So, just beat Halo 4 today, and that was the last game in the MCC.
Having played it all, I gotta say, Halo is .. ok? The series doesn't seem particularly great, and even the best game, which I would say was Halo 2, still falls short of the great shooters from the 90s, like the Doom series, Hexen, and many other games. The most influential thing, from I understand, is the inclusion of online multiplayer in Halo 2 and spreading its popularity on consoles. And many of the design principles of console shooter were already there in the first Halo game, so I understand why the series is so revered. It's just that I don't think those design principles are very good. Linear hallways, lots of repetitions, lots of "press x to continue game" and so forth. The last level of Halo 4 couldn't be more linear and boring and easily feels like something you'd also find in a Call of Duty game.
The music is pretty good, when the games actually allow you to listen to it properly, which is rare. The overall plot is pretty boring. Some new threat to the galaxy comes out of nowhere, and only the Chief can stop it, yadda yadda. The only mix to the formula is Halo 2, where they put a cliffhanger in the middle of it and wait until Halo 3 to "finish the fight". Must have pissed lots of people of, I guess.
The games are still neat, even if many of the levels overstay their welcome and make you wish the game would end a couple of hours sooner. Wonder if Microsoft will ever bother with Halo 5. The game seems boring, but it seems important from the story from what I understand. Something about Cortana coming back and wanting to take over the galaxy now? 344 seems pretty obsessed with Cortana in their games.