Halo 3 and Reach Custom Games just hit differently... (Best Halo Custom Games Of All Time)

Halo Gamers have been playing custom games basically since the very beginning of the franchise but what are the best Halo custom games of all time? The greatest Halo custom game modes and map from every Halo game.
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[@DEWtheMCCOY]

Some of my greatest memories with friends were made in H3 custom games. What an amazing time to be a gamer

[@Born...]

Getting on everyday after school to get 15 different invites to cod 4 Michael myers or halo 3 custom games. Man those were the times, I hate how gaming is today. Everyone and their grandmother plays now. Everyone used to be cool and friendly, they were much more genuine. That's not how it is today.

[@DEWtheMCCOY]

@@Born... And everything now feels so lifeless. Hard to not think there is some outside forces controlling the show, while the whole gaming scene is going to shit. 10 years ago we were talking about how good it could be, but it seems like every major title did a full 180.

[@bldontmatter5319]

@@DEWtheMCCOY definitely a large agenda at play, since many games now have political themes and messages meant to evoke certain emotions and please certain crowds, usually against the average gamers will. Just play indie games on the PC. Trust me.

[@DEWtheMCCOY]

@@bldontmatter5319 Glad I’m not the only one! Games used to be such an escape from reality

[@jordandeanda6244]

You remember the first time you had to disconnect the phone or steal the modem to connect the xbox life and got in a match with some kid on the opposite side of the world. I remember it blew my mind feeling so connected.

[@thetropicaldream5933]

I am a old forger who was called billy the pro. I was getting very well known on 360 halo reach and halo 4. I stopped playing and YouTubing due to addiction. After a long battle, I’ve finally picked up halo mcc and started forging again. I am so happy to be back. This game saved me. It’s amazing to see the community is still going strong! Love you guys!

[@JakeCreek-o8f]

I remember searching your name to find games in reach! Thanks for the builds, have good memories of them

[@JiffyAU]

No thank you sir for your customs maps we have had a lot of fun and I remember some.

[@thegrimwrangler]

I miss reach so much. For almost 4 years my group and I played almost every night. I couldn't thank Bungie enough for making those memories possible.

[@CrossSavedMotivation]

I remember in the Reach clan communities it wasnt hard at all to get into giant maxed out cross-clan custom games lobbies. God I miss it

[@YoSuey]

31 years old and I'm crying rignt now. Zombies on that 4 room dlc map was the highlight of my childhood easily. Without those lobbies, we might not have cod zombies honestly. We did spend hours after school playing zombies because it took forever to move the boxes. Thank you for taking me back to the good times.

[@Az00069]

I'm right with you! I also really liked the zombie game that was on the big circular desert map where the humans would drive around in warthogs and the zombies ran really fast! Oh man that was so much fun. People were way different back then too. Quick to trash talk but never took it serious at all 😂 People were more friendly back then for sure. You'd make friends with someone that wasn't even good at the game just because they got on at the same time as you. Instead of being obsessed with pushing rating (which is also fun) but it was also fun ...maybe even more fun 🤔 to just hop in a custom game lobby and unwind.

[@isd_chimaera8335]

I never got to experience the glory days of custom games, but playing classics like Speed Halo and Duck hunt in Halo Infinite are some of the best times I’ve had. It’s the closest I’ll ever get to understanding why everyone loved halo 3 and reach

[@GnappyAssassin]

MCC has a customs browser! We live in a Golden Age!

[@CrossSavedMotivation]

H3 and Reach were undoubtedly the richest multiplayer communities I ever had the joy of being a part of and I was so lucky to be like 11-13 around that time😂

[@GrantGSilver]

@@CrossSavedMotivationI wasn’t even huge into Halo, I was a call of duty fan but I’d be lying if I said those H3 local split screen 4 way parties weren’t some of my best memories as a gamer. Like even just stuff as simple as trying to flip the elephant in forge mode gave us such a kick at the time.

