It’s been two decades since the release of the original Halo, a flagship game for the Xbox and the start of a critically acclaimed series that set the bar for first-person shooters in the industry. The franchise has continued to grow in both popularity and scope, expanding into a multi-media universe including graphic novels, animated films, web series, and a possible feature-length movie in the works.
The gaming world has plenty of options available to keep you occupied. Especially if you count the real money online casino industry that has thousands of games, including roulette, blackjack, and slots to mention a few. Halo Infinite is the latest in the video game series, after a hiatus of six years since the last major console game release. Although some spinoff titles have come out in the intervening years, Halo fans impatiently await the next main installment.
Here are seven of the best games and series to go back to or discover if you love Halo.
Destiny
The Destiny series was what Halo creators Bungie did next, and so naturally, there are similarities between the two. Destiny has not been without its controversies, garnering some fairly dismal reviews when it first came out back in 2014. Nevertheless, the sci-fi shooter game has persisted, with another expansion on the horizon and promises from the developers that they have taken heed of fan feedback.
Fan grumblings aside, Destiny has many strong points and a loyal player base. As the game has developed, it has started to look less like a copy of Halo and more like its own entity. The new expansion is expected to iron out many of the inherent problems that have frustrated players – too much forced grinding to level up, hard-earned weapons becoming obsolete – and bring new life to the game. We can hardly wait.
Titanfall 2
Why is Titanfall such an underrated franchise, and how did it get overlooked when Respawn’s later Apex Legends was such a hit? The first iteration of Titanfall did have some major issues, notably a dearth of single-player content, which hurt its reputation at the time. Then when Respawn did successfully correct those issues with Titanfall 2, the release was buried during a time when other more established games were publishing their latest updates.
All of which is a great shame, because Titanfall 2 is a joy to play alone or as a multiplayer. The movement mechanics are fluid and intuitive, and the enormous titular mech robots are enormously fun to pilot. If you have never been tempted to try out Titanfall, then now could be the time.
Doom
Early versions of Doom undoubtedly served as inspirations for the Halo series, while later iterations have taken influence from it. Doom is iconic, and most Halo fans will be more than passingly familiar with the franchise. While Halo was heavily influenced by the universe depicted in the Alien movies, in Doom, the battle is against zombies and demonic hellspawn.
The action in Doom is famously frantic, and fans of the game claim it is the most immersive FPS game on the market. The last release was at the start of 2020, so it’s fair to say that the series is alive and kicking. We expect to see Halo and Doom continuing to be mutually influential for many more years to come.
Apex Legends
OK, it’s a battle royale format, but Apex Legends borrows its sci-fi locations from Titanfall, the aforementioned game also a property of Respawn. Fans of Halo should enjoy the similarities in locations and world-building. Another great thing about Apex Legends is the rate at which Respawn issues new content, keeping it fresh and interesting.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
The first of the Resident Evil series to use the first-person perspective, this genuinely scary game from Capcom proved that they were still one of the best game developers in the business. The previous release had been less than stellar, but with Biohazard (incidentally also the original name of the franchise) they put the mistakes of Resident Evil 6 behind them and delivered a fantastic game that received its first direct sequel in 2021.
The games in the series have switched up the perspective over the years. The classic early games had multiple viewing angles, while the excellent Resident Evil 4 pioneered and popularized the third-person, over-the-shoulder view. Be warned, however – none of these games are for the faint of heart.
Half-Life
It could be argued that Halo and others like it owe their very existence to Half-Life, the Valve game that started life way back in 1998. A masterpiece of sci-fi FPS gameplay, it was surpassed in 2004 when its sequel Half-Life 2 was released. From the graphics to the characters, Half-Life life was beautifully rendered and endlessly intriguing.
In terms of concept, it’s not hard to see how Halo has been influenced by Half-Life. Both Master Chief and Gordon Freeman have a similar mission against analogous foes and are accompanied by young female assistants. The parallels are undeniable, and the fact that Cortana is an AI while Alyx is human is barely significant.
TimeSplitters
The graphics may be a little dated, but this FPS is so much fun that you will barely notice. The three existing games all have puzzle-solving elements in the gameplay, and if recent speculative reports are to be believed, then Halo Infinite will also include logic puzzles in the single-player mode. TimeSplitters was the most famous series produced by a small UK-based studio called Free Radical Design, also known for Second Sight and the universally panned Haze.
TimeSplitters is loved for its zany humour, a large number of diverse playable characters, and range of different playing modes. After a semi-successful collaboration with Electronic Arts to produce TimeSplitters: Future Perfect in 2005, most players thought that the series had reached its end. Early in 2021, a reformed Free Radical Design announced their intention to produce the fourth game in the series, although a release date is still some way off.
