Play Halo from the start on your modded Xbox 360 – first 4 Master Chief main titles

Halo was the flagship game for the original Xbox console when it released in November of 2001. It took the first person shooter game to new levels of gameplay and played a big part in finally securing Microsoft’s place in the gaming marketplace.

Over the next 20 years fifteen games were released in the series. Five main titles featuring the main character, Master Chief, and 10 spin off titles across a range of platforms including Windows, MacOS and iOS.

In this video I’ll be showing you how you can use a modded Xbox 360 to play this great game series from the very first Halo: Combat Evolved through the first four master Chief main games, playing all of them using completely original software. No remasters, just the games as they were meant to be.

This will give us a real insight into the development of the Xbox consoles over the first two generations in terms of graphics and gameplay.

So let’s get started!

What You’ll Need

To begin we do need to have a console to play the games on. As I mentioned I’ll be using a modded Xbox 360. Any Xbox 360 model can now be modded with either the full RGH3 hardware hack, or the new Bad Update software exploit. If you don’t know how to do this then please check out my RGH3 modding video or try Mr Mario’s Bad Update tutorial. If you have an RGH3 compatible console I’d highly recommend going this route as it will give you a fully exploited Xbox that can run all the homebrew apps. But if not then do try the Bad Update exploit to give you access to the games.

Once you’ve got a modded console you’ll then need to use the OG Xbox mod to allow it to play the original Xbox titles. Again I have a video tutorial on how to install that on your RGH3 modded unit so please do have a look at that.

Finally you’ll need to get hold of the games. Halo 3 and 4 are Xbox 360 titles so you can either buy these second hand for a few pounds or install then using your legally obtained backup files. If you’re not sure how to do this then do check out my Xbox 360 game installation video.

For the OG Xbox games you’ll need to use backup files and install those as shown in my OG Xbox homebrew setup video.

So now you’ve got everything assembled you’re ready for action!

Halo: Combat Evolved

The first Halo game was Halo: Combat Evolved which was a launch title for the Original Xbox back in 2001. This introduced the main character, Master Chief, who is a Spartan Super Soldier of the United Nations Space Command. He’s a sort of a genetically enhanced, futuristic version of the Bionic Man encased in a protective suit and equipped with a regenerating shield to protect him. He also has an AI partner called Cortana who helps to direct the action and keep the story line moving.

The game takes place in the 26^th century where humanity is battling an alien alliance called the Covenant. The Covenant believe in an ancient race who created the Halo rings and they are looking to activate these rings to fulfil their prophecy. So it’s essentially the good humans versus the misguided religious fanatic aliens battle scenario.

The game starts on the Pillar of Autumn spaceship where you awaken and are taken through your combat suit setup to show you the controls and features. These are all as you would expect and don’t change throughout the whole series.

Your suit’s shield will protect you from damage but once depleted will take a few seconds before it starts to recharge. So if you do loose your shield you need to get some cover.

You can carry up to two weapons at a time. This is a great feature as you do have to choose carefully to make sure you’ve got the right firepower for the mission you’re on. As you play opponents will drop weapons and you’ll find strategically placed items so look out for these as you’ll usually need them.

You’ve also got various grenades that you can use, but again you can only carry 2 of each type. So use these wisely.

During this first Halo instalment you’ll get to fight hordes of Covenant troops and meet the Flood. This is a terrifying parasitic organism that takes over the bodies of any living creatures turning them into zombie like warriors with no sense of fear. So you do really need to keep your wits about you.

You’ll also get to drive and fly a range of UNSC and Covenant vehicles to help you get around faster and deal with bigger and stronger enemies. My favourites are the Scorpion tanks. Just blast your way through the enemy waves. And the Banshee flying craft where you get to fight aerial dogfights with your opponents. All great fun and adding even more to the overall gameplay.

One of the great things to watch as you play these games though is the development of the console technology.

Combat Evolved was one of the very first Xbox games released. As such you can see that it’s only starting to scratch the surface of what this great console can do. Playing the original Xbox version rather than the remastered versions is the best way to experience it, especially when you’re playing through the whole series as we are in this video.

This game was rendered in 480p which is 720 x 480 pixels and you can see this on the screen where the graphics do look a bit less well defined compared to what we’re used to with today’s machines. But this all adds to the character of the game and doesn’t detract from the great gameplay which is the true reason this game shines.

So after quite a few hours of battling across the open countryside, through ancient ruins and on to the Flood infested library buildings you’ll eventually defeat everyone, destroy the Halo ring and save the day.

Just in time for Halo 2 where we ramp up the action.

