Which Halo Combat Evolved Level Is The Best? 

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Honestly, I enjoyed Two Betrayals. Backtracking a previous level, but adding The Flood was something I found real fun.

As silly as it sounds, my friends and myself growing up loved the opening of "The Silent Cartographer" so much that we would often play it over and over again after completing the level.

I’m really loving these retrospectives on the many various missions that Halo has to offer, you deserve way more love from the Halo community than you get! Keep up the awesome work!

343 guilty spark was one of my least favourite missions when I was younger but over time I've grown to appreciate it's masterful atmosphere and world building

Ah man, AotCR is my absolute favorite Halo mission. I love the intro cutscene, the outro cutscene, and everything in-between. The sense of scale and environment are phenomenal. The combat in this level is so varied. I love stealthily WHACKing grunts on the bridges, as well as the wide open, large-scale combat in the middle of the level, with different vehicles and weapons available to you. Each environment the level puts you in is also accompanied by the perfect soundtrack (or lack thereof - some indoor sections specifically don't have a soundtrack, which makes the game feel more suspenseful)! On A Pale Horse and Covenant Dance both slap. There are so many options and memorable encounters in this level (way more than SC imo). Because of this and the wondrous environment, this level steals my heart every time.

I was surprised to see two betrayals so low on your list, as it's easily my favorite. While the repetitive level is a major flaw, I feel that it more than makes up for it with everything else going on. It has the most to offer gameplay-wise, as all enemy factions are present and fighting each other at every turn, with some of those fights being very large in scale. This is also the first mission where you fight sentinels and where every single weapon is available, which allows for more player choice. And I have to disagree with your statement that not much happens story-wise, as the cutscene in the beginning drops one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) twists in gaming history, as 343 reveals what halo is truly capable of and what he almost tricked master chief into doing. This sets the stakes extremely high right from the start, with the title card "the gun pointed at the head of the universe" really drilling home a sense of urgency. If you fail, all life in the galaxy will cease to exist. The amount of replayability is incredible, as with each ai battle there may be a different victor and you may choose when/how to interject with the whole weapon sandbox at your disposal. The very last encounter would also have to be one of my favorite in the whole franchise, because it's very challenging but you have different options on how to approach it. The flood get absolutely massacred by a huge, diverse covenant force, with different enemy types having different counters. Bungie cleverly placed a crashed pelican right before the battle, which was carrying magnums, snipers, assault rifles and rocket launchers. You want a rocket launcher to deal with the 2 wraiths and hunters and a sniper to safely take out elites from a distance, but but taking a magnum allows you to pick off grunts/jackals while the AR is a good counter to the several cloaked elites you would be facing. I haven't even mentioned the possibility of taking a covie weapon or even a ghost into the fight, and the fact that you can only carry 2 weapons means that on higher difficulties you have to be careful about which ones you pick.

Two Betrayals and Keys are massively underrated levels. The addition of the Banshee and Flood really add a whole new dimension to the level. These rankings are all completely off.

Two Betrayals is my favorite because it’s literally just assault on the control room (an amazing mission) but better. It’s night time, the flood, longer banshee section, Under Cover of Night, access to the shotgun. And it’s the best show case of three way war between you the flood and the covenant. Top 3 halo mission all time in my opinion.

Silent Cartographer will always hold a special place in my heart as the location of the Halo Demo. I learned to mod on those shores, played through the mission hundreds of times, even had a hand in speedrunning it to very little success. No game has ever given me the same feeling of nostalgia that it has.

I think that the beauty library and keys are actually one of Halo:CE's best missions and really puts into perspective the threat the flood pose. However, this tends to be ignored after the first playthrough.

I'm gonna say it I'm gonna say it The Library is underrated and actually maintains tension really well, giving you just enough ammo and health packs to keep moving but also on the brink. It's my third favorite level behind 343 and Cartographer.

