The One Halo Game 25% Of Fans Would Eliminate From The Series

The "Halo" series has been synonymous with first-person shooters, intense multiplayer experiences, and the Xbox family of consoles for nearly two decades. The original was the defining launch title of Microsoft's first gaming system, introducing a generation of fans to the story of Master Chief and the Covenant.

The series was developed and produced for its first decade by Bungie, past even the point where the developer opted to split from Microsoft, which had bought the studio shortly before the release of "Halo." While Bungie would spend most of the 2010s working on "Destiny" and its sequel, the "Halo" franchise was taken over by 343 Industries, a Microsoft studio and named after a prominent AI character in the original series, 343 Guilty Spark, via Reddit.

Despite changing hands halfway through its run, the franchise's quality has remained uniformly high, and nearly every major "Halo" game has delivered a satisfying experience for fans of the series and the genre. That said, they can't all be the favorite, so SVG decided to ask over 500 "Halo" fans from across the United States which game they would get rid of from the franchise if they could. Nearly 25% of fans picked the same game to eliminate from the series altogether.

The game that the largest number of fans would be willing to see go, earning 24.81% of the vote, was the standalone expansion to "Halo 3," "Halo 3: ODST." The expansion arrived in 2009, over two years after the game it was built off was released, and some fans were surprised to find that they were no longer suiting up in Master Chief's powered armor, but instead were filling the boots of ordinary drop soldiers. This meant that the experience lacked some of the gameplay mechanics of earlier titles, such as dual-wielding and power shields, which seems to have disappointed enough fans to vote it out of the series.

However, close behind in SVG's poll was "Halo: Reach," the final game in the franchise produced by Bungie, which was voted by 18.22% of respondents. "Halo: Reach" arrived in 2010, and like "Halo 3: ODST," players once again abandoned the role of Master Chief. However, this time, they retained the abilities of the Spartans. The game was set in the "Halo" timeline as a prequel to the original and helped expand the story of humanity's desperate struggle on Reach. However, fans of the series seem to prefer playing as Master Chief than as one of his doomed comrades.

While fairly close to half of "Halo" fans are most willing to part with the games that don't feature the series' most famous protagonist, even titles in the core trilogy aren't entirely safe. In third place in SVG's poll was "Halo 2," which earned 12.40% of the vote, and right behind it sat "Halo 3," which 10.47% of fans voted to eliminate. While both titles were critically praised and highly popular upon their release, they are each over a decade old and can sometimes show their age. "Halo 2" was particularly limited by its dependence on original Xbox architecture, and while "Halo 3" debuted on the Xbox 360, even that system's technology is pretty underpowered by today's standards.

However, many gamers would not mind doing without the most recent entries in the franchise as well. "Halo 5" took fourth place, with 9.88% of the vote, while 7.75% of gamers wanted to see "Halo 4" gone. Beyond that, 16% of "Halo" fans wrote in a title not included on our list, such as "Halo Wars" and its sequel, "Halo Wars 2," as well as the series' disappointing mobile games such as "Halo: Spartan Assault."