Most sequels suffer in the story department in that part of the wonder of the first trip to that universe is discovery. What Halo does exceptionally well in its campaigns is guide you through a load of different experiences that essentially follow the limited rules of a shooter. For linear campaigns they do a good job of giving you a nice sandbox to play in.
Bungie themselves have said that they really don't build the game around a story. They create the scenarios they want gamers to experience and build the story around it. "Finish the Fight" was a marketing tool, versus a true story idea. I quite like several of the levels in each of these games and quite dislike others.
It's a rare shooter that really grabs me story-wise. It's just not really the point to me. I'd rather have open levels with many different possible paths, like Tsalvo Highway or the early mountainous levels of Halo CE where you can approach the battle from lots of angles, with lots of different weapons and strategies.
Halo campaigns excel at this, versus lots of other shooters where you are basically forced to use the one magic gun they give you for that level.
Looking forward to Reach greatly to see what new tricks are up their sleeves.
Can't we all just get along and play our games in peace?