I understand I'm in the minority, and I am absolutely not trying to be a contrarian, but Two Betrayals is my absolute favorite mission in Combat Evolved. I think that Assault on the Control room is a good level, but it's significantly dragged down by it's repetitiveness, which is something Two Betrayals solves. It avoids much of the confusing and repetitive hallways and introduces the Flood and the Sentinels, making the combat far more varied. The overall story might be boring, but it's in-game storytelling and atmosphere are on point. This is the actual lowest part of the story, and is the point in the game at which you will never see allies again. Guilty Spark and the Sentinels were the last friendlies in gameplay you'll ever fight with, and now they've betrayed you. You've discovered an even worse truth than the Flood, that Halo is a weapon that will destroy the galaxy and Spark intends to use it, and now you don't even have a real plan yet. There's a room with only human flood, and they don't have weapons, with any weapons you find being out of ammo. They're meant to be Fireteam Zulu, the group of marines you saved in Assault on the Control Room. This sets in the feeling that everything you've done until now has been pointless, and now you're on your own to fix it. Each combat encounter has a different idea in it, from Flood ambushes to wide four way battles to monster closets to flying sections and enclosed spaces. The final massive battle is brilliant, because it's the most tactical you're forced to get in Halo. You have to decide what targets are the most important to take out, since there's too many enemies for you to kill even with the stock pile. You have to influence the battle from a distance in a way that makes it a fair fight between the Flood and the Covenant to make it the bloodiest battle possible so you have to clean up less enemies. Nearly every enemy is on display, and there's no perfect choice of target, its a compromise regardless. The fact the Flood aren't damaged by the sniper rifle and the fact that invisible elites will try to hunt you down if you camp for too long means you're choice of weapons also won't be perfect and the fight stays dynamic. It's the only time in any Halo game where two main enemy factions battle each other in the largest scale the game can offer, only Halo 2 comes close with the Flood vs Sentinels, but then you're with allies, Halo 3, Halo 3 ODST, and Halo Reach don't have encounters between two separate enemies at all, and Halo 4 and 5 both only have very brief periods when Prometheans and Covenant fight each other. I think it's when Combat Evolved is at it's best, and it's what's missing from The Library. My only criticisms of the level is that: 1: while I actually like rocket flood, especially in the final fight, their placement is completely excessive and unfair in a lot of places. 2: Wraiths are totally unpredictable and unfair in their movement in CE, so they can hurt the enjoyment of the final fight. 3: The opening of the level is really bad.

Absolutely agree. 343 Guilty Spark does an amazing job at creating horror despite the fact that you're playing a 7ft-tall superhuman in power armor. Silent Cartographer was definitely the mission I loved replaying the most. That being said, I never liked the warthog run in the Maw. The hard time limit felt inorganic and I have no idea what function corridors like that could serve on a human spaceship. I think Halo 3's warthog run improved on it in every way, with the disintegrating landscape serving as the time limit; and if the architecture makes no sense, it doesn't matter, cuz it's a half-built alien doomsday device.

Just gotta say man, I love your more modest approach to titles and thumbnails. Its refreshing after seeing years of high contrast clickbait. Even more admirable was your shift away from using all caps words in the thumbnail to highlight a concept. Good stuff!

After replying CE several times (some on legendary), I personally find truth and reconciliation to be a worse level than the library. The beginning segment is great, if not a little repetitive with how often covies drop from the air ship, but the interior is just terrible. The RNG of which doors opening, the enemies firing/ flanking you from above in the hangar, and the final run where you must make sure Keyes stays alive just make an already frustrating segment even more annoying. I understand what you mean with the silent cartographer and 343 Guilty Spark. I feel the same way, but I'd think I still place 343 GS as my favorite. The ending where you regroup with marines and fight your way out of the swamp will always be a memorable climax for me

Truth and Reconciliation is a great level. The Pillar of Autumn too, they’re so underrated

Keys for me was fun. Mainly because I felt like it was a more chaotic truth and reconciliation. Truly top 3 in my opinion!

Assault on the Control Room was my favourite back in the day. It felt epic, especially the bit where you help the Marines and they join you in laying waste to everything with the Scorpion tank,

I remember when I was like 5 or 6 just replaying the silent cartographer and assault on the control room over and over again. Some of my favorite memories of halo was those missions (never got past aotc because I never shot my weapons and couldn't let a single marine die lol)

This'll be a good one! Edit: this was very good indeed! I greatly enjoy hearing where these rank on your list. You thoughts on each mission and their quality of gameplay, as well as story are great to hear as well. Really enjoy this series.

I always find your videos to be a treat, especially the Halo ones, so I'm glad you uploaded this to give a little extra flavour to my snack.

