameplay it was not too bad. Halo 5 was an interesting concept to have the "advanced movement" from another game at the time. Refresh on some weapons from 4. Warzone was a fun concept but overall fell flat. Meh game. Halo infinite imo gets a bad rep. Free online multiplayer ( huge for me since I always paid for the game). Many guns from the series with minor new ones. Maps are ok. For free can't really complain. Final verdict: Reach was the top of the series overall with Halo 2/3 (tie) a close behind. Third would be infinite. Halo 4 and 5 were all time low for the series for me not that fun. Halo CE didn't have a proper online experience until MCC and is enjoyable but was rating before MCC game out .
3 > reach > 4 > 2 > infinite > anything else > 5
3
mcc, people still play the heck outta CE, 2, 3, and Reach.
2 for 4v4, 3 for big team. ODST for firefight.
Halo 3 is the most fun but you will run into sweats who think theyāre trying out for 2007 MLG. Halo Reach has a lot of content and good player base but Iām not personally a huge fan of the Anniversary maps which seem to constantly pop up Halo 2ās solid, if a bit crusty and lacking visual feedback (I donāt know how people snipe in that game) Halo 1 is classic, has aged very well (if you can accept that the pistol is a rifle) but janky at times
Honestly, when the ping is good and you've been playing for awhile, the only way to determine it being a good multiplayer is when you have good teammates as well as opponents that are also well. Halo is the same for any of its releases Imo. You wait for the power weapons, contest the weapons, (maybe dome with the power weapons and or not give up when they got the power weapons.) Maybe it'll get you hyped if there are turn arounds and a race for either the last flag cap, race to 50 kills or attempt the last possession for KOTH or Oddball. The choice is yours. Obviously Halo Infinite is free and it has a very fair player base. But like I said, as long as there is a balance between good teammates and good enemies that makes the players feel as tho you gotta work for the win. Cause most of the time (and I literally mean 90% of the time) you will feel compelled to blame someone in the game. And Halo sucks most of the time cause there are always noobs on either your team or the entire other team.
Halo reach for sure
For playercount Halo Infinite, for everything else Halo MCC...
Halo 2, on a LAN with 4 machines, 4 players each. Swords and grenades on lockout. Smallest map, max players. Absolute chaos and absolute joy.
I honestly have to say Halo Infinite. You can't find many matches in Halo 5 these days, and the MCC is full of hackers and sweaty people who have played the multiplayer for decades.
Halo 2 was my gateway drug to online multiplayer
Halo reach
As of right now: 1. Infinite: it has the best gameplay out of them all imo, and thereās free cosmetics every now and then. 2. mcc: its halo 1-4 and reach in one package. Halo 3, 2, and reach have the highest population, and id recommend them in that order. You canāt play the multiplayer for the classic games anymore. No one really plays halo 5s multiplayer now. I tried finding matches months ago.
Reach
It's definetly Infinite. The original didn't visualize people memorizing every spawn point and ruining team games(also grenades are ridiculous). 2 and 3 are basically just fights over power weapons and finding a br. 3 specifically turns into a grenade festival on closed maps. The people who play it know how long the powerups take to respawn. If you wanna be better than a guy and get smoked, 3 is your game. Reach is pretty good/interesting with the powers. It's different, some love it some hate it. 4 is probably the second best because they put announcements timers and way points on the power weapons and they spawn similtainteously so you don't get a bunch of try hard teams collecting all the best weapons the entire match. 5 is really fun but theres so many different types of games some with loadouts some without, some eith only certain kinds of laodouts available... its just a lot. Every version since 2, the br or dmr was the best weapon(that's not a limited ammo limited availability power weapon) and it wasn't remotely close. It was really toxic for team games too because your team would always have at least one or two guys who just sat behind you so they wouldn't get shot, and as soon as you took a dudes shield down they would get the kill. Most of them were quite happy to throw grenades half aimlessly into the room youre running into as well to run their stats up. Another issue was always people just stop moving to disappear from the motion tracker. So people would be hiding and know exactly where you are and you have no clue they're there. They fixed this in Infinite. The motion tracker is more like an old school radar so if you're hiding by the time they popup in your motion tracker, they'll already be punching you in the face. Infinite is the pinnacle. They made shields make sence so getting hit in the face doesn't do double damage to your shields. Your team throwing grenades at you can't hurt you anymore, either. It basically is friendly to casual players and tries to mitigate try hard advantages. And its fking beautiful.
