Read this yesterday, really good article. I do love AOTCR, and would say that it offers a bit more variety than TSC, but I think that Silent Cartographer fits the bill just fine. [quote]"The combat arena in Halo is a dance floor."[/quote] This statement is [i]so[/i] true, relating to Halo CE more than anything. The brilliance of Halo CE is that the levels cater to so many different styles of play, the only reason you’ll experience a level the same way twice is because you chose to play it that way. It helps that Halo CE has such a good weapon sandbox. There’s not a single weapon in there that can't be used as a primary weapon, they're all incredibly useful - even without the vehicle disabling charge of the Plasma Pistol that was introduced with Halo 3, the stun effect from the Plasma Pistol and Rifle against enemies make them invaluable tools (their accuracy helps a lot too). The level design for Silent Cartographer is just fab! It's not at all linear, you can choose to do the objectives after the beach assault in any order you wish. Instead of just going to the Cartographer room, getting locked out and having to shut down the security system from the other side of the island, you can just go to the security facility and shut it down before making your way straight to the Cartographer. You'll encounter more enemies because you didn't clear them out, but you have to decide whether you feel the pay-off is worth it - variety is the spice of good game design. This is why I'd put it above AOTCR, because TSC isn't quite as linear in terms of how you handle the objectives. I really liked the point they brought up about the intuitive shape of the geometry. They're absolutely right as well, I see a ramp-like structure and my brain is immediately just like "JUMP YOUR WARTHOG OVER IT!" Beautifully written article, hit the nail right on the head as to why Halo CE is still one of the best (in y personal opinion, the best) FPS titles of all time.

I think Two Betrayals is one of the best levels. It gives you a feeling of being a player versus the world - plus the awesome level design.

Firstly: Who cares where the article is from - a well written article is a well written article. Stop prohibiting yourselves from interesting opinions because of a moronic arrogance that have forgotten the origins of. I'll never get over the exaggerated swinging of the other Pelican as you drop onto the beach. We get it. They're flying. There's a timelessness to the barebones simplicity of the original Halo that no other shooter (including the later Halo games) has really achieved; the coherent melding of all of its systems is unique. Gameplay is Doom-esque, wherein the player has to think about where they are moving before they are shooting, as opposed to being led to a pre-determined point to unload their magazine from.

kotaku... you mean those bloggers that call themselves journalist, that insult us gamers for thinking they need ethics to recuse themselves from writing articles about game developers that they slept with or have funded...no not going to read it.

Halo's most iconic level is Halo not The Silent Cartographer.

I want to read it, but I don't want to give Shitaku any views.