A franchise that has now spanned more than two decades, Halo has seen plenty of first-person shooter campaigns, along with a couple of real-time strategies and twin-stick shooters. The length of first-person shooter campaigns has been relatively consistent since the release of the first Halo title but there is still some variation in length. Regardless, the story in these titles is pretty great, in no small part because of the game's strong characters, excellent worldbuilding, and some truly excellent writing at times.

Every Halo game is included here except for the remaster of Halo: Combat Evolved because it's the same length as the original and Halo: The Master Chief Collection because putting six campaigns into a single game makes it unsurprisingly long. Those releases aside though, here's every Halo game's campaign length, ranked from shortest to longest. Each game has a varying length when it comes to the campaign, and players who love the lore and storytelling in the series should definitely check out each game's main campaign if they want to enjoy a great time.

Where available, campaign completion times are based on averages from HowLongtoBeat.com.

Updated on March 29, 2024 by Ritwik Mitra: Halo is one of the most legendary sci-fi franchises of all time. Ever since the first game came out, Halo's incredible lore, worldbuilding, and story wowed fans and continued to keep fans invested across its many games. While some people may argue that Halo's allure has dwindled over the course of the series' many games, there's no denying that the series' rich history means that players who get into this series for the first time will be more than amazed by the sheer wealth of quality titles this series has to offer. From RTS spinoffs to mainline entries that move the needle in new and interesting ways, the campaigns of the Halo games are a blast to get through that fans will remember long after experiencing the story of the Master Chief and the other defenders of Earth.

14 Halo Recruit

5 Minutes

• Available on PC

Halo Recruit is more of a tech demo than it is a game, but that's not to say that it isn't still incredibly enjoyable. Those who ever found themselves wondering what the future of the Halo series might someday look like need now only strap on their headsets to find out.

Although limited in scope, the game does a great job of utilizing the technology and packs quite a few characters into its five-minute runtime. The combat test, which serves as the bulk of the experience, is pretty basic, but it works surprisingly well. The inclusion of a target count, together with its rapid pacing, makes it pretty replayable too.

13 Halo: Fireteam Raven

45 Minutes

• Available at arcades

Halo: Fireteam Raven is a co-op arcade game that was released exclusively in Dave & Buster's in mid-2018. Developed by both 343 Industries and Play Mechanix, the game uses light guns for its combat and supports up to four players.

Although for the most part, the gameplay is not too dissimilar to other light gun arcade games, the title does feature one or two unique elements. The most enjoyable of these is perhaps switching between boots-on-the-ground combat to manning a vehicle's turret, which happens multiple times throughout the campaign's six stages.

12 Halo: Spartan Assault

4 Hours

The twin-stick shooter designed for Windows Phones is an excellent short journey into Halo lore giving some backstory to Commander Sarah Palmer from Halo 4. The game eventually came to Xbox 360, Xbox One, and even iOS.

The game features score challenges, skulls, and difficulties for all levels, giving plenty of replayability after the four hours it takes to get through the first go around. Sometimes dismissed for not being a "true" Halo game, this cheap little adventure is still worth playing.

11 Halo: Spartan Strike

5.5 Hours

The mobile-exclusive follow-up to Halo: Spartan Assault, Halo: Spartan Strike takes the foundation laid and improves upon it, making for an excellent twin-stick shooter. The game clocks in at five and a half hours, slightly longer than the first one but still shorter than the majority of other Halo games.

The biggest downfall of this game is that it never received a console release, limiting the number of people who could experience the game, since many people don't want to play games on mobile devices. Thankfully, the release of this game on PC mitigated these complaints to an extent.

10 Halo 3: ODST

7 Hours

The only Halo game to feature a main character that wasn't a Spartan, Halo 3: ODST is a strange noir-style story, following the rookie as he explores the city to discover what happened to the rest of the squad and uncover the ONI secrets contained in the city.

