Halo CE: the Library is good.
Yes, I said it. Its probably one of the better levels in Halo, too.
So. You're a super Awesome space marine who just blasted his way through an entire Covenant platoon... several levels over. No problem. Invade a Covenant Carrier? Easy. Break through several contingents of Covenant squds defending their Religious Holy Sites? Piece of cake. Damn near single handedly clear out an entire island before decending into an underground labyrinth to do said pillaging over the Holy Site? Cmon, who do you think you're talking to?
And then comes the beauty that is 343 Guilty Spark. The eerie quiet, follow3d by the panicked shooting of Space Zombies. But you didnt necessarily have a problem.theyre bad, but you beat them already.what can these dumbasses do that the Covenant can?
Then comes the Library. Infamous. Despised by Halo fans far and wide.
Wave after wave after wave of Flood, demonstrating their namesake to an almost absurd degree. You cant just kill them all, you cant fall back and wait for your shields to recharge, you cant even hold on to most of your weapons for any period of time. Because you WILL dump ALL your ammo into every last Combat form. You WILL be swarmed if you stop for even a couple seconds.
There is no strategic way to deal with the Flood. It WILL consume. It WILL destroy. Even you, the Master Chief, who damn near single handedly destroyed several covenant armadas, killed the Prophet of Regret despite his army of Zealots, destroyed Scarabs, decimated armies, was barely able to make it out.
The level did its job. It made you fear the flood. It showed you what would happen if they got loose. It showed them for the threat they are.
Even the Sentinels, who were explictely designed to deal with them, can barely.
Yeah, its too long, it drags at points, the doors are bullshit, even the Devs talk shit about it.
But without it, would you really fear the flood? Would you really dread the sound of rockets being fired, knowing they arent your allies firing them?
I doubt it.
The Library is probably one of the most effective levels in Halo CE.