5. Halo 2
I honestly do not recall ever being more hyped for any game in my life than Halo 2. CE had been my favorite ever at that point, and was pretty much played daily since the moment of release. I was 13 years old, which is probably right around the time in your life where you can get the most excited by the prospect of any new game, because you've played your fair share of games, but you haven't quite seen it all yet, and you've still got that youthful optimism that every new game could potentially be the best thing ever. So, this was it. The game. Sequel to "the best game ever." Obsessing over every bit of info we got up to release, to a level I haven't done before or since. Really, it was the perfect set up for massive disappointment. But man, this game fucking delivered.
Bungie took what was already one of the greatest shooters ever, and made it better in every conceivable way. A more galaxy sprawling campaign, that fleshed out the world, and the lore immensely. Grand set piece moments, like the scarab encounter. A secret second playable character, that they somehow managed to keep under wraps, and remains a fan favorite to this day, DESPITE the fact that he took playtime away from our main hero (not an easy task to accomplish, as certain other devs will attest to). Way more weapons, including the now iconic Battle Rifle, and of course the badass Energy Sword. The singular most iconic take on the Halo battle theme, with the electric guitar. And oh yea...it single handedly made online multiplayer on consoles simple, intuitive, and straight forward. You know, along with also just being an amazing multiplayer game, full of some of the series' most well designed maps, like the often remade Zanzibar, and Lockout.
Honestly, the only reason this isn't even higher on my list, is because I'm an RPG super nerd, but I love this game with every fiber of my being.