Halo 2

Halo 2 picks up the action directly after Halo 1. Released in 2004 the developers, Bungie, added the ability to dual wield handguns and hijack enemy vehicles by killing or kicking out the drivers. They tried to build in an advanced graphics engine and large scale multiplayer option but development issues caused them to scale back their plans to get the game finished. Having said that they produced one hell of a game which became the best selling title for the Xbox.

The Covenant discovers Earth and launches an attack to retrieve an ancient artifact. You must fight them off and save the planet. After your victory you chase the Covenant to a second Halo ring. And this is where the game gets deeper.

Halo 2 has two parallel game arcs. One for Master Chief as he battles his way through to destroy the new Halo ring and prevent the Covenant Prophets from destroying all life in the galaxy. And a second for Covenant’s Arbiter who is their supreme warrior tasked to bring the rings online and fulfil the prophecy.

As each arc progresses the narative starts to reveal itself and you do really get caught up in the fantastic storytelling of this series.

As a later release Halo 2 is able to fully utilise the power of the Xbox. Graphics take a step up from the original title and gameplay is more involved and immersive. Even though we are on a 20 year old console it’s the story and game arc that makes the difference every time rather than the 4K ultra resolution displays. You simply get caught up in the action.

So after battling through both story arcs the full truth behind the Halo rings is revealed and the Master Chief and Arbiter decide to join forces to stop the evil Covenant Prophets and their dastardly plans.

Halo 3

Halo 3 was the first title in the series for the new Xbox 360 and brings the original game trilogy to an end. It was also the last Halo developed by Bungie who released it in September of 2007.

The Covenant is now lead by the Brutes. An even harder to kill alien. They are trying the find a way to activate all the remaining Halo rings in one fell swoop. Master Chief and the Arbiter are now fighting together with you playing as Master Chief. The story takes you from a battle on Earth, through a portal to the Ark where you again have to fight both the Covenant and the Flood to stop the network of rings from being fired.

Along the way you’ll again get to use a whole range of vehicles both human and Covenant with come great battles and some very tricky missions.

Again as you go the whole story line unfolds and keeps the adrenaline going as you try to stop the evil Brutes from winning.

With the jump to the Xbox 360 you get a further increase in the quality of the game technology. Better animations, higher resolutions and even more immersive game worlds and missions. But still the actual story and game progress that are the standout features that keep this game at the top of the Xbox games lists.

Eventually you and the Arbiter finally conquer and destroy the enemy. But Master Chief has to sacrifice himself in the final destruction of the Ark and ring ending up in Cryo Sleep with Cortana watching over him as they drift off into space on a crippled ship.

Halo 4

Halo 4 was the first game produced by 343 Industries who took over control from Bungie. This was an internal Microsoft studio who started work on remastering the original Combat Evolved chapter for the Xbox 360 before expanding their team to be able to produce the full Halo 4 main title. This was released in 2012.

The team built upon their knowledge of the console and were now able to push the limits of the console. We’ve got full motion capture animations for the main characters and further improved physics, enemy AI and game worlds. But still with the same high levels of gameplay and enthralling story arcs. Halo 4 was criticised for relying too much on knowledge from the past chapters which made it awkward for new players but if you’ve been following the series this new interplay between Cortana and Master Chief really does add to the whole atmosphere of the game.

Halo 4 picks up the action four years after Halo 3. The game starts with Master Chief being woken out of his cryo sleep by Cortana as they approach the Forerunner planet Requiem. The full scale action starts as soon as you’ve wiped the sleep from your eyes with your ship being pulled down and crashing onto the planet.

From there you have to explore Requiem fighting the Covenant and a new enemy, the Promethians. Eventually you manage to battle your way through to try to save the human ship Infinity, but on the way you release the Didact, one of the Forerunners, from imprisonment. This Forerunner doesn’t rate humanity and therefore decides to turn everyone into AI powered creatures (sort of like a futuristic Elon Musk).

It’s your job to find and stop him.

Again the story layers unfold through the use of great story telling and extreme physical violence until you eventually meet the Didact face to face in the final battle.

Obviously after a few retries you will eventually defeat him and save the galaxy, as you always knew you would.

At the end both Master Chief and Cortana have a bit of a moment before parting ways and setting the stage for the next chapter.

But Halo 5 had to wait for the Xbox One so our journey will have to stop here.

Conclusions

The Halo game series was and is one of the best ever produced for any gaming system. This was confirmed by the commercial success of the franchise which managed to sell well over 80 million copies with total sales pushing past six billion dollars.

If you do get the chance to play through from the start you’re in for a fantastic gaming treat. So dust off that Xbox 360 and get going.