Halo Infinite has been released. It has been a long while since the last game came out. And I couldn’t wait to get stuck in.
But the last halo game I had played was halo four. And I’d forgotten most of the events from Reach and Needed to play five. It’s got me thinking what is the best order to pay the series in. So here is my preferred order of playing the games.
Halo Reach
Halo Reach is set before Halo Combat Evolved. It follows the Noble Team, made up of Spartans. Their mission, to defend the planet Reach from the Covenant. This is my favourite Halo so far. This is before playing Halo 5 and Infinite. You feel like you’re part of a team, and are less of a lone wolf. Spoilers they start to get picked off one by one. There are several memorable characters from the rest of the series that make an appearance.
The very last mission is set a few hours before Halo combat evolved and you assist Spartan one and three in some way.
The main reason I loved this game was because of the connection you have with the other members of the team. Each character has a personality. My only grudge against the game is I wish we had more time with them. Built up a bigger better relationship so upon their loss, it hit harder. If you can only play one game of the series, this is it.
The only other downside of course is there is no Master Chief. It would’ve been nice to see how he interacts with other Spartans. And if they consider him the best of the best. This would put the Master chief on a whole Other level.
Halo Combat Evolved
So this is where it all started. Back on the original Xbox, Halo: Combat Evolved was released. I remember playing the demo level countless times when shops had consoles you could play. I was getting an Xbox for either a Christmas or a birthday present. And I couldn’t wait to get stuck in.
You play as the Master Chief one of the last Spartans alive. A Spartan is a super soldier, a result of gene therapy and years of combat training. The Pillar of Autumn battleship is chased by the Covenant. The Master Chief is awakened from Cyro sleep and is tasked with saving the ship. The Commander of the ship called Keyes decides the best course of action is to land on a ring-like structure in orbit of the nearest planet. The Ring is an alien made structure that has an atmosphere and environment.
Co-op on this game was legendary. I used to play with friends and family trying to progress with the story on harder difficulties. Xbox Live has become a thing because of Halo and you could play online and battle other people. It was an amazing evolution of the FPS genre and I’m glad I got to experience it at the time.
If you have the Master Chief Collection you have access to the remastered version
From this point forward I will be mentioning elements of the Halo series which will spoil this title. If you don’t want to be spoilt complete Halo Combat Evolved before coming back here.
Halo 2
You need to complete the very first mission of Halo 2. Then move on to Halo ODST as this is the invasion of earth. Once you’ve completed ODST you can move back to Halo 2 to complete the rest of the game.
Halo 2 brought graphical updates to the game that were incredible. If you’re playing it now using the master chief collection you won’t be able to tell the difference between the two due to the remaster. The graphics were night and day when compared back on release.
Halo 2 also enabled you to play as an elite. I’m not just any elite and Arbeiter. He goes on secret missions on behalf of the covenant. Eventually, Master Chief and the Arbeiter do you mean on the pair ascent on a Mission by an unknown entity.
Again there is another Halo ring that is found and just like before the mission is to stop it from firing. This is a true sequel that upgrades in every way.
Halo 3: ODST
ODST is set during the invasion of New Mombasa. You play as a shock trooper marine called Rookie. Upon deployment, the covenant ship warps out of the area causing your dropship to miss the target and crash.
Upon crash landing, the Rookie is knocked out. Once he awakens a few hours later he has to investigate what happened to the rest of the team. Once he finds a clue you take control of one of the other members of the team a few hours prior. This is a great departure from the normal Halo formula. But it is a welcome addition. It puts the player in control of a normal soldier and to live through the battles for their eyes. It has a semi-open world where you explore the city of neighbour Mombasa to find new clues.
Just like Halo Reach. You learn more about your team and how they tick. I like that the spin-offs focus more on the characters than the war. I would like to see more of this in future spin-offs.
Halo 3
This is the final title of the Covenant trilogy. Elites and humans team up to prevent the Covenant from triggering the Rings and causing a mass extinction of all races. Master Chief lands back on Earth to investigate the mysterious Arc. Which is where it is located.
Not much has changed gameplay-wise, but the number of weapons and vehicles have increased. The graphics have improved since moving from the SD era to HD. This was the first Halo to be rendered in High Definition.
Halo 4
I’ll be honest and admit that I hardly remember what happened in halo four. Mars chief is kept in a car genic stasis. But the ship is then attacked by rebel covenant members.
The covenant is not the main focus this time around. There are other forces the Arabic a friend. Halo four also builds upon both master chiefs and Cortana is back history.
The Cortana is modelled after a scientist who created her. And that the most Chief was always her favourite.
Halo 5
Halo 5 is focused on getting Cortana back. In the process, the Master Chief goes rogue and is hunted by another Spartan team on the orders of the military. Master Chief has his own team who will follow him into anything even going rogue. While the Osiris team (hunters) is led by Locke who you take control of on alternate missions. This makes the game more interesting as you see it from the point of view of other soldiers. You also get to know each member of the teams.
Click here for the full review.
Halo Infinite
Infinite is an open-world game falling on the events from Halo 5. Again You are trying to locate Cortana. All the games have been getting great reviews however there is a lot on the game that is not accessible from launch. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, things such as replaying missions and co-op will be available. I have yet to play this title and cannot comment on the story. I will update once I’ve completed it.
To Conclude
Just a small taster of what the world below offers. There are other games TV series books to read. He wants you to start to take down into the law of the Game series but that’s it for now hopefully you know what order to play the games in and you should be able to play them as they are all available on the latest Xbox or PC. The Game Pass* is an even bigger incentive to play them all. For other recommendations click here.
*Any link with “*” is an affiliate link, I earn a small commission should you choose to use my link,