: That's why a lot of people and developers criticize the Library and other
: Flood-heavy levels. Combine that with the potentially infinite respawning
: enemies and you've got a bad time. Now, those types of encounters can be
: fun occasionally but should not comprise an entire level. There should
: be a few spots in a level where you don't have the option for a lot of
: cover and you have to stop and think about how you want to approach the
: encounter.

: Basically, map design and enemy AI behavior on those levels isn't the best
: and could be better, in my personal opinion. :P

There was a certain castle level in the original Super Mario Bros. game, one with long stretches of three, four, maybe five platforms stacked on top of each other, with plenty of obstacles and enemies to keep you dodging as you raced through the level. But the catch to this level is, and I bet that there was one Hell of a neat trick in the programming that let them do it, you had to end each segment on the right platform. If you finished one segment on, say, the third platform from the top, you'd get a ding and move onto the next segment. Otherwise, there'd be a sad little note and you'd repeat that segment until you got it right.

So. Take Cortana, and gimmick the geometry around so that the end loops right back around to the beginning. You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike and curiously reminiscent of cancerous colons. Exit door leads in, because the Gravemind is reaching sufficient cognitive density to tell Euclidean geometry to go get bent. With little hints from Cortana, you have to take a certain path through the branching tunnels to advance. Failure to do so will force you to run that segment again. The enemies will completely respawn, but the weapons won't. Sure, you'll find weapons and ammo dropped by the Flood you killed previously. Some of it. If the Flood doesn't get to it first. But hurry quickly, because the whole level is slowly filling with fog that obscures your vision and slows your shield regeneration.

Success leads to the next gauntlet, which might be entirely new level geometry. Or it might be a previous segment flipped upside down. Or a segment with heavier gravity and a whole lot more Ranged Forms. Fortunately, the correct path through the maze is the same from one playthrough to the next... unless you're playing with the Tilt Skull, which randomizes it.

I'd design the level this way, so that when people complain about repetitive Flood encounters and horrible level design and Cortana/Gravemind moments and how Bungie copy-pastes the same level geometry, I know that it's my masterpiece they're talking about. And whenever I hint that maybe the Flood might make a reappearance in the next Halo game, the internet will be filled to the brim with shrieks of horror and wails of anguish. You know, like it should be.