Despite having "open-world" sections in between levels, the game still clocks in at only seven hours long, just slightly shorter than the other Halo games, but not by much. While playing as an ODST didn't feel too different from a Spartan, it was still a different and interesting experience for the series. The game is perfect for fans of Halo's worldbuilding, exploring the series' rich lore in ways that make it clear why Halo was such a beloved IP back in the day.

9 Halo Wars 2

8 Hours

The second real-time strategy game in the Halo series, Halo Wars 2 features a campaign of comparable length to the main games in the series. It may not appeal to fans of the mainline Halo games due to its vastly different style, but those interested in the series' rich lore will find a lot to like here. Both Halo Wars games feature more extensive looks into the universe and give deeper dives into the lore. It works well as a strategy game for console players and new players to the genre but lacks the depth that fans of the genre would expect from a modern release.

That being said, there's no denying that fans found the idea of playing through a Halo RTS game to be a riveting prospect. The unique nature of the game's world and its fleshed-out details meant that it was ripe for the picking when it came to this genre, with both Halo Wars 2 and its prequel doing a great job of letting players enjoy a masterful strategy game where players really had to think about their tactics if they wanted to succeed.

8 Halo 5: Guardians

8 Hours

The only main series entry during the Xbox One generation besides the Halo: The Master Chief Collection is Halo 5: Guardians. The game was by no means bad but continued the series down a path started by Halo 4 that ultimately was considered not true to the franchise, a concept that is difficult as video games as a whole evolve. Unlike some of the other mainline Halo titles, the game features two main characters — Master Chief and Locke. The majority of the game is spent playing as Locke, though, as he and his squad attempt to track down the AWOL Master Chief and company.

This made for a tantalizing prospect, especially with Cortana's heel turn making for a scintillating affair in every way. However, the fact that Halo 5: Guardians wasn't the ace in the hole that this series needed can be witnessed in the fact that most people didn't really care about the fact that Halo: Infinite would be retconning most of the events in this game. It's both a good and bad thing, especially since it allowed the Halo franchise to undo some of its mistakes and focus on the more important aspects of the series. Still, there are some fans who feel like this game marked a downward trend for the series that would make it hard for 343 Industries to get back in the good graces of fans.

7 Halo 4

8 Hours

Halo 4 is the first original Halo game produced by 343 Studios after Bungie left Microsoft to work on other projects and is by far the most different of the games. Replacing the flood as the alternative enemy with the Prometheans made for fairly different gameplay sections, with Promethean enemies feeling very bland.

The game also starts the Cortana going insane story as A.I. only lasts so long, which certainly made for a rather unique hook that could keep long-time fans engaged. However, given how challenging it already was to get into Halo and its amazing narrative, it's easy to see why Microsoft decided to drop this plotline in Halo Infinite to focus on a simpler story that could reel new fans in instead.

6 Halo: Reach

8.5 Hours

The final Bungie-developed Halo game, Halo: Reach tells the story of the planet Reach falling before the events of the original game. Despite it being about the destruction of an entire planet, the campaign tells a smaller-scale story about the actions of the Noble team through the eyes of the newest member Noble Six.

The game follows their smaller operations with the backdrop of planet-sized war. The game gives some lore to the origins of characters and technology that impact the rest of the series while telling a tragic tale about loss. Many people consider this game to feature one of the best campaigns in any FPS game to date, which is high praise for a series known for its immersive storytelling. It's hard for players to not shed a tear and the end of an emotional journey where players will cherish the bonds they formed with the Noble Six.

5 Halo Wars

9 Hours

More pre-Halo: Combat Evolved stories, Halo Wars follows the Spirit of Fire as it attempts to stop an ancient fleet of ships from falling into Covenant hands. Like its successor, the game is a real-time-strategy game on the lighter side, meant more for fans of the shooter than fans of the RTS genre.

The game is relatively short but does give additional universe lore while doing its best to portray full-scale armies fighting. Series fans may be better off skipping this one for the sequel as the latter is superior in just about every way, although both should be pretty enjoyable for RTS enthusiasts. It may not be the game that real-time strategy enthusiasts will love, but the sheer amount of love and effort put into the story of this game more than makes it worth the price of admission for Halo fans who want to check out the worldbuilding and lore of this series in a genre that makes its storytelling feel as epic as possible.