Two Betrayals was my favorite map. The first time you're there, you're killing everything, but theres a sort of hustle and bustle of life with the covenant moving about in their territory. When you go back, it's only been a short time, but the flood presence already made a massive impression on the atmosphere.

Another awesome video, your putting these out so fast I hope you don’t burn out!

Great content! Thanks !

Your examining videos are very entertaining 😁

All the levels are great :) also I really love your channel!

Great video! Loving the content as always.

This is awesome! This encourages me to continue on my channel. Good luck to you bro!! This shit is gonna skyrocket!

Great piece on this. I have to say for me The Library is the mission that has stuck with me the most, maybe along with touching down on the ring during "Halo". If there was repetition in The Library, I saw it as driving home the fact that the Flood are simply beyond anyone's ability to really stop, and to my knowledge, this has been a truism in the Halo verse.

@Ben Plays Games Your point of view in this ranking is very interesting. For me Halo CE has no bad levels but of course there are those ones I play the most. 343 Guilty Spark is an horror level. It does an extraordinary job by introducing the Flood. The aspect I like the most about this mission is that it tell you everything it's happening by showing you the details, clues in the scene: the blood, the corpse and their location, the crazy marines, the makeshift trenches, the video recording. I can play this level anytime without getting bored just for the atmosphere. My top Halo CE missions are ( not in order of preference ): Halo, Silent Cartographer and AotCR. Halo and Silent Cartographer are the essence of Halo: open map, non linear objectives and story events depending on those, fight with Marines and protecting them, become acquainted with forerunner technology and architecture. AotCR is an allout warfare with every type of vehicle, banshee, stealth session. Architecture is repetitive but due to gameplay, enemies position, status and type, the same room can be played in many ways. T&R is an excellent sniper mission. I like how you started in an open area with sniper rifle and sneak inside the alien ship engaging several cqc firefights. PoA is a very good intro level but it is not the best intro level in the Halo saga. The atmosphere of The Maw is really good but there are some "platforming session" that seem out of place in some way: the session in the reactor and the road design of the final run. There is so much to say that you can do a video on every Halo level.

Great vid👌

My favorite level was Assault on the Control Room. I loved this level so much that it is all I ever wanted to play when I was over at my friend's house when we were kids. I wanted to play it so much that it made him angry enough to take the disc out of the Xbox and throw it on the ground and say "All you want to do is play this f---ing game!" Haha. What wasn't cool is after he threw it the disc got scratched and it would no longer load my favorite mission Assault on the Control Room. It would load every other mission but that one. I was pissed to say the least haha.

This is awesome!

A man of culture! I actually loved the first snow level when you reach the marines and something I’ve never seen other players do but something I did was always try to keep them alive and fight the outside mission on foot. It sounds crazy based on the scope of the level but the way it plays out is insane combat with the marines following you until you have to go back inside. Also there’s like 2 groups of marines and if you protect them all you have about 10 with you towards the end of the outside part. Also the combat with the night time version of the snow level outside is absolutely insane with 3 factions including yourself. I totally agree with the repeated feeling of the inner sections. Also silent cartographers intro section and the sections on the level halo at the big rocks is my favorite. All the combat sections with the marines are my favorite and no other halo set battles with the same level of chaos besides adding tons of vehicles. Reach and ODST where amazing too. Halo 2’s earth missions and halo 3’s missions with marines are great to. I wish halo would go the direction of focusing on large battles with amazing artificial intelligence for the enemies and marines and make it gritty like battlefield 1 and huge scale combat. And another ODST set during an earlier time during the war on different planets. Just imagine battles with a.I.‘ s with like 100 covenant vs 100 unsc with tons of vehicles and weapon types.

Suuuuper early lol. Nice one mate!

I love two betrayals, especially as a kid seeing the covenant and flood fighting in those small battles throughout the level. It really made it feel like they were at war with each other, while you were the lone soldier just trying to pass by and weren’t seen as such a huge threat compared to the flood outbreak

Aint no way you put keyes in last place, walking through the absolute carnage of watch the flood and covenant fight for control for the vessel was so epic

I'm glad this video came out because i literally just got my brother to play through ce

I appreciate this video. Halo CE is my favorite Halo game of all for its campaign, and I will be playing the whole game tomorrow. Your top 3 is also the same as mine, in that very same order. Interestingly enough, I agree with you on all you said about 343 Guilty Spark. I do want to say it's the best, too. But, I must admit that The Silent Cartographer is better.

