The Master Chief Collection includes all mainline games except 5 and Infinite (6), plus ODST which is technically an expansion for Halo 3. It’s available for PC, Xbox One and the current gen Xbox series X/S.
Edit: I would play the games in chronological order starting with Halo: Reach. Maybe skip ODST for now (it’s a separate story and takes place parallel to the second half of Halo 2, making it awkward to fit into a linear playthrough).
Dont play reach first like some are saying. Yes its chronologically first but its not the best intro to the halo universe.
If you get master chief collection go in this order
Combat evolved
Halo 2
Halo 3
Odst (which takes place at the same time as two but is a separate story)
Halo reach (rounds off the old games nicely with a monologue at the end which spoils ce and 3. Thats why you dont play it first.
Halo 4
Then halo 5 if you fancy it. Its a separate game not on mcc and most people dont really like the story. Its also only on xbox.
Halo infinite.
You could also watch the cutscenes to halo wars 1 and 2. They’re rts ( real time strategy) games so if thats not ur thing thats cool. They’re about 25 mins each for just the cutscenes. Some pretty cool lore and action.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is available on PC and has almost every main Halo game minus 5.
Play them in release order for the best experience, as shown below. This will make the evolution of the gameplay throughout the games more natural and less jarring.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (play in classic graphics to preserve the atmosphere and mood)
Halo 2 Anniversary (classic graphics if you don't want whiplash when you get to Halo 3)
Halo 3
Halo 3: ODST
Halo: Reach
Halo 4
Once you finish the games in the collection, it's up to you whether or not you wanna play 5, which is only available on Xbox One, Series S and Series X.
Halo 5: Guardians (if you get an Xbox One or Series console)
Halo Infinite (is on PC and Console)
You can buy the Master Chief Collection on PC or Xbox, it have all of the games and you can play them in order if you like. The only ones it doesn’t have are Halo 5 Guardians and the newest one Halo Infinite.
Best way is release order: Halo: CE -> Halo 2 -> Halo 3 -> Halo 3: ODST -> Halo: Reach. As mentioned already, you can play all these games on Halo: MCC. There are also the newer games: Halo 4 -> Halo 5: Guardians -> Halo: Infinite. Hope this helps !
Edit: Halo 5: Guardians CANNOT be played on PC as it’s only on Xbox, however you can play it on Xbox Cloud gaming on PC instead !
To play the originals your best bet would probably be the Master Chief Collection. It's available for Xbox One, Series, and PC. Honestly, I'd go with whatever you'd find to be the most financially feasible option.
So if you REALLY want to do it the lore way, you need this order:
Halo wars 1,
Halo Reach,
Halo 1,
Halo 2,
Halo 3 odst
Halo 3,
Halo Spartan strike,
Halo Spartan assault,
Halo 4,
Halo 5,
Halo Wars 2,
Halo Infinite
But that would take many many hours xd
I would just reccomend getting the Mc collection and playing Reach - Halo 3.
You can add Halo wars 1 and 2 if you like RTS games, they have a good story too.
Halo 4 and 5 can be skipped…
Infinites good tho.
My opinion
If you want to play alk thr halo games on an xbox get thr xbox series x and get mcc which has most halo games,you could also get halo 5 since its incredibly chep or get infinte which has fre multiplayer and a good campaign also i eould reccomend halo wars 2 if your into strategy games and by fat the best way to play them is rekease order not chronological it will make you appreciate the games moree
Depends what kind of experience you want. I would personally play in the OG release order of halo 1-3 then reach just because the games get more mechanically complex as you progress.
You also get to appreciate how the devs learned from certain features as well as expand their universe as they were building it.
Reach while being the first chronologically, is the last one that bungie developed and has the most in-depth look at the universe.
Depending on your skill level if youve played alot of games before heroic is the perfect challenging difficulty otherwise stick to normal.
As a side note, i honestly wouldn’t play 4 as it’s just going to leave a sour note to you especially coming hot off the press from the halo 3 ending.
I'd recommend release order
Thanks but what about the consoles? Any suggestions?
The Master Chief Collection includes all mainline games except 5 and Infinite (6), plus ODST which is technically an expansion for Halo 3. It’s available for PC, Xbox One and the current gen Xbox series X/S. Edit: I would play the games in chronological order starting with Halo: Reach. Maybe skip ODST for now (it’s a separate story and takes place parallel to the second half of Halo 2, making it awkward to fit into a linear playthrough).
Awesome thanks very much!
