Trying to pick the best Halo multiplayer maps of all time seems like a madman’s quest. How do you boil down 10 maps from a decade-old series littered with classic battlegrounds? We could pick 10 from Halo 2 alone. But alas, here we are, putting it all on the line for you. Because we care that much.

After much thought, reflection, arguing and plenty of CTF matches, we present to you the 10 best Halo maps of all time.

10 Exile (Halo 4)

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Capture the Flag, Extraction, DominionOK, we know, with SO many maps to pick through, why include a hot-off-the-press Halo 4 level? Because it’s AWESOME! Indoor and outdoor zones, multiple levels of verticality, oodles of vehicles (Gauss ’Hog, Ghost, Banshee, and Scorpion tank), all wrapped up in a loop tailor made for fast routes and even faster Killtaculars – Exile represents the best of the Halo 4 maps. And it’s not just because it’s shiny and new; it plays really well, in pretty much any mode you throw at it. A perfect map for CTF, Dominion, Extraction, and Slayer, Exile looks, feels, and plays like classic Halo. It’s at once new and immediately familiar, offering a balanced battlefield for vehicular Spartan slaughter and on-foot shenanigans aplenty.

9 Guardian (Halo 3)

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Slayer, King of the Hill, Oddball, SWATGuardian provided the small, multi-level fix in Halo 3 that Halo 2 Lockout faithfuls longed for. With its made-for-speed layout and ample paths that all but stampede you into the fray, Guardian featured Forerunner aesthetics perched atop an overgrown jungle skyline bathed in shades of misty green and win. Architecture figured heavily in pacing, specifically with its many easily identifiable areas, most of which became magnets of death. Sniper tower was always a first run, with Sniper, Overshield, and Needler (you could step off the back ledge for a full view through to lower Yellow Lift, a shooting gallery for enemies making the run for the Brute Hammer directly under the Center Platform). It wasn’t uncommon to hear locations shouted out during matches: blue room, green room, yellow lift -- these were simple to call out and control when playing online, and a coordinated team could hold sniper tower (always blasting the fusion core out before, mind you), and control BR, shottie, and Hammer at Yellow Lift and, well, basically RUN A TRAIN.

8 Last Resort (Halo 3)

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Team Slayer, One Bomb, Assault, VIP, Infection, Capture the FlagOh Camp Froman, how many times have we spawned on your sniper rifle and brained people running at the shotgun in the first five seconds of the match? An almost exact remake of the venerable Halo 2 map, Zanzibar, Last Resort was a gushing love letter from Bungie to Halo 2 crazies, and we ate it up! Small changes only improved things (Spartan Laser replaced Rockets at the top of the Wheel, a larger flag room in the station, the obvious graphical facelift, etc.), but more so than almost any other mid to large-scaled map, Last Resort boasted so many combat zones. Seawall and the beach were battlefields unto themselves, while the Wheel, Control Tower, inner and outer Base, and the aforementioned Camp Froman were non-stop hot spots. Last Resort could play host to almost any mode, making it an oft-played standby. Plus, it always conjured up memories of some of the best superbouncing Halo 2 had to offer.

7 Battle Creek (Halo: Combat Evolved)

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Capture the Flag, Oddball, SlayerBattle Creek was the best small map in Combat Evolved (sorry, Prisoner). We can’t even count how many times we’ve run around those bases, making a running jump around the corner. Orrun and jumped run up to rockets, jumped through the teleporter, gotten ganked by Active Camo campers in the creek, lobbed frags into the little windows in the bases to grief the people protecting the flag – Battle Creek can choke up many older Halo players on sight. It’s been since remade several times (the best being Halo 2’s Beaver Creek). Speaking of which, why did we pick Battle Creek over Beaver Creek. Duh, Battle Creek has ladders. LADDERS.

6 The Pit (Halo 3)

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Team Slayer, Assault, Lone Wolves/Rumble Pit, SWATThe Pit was quite possibly the best Halo 3 map (not trollin’, just sayin’). If you spent much time playing Halo 3 multiplayer, you know why. Fully symmetrical but split up with multiple levels and the always busy sword base, The Pit really shined in free-for-all Lone Wolves, Slayer, and SWAT modes. Most Slayer games would begin with either the run to rockets, or the run to sniper. The former always started with a shower of grenades (oh how they bounced off the tall walls of rocket hall) and ended with multiple deaths. There was an undeniable flow to the map, especially at the bases. The middle section and sword base would often become choke points, with much of the action gravitating towards the two points. And every so often you’d spawn up in the high tower, away from everything, from which you could rain down molten hot terror on whoever accidentally ran into your line of sight. Suckers.

