Halo 3 did have an XP system but it barely did anything. XP gained you rank that went from Private to Grand Marshal or whatever and it basically just showed how much you'd been playing the game. That was separate from the playlist-specific skill ranks that went from 1-50 IIRC. Halo 3's customisation unlocks were almost entirely tied to achievements
Reach took those systems and made them much more involved and grindy while also adding way more cosmetic unlockables. I played Halo 3 purely because I thought it was fun but in Reach I spent hours in that stupid Gruntpocalypse Firefight playlist to grind for credits and XP for a specific helmet I wanted
Minor correction, that was not added until Reach.
Halo 3 did have an XP system but it barely did anything. XP gained you rank that went from Private to Grand Marshal or whatever and it basically just showed how much you'd been playing the game. That was separate from the playlist-specific skill ranks that went from 1-50 IIRC. Halo 3's customisation unlocks were almost entirely tied to achievements
Reach took those systems and made them much more involved and grindy while also adding way more cosmetic unlockables. I played Halo 3 purely because I thought it was fun but in Reach I spent hours in that stupid Gruntpocalypse Firefight playlist to grind for credits and XP for a specific helmet I wanted
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It was surprisingly good.