paradox, you stole the exact wording i was going to use. so kudos to you on that one. :3
of the series, halo 1 was the best because it was the first. as soon as the first one was over and done with, the story kept getting bloated more and more, and the games began sucking more and more. they started helping you with auto-aim ffs. that's retarded no matter how you look at it.
play the half life series, portal included. that stuff is fantastic beyond measure. and they have amazing replay value. i'm going through half life 1 as we speak. i just got past the section where they capture gordon, and then you have to escape. i'm right before the part where you have to jump into the damn. i just have to go back and make sure i got all of my equipment back.
now...that being said, don't trash talk Bungie. they were under pressure from Microsoft to continue the halo franchise. and now they've separated. halo now belongs to microsoft.
bungie will be off doing their own thing. so we'll see what kind of titles they put out. now that they're free to do as they please, they might come out with some killer new games.