[@chalbio]

Bro go play reach! There are still a ton of packed custom servers. I play it on my series s. It’s just a little confusing to find but go to the custom games browser

[@LelandJ71]

​@@GnappyAssassinhow do you do that? I just got back onto an Xbox and I'm trying to see if my old maps are on my profile

[@SquattingxBear]

I'm sorry you guys never got to play custom games during Halo 2's original XBL run. Besides Zombies, we would also play Tower of Power, Cat n Mouse, Troy/Tremors, Hide n Seek, as well the various Superbounce and Out of Bounds exploring type of lobbies too. There were also many modded console custom lobbies on XBL at the time; people did all types of crazy mods like having your gun shoot out a vehicle or have your gun shoot things to climb on. Eventually these type of lobbies turned into the Skill Jumping & Parkour maps that forgers would create in Halo 3. The creative custom lobbies we had back then were just as fun as the forge customs from H3, Reach and onwards.

[@EmergencyChannel]

I didn't get an Xbox until the 360 came out so Halo 3 was my first Halo. I definitely miss early Xbox live, the community was so much fun back then.

[@puremojito]

This was the best time I ever had in any video game right next to the custom games in Halo 3. I am so glad you were able to experience the Halo 2 era as well.

[@tannerl11794]

Legendary comment. Legendary gamer. I'm glad I'm not alone. Some of the greatest memories of gaming were in those custom lobbies. The game truly had something for everyone.

[@MrEroupe]

Yes! I am so glad someone covered halo 2 custom games. And we all played using the honor system. Those days are long gone. Today you can’t even play a first person shooter without running into a cheater.

[@fastlane8519]

God tower of power was sooo much fun to play with friends at lan parties back in the day

[@TheBl00D1u5t]

This is possibly the best coverage of the evolving Halo community that is out there. I had the most incredible nostalgia trip watching this video and I appreciate the memories. It's so hard to pick one favorite, but I always loved the jump maps and the racing maps that players created utelizing some of the craziest physics and geometry. invisible walls, competing force doors and "magnetic" surfaces. Those are the things that keep Halo close to my heart.

[@DeathMetalDuelist666]

You forgot one of the most influential in such an unexpected place. Griffball.

[@DarkLordDeimos]

Grifball in Halo 5 was amazing. Thruster brought it to the next level.

[@Robertedwinhouse38]

@@DarkLordDeimosReach was when griffball was in its prime

[@DarkLordDeimos]

@@Robertedwinhouse38 And? What does that have to do, AT ALL, with what I said?

[@Robertedwinhouse38]

@@DarkLordDeimos my comment was also about griffball. Don’t take it personally lol

[@davidfield6223]

And racing maps

[@321cbr3]

Your Halo videos hit different for all of us who lived through all these times. So many great memories.

[@inFenity]

Aside from missing the parkour side of custom games with jump courses, this was a great list from the H3 side which I played a ton of.

[@bigmike8288]

yessir the parkour maps should have at least been glossed over. best times

[@Robertedwinhouse38]

They did show jumps at 1:27 but I agree. The jump community is still going to this day. Should’ve covered it more

[@Robertedwinhouse38]

@MariaFlores-KAII it can be fun on h3 once you can do the more advanced maps

[@Zaczac111]

I was really hoping for a mention of Battleships from Halo 3. I forget if it was just slayer or CTF, but it was designed so the Elephants hovered on Sandtrap (weapon drop pods + grav lift) and you'd have a pilot in a Hornet wedged into the Elephant under some barriers, letting the pilot fly the Elephant around the map. Was tons of fun getting a lot of people on. Usually ended up in the Elephants colliding and both going down.

[@JONNYBOY0113]

The nostalgia is real. We were so blessed to be born at the right time. The best time in gaming

[@CmdrBrannick]

This and campaign is true Halo. Just having fun with mates and not taking it too seriously and being competitive.

[@RoachCatJr]

exactly

[@hantyumi95]

For me, true halo was campaign and system link parties

[@bldontmatter5319]

​@@hantyumi95 those days are gone, we must revive them

[@EmSee360]

That certainly wasn't what Halo fans thought back when Reach and Halo 4 released. They hated those games because the muliplayer is worse in competitive play. This was the reason the community was split in half. So Bungie and later 343 updated Reach in order to make it more sweaty and made the DMR way too strong. And Halo 5 launched with a huge focus for competitive game modes to the point where it was the first Halo game that outright removed game modes without having replacements in place.

[@EmSee360]

So in other words. Fuck Halo fans. I wish everyone was just chill and happy. And not crying and whining every other second for the smallest things.

