Halo: Combat Evolved's Warthog Run is still one of the best final level set-pieces ever made.

[galv]

It's just the sheer awesome culmination of the entire game distilled into something challenging and fun, watching the Covenant all run around headlessly as you try desperately to get the fuck off the Ring, all the while seeing the countdown timer slowly tick downwards. Even more fun in co-op, when you're racing your buddy to the end and hoping one of you can make it even if the other doesn't. Not to mention the music.



It's a suitably grand enough moment to cap off the game and manages to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside for finally beating the game and ending on a great high.

ITT: Post other final level set-pieces which are top-tier in both execution and grandness.

 

[Moose]

The worst thing about 2, 4 and 5 is the lack of a Warthog run.

 

[Z-Beat]

As someone who loves vehicle shenanigans in Halo this level never gets old

 

[Einchy]

I like how this was so awesome they did it again in 3.

 

[Deleted member 54292]

F for Echo 419

 

[SirNinja]

I like how the timer was decreased by one minute on Legendary difficulty, not just for the added challenge but because it was assumed if you were playing on Legendary you'd probably already know about the Echo-419 scene and would just keep driving.

It's still weird how only Halos 1 and 3 ended with an awesome driving sequence like this. It's a big part of what made Halo 2's cliffhanger so jarring way back when.

 

[Gundam]

It's a lil clunky but it's a perfect finale for the game

Halo 3's warthog run is more smooth and cinematic, but the level as a whole doesn't emotionally hit as high.

I know it's reusing assets but returning to the pillar of autumn to finish the job just feels so right

 

[Mad_Rhetoric]

Yep its amazing

 

[Eamon]

Maybe it would be derivative, but I would love if Infinite ended with one too lol

 

[T-Virus]

Halo: Combat Evolved is still one of the best ever made.
Fixed it for you

 

[Cranster]

The worst thing about 2, 4 and 5 is the lack of a Warthog run.

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Halo 2 was going to have one but got cut.

 

[Legend of Aims]

I was thinking about this the other day.
ME2 suicide run vs Halo warthog Run (quick someone make a poll)

 

[Hardvlade]

Loved it in both CE and in Halo 3. Back in the days, I wanted to complete all of the Vidmaster Challenges and had 3 friends join me in the Vidmaster Annual which required to beat Halo 3's Warthog Run with 4 ghosts instead and with the Iron Skull on. So if we messed up, we had to go back to the previous checkpoint, no respawning. It made it really intense as well.

Damn, now I'm hoping Infinite has a warthog run at some point

 

[GamerJM]

I liked the one in 3 a lot more. I actually think the one in CE is better in terms of the layout and the buildup and the way it's designed, but the Warthog in CE controlled terribly (to me at least) so it was like this moment that should have been awesome but was frustrating because I couldn't precisely control the Warthog how I wanted.

 

[MC_Leon6494]

As someone who literally finished CE again earlier today, hooo boy do I agree. That warthog run is so, so good.
One thing that kills a lot of those cinematic escape kind of sequences is fucking up and having to redo everything. CE is pretty good about giving players enough time and space to make some mistakes along the run without being too stressed for time - but also still having the anxiety of "holy shit this is all about to explode and I'm gonna die"

 

[Rickenslacker]

Something that really stood out to me about Halo CE at the time was its complete lack of boss fights. Just about any FPS you could think of had boss fights. They were necessary, and more often than not they sucked. I was impressed that Halo stuck to its core fundamentals through and through and ended off with something uniquely its own.

It became all the more apparent when Halo 2 came out (and replayed it on MCC upon release on PC) which had three different boss encounters, all of which were bad.

 

[LycanXIII]

The tank run at the end of ODST was great too.

 

[Teapot Jeffries]

I love that you can just keep driving right on past where Echo 419 was supposed to pick you up. Feels bad but saves time.

 

[nekkid]

It's not just the warthog run. The Maw is the perfect final level.

The worst thing about 2, 4 and 5 is the lack of a Warthog run.

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Also Reach and ODST.

And 3's poor attempt at one.

 

[Milk]

It's super fun but also kind of silly when you realize it makes absolutely no logical sense within the actual confines of the ship's size

And 3's poor attempt at one.

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Now this is a hot take if I've ever seen one. How on Earth is a warthog run off of an exploding Halo ring that's collapsing around you not awesome as hell? Was even better than CE's.

 

[VaporSnake]

20 years later and I'm still wondering what they use all that vacant space for on the Pillar of Autumn.

And 3's poor attempt at one.

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Madness, it's superior.

 

[nekkid]

Now this is a hot take if I've ever seen one. How on Earth is a warthog run off of an exploding Halo ring that's collapsing around you not awesome as hell? Was even better than CE's.

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The exploding plates are just horribly contrived, for a start. The whole thing is just a mishmash of obstacles, no fun shortcuts etc. There just isn't the flow you have with CE.

 

[Birbos]

The worst thing about 2, 4 and 5 is the lack of a Warthog run.

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What about the physics in 4 and 5

 

[tokenflipguy]

YAS..and I love the throwback of it in H3.

 

[AuthenticM]

the lack of a warthog run in Halo 2 actually makes the presence of one in 3 that much more satisfying. It was so fucking great to see Halo 3 ending in the same way as Halo 1.

 

[The Archon]

Echo 419 though...