5 Ivory Tower (Halo 2)

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1 Flag Capture the Flag, Slayer, Assault, SWATThe many, many angles… the dim, washed-out lighting… the broken levels and sparse interior design… Ivory Tower is as moody as it is varied. Spawn on the main floor and you can run for rockets or Overshield ramp. Spawn upstairs and choose between covering air lift, elevator, or the back door. Spawn at the bottom of the lift and you can head for sword or slog off to any of the upper levels. Very few maps did such a good job of making a relatively small space feel so large, and even fewer made you feel powerful and vulnerable at the same time. With shots being fired around every next corner, you had to watch your back at every turn if you were going to survive. This was never more apparent than during matches of SWAT, which were lightning fast. Turning the upper corner near air lift with a jump, sailing through the air and into the hall run, and then landing two or three no-scoped headshots delivered a very particular type of thrill.

4 Ascension (Halo 2)

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Slayer, Oddball, Crazy King of the Hill, Tower of PowerAscension is one of those maps with a palpable sense of place. Sure it had the iconic two towers and relay ring, the long underpass, the leap of faith to rockets, all on a map floating in the middle of nothing – with a long, humiliating drop down. But more so it possessed a stoic sense of indifference; it was a technological killing field with nowhere to run or hide, not that you’d want to. Much of the map was visible from several vantage points, but to get to them was to open yourself up eagle-eyed BR or sniper toting smart guys. Ascension was great for Oddball, 1 Flag, and Crazy King of the Hill, but really nothing compared to Tower of Power, a custom game with no shields, only shotguns, and the large turret on big tower. The goal: GET TO THE TOWER!!! Matches could last an hour or more, and remain engaging the whole time through. Fans loved this variant so much that it’s been recreated with Forge multiple times, and can still be played on Reach with the Pinnacle map (but it just isn’t the same!!!). Oh, and suuuuuperbounce!!!!!!!!!!!

3 Hang 'Em High (Halo: Combat Evolved)

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Capture the Flag, Slayer, OddballHang ‘Em High made for some of the best mid-range gun play in all of Halo multiplayer. The map presented two decidedly different bases, each with its own pros and cons. In the span between, the pair of tombstone fields and the trench helped cement the jumpy, twitchy trinity of Halo gameplay – guns, grenades and melee. That is, when you weren’t getting your face blown off by someone across the map. The pistol reigned supreme, as did snipes, but you could decimate an entire team with rocks or shottie if you dared venture into open territory or camp the tunnels. Of course, once each team controlled and held its base, things quickly turned into a long range shoot out, and stand-offs always forced great kamikaze base runs. The Tombstone remake that headlined Halo 2’s final map pack was a firm reminder that Hang ‘Em High is vintage Halo. Playing it again as a part of the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary map pack only drove this point home. Hang ‘Em High is a bona fide classic.

2 Lockout (Halo 2)

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Team Slayer, SWATDeciding between Lockout and Blood Gulch for top honors was seriously challenging. Lockout is arguably the best small map in all of Halo multiplayer. Insane pacing, total balance, and every view, angle, and position is iconic. Lockout was an easy map to memorize, and any Halo player worth his salt knows the map blindfolded. Lockout became the default map to play in Custom games; it was only a matter of time until you found yourself leaping around its snow swept platforms and spaces. And forget about 1v1 challenges with “that guy” that always accused someone in your party of standbying, after which we’d retreat to Lockout and watch the duel, mano y mano. SWAT matches ruled, as did Swords and Shotties and 1 Flag. And don’t forget the Ghosts of Lockout, and Guardians (who took credit for killing you when you did something stupid, like walk off the map), and all the superbouncing madness. If you’ve played Halo multiplayer seriously, you’ve played Lockout. And not Blackout, screw that blasphemous imposter.

1 Blood Gulch (Halo: Combat Evolved)

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Capture the FlagOutside of Counter-Strike’s de_dust, is there a more iconic map in first-person shooter history than the original Halo’s “boxed desert canyon”? Blood Gulch is the all-time classic Halo battleground, for this reason above all others: it is the quintessential showcase for what Halo is. Vehicles, amazing weapons, and tense base encounters during flag runs make every match a memorable one. And even though the map is huge, the three-shot death-machine pistol keeps combat fast and frequent. Remember the gentlemen’s agreement: no blocking the teleporter pads with the vehicles! We could – and did – play you every single day of our lives, Blood Gulch. There’s a reason this map has been remade in multiple Halo games since. And we hope to see it again, too.

So how did we do? Did we get it right? Are we way off? Let us know in the comments below, and give us your list of the 10 Best maps in Halo. Then let’s PLAY THEM TOGETHER!