Every mainline Halo game, including Infinite, ranked

With the launch of Halo on November 15, 2001, this makes it 20 years since the inception of Halo. Over the years, this hugely popular franchise has experienced many ups and downs. It also saw several development teams move. Bungie created the series and five games were made. Then, 343 Industries was formed, which is a Microsoft studio that includes many Bungie veterans.

Keep an eye out for Halo InfiniteThe third Halo game, ‘343, was ranked by us as the seventh. But now that we’ve played Infinite, we’ve updated our rankings.

It’s worth noting that we’re focusing on the FPS Halo games. We won’t be ranking the top-down Spartan AssaultOr Spartan Strike. And while we’d like to rank the fantastic Halo Wars series, they’re a little too apples-to-oranges for this list.

Here are the Halo games, ranked best-to-worst.

1. Halo 2

Image: Bungie via Halopedia

Halo 2The definitive Halo title. This game not only makes Master Chief one of the most hated videogame characters, but also allows players to take the role of the Arbiter and gain an insight into the Covenant. This is one of the best Halo stories ever. The Covenant is transformed into a militarized, living cult rather than a group of goofy aliens who are dropped in arenas.

Halo 2 also adds some of the series’ biggest features like hijacking and duel wielding, giving dimension to play without distracting from any of the action. Here, the Battle Rifle and many other weapons make their debut. And it’s one of the debut Xbox Live multiplayer games.

Halo 2It is an excellent example of how to scale up your sequel. It’s bigger and more impressive than the original but still feels like Halo.

2. Halo: The Evolution of Combat

Image: Bungie via Halopedia

Halo: The Evolution of CombatOne of the most successful video games franchises ever created. It’s got some of the best campaign levels ever made, and the game’s iconic Magnum pistol belongs in the FPS hall of fame. The game’s LAN party and sleepover events were so numerous that Bungie used it to define the last pre-Xbox Live generation. And perhaps most importantly, Bungie used Halo: The Evolution of CombatFPS games are possible on consoles. This is what has forever shaped games industry.

It’s hard to describe how influential and important Halo: The Evolution of Combat is. It’s got some key flaws in its campaign — notably the Flood being a huge pain to fight, and just how often you backtrack through levels. But it’s an absolute titan of a game, and every console shooter or first person game would look different today had it not existed.

3. Halo 3

Image: Bungie via Halopedia

Halo 3It’s more fun than playingCombat Evolution — it carries over some of the big, modern improvements from Halo 2 — but it just barely misses that number two spot. It’s a bit safe mechanically, especially compared to the leap from Halo: The Evolution of CombatTo Halo 2. It also suffers from some forgettable levels — and the less-fun-to-fight Brutes taking over for Elites, while narratively cool, hurts the overall combat. However, it served up the best multiplayer in the series’ history, with endless maps like The Pit buildable through Forge, and very few games have come close to toppling its arena shooter action.

Halo 3It is not perfect, but the massive size and multiplayer make up for any minor flaws.

4. Halo Infinite

Image: 343 Industries/Xbox Game Studios

Halo InfiniteThis is an evolution. It’s the only Halo game that really strays from the formula, but it becomes something more in that process. Infinite It not only makes it possible to open the campaign, but also allows for more people to play the game in multiplayer. It’s a mechanically rich adventure, with the grappling hook adding a level of movement that the series has never seen before.

And this is not like other 343 gaming games. Infinite still feels aggressively Halo — in spite of its massive changes. It’s a consistent romp with one of the best told stories in the franchise’s 20 year history.

There will likely never be a Halo game that knock’s Bungie’s original trilogy out of the top 3, but Halo Infinite comes damn close.

5. Reach for Halo

Image: Bungie/Microsoft

Reach for HaloHere is where the series loses a little steam. Bungie makes use of its prequel status to bring a flood of new weapons to the game. Most of these are less memorable than the original. However, the sheer variety of gameplay that these new weapons and armor abilities provide keeps the game’s levels from getting stale. There’s always something new to play with, even if the moment to moment gameplay isn’t as tight as the original trilogy.

As Bungie’s last Halo, Reach It is disappointing. Bungie seemed to be running low on steam and ready to hand the torch to another franchise. However, despite the funk Reach for HaloIt is a good place to close an era.

6. Halo 3: ODST

Image: Bungie/Microsoft Game Studios

Halo 3: ODST is a great experiment that doesn’t quite come together as a fun video game experience. It follows an average crew of ODST Marines, who are those people that fall out of the skies in pods. They are loud, obnoxious characters, the missions they perform are simple, and it is easier to do combat as a regular person. The fantasy aspect of Halo involves playing the role of a huge alien or super-soldier.

Its flaws aside, ODST It actually offers a semi-open, interesting format. ODST tries something new, some of which works but ultimately fails.

7. Halo 4

Image: 343 Industries/Microsoft Studios

Halo 4This is the first post Bungie Halo game. This takes the story off-track, giving the Forerunners an opportunity to take on the antagonist title. And it’s that Forerunner focus that ultimately lands Halo 4Further down this list. 343 Industries has added cool mech vehicles to this series, allowing third-person combat against legions of villains. It also offers some memorable and fun missions. But the Forerunners are aggravating and it’s unclear how to fight them. Their weapons are also over-designed, even though they look amazing.

As a first shot for a new studio, taking a stab at one of gaming’s most prolific franchises, Halo 4 isn’t actually too bad. It’s even got one of my favorite Halo missions, escorting the Mammoth in “Reclaimer.” But it’s all a bit messy, and pales in comparison to the rest of Master Chief’s adventures.

8. Halo 5: Guardians

343 Industries/Microsoft

Halo 5: Guardians doesn’t feel like Halo. After Halo 4, 343 took a lot of liberties with Halo — which, as Bungie’s successors, is understandable. The result was an amalgamation of tons of AAA gameplay mechanics, such as jet boots. It made the game unrecognizable. The squad-based combat, bananas story that prioritizes a group of boring new Spartans over Master Chief, and unimaginative mission structure just don’t come together to make for a very fun Halo game.

Halo 5: GuardiansSome places offer something completely different. It is quite cool to be able to fight on the same planet as the Elites and Arbiter. All of that is commendable and not without some merit, but outside of the aesthetic and some of the weapons, it’s hard to even see Guardians as a Halo game.