The influence of the Halo series over other shooters had long since worn off. Numerous improvements and additions were made to the multiplayer side to keep up with current gaming. The removal of the split-screen feature upset many fans who had spent years playing Halo with friends like this. The single-player campaign was widely received as an improvement over Halo 4, although perhaps not back to the level of quality associated with Bungie installments. This sequel for Halo 4 came out for only the Xbox One in 2015. While this game had some fans, the players of previous Halo games largely had a hard time recognizing this as being on par with previous installments. It was intended to start a new trilogy story over three games.
Halo 4 was the first franchise installment done by 343 Industries, first for the Xbox 360, and later the Xbox One and Windows as part of the Master Chief Collection. Many hard-core fans of the franchise consider Reach the last ‘actual’ Halo game, since Bungie didn’t have anything to do with later installments. The Reach multiplayer was retained and used for the Anniversary re-release of Halo I. The multiplayer side of this game struck a good chord with franchise fans, partly for its high quality, but also largely because it was Bungie’s last involvement. Reach was a prequel to the first Halo trilogy, again an FPS without the Master Chief character. 6) Halo: Reach (2010)Ģ010 was the year that saw the last Bungie-developed Halo game, as their partnership with Microsoft ended, and they turned their attention towards their eventual Destiny franchise. While many fans of the franchise enjoyed the game, they did note that it seemed like a bit of a money-grab by Microsoft.ĭisc one had the single-player mode, which was originally intended to be a downloadable content or DLC expansion to Halo 3, and disc two just had another variation of the Halo 3 multiplayer. This game first came out for the Xbox 360, before the Master Chief Collection made it available to Xbox One consoles and Windows computers. It returned to the FPS roots of the series, but it did not focus on the Master Chief character, instead following five ‘orbital drop shock troopers’, or ODSTs. Halo Wars was not the only franchise installment to come out in the year 2009, as Halo 3: ODST was also released. This game’s story took place about two decades prior to the original Halo, covering some of the first encounters humanity had with the Covenant. Originally released on the Xbox 360, it later saw release for both the Xbox One and Microsoft Windows as the Halo Wars: Definitive Edition. This game changed genres, as it was not a first-person shooter, but instead a real-time strategy game, or RTS. In February of 2009, the franchise took a new direction with one installment with the release of Halo Wars. Like Halo 2, it went on to be the highest-grossing game of the Xbox 360 console. Halo 3 earned $170 million on day one, and almost double that in one week. The single-player mode did conclude the trilogy arc of its predecessors, and smashed sales records that Halo 2 set. The story campaign of this game was usually finished much faster by players than Halo 1 or 2, but the big selling point of this one was an emphasis on multiplayer, which had new maps rolled out for some time after the initial game release. In September of 2007, Halo 3 came out, followed later by Xbox One and Windows releases as part of the Master Chief Collection. Given the success of the Halo franchise, Microsoft relied heavily on Halo 3 to get consumers to buy its second console, the Xbox 360. The inclusion of that MP in the Master Chief Collection was celebrated for bringing back the Halo 2 MP maps once more. Many fans enjoyed the multiplayer side of the game, continuing to play this one over later installments as long as the servers were up. The story and events of this game take place after the first one, and broke sales records at the time.Įarning $125 million on just its first day, it went on to be the highest-grossing video game for the entire original Xbox line. The sequel and second game in this franchise came out in November of 2004 for the original Xbox console, with later releases for Microsoft Windows and even the Xbox One, as part of the Master Chief Collection. Man fans were drawn to the split-screen mode where two players could sit side-by-side and play with each other in front of the same television. It was even honored with a remastered graphics re-release a decade later with an ‘Anniversary’ edition. The content and caliber of the game were astounding enough to players that it set the standard for FPS games for years to come. This game substantially grew Xbox console sales, giving Microsoft a badly needed boost as they tried to compete with existing video game console makers.
It would also see eventual release for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The first installment of this franchise was released on Novemfor the original Xbox console.