The trailer for the second season of the Halo television series was released today. To celebrate, it feels like a great time to give an “official” ranking of the mainline games in the franchise.
Originally launching on November 15th, 2001, the Halo franchise has seen a total of seven FPS games released over two decades. For the purpose of this list, we’re not going to count the offshoots such as Halo Wars and Spartan Assault.
Normally in a list for a quality franchise like Halo, I’d preface by saying “one of these has to come in last.” Unfortunately, when it comes to Halo 5: Guardians, that’s going to be the case.
At the time of its release, Halo 3: ODST was controversial for feeling like an expansion pack that came with the price tag of a full game. Upon release, we were greeted with a new story in the Halo universe along with an enjoyable multiplayer offering.
343 had an impossible task at hand: develop a new Halo game in the shadow of Bungie’s success. The result was Halo 4, a genuinely good game! But was it a good game that could hold up to the impossible legacy it was staring in the face?
The newest Halo game falls between the 343’s other titles and the original games from Bungie. Given how the game looks to draw inspiration from older Halo titles while bringing the franchise into the modern era, it’s a perfect spot for it on our list of every Halo game ranked.
There was zero chance Halo 3 had the ability to meet the hype. After the cliffhanger of its predecessor, everyone (im)patiently waited for its resolution.What they got was a good game, don’t get me wrong, but it missed the mark set by its predecessors.
Halo: Combat Evolved hasn’t necessarily aged well. There are parts of the campaign that are beyond frustrating to play through and, at the time, the multiplayer relied on LAN parties to reach their full potential.