So my only experience with halo CE before MCC was playing the Mac demo over and over again. I played silent cartographer countless times which really made me appreciate how much of a sandbox halo can be. Luckily the demo also allowed for LAN matches so I got to spend plenty of time in blood gulch fucking around with friends. Also for some reason in my mind silent cartographer was the first mission of the full game so when I finally started it up I was surprised by how long it too to reach. (Not that long). Btw, “girls, boys, and Spartans” is such a cute phrase, I love it.

Alright, here's my best Halo CE mission order: 1. The Covenant Thanks for watching.

I don't care what reputation it has, the Library is my second-favorite mission in the game. I love playing it, always have.

another incredible vid my friend. Do you think you will make one for halo 3 ever (ranking the mission)

You a fan of speed running? I feel you’d be like the summoning salt of halo

Assault on the control room, Silent cartographer and 343 guilty spark are my personal favorites.

Thank god I thought I was the only person who put 343 Guilty Spark above Halo and AOTCR.

10. Library 9. Keyes 8. Maw 7. Halo 6. Assault on the Control Room 5. Two Betrayals 4. Pillar of Autumn 3. Truth and Reconcilliation 2. Silent Cartographer 1. 343 Guilty Spark

I’m surprised Keys was last place. Personally either 2 betrayals with its backtracking or the library for its copy and pasted rooms I think are more deserving.

Assault on the control room is one of my favorite missions in halo ce

My biggest problem with attack on the control room it feels too long but I 100% agree with your number one pick

Silent Cartographer, 343 Guilty Spark, and Two Betrayals are my favorites.

Keys has a beautiful aspect, library is like hord mod, shot gun punch shot gun shoot run! Run! Two betrayals the snow has never been the same in halos when you walk out that tunnel! Maybe it's just me 😋

I love your content, but I totally disagree about Keyes being so low. I think it's one of the best missions in the entire game. Especially after the slog that was Two Betrayals that's way too long and repetitive. Keyes does everything Two betrayal does, but better and actually fun.

My brain literally malfunctioned when The Library wasn't 10th.

It also has to be said for the maw that the sections leading up to the warthog run are fairly short and basically just act as a buildup to it.

My Ranking: 10. Keyes 09. The Library 08. Truth and Reconciliation 07. The Maw 06. Two Betrayals 05. Halo 04. Assault the Control Room 03. Pillar of Autumn 02. 343 Guilty Spark 01. The Silent Cartographer I'm currently playing through the campaign again so this is subject to change. I honestly don't think my top 5 is going to change though.

Two Betrayals!

Yo sweet. I’ll join the live stream later too

I mean, top 3, going by my heart, not my head? Third place is Silent Cartographer, not because it's bad. Quite the contrary. It's excellent, well paced, and extremely well designed, but the other two have stolen my heart more. Second place would be truth and reconciliation, because it's one of (if I remember right), only two times we see the ring at night, and it's gorgeous, even to this day. And first is 343 Guilty Spark because goddamnit I love slow burn horror, and it is a master class in how to do that in a game, even to this day. I mean, the pacing is damn near flawless, the atmosphere is gorgeous, and the whole intro is just dripping with dread and menace. Plus, it genuinely scared me when I was younger. So much so, that it took me a long time to get over my fear pf the flood. An honorable mention goes to the Pillar of Autumn, since it is perfectly paced.

6:36 I've never seen a marine get stuck and run around like that!

I really love the 1st and second level.

Are the indoor sections is assault on the controlroom really that bad? As far I am concerned they are rather short and dont occupy too much of the level.

4:10 I can't call it bland. I like the varied combination of multi-faction battles, going through the level in reverse but with some new areas, and the game's first emphasis on air combat.

I love playing truth and reconciliation… until I remember I have to go through the ship section

Assault on the Control Room. Is my favorite. It kinda has everything for me.