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

Man, I played some of the silliest matches in CE. Rockets only on chiron or prisoner with 16 people ffa was pure chaos. Then there was no shields pistols only. We were playing swat long before it was a thing.

[@blahmaster6k]

Chiron was such a janky map, it was horrible trying to get any form of situational awareness on that map. But once you learned it, boy was it fun to bamboozle people on.

[@ConfuzzledPugs]

Thank you for this upload. My wife and I are preparing to have our first kiddo later this week. I spend the last few weeks writing a life story, which prompted me to think much about my youth. Much of my teenager years back in 2007 - 2012 were filled with some of the best memories I had with friends. I truly feel bad for teens today. I remember Rainbow Six Vegas, MW1, MW2, Gears of War 1, 2, and 3, and of course Halo. So many hours spent on these games. Does anyone remember Hogtagon?

[@Mondo17]

I remember Halo 3 multiplayer being absolutely mind blowing, I was 10 and had no idea Xbox Live was a thing until I got a 360 for Christmas. What a time to be alive, dude.

[@yodlahr]

Speed halo, duck hunt, castle wars and fat kid was a core part of my childhood, great memories

[@akame4109]

Those are all classics, fat kid was so fun in huge lobbies. The memories created in those parties will never be topped by games today

[@c4rhome]

Dude this video gave me the best nostalgia vibes. Thank you for bringing back parts of my childhood that I really cherished. I hope we can continue to have more moments like we did back in the Halo 3 & Reach days.

[@CyberSalty]

I remember hosting hunger games in reach, it was always fun and there were always people wanting to play it

[@n0blet47]

Hi everyone I'm N0bleT @rocketsloth you were spitting facts about sword tournament its an honor that you used my video :) love your work !!!!

[@fleetingimmersion]

Does anyone remember 'run for cover' from Halo 3? Maaaan, I found it quite late and wish I learned about custom gametypes way earlier.

[@ShKsubzero]

I feel like Bunker Hill on H3 needs a huge shoutout, I spent so much time on that map back then

[@R6_Arel]

Anyone remember the map "Miles" on H3? Hours and hours spent jumping around with friends.

[@The-Wicked-One]

DarkestWarrior Made that map. You can use find player to play it again if you want.

[@jadebayoba7073]

My brother made a ENTIRE parkour couse on Halo 3

[@The-Wicked-One]

Great video. Very in depth. I'm mainly interested in the halo 3 part. If you are looking for more things to cover in halo 3 there is... Parkor, Trick jumping, Obstacle Coures, puzzle map, challenge map, grifball, racetracks, rocket race, hlg, Forge art, glitches, and more.

[@occasionalscuba2179]

Super happy slide, speed halo, 2012, and fat kid were our go-to custom games on Reach. And making our own really bad D-day style maps on forge world or playing “grid,” where one guy would stay in edit mode and just chase everyone with a grid. Good times.

[@jameswright2623]

I've played all of these more times than I could count. 90% of my game time was in custom games and I still have many of the friends I made in Halo 3 on my friend list today. My best video game memories are mostly from halo custom games. God I wish I could go back. Good times. Simpler times.

[@CrossSavedMotivation]

Same, easily the most quality multiplayer communities I had the pleasure of being a part of, I hope modern kids have that much fun playing whatever is hip rn

[@nictorious3322]

19:32 THANK YOU!!!!! I have been trying to think off the name for this gamemode for years! You are the best!

[@TheCarterDawson]

I wouldn’t put this as the absolute best, but I also recall ‘Paintball’ being a fast, fun, and simple game mode to play. If you already have the game mode made for it, it was neat to head over to forge with some friends for an hour or so to make a map, and then use the game mode on it immediately after. Also, I didn’t know that’s what it was called, but I loved playing this 23:03! I didn’t play it much, but I remember having a great time when I did. This was at the tail end of my custom game days and easily the biggest “oh yeah” moment of this video. Nice video :)

[@jdotluna]

Flaming ninja challenge, zombie mansion, poop in toilet, cops and robbers. And many more. Love the video and nostalgia man

[@intoxicviii]

Dude Halo 2 system link! I miss those days, everyone in the neighborhood coming by & chillen.

