All the Halo Games Ranked From Best to Worst

The Halo sequence is just not solely one of the vital shooter franchises of all-time, nevertheless it’s additionally the one one which managed to save lots of a whole platform. The unique Xbox didn’t precisely have a powerhouse lineup of first-party video games in its early years. With lackluster exclusives like Blinx: The Time Sweeper and Fuzion Frenzy, there wasn’t a lot of a cause for gamers to choose it up – no less than, that might have been the case if not for Halo: Combat Evolved. The unique recreation spawned numerous books, toys, tv sequence, and, in fact, sequels. With 11 completely different video games cut up throughout a number of genres, there’s a lot to play in the event you’re a Halo fan. Here are all of the Halo recreation ranked from finest to worst.
1. Halo: Combat Evolved
The unique recreation outlined a whole era of gamers, and for excellent cause. Halo: Combat Evolved was the uncommon first-person shooter that put simply as a lot emphasis on its universe and narrative because it did its aggressive multiplayer, giving each sorts of gamers one thing to reside.
Halo’s marketing campaign begins with a disastrous emergency-escape onto the titular ring and rapidly evolves right into a thriller surrounding the continuing battle with the Covenant and the zombie-like Flood. Its remaining mission is among the most thrilling in all of gaming, culminating in a high-speed escape sequence.
If marketing campaign modes weren’t your factor, nonetheless, you may persist with the great native multiplayer mode. “Blood Gulch” battles may record into the early morning, with pals sticking one another with grenades and working them over with Scorpion tanks. Halo: Combat Evolved was extra than simply the Xbox’s largest recreation – it was the Xbox.
2. Halo 2
Bungie may have made a cookie-cutter sequel to Halo: Combat Evolved and followers seemingly would have been glad. Instead, the studio opted for an much more bold recreation that targeted on the civil struggle brewing throughout the Covenant ranks.
For about half of the sport, you’d management the Master Chief, however the different half was spent because the Covenant “Elite” warrior often known as the Arbiter. It encourages gamers to rethink the battle, and who was finally accountable for it persevering with.
Halo 2 might have been much more of a milestone for the Xbox than the unique recreation as a result of it was the primary to make the most of Xbox Live. With the ability of the web, gamers may frag one another from internationally, and so they’ve been doing it with smiles on their faces ever since.
3. Halo: Reach
After releasing Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST, it appeared that Bungie was prepared to maneuver on from the franchise. It would later accomplish that with Destiny, however the studio had yet another recreation beforehand. Halo: Reach – a direct prequel to the primary recreation – was a tragedy relatively than a narrative of victory, nevertheless it managed to be one of many strongest campaigns within the sequence thus far. Noble Team’s sacrifice and the titular planet’s “glassing” set the stage for Master Chief’s personal story, and we’ll always remember these remaining futile moments towards the overwhelming energy of the Covenant.
Halo: Reach opted for a special fashion of multiplayer than its predecessors, too, permitting for personalization and particular swimsuit powers that drastically modified the circulation of a match. Locking your armor briefly may make you impervious to wreck, and even able to destroying an unfortunate tank. A sturdy Forge choice additionally made customized maps and modes a breeze to create. Who doesn’t love Grifball?
Read our full Halo: Reach overview
4. Halo 3
“Finish the fight.” The slogan had been etched into Halo followers’ minds for months previous to Halo 3’s launch. It was the end result of years of buildup and battle, with the struggle between the Covenant and humanity lastly coming to some kind of conclusion.
Bungie didn’t disappoint, with one of the emotional and intense campaigns in the complete sequence, albeit with much less consistency throughout mission than both earlier recreation … we may have performed with out the Gravemind sections.
Halo 3’s aggressive multiplayer was a great cause for PlayStation 3 and Wii homeowners to get jealous. It constructed on the inspiration of the primary two video games, including new weapons and a very good collection of maps. Its successes have been, nonetheless, barely undermined by the discharge of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare lower than two months later, and this rivalry has continued into 2019.
5. Halo Wars
The first Halo started its life as a real-time technique recreation earlier than it was formed into the first-person shooter we all know and love, and in 2009, Ensemble Studios used this iteration because the inspiration for Halo Wars.
Taking place considerably earlier than the occasions of the opposite video games, Halo Wars follows a ship known as Spirit of Fire caught in its personal battle with the Covenant. You can’t solely direct Spartans in fight, but additionally marines, ODST items, and automobiles, making it one of the hectic video games within the franchise.
