Founded in 2007, 343 Industries has adopted the responsibility of developing new entries in the iconic Halo series. The American company first took the reigns from Bungie with 2011’s Halo: Combat Evolved and has released multiple games since, including two mainline games Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians.
Before releasing Combat Evolved, 343 Industries dabbled in a few other Halo related ventures. These included Halo Legends, a collection of short animated films, as well as the Defiant and Anniversary map packs for Halo: Reach. 343 Industries is also currently developing the next mainline Halo game. Halo Infinite is set to release on PC and the new generation of Xbox consoles, the Xbox Series X|S, in 2021. Here’s how the developer’s games have fared thus far according to Metacritic.
10 Halo: Spartan Strike (66)
In April 2015, 343 Industries followed up on the underwhelming Halo: Spartan Assault with Spartan Strike. The twin-stick shooter oddly didn’t appear on the Xbox One, instead only releasing on PC & Mobile.
A lack of Xbox release wasn’t the only peculiar decision either. The game didn’t feature a multiplayer mode, despite Spartan Assault‘s co-op mode being one of the game’s best features. Still, for those who enjoyed the single-player experience of Spartan Assault, there’s plenty to enjoy about Spartan Strike.
9 Halo: Spartan Assault (70)
Spartan Assault ranks a few points higher than its predecessor Spartan Strike. The 2013 game introduced the twin-stick genre to the Halo series and was also the first Halo title to appear on mobile devices.
The top-down perspective shooter takes place between the events of Halo 3 and Halo 4. An Xbox One iteration of the game was released a few months after the initial PC release and was praised for adding multiplayer. Taking down waves of enemies with a friend was great co-op fun and the feature was sorely missed in the other versions.
8 Halo Wars 2 (79)
343 Industries followed Ensemble Studios’ Halo Wars in early 2017 with Halo Wars 2. The real-time strategy game takes place 28 years after its predecessor and offers a more simplified RTS experience than most other games in the genre.
Halo Wars 2 added a new game mode, Blitz. The mode added a card deck-building mechanic, where players would assemble cards that corresponded to the units that they could deploy. Unfortunately, the feature was similar to EA’s Ultimate Team deck building in the sense that microtransactions essentially made it pay to win.
7 Halo Wars: Definitive Edition (81)
343 Industries were able to get some RTS experience before releasing Halo Wars 2 by enhancing Ensemble Studios’ Halo Wars. The game scored slightly lower than the original Halo Wars but did improve on it in a couple of ways.
As would be expected with the game’s jump to Xbox One and PC, Definitive Edition significantly improved the original’s visuals. Furthermore, the PC edition offered the mouse and keyboard gameplay that RTS games are more suited to. Unfortunately, the game improved little else from the original. The gameplay, in particular, was a disappointment. The gameplay mechanics remained largely the same, and pre-existing issues were not fixed.
6 Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (82)
343 Industries had a dream start to their development life with Halo: Combat Evolved. Remaking one of the best first-person shooters ever is always going to be a safe way to get a high Metacritic score. It doesn’t come close to the original’s eye-watering 97, but an 82 score still puts it amongst the company’s best games.
343 Industries along with co-developers Saber Interactive didn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken, opting to keep the gameplay the same as the iconic original. Instead, the game focused on improving the original’s dated graphics and did an excellent job of doing so.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary also added online functionalities, something that was unavailable in the original game.
5 Halo 5: Guardians (84)
The much-anticipated Halo 5: Guardians was 343 Industries’ second mainline Halo game.
The game was praised for its excellent multiplayer mode. The new Warzone mode, in particular, was a source of many hours of entertainment. Unfortunately the great multiplayer was only available online, as offline split-screen was disappointingly excluded.
Another issue was the game’s story, which was very divisive. The narrative was criticized for being too convoluted and disjointed.
4 Halo: The Master Chief Collection (85)
Many of 343 Industries’ top titles on this list being remakes of other company’s games could be seen as a negative. However, 343 Industries has proven that they can continuously make solid remasters of games, something that is far easier said than done. Plus, when the source material is as good as Halo‘s, it shouldn’t be surprising that they fill most of the top spots.
The Master Chief Collection is one of the most impressive game collections ever. Led by Master Chief’s most iconic FPS titles like Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3. A PC version was released in late 2019. Only Halo: Reach was available at launch, with the other titles sporadically releasing through 2020.
3 Halo 4 (87)
343 Industries’ first mainline Halo title tops this list. The FPS game once again put players in the shoes of the iconic Master Chief. Indicative of releasing 5 years later, Halo 4 was a significant step up from Halo 3 in terms of visuals and performance. Furthermore, the game greatly improved on Halo 3‘s Forge mode, offering players a wealth of new customization options.
343 Industries’ wisely kept what worked from the game’s predecessor. The campaign’s popular co-op functionality, excellent multiplayer mode, and a plethora of drivable vehicles all returned in Halo 4.
2 Halo: Fireteam Raven (N/A)
Fireteam Raven is undoubtedly the most unique entry on this list. 343 Industries ditched modern consoles and took gaming back to its roots with this coin-operated arcade machine.
The machine itself is one of the game’s most impressive features. It has a 130 inch 4k screen, and four mounted turrets allowing players to take down the Covenant with three friends.
IGN reviewed the arcade game in 2018, scoring it at 7.3.
1 Halo Recruit (N/A)
Halo Recruit is a free VR game. It’s not the full-fledged VR Halo adventure that many fans would have been hoping for, though. The game will take players around 5 or 6 minutes to complete, making it more of a tech demo than anything else.
As the name suggests, the game puts players in the shoes of a new recruit. They are tasked with shooting down waves of enemies on a simulation training screen.
A full playthrough of the game is available on YouTube.
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