[@JaxEvadesTax]

I remember a halo 3 game I made on standoff, there was a tank worthog thing that I forgot the name of and everyone else was in mongooses and the worthog tried to kill the mongooses before they got to the end

[@nakala1972]

You didn't mention one of my all time favorites, Griffball.

[@Spoonybard71]

I would give just about anything to go back to the golden days of Halo 3 and Reach custom games. Just to experience those games for the first time again. So many core memories 😢

[@ITzUberPeanutButter]

I was a God in halo 3 sword tournaments, all thanks to the obvious secret weapon bumper jumper

[@SHMOUSEY86]

"Before we had Foundry, we had Standoff" Standoff and Foundry were both in the same map pack though....

[@Fletch55]

My first introduction to 'Custom Games' I think was in Halo:CE's PC port playing Cops n Robbers. The issue was I don't recall if there was a chat, much less a mic. So you literally were taken to a 'jail cell' on either side of the map and shot your pistol on the walls to communicate. I think there was even an official website for the servers. It wasn't much, but it was my prelude to eventually playing 3 and Reach and seeing the creativity the community could come up with when they had greater tools.

[@isaiahjacome1761]

I don’t think anything has or ever will replicate those halo3/reach custom game feelings. The engines themselves helped manifest and create such great memories. Even just watching the explanation doesn’t give justice to how great playing these custom games in a full lobby was like

[@nicolasmoncada1554]

One of the best memories I have of halo custom games was my friends and I playing on interlink for the 360 on halo reach speedhalo and trash compactor and death runs for the whole day. Those really where some of my most fun gaming moments

[@kindasa]

No mention of tower of power from Halo 2? I used to play that mode soooo much. I also would join some of those escape the map lobbies, but rarely did super bounces. There were so many other glitches you could use to get outside of the maps. I really need to go play some more custom games again >.>

[@Spartan_Jackal]

9:49 when you smacked the warthog and everyone on the other tower was watching in horror and you see their guns move as they watch just gave me the best nostalgia from back then it was all new

[@Thexanman999]

This is all I think of 24/7….. I miss waking up, turning my Xbox 360 on. Putting my microphone on, joining my 5 person party of friends where 3 were already on and playing duck hunt or jenga. And we’d play a few socials, and then start a custom. And then we would all invite everyone on our recent players list… I miss those days of custom games SOOOOO MUCH.. Thankkkkkkkk youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu for this video.

[@saprogeist31]

9:51 I like the guy on the right tower who inches toward the middle like "oh shit the other tower is GONE"

[@levi22es]

Long time sub. This is probably the best video you guys have put out in a while. Great work!

[@lawn9652]

me and some friends played some Halo custom games last night for the first time since Reach was still big and we had ana amazing time Jenga, Trash Compactor, Duck Hunt, Fat Kid it was amazing to revisit we hadn't laughed that hard in ages an amazing time

[@9Reports]

broo the super jumps in halo 2 were so much fun! and then the fucking wild goose chase for the "golden warthog" on that construction zone map lol. I was so guillible as a kid but it was fun trying to get out of the map with everyone.

[@drhouse6165]

Man, tremors, tower of power, and the original infection (with the honor system) was a blast in Halo 2.

[@sodasback1173]

Thank you for making this video and reminding me of all those great times I had in custom maps 🙏❤️ what a time it was. The Xbox 360 days of gaming were unmatched

[@jordandeanda6244]

Holy shit, I remember every single Halo 3 custom game you showed in this video, the memories man 😢

[@midshipman8654]

it was at its base slayer, but there is a few super cool astroid/space halo ininite maps where you use your grappling hook and you have a sniper and sword. it completely changes the game dynamic with how wide and how hard to find people it was. really fun.

[@ATP2555ify]

I used to make a pile of fusion coils on Sandtrap, drive over them with a Chopper, and watch as the ensuing explosion launched my Chopper way outside the map.

