Of the four core Halo games, (no, I'm not counting Wars) released on Xbox 360, which is the best in your opinion, and why?

Halo: Anniversary. :)

Because a decade after, that game is still brilliant. Probably one of my favourite FPS ever. The new coat of paint on the Anniversary version was very welcomed, and if you didn't like it you could always play the original! 

Having spent a lot of time with all them, Halo 4.

Best story telling, visually stunning for a 7th gen game, my favorite multiplayer in the series.

Halo 3 multi, halo 4 campaign.

Halo 3 easily for me.

Most important campaign mode obviously. Good storytelling. Fantastic multiplayer. Ahead of it's time for 2007. Great package.

Close 2nd for the underrated Halo Reach. I think Reach has the best campaign mode/storytelling although not the most important overall for the series. Gets a lot of undeserved criticism.

Halo 4 is honestly a pile of garbage. ODST was decent.

Halo 3 was the Halo that *really* put the Xbox 360 on the map, it is the game that sold the most in the franchise, it was the game that was the most played game for years on the Xbox before Call of Duty eventually dethroned it, it was feature rich and tons of fun.

The game looked great, played well and has even aged well today, no other Halo has managed to reach the same heights as Halo 3 and for good reason, it is also the only Halo game I tend to go back to on the odd occasion to fire it up again.

Halo 4 gets my vote. It felt the most epic, looked and sounded the best, and had the coolest setpieces.

I honestly found Halo 3 disappointing. For what was supposed to be the climax of a galactic war, it mostly felt like I was late to the party and just cleaning up the stragglers after the actual battles ended.

Why must you hurt me this way, Shadow.

Well, I never said it was flawless. The sequel definitively improved on that area a lot, and it's my personal favourite Halo, but that was the only one who never saw the light in any version on 360.

Overall, my pick is Halo 3. The campaign was a little lackluster but the multiplayer is just so damn good. Brilliant map design, incredible forge options, perfect gameplay.

Next is Reach. Not the biggest fan of loadouts and armor abilities, but the multiplayer modes are impressive. The single player campaign takes FOREVER to get going but once it does its one hell of a ride.

Next, ODST. Love Firefight. Love the jazzy, mournful soundtrack. Love the unconventional storytelling.

In distant last place is 4. For me, the campaign is lacking compared the earlier games in the series. Boring, linear levels; predictable AI; QTEs; and bad writing. Multiplayer, which doubled down on loadouts and added ordnance, isn't much fun either.