Halo Wars was additionally one of many first real-time technique video games to efficiently use a gamepad. The controls have been streamlined and Halo Wars was considerably easy in comparison with its PC contemporaries, nevertheless it confirmed simply how a lot potential the Halo sequence really had.
6. Halo 4
343 Industries had the unimaginable job of growing a brand new Halo recreation after unique studio Bungie had known as it quits. The activity was much more troublesome as a result of Halo 3 had seemingly completed Master Chief’s story. As it seems, there was nonetheless lots left to inform within the Reclaimer saga, and Halo 4 noticed the veteran Spartan land on a mysterious synthetic planet the place he would encounter the Covenant in addition to a brand new kind of enemy known as the Prometheans. The marketing campaign suffered from a repetitive construction, nevertheless it succeeded in displaying a human aspect to John-117 that we hadn’t seen earlier than.
Clearly influenced by Call of Duty, 343 took a special method to Halo 4’s multiplayer by permitting gamers to decide on their beginning weapons. It appeared blasphemous, however Halo 4’s wonderful map design and vehicular fight helped to make it a must-play, even for many who didn’t sometimes play video games on-line.
Read our full Halo 4 overview
7. Halo 3: ODST
A standalone growth to Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST was the primary recreation within the sequence to not star the Master Chief. Instead, gamers managed a member of the elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers in an investigative thriller in New Mombasa.
It’s completely different than the opposite shooters and places extra emphasis on techniques than all-out chaos, however there may be nonetheless loads of the alien-murdering goodness you’ve come to count on. ODST contained the multiplayer mode from Halo 3 as a substitute of together with its personal, nevertheless it did embrace further maps and the Firefight mode additionally present in later video games.
8. Halo 5: Guardians
Halo 4 appeared to have positioned the sequence heading in the right direction, with a transparent enemy to battle and a battle brewing inside Master Chief. This made it so odd that 343 selected to take nearly the entire focus off of the character and as a substitute put it on Spartan Locke, a newcomer trying to carry the Chief to justice.
It’s in Halo 5: Guardians that the story went particularly off the rails, and never all the time for the higher. But the numerous mission design and best-in-class audio and visible design helped to nonetheless make it worthwhile.
Halo 5: Guardians additionally noticed the largest modifications for multiplayer, which used an aim-down-sights mode for extra correct firing, in addition to new Spartan skills to change the course of a battle. It introduced the large Warzone mode, as effectively, which included automobiles and AI-controlled characters. Leaving automobiles out of the arena-style multiplayer finally made it really feel incomplete.
Read our full Halo 5: Guardians overview
9. Halo Wars 2
Who knew the Spirit of Fire would nonetheless be vital so many a long time after its first mission? In Halo Wars 2 – set after the occasions of Halo 5 – the crew finds themselves thrown into the center of a battle involving a rogue Brute that would have implications for the complete photo voltaic system.
Focusing on completely different parts of the Halo universe however nonetheless connecting to the primary storyline, Halo Wars 2 is crucial for longtime followers, nevertheless it gives little or no innovation. The primary streamlined real-time technique stays nearly unchanged, other than providing some new multiplayer modes.
Read our full Halo Wars 2 overview
10. Halo: Spartan Strike
Perhaps due to the lukewarm reception to Spartan Assault on consoles, Microsoft selected to not launch the follow-up Halo: Spartan Strike on Xbox in any respect. That’s a disgrace as a result of the sequel was the extra fascinating recreation.
It stored the identical perspective and primary gameplay loop of Spartan Assault, however with the Promethean enemies featured so prominently and since it had extra diverse environments, it was a extra bold recreation worthy of the Halo identify. Unfortunately, the sport is not obtainable on iOS, however it could nonetheless be bought from Steam.
11. Halo: Spartan Assault
A top-down twin-stick shooter relatively than a first-person recreation, Halo: Spartan Assault was designed with cellular gadgets in thoughts, and as such, it’s merely not as deep as its console and PC siblings. You battle the Covenant throughout brief missions, utilizing your weapons and grenades to flush them out, and although it does function considered one of Halo 4’s most vital characters, it doesn’t do something fascinating with the sequence’ lore or gameplay. On the go, it does the job, however the ports for the Xbox and PC are underwhelming.
Read our full Halo: Spartan Assault overview