4 Halo 3

9 Hours

It takes around nine hours to finish the fight and conclude the now-original Halo trilogy. After returning to Earth to defend it from the Covenant invasion, the Master Chief and the entire UNSC armada, along with the Elites, must travel to the Ark.

Here the Covenant could activate all of the Halo rings and destroy all life in the universe. The game is a roller coaster of action from beginning to end and gives a proper conclusion to the story.

3 Halo 2

9 Hours

Perhaps best known for its online multiplayer, the Halo 2 campaign is magnificent all on its own and pretty lengthy as well. The game tells the story of not only how the Master Chief takes down two of the prophets, but also how the Elites rise up against the Covenant after the Brutes replace them.

The campaign features the Arbiter as a playable character in some of the campaign missions, telling the story from two different sides. It also features the iconic "giving the Covenant back their bomb" cutscene. There are many people who consider this title to be one of the greatest Halo games of all time, and this is mainly due to how the storytelling evolves in this game as opposed to its predecessor. Even now, after all the years that have passed, players who check out Halo 2 for themselves will understand firsthand why this game is so beloved by the masses, with the strides taken in the storytelling and campaign being palpable for everyone.

2 Halo: Combat Evolved

10 Hours

It perhaps makes sense that the one game in the series without an online multiplayer mode (but a great local multiplayer all the same) has one of the longest campaigns, if only by a little. Coming in at ten hours it's still a relatively short experience, but boy is it an enjoyable one. The game that revolutionized console first-person-shooters and put the Xbox on the map right from its very launch, Halo is responsible for much of the shooter landscape for many years to come. The game solidified the Master Chief as an unstoppable force and gave the true experience of a super-soldier.

The sheer number of unforgettable moments in this title is immense. The conflict between Humans and the Covenant is already pretty interesting as is, but things take a turn for the nightmarish when the Flood is introduced as well. This parasitic alien species is downright horrifying to behold, turning its victims into mindless zombies who function under the command of a hive mind to try and take over the universe. Thankfully, Master Chief has all the tools in his arsenal to stop this invasive alien species from achieving their goals.

1 Halo Infinite

10.5 Hours

Following a long wait and several delays, Halo Infinite finally arrived in late 2021. The raw power of the Xbox Series machines helps make it one of the most visually impressive Halo games to date, while the introduction of a grappling hook makes traversing the game's semi-open-world a lot more enjoyable than earlier outings. A typical main story run will take players just over ten hours, making it the longest single-player Halo campaign thus far. Granted, not everybody will be happy with the direction in which the devs opted to take the story, but, when it comes to actually playing through it, it really is a lot of fun and a must for any long-term fans of the series.

It helps that the switch to an open world ended up helping the campaign retain a sense of modernity as players controlled the Master Chief and engaged in a wealth of activities, ranging from clearing out bases to progressing the main story. It may not be the most mind-blowing sandbox out there, but Halo Infinite's story is a great one, and possibly the best thing this title has to offer, especially with the multiplayer being such a total and utter disappointment.

Special Mention — Halo: The Master Chief Collection (43 Hours)

The release of the Master Chief Collection was a source of great joy for fans, even if 343 Industries had to work quite a bit to ensure that this compilation met player expectations. However, most of the issues stemmed from the game's multiplayer at launch, with the campaigns being as fun to play through as ever.

Featuring updated visuals that could be toggled on or off whenever the player wanted, it's easy to see why the Master Chief Collection is a must-have for any Halo fan. Players who want an easy way to get into the series will find this title to be right up their alley. With all of the game's issues ironed out, The Master Chief Collection is the best way to get into this series for anyone not familiar with Halo's brilliance.

All the games packaged in this experience feel amazing to play through, and the FPS action holds up extremely well to this day. If players were to play every campaign in order, it would take anywhere from 30 to 60 hours to beat them all (according to How Long to Beat).