8's problem for me was that:
1. I was playing on legendary and the flood turrets are really so unforgiving.
2. I got turned around in that level quite a few times
3. It looked like Prey, replete with assholes and so on
4. The story bits were obnoxious and wasteful
5. The stuff I like halo for is not in this level, or, for that matter, Halo 2 really.
I used to hate the flood. Used to, anyway. They're much better in Halo 3. They fight considerably more intelligently and there are more varied flood types. I just seriously dislike close quarters fighting like that. The melee is too disorienting for me. It reminded me of stabbing in the dark on High Charity of Halo 2, which is like the low point of the series for me.
But, fundamentally, they still jump around way too much, have those little fuckers that are too difficult to kill, and the TURRETS in this game are RUTHLESS. I hate them.
Anyway, I loved 9 because the homage to Halo 1 really worked for me. My hands were sweating like I can't remember. But I definitely see how it could fall flat. It was cheap even. But it was so awesome.
The story shit is so obtrusive in level 8. The game's writing is lollie and it's just so in your face in that mission. I dunno.
7 is soooo amazing. 3, 4, 6, and 7 are some of my favorite levels ever.
I see what you mean about Sierra 117. I just replayed it and it's a much more enjoyable level on easier difficulties. Legendary means the snipers are incredibly precise and powerful. And the game's erratic checkpoint system means you are going to be repeating a lot of the sniper sections multiple times.
But I can't even imagine playing Tsavo highway on normal. 1up members complaining about how hard it is on heroic are really out there after they all pretend to be megafans. I suck at FPS and even I slugged through legendary...and it was an amazing experience. Keep in mind I had to drop down in Halo 2 because it was so boring and repetitive.
I don't like Halo 2 very much.
H3's multiplayer is also crack. Wonderful wonderful crack.