 

[Dr. Feel Good]

I always felt like there was a huge missed opportunity in not having Resident Evil 4 end the same way given it was an action game power house. Leon escapes on a last minute jet ski run and could have been absolute stellar finish similar to this. Instead it was just a shitty cut scene.

 

[Newman]

Halo 3 made it even better.

 

[Deleted member 20284]

SNIP
It became all the more apparent when Halo 2 came out (and replayed it on MCC upon release on PC) which had three different boss encounters, all of which were bad.

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I've never understood this about Halo bosses. I thoroughly enjoyed taking out the Heretic, the Prophet and Tartarus each with their own little mechanics and room setups. I've been wanting that back in Halo since 2's campaign. The more recent games like Deus Ex Mankind Divided and Control remind of of those sort of boss sequences and room setups. I really enjoy them as a break to the FPS missions during an overall game.

 

[Deleted member 59126]

Absolutely! In fact the entire single player campaign of Halo was fantastic.

 

[Rickenslacker]

I've never understood this about Halo bosses. I thoroughly enjoyed taking out the Heretic, the Prophet and Tartarus each with their own little mechanics and room setups. I've been wanting that back in Halo since 2's campaign. The more recent games like Deus Ex Mankind Divided and Control remind of of those sort of boss sequences and room setups. I really enjoy them as a break to the FPS missions during an overall game.

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Heretic wack a mole, punching the guy on the wheelchair, and walking around waiting for Tartarus to lose invincibility just weren't very interesting, especially on Legendary where any errant hit is far more costly.

 

[Deleted member 59126]

Halo 3 made it even better.

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While the actual run in Halo 3 was objectively better, the gravity of the run in Combat Evolved is unmatched in my opinion. Halo 3 did it better, Halo's was more memorable.

 

[SteviaRelievingYa]

Echo 419 though...

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So many attempts were made to somehow save her.

 

[Clowns]

Foehammer 😢

 

[Deleted member 20361]

Long escape segments (Ori, Rayman) are not my kinda stuff but the nostalgia is absolutely there on this one and I doesn't feel that repulsive at this very moment. I reckon it actually is a good set-piece and has it's own place in Halo universe.

 

[christocolus]

Yeah, it was really good.

 

[HgS]

20 years later and I'm still wondering what they use all that vacant space for on the Pillar of Autumn.

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In the universe lore the Pillar of Autumn had a novel "honey comb" structure that dramatically increased its ability to survive damage. The Halycon class cruiser line it was a part of were 50 ships with the first ten featuring that design before it was deemed too expensive and abandoned. That was pre-war likely before the destructive capabilities of Covenant energy weapons were on anyone's mind and it likely just seemed like overkill.

If I had to guess what you drive through is a combination of service corridors and the interior honeycomb structure of the ships superstructure.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

It's an amazing sequence, perfect ending to the game. Top 3 GOAT to me.

 

[RNG]

I'm with you there OP, so epic.

 

[Zocano]

Halo 2 was going to have one but got cut.

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Dunno how I've never seen this but this is raaaaaad. What a shame Halo 2 ended up being what it was cause so much of their storyboarding and concepts sounded so cool.

 

[shark97]

i didn't love it at the time. prefer traditional, graphically intensive end bosses.

 

[Calverz]

Yea its amazing! I loved 3 as well as the level is falling apart around you near the end and theres the wee hidden grunt behind the rock crying or some shit lol

 

[Falchion]

Yeah it's an amazing set piece to end a game. Still gives me chills when I see it.

 

[Sec0nd]

Those Warthog runs were so incredibly janky yet super fun.

 

[Tawpgun]

They never even revealed who Dustin Echoes was. Like he was totally dropped as a plot point from the series.

 

[Hawkster]

They're my favorite parts of Halo 1 and 3.

I get literal fucking chills from the music in Halo 3's Warthog Run.

 

[Kinthey]

Basically an acknowledgment that the Warthog is the secret star of Halo

 

[Fancy Clown]

The Lost Legacy train setpiece is one of the GOAT game climaxes. Finally the series saved its best setpiece for last, and its arguably the best in the series — combining what's so great about Uncharted 2's train and 4's Jeep chase in an expertly paced sequence that keeps escalating and throwing new things at you until it culminates with a dope brawling beat down and a classic escape sequence.

 

[Tawpgun]

Not CE but one of my favorite Halo memories was finding out you can "glitch" Sgt Johnson to survive after you kill guilty spark. I forget how it was done but basically he dies in the cutscene but when the door re-opens his model is there but has broken "pathfinding". He will shoot at enemies and get in vehicles but otherwise will not follow the player.

We did this by accident first and then spent the next 3+ hours pushing him through the level to the warthogs. Once there, he will get in the gunner. We did the level and "saved" him.

Shoutouts to this achievement too
Vidmaster Challenge: Annual
: After 9/25/08, complete Halo (Final level) on 4-player Legendary LIVE co-op, with Iron, and everyone in Ghosts.

 

[calibos]

The Lost Legacy train setpiece is one of the GOAT game climaxes. Finally the series saved its best setpiece for last, and its arguably the best in the series — combining what's so great about Uncharted 2's train and 4's Jeep chase in an expertly paced sequence that keeps escalating and throwing new things at you until it culminates with a dope brawling beat down and a classic escape sequence.

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Hahahaha....I have never played that game, but that gif makes it look janky.