Every Halo game you can play free right now

Microsoft, Xbox and Halo all go hand-in-hand ever since the OG Xbox. Halo is a franchise that has defined the Xbox brand - hell, Halo 2 defined Xbox Live for the longest time. Over 20 years of gaming history lies with Master Chief and Xbox Game Pass is your access to the definitive Halo experience.

If you’re new to the series, or perhaps need a refresher, this list will lay out the core games to play if you want to experience the mainline story of Halo. However, the series comes with several spin-offs that we’ll also point you to, for the full experience on Xbox Game Pass.

Halo Master Chief Collection

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Thanks to this bumper collection of Halo games, you’ve got a perfect jumping off point. Not only is the first game, Halo: Combat Evolved, included in the bundle, but you can also find Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4 here too.

The first two games of the series are presented here fully remastered, bringing you the original action in all its glory. You’ll step onto alien soil as Master Chief and handle a myriad of weapons as you move through the events that went on to shape an entire universe and franchise. The distillation of sci-fi adventure originally created by Bungie is still utter perfection and it’s showcased in the dramatic story and epic open levels that delve into imaginative lands.

Halo 3 finished off the trilogy and, for a time, the story of Master Chief and the Covenant. It was also Bungie’s final mainline title in the series. The third entry capped off a terrific story while still leaving plenty of options for the future, which we would see when 343 industries would take over development of Halo 4.

Halo 4 opened up with Master Chief stuck on a mysterious world where a malevolent and ancient force is seeking vengeance. While this was a new direction for the story of Halo, the action that the franchise was built on remained intact.

Halo 5: Guardians

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Halo 5: Guardians saw 343 Industries continue to pursue their own direction for the series and follow their new story. The game itself is much bigger than previous iterations, with larger levels and fully motion-captured cutscenes. There was a fair amount of criticism levelled at this fifth installment in the franchise, mostly centred on the story and the game’s ending. It also took focus away from Master Chief with a second protagonist, a decision that fans didn’t see brought enough to the story.

Halo Infinite

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The most recent release in the Halo universe was Halo Infinite, an open-world action game that carried on the story from the fifth game and the events that transpired there. This was a big shift for Halo as it was usually played over the course of interlinked levels, but the new open-world angle made for more exploration and a natural evolution for the series. The ability to take on missions in your chosen order was a nice touch, however some believed that the loose nature of the progression took away from the story.

First Person Spin-Offs

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This brings us neatly to the many spin-off games that were produced for the Halo franchise. Two of which are available through the Halo Master Chief Collection - Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach, both developed by Bungie.

These releases were the product of Bungie splitting their development team in two, with each half focusing on a different game. With Halo 3: ODST, players got the chance to play alongside the events of the third mainline game, but from the perspective of a team of marines dropped into the war effort on a more covert mission. ODST is noted as being one of the best entries in the series, perhaps because it eschewed traditions of the story while also taking the series back to its more basic roots.

Halo: Reach was a response from Bungie to make a Halo prequel, something that carried the legacy of the universe, but wasn’t bogged down by the unravelling story. It took place on a human world about to be destroyed and allowed the developers to tell a more human story, even though it still played up to the action everyone expects from the Halo games.

Something a little different

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Halo, like many other big franchises, has a few spin-off titles that attempted to do something very different. They each have their own place in the universe, but with these titles, they shrugged off the first-person shooter genre and expanded into something new.

Halo Spartan Assault, is a twin-stick shooter, for example. It was developed as a mobile game in an attempt to drag in more casual players and give veterans of the serie something to play on the go. It now has a home on Xbox Game Pass. The events here take place between Halo 3 and Halo 4, and while it’s very different, it’s also deeply engaging and a fresh spin on the property.

Then you’ve got Halo Wars: Definitive Edition and Halo Wars 2. Taking a stab at the RTS genre, these two games gave players control of a whole army, creating units, utilising tactics to win skirmishes, and of course, it all took place alongside the main events of the Halo games. Both games discovered legions of fans who saw this style of game as a natural fit for Halo, with plenty of vehicles, units, and planets to be explored and enjoyed.