When you think of some of the most iconic gaming franchises in history, you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who does not include Halo as one of the most industry-progressive games in the modern gaming era. Along with Call of Duty, Halo took the first-person shooter genre to another stratosphere, which now sees a thriving esports scene battle it out year on year. We’re here to list all of the Halo games in order of release date.
When you think of the Xbox console, you instantly think of Halo. The two go hand-in-hand, and even if modern gaming titles have overtaken Halo in terms of popularity, budget, and more, Halo is the game that helped put Microsoft’s direct rival to the PlayStation on the map. But which Halo game came first? Which is the most popular? These are important questions that will help you understand why Halo was the global juggernaut of gaming at one point in time.
In the early years of Halo, the games were not released consistently, giving the developers time to create masterpieces that weren’t rushed – a problem we are becoming far too accustomed to with the current titles. Back in the day, games thrived on patience from the community and their developers. There were time jumps between games, and it allowed Bungie to fully flesh out some of the best games in the Halo franchise. Let’s go by the dates, as that’s the easiest way to establish the Halo franchise in chronological order.
Credit: Bungie
There’s no better place than at the start, and that’s with Halo: Combat Evolved. The title gives it away, this game evolved the way players thought about first-person shooters and started what would be one of the best FPS franchises. It was the game that first introduced one of the most iconic protagonists of all time, Master Chief. Very rarely would you have games that excelled in both the single-player campaign and the multiplayer. But Halo Combat Evolved had this in spades. This was the perfect split-screen game, where you and your friends could spend hours without even breaking a sweat.
Credit: Bungie
Sequel games, in reality, or most of the time, should be much better than the first. And this is what many consider Halo 2 as, a successful follow-up from the first installment in the franchise. Halo 2 saw the developers introduce gameplay mechanics that were not achievable in the first game. But with the introduction of Xbox Live, it was time for Halo to take the console to another level with online multiplayer. It may not be the peak of Halo multiplayer, but it put Halo well and truly on the map.
Credit: Bungie
With updating games not as achievable as it is with modern technology, the Halo games were always just a level up from the previous game, and Halo 3 is what many would consider the greatest game in the franchise’s history. The multiplayer was perfection, and hasn’t really been replicated even in today’s modern Halo games. The game was just simply a ton of fun to play, and really symbolised what online gaming was meant to be about. It was awarded the best-selling game in the United States, selling more than any other game around at the time.
Credit: Bungie
With Halo starting to take over the United States, it was always going to be sooner rather than later that the developers would look to expand the Halo IP and introduce new games that differ from the standard FPS title. This is where Halo Wars comes in, a real-time strategy game that was set over 20 years before the start of the main campaign, following the military’s early fight against the Covenant. And while it was recently received by the community, it was more of a side game that can be played from time to time, not to take the main focus away from the story of the beloved Master Chief.
Credit: Bungie
Halo ODST fits in with a weird spot in the Halo franchise timeline. This started out as a side project, but ended up being more like the latest installment in the Halo franchise. It was again another spinoff title, focusing on another set of soldiers, and not the main story, though the Halo 3 campaign did come as a separate disc. Despite being a branch of the main game, it was still one of the more popular games for its time, highlighting the grip Halo had on the gaming community at the time.
Credit: Bungie
Halo Reach was a direct prequel to the original Combat Evolved title, freeing up the developers of the constraints of the original storyline. With more room to work with, Bungie created one of the best Halo games in the franchise, in our opinion. Reach was an excellent game, with a solid multiplayer, and again another fun storyline to get your hands into for hours upon hours. And despite creating some amazing games, like the ones to start it all, this would in fact be Bungie’s departure from the franchise, making way for 343 Studios.
Credit: 343 Industries
After a few years away from the mainline games, Halo returned to action with Halo 4. This game saw the return of the Master Chief. It was an interesting sight to see Halo return to the main storyline despite the Halo 3 ending being open-ended. It was a bold yet tactical move, as this allowed the main ensemble to pick up right where they left off if the popularity for Halo still remained at large. Which is what it was given the success of ODST and Reach. Halo was still shattering its own records, and thus gave the developers more than enough reason to stick with what is working and not try to fix what is not broken.
Credit: 343 Industries
Despite being almost ten installments in, Spartan Assault was the first time one of the developers was going to dive into the world of mobile gaming. Spartan Assault was a twin-stick shooter and a spinoff that takes place between Halo 3 and Halo 4, not directly following the characters we know and love, but still in the same space as them. Halo Spartan Assault was released on multiple platforms, including the Xbox, Steam, and IOS and Android devices.
Source: Steam
With modern consoles raising the stakes even further, the developers thought now was the time to make the ultimate remastered collection, thus The Master Chief Collection was born. This game fully remastered the original first six Halo titles, giving them a much-needed makeover as far as the graphics were concerned. This was an amazing nod to the fans who could now play their favorite multiplayer games once again, but on their current modern consoles, while allowing the younger players an opportunity to experience the games for the first time.
Credit: 343 Industries
After the success of the first Spartan Assault game, Spartan Strike was then released in 2015, specifically for mobile. While the first game came out on console and PC, Spartan Strike was a mobile-only game, establishing it as the mobile game for the Halo franchise. It was an improvement on the first game, but its multiplayer lacked features that could keep the fans coming back over time.
This is probably where the Halo franchise started to take a hit, despite its positive numbers as far as games sold go. Halo 5 sparked controversy from the jump, with a trailer that confused many, followed by a campaign that left the players with more questions than answers at the end of it. Halo 5’s campaign left a massive stain on the franchise, one they have not recovered from since.
Many years after the release of Halo Wars, Halo Wars 2 dropped in for the latest installment in the Halo franchise in 2017. It was a much improved game than the one that was released in 2009, with base-building operations, improved graphics, and more. The game was received well, but heavy critics believed it was a game that lacked the heavy elements of a real-time strategy game. But, they did, however, commend it for being approachable for beginners, something other titles have not been able to achieve.
Credit: Halo Waypoint
Halo Infinite followed on from the shakiness that was Halo 5 Guardians. The game was receiving criticism off the bat, with early footage showcasing that the game was nowhere near completion despite an upcoming release date. And while those problems were addressed, it was still a shaky start for the franchise in what was meant to be a game that puts Halo back on the map, or at least that is what 343 Studios thought. The game introduced an open world campaign, which allowed for variety instead of the limited sandbox players were put in before. When the dust settled, it was a fun game, but it will require a major overhaul to put Halo where it once was.
LOL
CS2
Dota 2
Valorant
Fortnite
Call of Duty
Mobile Games
Gaming
EN Global 
JP 日本語