[@dirtcollector]

one of the coolest things ive seen a dev studio do was bungies 7 on 7, as well as the sheer amount of fan made custom games made into public matchmaking playlists in Halo 3. Sumo wrestling, Golf, Rocket Race, and of course, Grifball

[@roguebogey]

Holy shit that forge vidoc clip gave me a nostalgia shot. I watched that vidoc like 2 dozen times waiting for Reach to come out

[@LLG007]

I use to fill up my lobbies with like 18 people playing my supergood race maps, it was awesome that people actually joined and would play. I had really good racing maps where someone is in the middle trying to blow u off the track with a rocket launcher or sniper

[@AJ287772]

The mountain in sandbox look enormous when I was younger playing. I loved those days playing Halo Reach and Halo 3 on Christmas morning! I loved waking up in the morning and going strait to Halo and I'm still half asleep but enjoying the fudge out of the game.

[@jarsofjames1218]

We had a variant of Speed Halo, named Zombie slip and slide. Narrower and longer slide, with infected at the bottom using grav hammers. When you started spinning gained some serious speed! Such a great video brought back so many memories, thank you! :)

[@loganlawrence7764]

That thumbnail looked more like rocket race instead of drive or die but I love that drive or die was given a shout out 😤😈

[@dondaythe4th73]

And LFD 1-2, MW2, Halo 3-ODST, Battlefield Bad a company 2 and 3! Gears of war 2 and 3! Modded Xbox Lobbies and other classics it was such a great time in gaming and the memories dude I will never ever forget those times. Real ones remember The Tech Game forums

[@UusdudjjUdudhdhdh]

Some of my favorites memories were on halo 5 when me and my friends will log on at late nights to play custom games and there was so much difrent type of weopons with mods

[@nVizion]

Two games that stood out to me were Tower of Power in Halo 2 and then "Escape Room" or "Trap room" style maps that had things like using turrets to clip through walls to escape the maze.

[@paulybpicker]

Played Monster Trucks (figure 8 map) for literally days worth of my life. Duck hunt or hurricane was probably our second most played.

[@Elilit]

In Halo 3, there was a game where one player was infected and invisible. They were stuck in a clear box at the start and only had the sword as a weapon. This gave all the uninfected players time to run and hide. After a minute the lights turned off and a lift spawned for the infected player to get out and hunt the others. The game ended once the infected person killed all the players. Miss this game, had a good group of people playing at the time

[@GenBlaze99]

Heck we still play all the time! Well I do on Monday and Tuesday (my days off). Some nights we all scroll through the servers an watch in amazement how we stick around

[@brendengonzalez1187]

You just unlocked so many core memories. Thank you 🥺

[@RednekGamurz]

Cat and Mouse actually started as a Halo 2 custom game (just obviously a lot more primitive there then it was in Reach). There's a lot of customs I'm surprised were skipped over. Grifball is probably the biggest one, but Minotaur was a fun one (which has seen some pretty cool evolution across each game up to Halo 5 easily having the best version of the mode), Hot Pursuit from Reach, Indiana Jones and other obstacle course style customs, and there's probably a lot of others that I'm forgetting about. Just so many great customs.

[@Row-and-Pizza-VR]

A few years ago I remember me and my friend always uses to hop o. Halo 5 to play custom games infection and warzone every night I still remember it to this game and it will always be in my heart😊 those nights where so good

[@Albino_Basilisk]

A custom game that came WAY later in halo 5’s life span was squid games. It was pretty epic

[@doubleupload5620]

This video is perfect timing I just reinstalled mcc for the first time since it came out and have been having so much fun in custom games

[@johnsledge3942]

It was all Reach custom games for me, that absolutely defined my childhood

[@patrickflesner526]

Tower of Power on Ascension on H2 was a blast. It was infection with a turret in the top tower.

[@SaftiGlas]

Great Vid Rocket Sloth, but missed the jumping maps on h3

[@The-Wicked-One]

I feel someone needs to do in depth more with that subject as well

[@midshipman8654]

halo 5 forge and custom games are super underrated, abd I say this growing up with 3 and reach’s custom games. i remember the movement options when playing castle wars was super fun. it was a little eh for traditional halo play, but it was really neat for custom game types, also all the different custom gun types gave a lot of options.

[@UltimateMRVN]

One gamemode you guys didn't completely touch on, was the one and only, hot pursuit.

[@burgerbait]

Customs games and forge for Halo 3 was kinda like Gmod but for Xbox

[@DarklionCV021]

God, this video made me remember all of my childhood memories with Halo Reach's custom games! Get out of my house and Fat Boy were my favorite!!