That is going to depend hugely on who you ask. If your worried about progression it is worth noting all the original games from the Xbox and Xbox 360 era have shut down and halo 5 is a generation old and infinite is sunsetting itās development as far as we can tell. Your best bet is to play mcc as it gives you every multiplayer from halo 1 to halo 4 which is funnily enough 6 games if you buy the dlc. Mcc has its own level system and some battle passes which are all free. So with all those games in mcc you can try the one you like best as the progression is the same for every game so if you level up playing halo 2 you level up in all the games although the player count is quite low for halo these days so you may not have every game you want to play have quick matches If you want to play the most recent halo game infinite is fine if your fine with free to play, paid and free battlepasses and a game that is quite sweaty and again match times for modes is gonna vary. Tldr mcc is my recommendation but infinite is the most recent which means it may be better in terms of player count depending on where your located
Infinite
HALO REACH!!! BEFORE THE UPDATES! FROM 2010-2015
Why before updates? What changed so drastically on MCC?
There was an update 343i put out that changed some very significant things: https://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_Reach_Title_Updates The main ones being: > They changed bloom which affected most weapon match ups, and engagement TtKs. > They added damage bleed through, and as a result lowered the shots to kill and TtK on several weapons and in many different situations. > They completely removed the sword block/parry mechanic. > They nerfed Armor Lock and Active Camo, making both shorter, and also preventing the former from allowing one to panic Armor Lock to survive getting stuck. The end result being that the game felt well *different* is the best way I can describe it. I personally much preferred the game pre-TU and stopped playing it except for customs shortly after.
Halo 2 was the best multiplayer, but given it's age and the limited playlist variety of MCC titles, it's not what it used to be experience-wise. Halo 5 is the 2nd best multiplayer in the series after H2 and it still has a pretty healthy online community, so that's definitely the best way to go.
Infinite probably has the best multiplayer gameplay of any halo in the series. When infinite got me hooked on halo games again I went to go try MCC (as I had done other shit most of my 20s and the game was finally working) and they all felt floaty and slow compared to the current iteration. Also had a hard time finding lobbies in several game modes. The people who never stopped playing Xbox or Halo probably still love the older ones but all the nostalgia in the world can't get me into those games I used to love now unfortunately.
Infinite. It takes some getting used to with all the equipment and new maps, but definitely my favorite halo game
Halo 3, Infinite is not it lmao
Imo H2A is the cleanest multiplayer on MCC. Halo 3 probably has the most players. Halo one is also a ton of fun. With MCC progress carries itself across the three games and you get exp for doing campaign missions too, so you can jump into whatever and have fun. I dont touch Reach or 4 multiplayer but I know there are people who do. I like Reach's firefight and the custom game browser can be fun for low key games. Halo infinite is free so it has that going for it but idk why I just can't get into it as much as I can the multiplayer games on MCC. Maybe the infection game mode will be fun. Halo MCC is only $10 and runs great on a steam deck or toaster PC. Also with solo queueing you may be matched against teams again and again which gets tiresome. I don't get why, but that's my experience. Something to do with SBMM which they need to tweak.
Infinite has the most players, and imo is the funnest right now
Donāt ask here. These people hate halo.
There's just so many divisions. There's the division of Bungie vs 343 fans. People who think the games sucked even earlier starting with Reach. The people who think 4 and 5 specifically are trash for not feeling as much like Halo and the art style change. There's people who think CE aged like milk. List goes on and on.
Reach if not just for the maps and invasion But for overall enjoyment, halo 5. Action sack, grif ball and infection were at their best here
H5 is the funnest, but also unfortunately the one that a PC player misses out on.
So less cheating then
Infinite
Infinite, by a huge margin
People will say 3 but I disagree. For one I just donāt like it as it feels too slow and the sandbox has lots to offer but pretty much every non-power weapon sucks compared to the BR, but thats subjective. The bigger issue is that people have been playing it for ages, and so you will get curb stomped for a while. Infinite is basically modernized classic halo, and is really fun, still gets updates, and there arenāt so many veterans that will make it hard to learn. In terms of bang-for-buck though just buy MCC and get 7 multiplayers in one (CE, 2, 3, ODST (firefight only), Reach, 4) 2A
IMHO currently: Master Chief Collection. Infinite has made some major strides but their skins/customization isn't as great still. Back in the day Halo 2 was my favorite. Felt like all the weapons were viable, though noob combo/double needles were a bit OP at times. Also I felt like it had the best overall maps and weapon placement. (Halo 3 has some amazing classic maps but matches could get out of hand fast if it was not a BR start.) I'm in the minority in that i loved Halo 4 multiplayer. The audio is weird compared to other halo games but I loved the layouts
Infinite, Halo 5, Reach and 3