Halo is a pillar of the
first-person-shooter genre
, even if the more recent entries haven’t managed to reach the same heights as more beloved entries. Halo: CE revolutionized first-person-shooters on controllers and Halo 2 was a pioneer in fast and easy matchmaking for multiplayer. Importantly, all the Halo games have story-focused campaigns, including some iconic levels. Not every campaign is great, but most of them are quite good and worth your time. Here’s how we rank each FPS Halo campaign.
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8
Halo 5: Guardians
When Master Chief isn’t on screen, everyone should ask ‘where’s Master Chief?’
Anyone familiar with the Halo series probably could have predicted Halo 5: Guardians taking the lowest spot on this list. While Halo 5 was able to right the ship when it came to multiplayer, it managed to reach new lows with the campaign. A combination of the bad story-telling choice to place Master Chief on the back burner for the new Fireteam Osiris and a strange direction for Cortana resulted in a disjointed adventure. Limiting Master Chief to only a handful of missions, while giving the majority to Fireteam Osiris, left a bad taste in players’ mouths, especially when the plot was still entirely about Master Chief.
- Developer: 343 Industries
- Publisher: Microsoft Studios
- Platforms: Xbox One
- Release Date: 10-27-2015
7
Halo 4
Like reading an encyclopedia.
Halo 4 was 343 Industries’ first attempt at making a Halo game, It has a few things going for it, but the new enemies, the Prometheans, drag the entire experience down. These robotic foes lack the personality and color of the Covenant, and the plot being centered around the history of the Forerunners means you spend far too much time learning about things that happened in history, and not enough about events actually happening. Halo 4 is gorgeous and the relationship between Master Chief and Cortana is excellent, so it’s not without good reasons to play it.
- Developer: 343 Industries
- Publisher: Microsoft Studios
- Platforms: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC
- Release Date: 11-6-2012
6
Halo 2
Part 2 of 3.
Halo 2 is taking a lower spot than you may expect, but for good reason. While Halo 2 does have a great campaign, its lack of a concrete ending really holds it back. While the Arbiter gets a clear conclusion, Master Chief is placed on a ship and sent barreling towards the plot of Halo 3, without much of a conclusion on his end. The campaign does also suffer from its lopsided gameplay, with Arbiter getting the bulk of the Flood missions and Chief almost getting none. Playing as the Arbiter is sick, though. and the Halo theme with the electric guitar is, well, electric.
- Developer: Bungie
- Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
- Platforms: Xbox, PC, Xbox One
- Release Date: 11-9-2024
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5
Halo Infinite
What if Master Chief had a grappling hook?
A hybrid open-world campaign, Halo Infinite might be lacking in the story department, but the gameplay is spectacular, and the grappling hook is a game changer. The story follows Master Chief as he works with the Pilot to take down the Banished occupying Zeta Halo. You also get introduced to The Weapon, a new version of Cortana. Unfortunately,
Halo Infinite does wrap up the plot lines from Halo 4 and 5 off-screen, making this narrative feel disjointed as part of the series, but independently it serves as enough of a basis for a compelling campaign. The grappling hook lets you fly across the map and reach new heights Master Chief could never reach before, creating a fun sandbox. Plus, it plays well on
Steam Deck
.
- Developer: 343 Industries
- Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
- Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
- Release Date: 11-15-2021
4
Halo 3
Time to finish the fight.
Halo 3 deserves a ton of credit, not only for providing a strong conclusion to the trilogy, but doing it so well that Halo 2 doesn’t get the flak it deserves for not having a proper ending. Halo 3 takes the fight to earth, as the Elites team-up with humanity to put a stop to the Covenant, who have found a way to activate every Halo at once. It’s got several iconic set pieces, like the double Scarab fight, and it runs back the Warthog run from Halo: CE in a way that elevates it. There was a time when this was the conclusion of Master Chief’s story, and the series was better when that was true.
- Developer: Bungie
- Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
- Platforms: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC
- Release Date: 9-25-2007
3
Halo: CE
A proper introduction.
Halo: Combat Evolved is the original Halo, the one that changed console shooters forever. Perhaps it’s nostalgia or the fact that this release had to rely more on the campaign since it doesn’t have multiplayer matchmaking built in, but it holds the number three spot on this list. The sprawling levels and tight corridors give parts of this game a horror feel, especially with Flood levels, which adds a dynamic feel unlike other entries in the series. It also features two of the most iconic levels in the series with Silent Cartographer and The Library, both of which use the vastness of the levels to their advantage.
- Developer: Bungie
- Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios, MacSoft Games
- Platforms: Xbox, Xbox 360, PC, Mac
- Release Date: 11-15-2021
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2
Halo 3: ODST
Bungie invented jazz music.
Halo 3 ODST Firefight Combat
Halo 3: ODST captures a distinct energy, while still playing all the hits you expect from a Halo game. Following a squad of ODST on earth after the Covenant invasion, you get to unravel the mystery taking place in New Mombasa, something that humanity has tried to cover up. The sitting setting gives it a much different feel from other campaigns, and the use of night vision and stealth changes the pacing of the game in an impactful way. You’re not the greatest soldier to ever live, you are just an ODST, which makes every moment a bit more intense. The cast of characters is great and gives a squad dynamic that you only get in one other campaign.
- Developer: Bungie
- Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
- Platforms: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC
- Release Date: 9-22-2009
1
Halo: Reach
There’s something special about knowing you’ll lose, and fighting anyway.
Prequels tend to suffer because they have a set destination. How interesting can the journey be when you already know the destination you have to reach. Halo: Reach tells the story of the fall of Reach, where the Covenant glassed one of humanity’s brightest colonies. You play as Noble 6, the newest member of Noble squad, as you fight to defend Reach, while learning more about the spartan program. It also doesn’t shy away from being about a losing fight, with most of our cast doomed from the start.
The final level always sticks out, a final stand, where you get to continue fighting as long as you can, while knowing your job is already complete. Halo: Reach uses the scale of its battle well, taking you all over the planet and even into space, letting you feel the weight of the impending destruction. It’s emotionally deep, has incredible set pieces, and is fairly self-contained, making it a masterpiece of a campaign.
- Developer: Bungie
- Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
- Platforms: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC
- Release Date: 9-14-2010
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