Spanning across the decades and with games releasing over several generations of consoles, the Halo franchise and its overarching storyline can be a little hard to keep track of at times. Even with Halo‘s massive catalog of fantastic novels that help fill the gaps between games aside, the franchise tends to jump across its sci-fi timeline the more you start venturing outside its numbered entries.
With plenty of spinoffs and prequels under its belt, playing the Halo games in chronological order helps form a much clearer picture of the series’ escalating stakes and sheer scale of its intergalactic war that goes far beyond Master Chief’s own actions. Whether you’re looking for what order to play for the first time or how to revisit the series from a new perspective, following the story by year rather than release is the way to go.
Halo: Wars (2531)
Released in 2009, 8 years after the first Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo: Wars is one of the most unique entries in the series. This entry broke away from its first-person origins in favor of a surprisingly intense real-time strategy game that is well worth trying out for yourself, even if you’re not a fan of the genre.
Highlighting the earliest years of the brutal war between the UNSC and the Covenant, Halo Wars shows just how desperate the decades of fighting had been before the official start of the series.
Halo: Reach (2552)
Taking place directly before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, 2010s Halo: Reach explores one of the most significant moments in the franchise with the Fall of Reach, marking a significant blow to humanity’s desperate last-ditch efforts for survival. Reach is often praised as one of the best entries in the franchise, taking full advantage of its predecessor’s to make for an action-packed prequel with plenty of gameplay variety on top of its emotional story.
The actions of every member of Reach‘s Noble Team were directly responsible for allowing Master Chief and Cortana to play a vital role in future entries, ultimately sparking a domino effect that will end the war through their sacrifices.
Halo: Combat Evolved (2552)
Despite being the first game in the legendary FPS franchise, 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved is technically the third game chronologically, directly following the events of Halo: Reach as Covenant forces try to take down any fleeing survivors of the fallen planet. Introducing Master Chief and Cortana as the vital protagonists of the series, Combat Evolved also lays the foundation not only for games that followed but also for the cracks within the Covenant’s hierarchy.
Combat Evolved takes place entirely on a ring-shaped Halo Array created by an ancient race known as the Forerunners and shows that there are even more horrors lurking across the galaxy than just the genocidal Covenant. Offering teasers of Halo‘s mysterious universe while establishing the iconic weaponry, combat, and factions of the series, Combat Evolved is one of the most significant entries in the franchise by far, and an exciting remake is now on the way.
Halo 2 (2552)
Jumping to Earth following the events of Combat Evolved, 2004’s Halo 2 sees the very first Covenant attack on humanity’s homeworld of Earth in search of Forerunner artifacts. Despite being a devastating blow for humanity, it has an even more significant effect on the Covenant, and the Covenant’s internal struggles are revealed through the playable eyes of the Arbiter.
To experience the series in full chronological order, you’ll want to jump to the next entry after completing the fifth level, ‘Metropolis,’ in Halo 2‘s campaign.
Further exploring the political and religious themes that make up the Covenant’s hierarchy, Halo 2 also ends on a cliffhanger that directly ties in with the start of Halo 3. Through a dual-wielding and dual-perspective split between the Chief and the Arbiter, Halo 2 also offered some of the best levels in the franchise while laying the foundations for future entries to follow
Halo 3: ODST (2552)
While commonly bundled with Halo 3, the entirety of 2009’s Halo 3: ODST takes place in New Mombasa City during the events of Halo 2‘s story. Showcasing a more human side of the war without the aid of superhumans in powersuits, ODST follows a few ordinary soldiers during the war to fight back the Covenant’s small-scale invasion force.
Offering a greater emphasis on tactics and exploration with an unforgettably somber atmosphere, Halo 3: ODST helps put into perspective everything you’re fighting for throughout the series, even if it doesn’t progress the overarching story of Master Chief itself.
Halo: Spartan Strike (2552-2557)
One of the strangest entries in the Halo franchise, Halo: Spartan Strike was a mobile game released in 2015 that acted as a similar twin-stick shooter as Halo: Spartan Assault.
Focusing more on gameplay over narrative, Halo: Spartan Strike jumps around the timeline with missions taking place at several points across the series, most notably during Halo 2 and directly after the events of Halo 4. It ultimately expands upon the post-war galaxy in a similar way to Spartan Assault. I would only recommend playing this one after Halo 4, given that it would spoil some of the events later in the series.
Halo 3 (2552)
Released in 2007 as a follow-up to Halo 2, the events of Halo 3 conclude the original trilogy of the series while offering a resolution to the 28-year war between humanity and the Covenant. With more polished gameplay mechanics and stakes that couldn’t be higher, Halo 3 does a great job of wrapping up the original storyline while leaving room for future entries to follow.
With lingering mysteries regarding the Forerunners and Cortana remaining, Halo 3 did a great job at wrapping up the original storyline and the Flood threat, while still showing that its expansive universe still has plenty to offer moving forward.
Halo: Spartan Assault (2554)
Taking place between the events of Halo 3 and Halo 4, the 2013 twin-stick shooter Halo: Spartan Assault is far from the most story-intensive entry in the Halo franchise, but it still does a great job expanding upon the post-war state of the galaxy.
Offering more arcade-style gameplay and mission types, Halo Spartan Assault follows a series of Spartan-IVs in their ongoing effort to protect humanity against any lingering threats, like Covenant splinter factions hiding across the galaxy.
Halo 4 (2557)
Years after the events of Halo 3, the 2012 release of Halo 4 starts a new saga for the series with its Reclaimer faction, slowly shifting the series away from its war story into a more character-driven sci-fi saga. Following Chief’s attempts to help manage the threat of Cortana’s growing rampancy while facing off against the even deadlier threat of an awakened Forerunner, Halo 4 helps to further explore the gritty details of its sci-fi setting.
Reframing the Forerunners from ambivalent caretakers into galactic conquerers, Halo 4 also introduces a brand-new yet somewhat controversial faction of enemies to face off against, with the aid of its greatly expanded combat loadouts, customization systems, and powerful vehicle types.
Halo 5: Guardians (2558)
Taking place a year after the events of Halo 4, 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians brings back the dual protagonists that were first introduced in Halo 2. You follow the story of both Master Chief, who is trying to reunite with Cortana after her supposed sacrifice, and Blue Team’s Spartan Locke, who is attempting to detain him for going rogue and endangering humanity through his actions towards Cortana.
Splitting the series once again into troubled alliances and militaristic action, Halo 5: Guardians sees a new status quo being created with AI at the helm of humanity’s ongoing survival.