Oh boy super early

My list is similar, though AoTC and Two Betrayals each get knocked down a notch. Maybe I'm just not that big a fan of CE's sluggish vehicle vs vehicle missions heheh

Hard disagree on Keyes. It's not that repetitive at all with all sorts of enemy compositions, the whole level has an extremely chaotic feeling as the Covenant have completely lost control of the situation and the Flood can amass and funnel through narrow corridors in a way unlike the Library or TB. Seeing them store bodies for infection and the knowledge that the Covenant are here because they think the Flood are actually *repairing* the ship also recontextualises what the Flood even are. I think the top 3 levels, in ascending order, are the last 3 levels. TB, Keyes, and the Maw being the best level in the game. I don't understand criticising levels like Keyes for being repetitive when you spend the first five levels fighting basically identical Covenant squads. For God's sake, TB is the first time you fight Hunters as anything other than a pair of them in an otherwise empty room, the later levels don't only add the Flood but actually make better use of the Covenant than the early levels (see also Spec Ops Covenant). Personally I think the Library is uniquely bad but after that, the worst level is the massively overrated Assault on the Control Room, then the Truth and Reconciliation.

Weird question, but if you played /entirely/ with Anniversary graphics enabled, do any of your rankings change? Do the problems with Guilty Spark's visuals cause it to drop in the ratings?

I actually love Keyes, especially the first area. It's just so atmospheric. High Charity in Halo 2 should've taken the concept and improved it but I think it failed to deliver.

We all knew the answer but the reason Keyes and the library were last is because they are the only levels where dying isn’t you fault Ce has always been good in terms of uncontrollable bullshit but Keyes and the library are bad because they are unfair and frustrating in terms of navigation and combat Imagine playing library for the first time and getting stuck for an hour because of its confusing directions Or dying 3 times to the same combat form on Keyes because it has a rocket launcher

As much as I love the Silent Cartographer, I really feel it should have all the Covenant vehicles too. A couple ghosts, a wraith maybe two, a couple banshees. It would have been perfect! As well as more to find. Different weapons caches, maybe a few other areas with dead bodies that tells a story, etc. There's are lot of area to explore, but not much to really find. Same goes for AOTCR and Two Betrayals really.

Here’s mine 10-Keyes 9-Assault on the control room 8-Two betrayals 7-Truth and (I can’t spell it) 6-The library 5-Halo 4-The pillar of autumn 3-the maw 2-343 guilty spark (personal fav) 1-silent cartographer

I love keyes its my favourite level. I means its so underrated

AotCR, Silent Cartographer or T&R are the most 'fun', but the 'Flood levels' (343GS & Library) are best for atmosphere and environmental storytelling I would say... but a pain in the ass to play!

Good list. Agree with SC as #1. Two Betrayals is too low, that's a great mission. Guilty Spark, while I can see your points regarding story and atmosphere, is simply not fun to play. So once the plot twist is revealed, it has little replay value. The indoor section is a confusing maze and fighting the Flood is boring and repetitive.

i never really viewed silent cartographer as a beach invasion like d day. i mean you land on a beach and battle it out with covenant for a couple minutes. and its pretty even terms its not like the covenant are held up in bunkers and have the high ground. if there wasnt sand then the comparison would never been brought up

The maws backtracking was the best of the three levels that did it: it bookends the game finishing where you started, the worn aesthetic demonstrates the passage of time and the layout is different enough so it’s not a repetition. All of this reminds you of how you started the campaign before you knew anything but now you return with new knowledge, enemies and objectives. AOTCR is way too long and 343 gampleywise is meh

6:32 Common mistake, but the ship in Keyes isn't actually the T&R I think.

favorite to least favorite-> AOTCR, The Library, 343 Guilty Spark, The Maw, The truth and reconciliation, The pillar of autumn, Two betrayals, Halo, keyes. AOTCR is probably my favorite mission in halo. I felt like a 7 year old on christmas morning when I discovered there were sleeping grunts everywhere, and that I was *SUPPOSED* to kill them in their sleep. Also, in co-op, it seems inevitable that I start killing my friends whenever we enter the elevators on this mission. There's this lack of super open missions in halo after CE, I feel like AOTCR captures them perfectly. The library/343GS is placed in second and third place because I'm a masochist. The Maw is an absolute blast and a banger of an ending. TNR has a great vibe, I love snipers and exploring covenant ships, and halo CE has this sort of "old sci-fi" vibe, where you're exploring what's definitely far into the future, but it feels like the ship you're in is a bit old.