[@srocketdude]

Cops and Robber Ultimate from Reach was my goat

[@MrSp3c]

My favorite was Zeus from 3 and then there was this one where you spawn in a warthog and you have to reach a square in the middle, each player has a gravity hammer, and once you reach the square in the middle you have to use your hammer to keep the enemy hogs from landing on the square

[@DoomieGruntVentures]

Fat Kid, Michael Meyers, Duck Hunt, Jenga Wall/Tower, all good fun. I remember a spin on Omega Journey where you and other survivors were armed with pistols, and had to navigate the obstacle course to get better weapons. Zombies were somewhat faster than you, but could be domed with a headshot.

[@MarcusWolfWanders]

road snipe (Halo, on Halo) was always my favorite from the Sanbox line of iconic forged maps

[@Shark_Studios2]

So many great Custom games memories woth friends and family these memories will aways be held deeply in our hearts

[@ace66654321]

so many amazing game types and memories in this video, kinda sucks that the jump/parkour maps on halo 3 and reach didnt get a shoutout, they were such a huge and popular game type especially in halo 3. parkour maps are still made for 3 and reach to this day

[@The-Wicked-One]

I agree

[@yourstrulyhazy]

I still talk about the endless fun had on Jenga Wall and Trash Compactor to this day bro

[@redmist6630]

i loved and still love making stuff in the Reach forge world. Infinite possibilities

[@RazKat_2023]

the halo 3 main menu is proof of man's ability to understand complex emotion

[@kzman1173]

Best halo cutscenes please, that's honesty what I first read and was excited lol

[@Ezra2732]

oh how I loved omega journey. I am so glad you mentioned it.

[@JediSteve-J3-]

Halo infinite Ultimate Fiesta is pure chaos, especially when at waffle house or Walmart. Halo 5 night of the living mantis is crazy fun. I'm just surprised you didn't talk about the maps created in infinite and 5.

[@Pedro_The_Neco]

I still host LAN parties with pretty much a lot of these games, almost every year! I hope to be able to host another one over Christmas!

[@leeroy2461]

The one good thing 343 did was make the custom game browser for the mcc, brings back so many memories scrolling through and finding specific customs I used to play. If only I still talked to any of my online friends from back then to play for old times sake.

[@XFerginatorX]

I'm still working on a custom game archive list, but you'd be surprised how many Halo 2 custom games there actually were

[@GrouchyAsh]

one of my favorites in reach was always the mountain climb ones, where you had to reach the top of a mountain while the kill balls mulched up vehicles and spat them down over the mountain

[@xAcoze]

On Halo 3 i had a lot of fun playing a gamemode called toilet, where infected come up into small bowl shaped arena usually with shotguns only.

[@Ad3ptwastaken]

Literally all I was thinking throughout the entire video was oh that looks fun wish I could play it

[@JimiCanRead]

I haven’t played halo since the original one nearly 20 years ago (and I never even finished it) but I love this channel

[@nighthero_gaming9021]

I swear I made the best Jenga. Made it in Reach after MCC came to PC. If you died you weren't forced to watch. Instead you went onto the Zombies team after a minute or so of dying. It slowly got more chaotic as the game went on, but it was still possible to win. I got inspiration from a specific version on H5. But instead of multiple towers I have one side by side that you can jump across. You can even get splattered mid jump as you leap across. It's super fun!

[@wade2112]

10:37 You said we had Standoff before we had Foundry. They released at the same time. Monster Truck was on Standoff because Foundry doesn't have a place to fall off the map

[@mikeroni]

Smear the qu33r was the greatest fat kid variant

[@pxndxleo77]

Halo Infinite has the potential to be the best when it comes to customs. Just needs some time, dedicated players and forgers, and a custom games browser

[@Exponaut_R-01]

Joining a custom games lobby and not knowing what the gametype was, but seeing it was on Forge World, you already got very excited before things even began.

[@davidbowers4270]

God the nostalgia trip rn, thank you for this video.

[@davidbowers4270]

I stopped after reach, I stopped gaming in general around that time, cod changed in to a jet pack shooter and I didn’t care for it, halo was sold to 343 and they didn’t respect master chief in 4. Idk gaming in a whole took a weird shift from being about a story /game and profit to being only about profit with the least amount of effort