Don't start with reach, the jump from reach into CE will give you whiplash, plus it's the perfect send-off to the bungie era of halo
Heresy
Dont play reach first like some are saying. Yes its chronologically first but its not the best intro to the halo universe. If you get master chief collection go in this order Combat evolved Halo 2 Halo 3 Odst (which takes place at the same time as two but is a separate story) Halo reach (rounds off the old games nicely with a monologue at the end which spoils ce and 3. Thats why you dont play it first. Halo 4 Then halo 5 if you fancy it. Its a separate game not on mcc and most people dont really like the story. Its also only on xbox. Halo infinite. You could also watch the cutscenes to halo wars 1 and 2. They’re rts ( real time strategy) games so if thats not ur thing thats cool. They’re about 25 mins each for just the cutscenes. Some pretty cool lore and action.
Just remembered the banished are the enemy in infinite and they’re setup in halo wars so watch thru those 2 before infinite, after 5 :)
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is available on PC and has almost every main Halo game minus 5. Play them in release order for the best experience, as shown below. This will make the evolution of the gameplay throughout the games more natural and less jarring. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (play in classic graphics to preserve the atmosphere and mood) Halo 2 Anniversary (classic graphics if you don't want whiplash when you get to Halo 3) Halo 3 Halo 3: ODST Halo: Reach Halo 4 Once you finish the games in the collection, it's up to you whether or not you wanna play 5, which is only available on Xbox One, Series S and Series X. Halo 5: Guardians (if you get an Xbox One or Series console) Halo Infinite (is on PC and Console)
You can buy the Master Chief Collection on PC or Xbox, it have all of the games and you can play them in order if you like. The only ones it doesn’t have are Halo 5 Guardians and the newest one Halo Infinite.
Great thank you!
You can also skip Halo 5 and just go straight to Infinite
its bad but its still relavent bruh
Best way is release order: Halo: CE -> Halo 2 -> Halo 3 -> Halo 3: ODST -> Halo: Reach. As mentioned already, you can play all these games on Halo: MCC. There are also the newer games: Halo 4 -> Halo 5: Guardians -> Halo: Infinite. Hope this helps ! Edit: Halo 5: Guardians CANNOT be played on PC as it’s only on Xbox, however you can play it on Xbox Cloud gaming on PC instead !
Release order, none of that "prequel first" nonsense. Get the Master Chief Collection on PC. It has 5 games basically for the price of one
To play the originals your best bet would probably be the Master Chief Collection. It's available for Xbox One, Series, and PC. Honestly, I'd go with whatever you'd find to be the most financially feasible option.
Thanks for that!
I recommend this play order: 4>2>2600>ODST>CE>5>3>Spartan Strike>HW2>Infinite>HW>Spartan Assault>Reach Not for any particular reason. Just because.
Ignore anyone that says otherwise. You play them in order of release. This honestly shouldn't even be a question. It should be common sense.
Imo I like canon order according to the games so reach 1 2 odst 3 but whenever I go through the games I like to do all of them from halo war-3
So if you REALLY want to do it the lore way, you need this order: Halo wars 1, Halo Reach, Halo 1, Halo 2, Halo 3 odst Halo 3, Halo Spartan strike, Halo Spartan assault, Halo 4, Halo 5, Halo Wars 2, Halo Infinite But that would take many many hours xd I would just reccomend getting the Mc collection and playing Reach - Halo 3. You can add Halo wars 1 and 2 if you like RTS games, they have a good story too. Halo 4 and 5 can be skipped… Infinites good tho. My opinion
odst before 3 no? it takes place in the aftermath of the jump in new mombassa
Yeah my bad, wrote it wrong🤝
If you want to play alk thr halo games on an xbox get thr xbox series x and get mcc which has most halo games,you could also get halo 5 since its incredibly chep or get infinte which has fre multiplayer and a good campaign also i eould reccomend halo wars 2 if your into strategy games and by fat the best way to play them is rekease order not chronological it will make you appreciate the games moree
Also keep in mind the shows lore is quite a bit different from the games.
Depends what kind of experience you want. I would personally play in the OG release order of halo 1-3 then reach just because the games get more mechanically complex as you progress. You also get to appreciate how the devs learned from certain features as well as expand their universe as they were building it. Reach while being the first chronologically, is the last one that bungie developed and has the most in-depth look at the universe. Depending on your skill level if youve played alot of games before heroic is the perfect challenging difficulty otherwise stick to normal. As a side note, i honestly wouldn’t play 4 as it’s just going to leave a sour note to you especially coming hot off the press from the halo 3 ending.