I think Assualt on control room should be ranked higher than 343 Guilty Spark. Yes the build up to the flood was what the mission did perfectly. But if you’re gonna talk about reusing geometry, 343 Guilty Spark uses the same rooms so much that i have yet to have a play through where I didn’t get turned around, confused,and lost. I’d give Assualt on control room a nod over it due to the breathe of different combat scenarios, even if they did repeat a few rooms, you understand whether you’re going up the elevator or down the elevator.

Two Betrayals is One of My Favourite Levels

Maybe I am very biased having wasted thousands of hours over the years on this game, but I have to disagree with you on your top picks. To clarify, the foundation of my reasoning is that Halo is at its core a military epic, more than anything (At least the games) else. The point where narrative and gameplay link magnificently 90% of the times is where you (the player) are tasked with performing a colosal task that would have seemed almost imposible to a common soldier or unit of soldiers (hence the core idea behind the whole super soldier idea) a power fantasy to put it bluntly. I say this because, if we take this into consideration when thinking about Halo's levels, a lot of scenarios can be seen in a more positive light. Perhaps the biggest example being ASoCR, where a single "soldier" is deployed with the sole intent of breaching through enemy line BY STORM and not via stealth. The linear nature of the level makes the feeling of progress more noticeable and the amount of battles that take place until the end more rewarding (albeit honestly a bit tiring near the end). Hallways are not necessarily an "uninspired" level design if mixed up with open sections and arenas (something that you stated before, characterizes the franchise). A hallways can present an interesting difficulty spike on combat, given the limited space and the way enemies get positioned. If anything, I would be conflicted on stating a "best level" on the game, as I think Halo and AotCR share the top spot, given that both tackle more or less the same idea (player as the underdog working its way to the objective), with TSC following closely, if anything taken a bit back by its circular nature and relative lack of actual vehicle vs vehicle combat (something I think they actually prototyped for the level during development).

My list: 10. Halo 9. T&R 8. PA 7. AOTCR 6. The Maw 5. Two Betrayals 4. Silent Cartographer 3. Keyes 2. Library 1. 343 GS

I wonder if 343 see these to get inspiration for good missions and level designs, if not they should

You should totally compare Infinite's open world to ODST's and see if it learned anything from its predecessor. Also you should rank the best opening moments from each game.

Yo where my early bois at?

Haven't watched the Video yet, but i like the silent cartographer from the first game the most.

It seems very clear that after 343 guilty spark the dev team was rushed as every following level is a revisit/recycle of previous levels. The second half of the game is also significantly weaker in its atmosphere compared to the first half.

For me...number 10th is The Library number 9 would be 343 Guilty Spark, I hate this mission bcoz i was actually too afraid and wanted to avoid that level everytime😂

The silent cartographer is the best mission ever!

Warning: Very Unpopular Opinion 1) Two Betrayals 2) Assault On The Control Room 3) Pillar Of Autumn 4) The Maw 5) The Silent Cartographer 6) Truth And Reconciliation 7) Halo 8) 343 Guilty Spark 9) Keyes 10) The Library

I enjoyed the mission Keyes. I beat it on all difficulties but the Library was the best in my opinion.

This was hard to pick I would say the library or two betrayed

My personal ranking: 10: Truth and Reconciliation (i’d argue this is one of the worst missions in the franchise) 9: Halo (while it’s an amazing mission on a first play through, it gets very boring for me rather quickly) 8: Keyes (if this mission was less like T&R, it’d be so much better) 7: Pillar of Autumn 6: Assault on the Control Room 5: The Library (my favorite mission) 4: Two Betrayals 3: The Silent Cartographer (great mission, very overrated) 2: 343 Guilty Spark 1: The Maw

Happy 20th birthday Halo.

I personally think Two Betrayals is the best Halo CE level. Sure, it's Assault on the Control Room in reverse, but it has Everything that makes Halo CE great. Large areas, small corridors, all enemy types, faction battles, vehicle combat, and great atmosphere.

10:00 But... But... The optional stealth rooms! 😢

Let’s go try to count to ten! I’m seriously running out of ideas but a comment is a comment and the RU-vid algorithm isn’t gonna work properly by itself!