The list is divided into five tiers. The first tier will contain a listing of the top five maps in order, followed by a list of honorable mentions in alphabetical order.
Tier I
You freaking love these maps.
First appeared in: Halo: CE, remade for Halo 2 and Halo: Reach
At the end of the day, there might be visually or competitively superior maps out there, but when measured by hours of glee, shrieks of pain, cries of joy, and body count, no map will ever come close to equaling Blood Gulch. It was the only map most people can even remember playing in Halo: CE. Nothing has more nearly encapsulated the sublime or the beautiful in my life than 8 v. 8 CTF classic with two indestructible warthogs on the original Gulch. But back in 2002, it didn't matter if I was having a massive LAN party with the projectors at church, or doing a three person split screen free for all on a 27" screen in my best friend's living room. Blood Gulch was the place to be. Warthog wars. Human v Zombies. Red vs Blue. As far as I know, none of these things would exist without this boxed canyon in the middle of nowhere.
#2) Lockout (/Blackout)Tagline: "Some believe this remote facility was once used to study the Flood. But few clues remain amidst the snow and ice."
First appeared in: Halo 2, remade for Halo 3.
What do an Elbow, a Library, and Snowflakes have in common? Why they can all be found on Lockout of course! FFA or T-slayer, Lockout is golden. It defined the Halo 2 experience, and like Blood Gulch, added many staple Halo experiences to the franchise repertoire. Right behind CTF on Blood Gulch, is FFA swords on Lockout (with four or fewer players), and no map tests a players spacial awareness or combat creativity like Lockout does. You want to keep your brain nice and un-atrophied? Forget Sudoku. Play Lockout. This map is etched onto every veteran Halo player's backhand. The best part is, the better you got at Halo, the better map Lockout became. Learning how to walk the beaten paths is only the beginning. All of the shortcuts, trick jumps, and hiding places could almost justify their own published strategy guide by the time Halo 3 came out. Now if only they could find a place for a warthog...
Tagline: "Software simulations are held in contempt by the veteran instructors who run these facilities."
First appeared in: Halo 3 (and that's it... so far. I'm looking at you Bungie)
If team slayer is at the heart of the Halo multiplayer experience, then The Pit is the pulmonary artery. This was the map that, to me, brought home the importance of teamwork and communication in Halo multiplayer. Generally, if your team is out cooperated, you lose. My first call outs were references to the rocket hall, green box, and training. Team BRing and legit plans of attack (and more often defense) are the gods of The Pit, so get your lone wolf butt in line, because every death counts here. I can see it now...Speedykiller heads for the sniper tower to cut off the left side of the map, while rosewhip, lobster, and cowboy make a mad dash for the rockets, pins drawn from our grenades before you can say slayer, followed shortly thereafter by a metallic clink (and if we're lucky, a manly-yet-morbid grunt). Our first explosive objective acquired, we take up our posts atop the yellow walls and behind a concrete pillar. Your move blue team...
Tagline: "Wind Power Station 7 sits as a mute reminder of the EAP's late 25th century attempt at re-nationalization." (But really..."He's on the sea wall!!!")
First appeared in: Halo 2, remade for Halo 3.
Zanzibar did something rather new and different in Halo 2. The flagship Halo 2 map, it was large, outdoors, and stocked with vehicles and heavy weapons a plenty. A map built for objective play, but unlike Blood Gulch and Sidewinder before it, Zanzibar was asymmetrical. Imagined for a game type where teams would take turns attacking and defending; one team starting at the beach with a variety of vehicles, and the other left to fortify an inland structure, from where they must stop a flag from being stolen, or bomb from being planted. It was a fresh and wonderfully successful "innovation" in the Halo formula. Heat seeking rockets, vehicle boarding, and a more interactive environment were all on display. That timer clicking down from 4 minutes (and actually mattering) really added something. Some of the most intense and gratifying moments in all Halo come from last minute flag stops/captures after a hard fought battle on the outside of that crumbling sea wall.
Tagline: "This relay station is part of a network that has kept Delta Halo functioning smoothly for untold centuries."
First appeared in: Halo 2, remade for Halo: Reach
Picking the last of the top five was tough, and Ascension is probably the most personally slanted pick, but it is a heck of a map. If you're thing is split screen play (because you can't afford the internetz), and Lockout was feeling just a little stale, a stroll over to Ascension was in order. I love this map. Maybe more than any map it makes players appreciate the art of finding cover. Almost the entirety of the map is visible from...almost the entirety of the map. At least for me, the battle rifle found it's way to my heart through Ascension. There is less opportunity for creativity in Ascension than Lockout, but players raw skill head to head is tested all the more for it. Two sniper rifles and a banshee make it very difficult to stay in any one place for long unnoticed. It's also a heck of a thing to watch a map of 6 players FFAing, suddenly start focusing their fire on the 1 suddenly-loathed fool who attempts to nab the banshee as it spawns. Killing spree if he makes it in safe, 5 groins to the face if he fails. And when I finally figured out where those rockets were coming from...
My time is precious, so I'm going to wait to give the honorable mentions the honor they deserve, and some others their shame at a later date.
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