Halo 2
Halo 2 is damn good, but probably not the best game in the series. It’s got a lot of lofty promises–Covenant are invading Earth, a dual storyline, introducing online multiplayer–but it only sticks 2/3 of its goals (and barely at that). The introduction of the Arbiter and Covenant Civil War allows for some nuance, but feels underdeveloped and takes away from the main point of the game. The campaign is too short to fully put things into place, and just like the previous games, the introduction of freaky plant Flood-thing Gravemind comes totally out of left field.
Just like with the original, multiplayer is where the game truly sings. Online play may be the only real new addition, but it works like a charm. There’s a reason why the servers were online for nearly 10 years and its playlist system has shown to be so influential in gaming today. The mediocre campaign is really the only sore spot here in an otherwise awesome multiplayer package.