Xbox’s flagship shooter is an intergalactic sci-fi saga with narrative foundations that date back billions of years. Despite that far-reaching history, the actual Halo games largely take place within a single decade during the tail end and aftermath of the Human-Covenant War.
The mainline Halo games present a sequential storyline, though several spinoffs complicate the series’ chronology. With that in mind, we’ve created this brief rundown of the Halo timeline as explored in video games.
This list includes all mainline Halo games and most spinoffs, including the Halo Wars strategy games and Halo: Spartan top-down shooters. The mixed-reality game Halo Recruit, the arcade game Halo: Fireteam Raven, and the marketing ploy/mobile game Halo 4: King of the Hill Fueled By Mountain Dew are not included.
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The Halo Games in Chronological Order
As with most series, there are two possible ways to approach the Halo games: chronologically by release date or chronologically by narrative. The choice is yours, and both possible paths are outlined below, beginning with the narrative chronology.
With series newcomers in mind, these brief plot synopses contain only mild spoilers such as broad plot points, settings, and character introductions.
1. Halo Wars (2531)
Halo Wars is the series’ earliest-set game, taking place 21 years before the start of Halo: Reach and Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo Wars is set during the early days of the Human-Covenant War, a conflict started by the alien Covenant to preserve the false foundations on which it built its religion. Halo Wars follows the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) forces aboard the Spirit of Fire and the Red Team of Spartan-II supersoldiers as they take the fight to the Covenant across the planets Harvest and Arcadia, as well as the Forerunner installation Shield 0459 (aka Trove).
Halo Wars is the first of two real-time strategy spinoffs. The second, Halo Wars 2 (further down this list), is set between Halo 5 and Halo Infinite.
2. Halo: Reach (2552)
Halo: Reach is set 21 years later, during the summer months of 2552. Noble Team begins its fight with the Covenant on the planet Reach, one of humanity’s most prosperous colonies. Noble Team, including the playable character Noble Six, was heavily outnumbered in their fight, yet their efforts allowed the ship Pillar of Autumn and Cortana to escape Reach, setting the scene for Halo: Combat Evolved.
3. Halo: Combat Evolved (2552)
The ending of Reach leads directly into Halo: Combat Evolved, with the Pillar of Autumn entering Installation 04, one of seven ring-shaped worlds (i.e., Halos) created by an ancient species of highly intelligent beings known as the Forerunners.
The Pillar, carrying Cortana and John-117, aka Master Chief, is attacked by the Covenant and forced to crash-land on the ring. There, Chief fights Covenant forces and accidentally unleashes the Flood, an ancient species of parasitic organisms that feed on sentient life. Chief must find a way to contain the Flood outbreak without destroying humanity.
Halo: Combat Evolved also introduces series staples such as 343 Guilty Spark, the Forerunner Monitor tasked with overseeing Installation 04; Jacob Keyes, a commanding officer in the UNSC Navy; and Avery Johnson, a highly trained UNSC Marine.
4. Halo 2 (2552)
Set shortly after the conclusion of Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 tells two tales: the story of a Covenant Sangheili named Thel 'Vadam (aka The Arbiter) and the story of Master Chief’s continued fight against the Covenant and Flood.
The story takes place over roughly one month, with Chief and the Arbiter eventually coming together to fight for a common cause. The campaign introduces another Halo ring (Installation 05) and takes us to the series’ version of Earth, where the threat of a Covenant invasion looms. Halo 2's ending gives us Chief's legendary line: “Sir, finishing this fight.”
In addition to the Arbiter, Halo 2 introduces the Covenant Hierarchs (the Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret) and Miranda Keyes, a commander in the UNSC Navy and the child of the aforementioned Jacob Keyes and the not-yet-introduced Dr. Catherine Halsey.
5. Halo 3: ODST (2552)
The events of Halo 3: ODST run concurrently with those of Halo 2 — specifically it begins after the Halo 2 mission Metropolis. ODST is set in New Mombasa, an early and vital battleground during the Covenant’s invasion of Earth.
The less-linear story centers around a group of six highly-trained Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs), with the player controlling a character known as Rookie. Rookie encounters Covenant forces within New Mombasa as he searches the city for his scattered squadmates.
Among those squadmates is Nathan Fillion’s Edward Buck, who returns in Halo 5: Guardians as a member of Fireteam Osiris.
6. Halo 3 (2552–2553)
The conclusion of the original Halo trilogy, Halo 3 follows Master Chief through the final months of the Human-Covenant War. Chief and the UNSC once again attempt to prevent the Covenant from firing the Halo Array, which would wipe out all sentient life within a 25,000-lightyear radius. The Flood, meanwhile, descends on Earth, introducing a second existential threat to humanity.
Our heroes deal with the threat, and Master Chief leaves us with another unforgettable sendoff as he enters a cryo-chamber aboard the ship Forward Unto Dawn: “Wake me when you need me.”
7. Halo: Spartan Assault (2554)
Halo: Spartan Assault is a spinoff game set between Halo 3 and 4. It’s one of two top-down shooters on this list alongside its sequel, Halo: Spartan Strike. Spartan Assault stars Spartan-IV soldiers Edward Davis and Sarah Palmer in a post-war skirmish against a Covenant faction led by Sangheili warlord Merg Vol. There's not much added to the overall narrative, though Palmer also appears in Halo 4, 5, and Infinite.