Halo is one of the most successful video game series ever created, breaking multiple world records over its nearly 18-year life growing in many ways that have created divisive opinions. We will look through this series’ gameplay changes to see how it has grown over the years.

Beginning with Halo: Combat Evolved, it started with basic controls and abilities, such as shooting, jumping, aiming, grenade throwing, and the flashlight. 

In Halo 2, the series expanded player abilities, adding environmental interaction and dual-wield certain weapons. 

Halo 3 only adding deployable equipment. 

Halo: Reach brought more change. Armor abilities were added and players showed disdain for these changes, as armor abilities gave players advantages in combat against certain playstyles.

Halo 4 brought back armor abilities, as well as adding sprint as base movement, and player loadouts. This turned many away, as they saw this as changing Halo’s formula.

Halo 5: Guardians, the most recent entry, removed armor abilities and loadouts, replacing them with Spartan Abilities. Spartan Abilities gave players enhanced movement options and were made as a way to make the game more fair and balanced.

Overall, Halo is a series that has changed player abilities multiple times over its lifespan. While these changes may have been considered as detrimental by some, others believe they lead to the series’ growth and longevity.