Research: Halo Titles

My role was as the Senior UX designer working to research previous Halo Titles to look across the games to see what carried from title to title and what was different. Here are some examples of the work I did.

The Goal

The studio did not have documentation readily available for the development team to reference when we wanted to look across the history of Halo. This was an effort to start a legacy library.

Userflow research

I got a XBOX 360 to look at the old games and document the userflow as reference for the team.
This is an example of that work showing the flow of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Weapon research

I went through the previous Halo titles to document the weapons game to game.
Here is the Needler documentation as an example of that work. Warning: Flashing gifs on this page.

CROSSHAIRS

Halo CE (XBOX 360)

Halo CE (MCC)

Halo 2 (XBOX 360)

Halo 2 (MCC)

Halo 3 (XBOX 360)

Halo 3 (MCC)

Halo Reach (XBOX 360)

Halo Reach (MCC)

Halo 4 (XBOX 360)

Halo 4 (MCC)

Halo 5

Halo Infinite

Zoom

Halo CE (XBOX 360)

N/A

Halo CE (MCC)

N/A

Halo 2 (XBOX 360)

Halo 2 (MCC)

Halo 3 (XBOX 360)

Halo 3 (MCC)

Halo Reach (XBOX 360)

Halo Reach (MCC)

Halo 4 (XBOX 360)

Halo 4 (MCC)

Halo 5

Halo Infinite

HALO CE (XBOX 360)

  • No zoom for this weapon.

  • Ammo depletion shown on weapon (needles on top)

  • Demonstrated in the Arriving on Halo mission.

HALO CE (MCC)

  • No zoom for this weapon.

  • Ammo depletion shown on weapon (needles on top)

Halo 2 (XBOX 360)

  • Can be fired in zoomed in view

  • Firing takes the player out of zoomed in view

Halo 2 (MCC)

  • Can be fired in zoomed in view

  • Firing takes the player out of zoomed in view

Halo 3 (XBOX 360)

  • Ammo depletion shown on weapon (needles) 

  • Firing while in zoomed view, takes player out of zoom

Halo 3 (MCC)

  • Ammo depletion shown on weapon (needles) 

  • Firing while in zoomed view, takes player out of zoom

Halo: Reach (XBOX 360)

  • Can be fired in zoomed in view

  • Firing takes the player out of zoomed in view

  • Ammo depletion shown on weapon (needles on top)

Halo: Reach (MCC)

  • Can be fired in zoomed in view

  • Firing takes the player out of zoomed in view

  • Ammo depletion shown on weapon (needles on top)

Halo 4 (XBOX 360)

  • Ammo depletion shown on weapon (needles) 

  • Firing while in zoomed view, takes player out of zoom

Halo 4 (Mcc)

  • Ammo depletion shown on weapon (needles) 

  • Firing while in zoomed view, takes player out of zoom

Halo 5

  • Can be fired in zoomed in view

  • Reloading takes the player out of zoom

  • Ammo depletion shown on weapon (needles on top)

Halo Infinite

SMG | Auto | Close

  • Can be fired in ADS

  • Reloading takes player out of ADS

  • Ammo depletion is shown on weapon (needles on top)

  • Ammo depletion is also shown in ADS view

HUD Research

I went through the previous Halo titles to document the HUD from game to game.
Here is the HUD Shield & Health bar documentation as an example of that work. Warning: Flashing gifs on this page.

Halo CE (XBOX 360)

In Halo CE, the shield bar + health indicator showed up in the upper right-hand corner of the player's screen.

Shield bar regenerating after taking damage.

Shield bar when taking damage. 

Shield bar when shield is damaged and player is now starting to lose health. Red flickering indicating low shield / no shield.

Health is now yellow / getting low 

Health is now critically low / red

In 2 player split-screen, the shield bar loses its icons. 

What the shield bar looks like in 2 player split-screen while the player is taking damage. 

Halo 2 (XBOX 360) 

In Halo 2, the shield bar lives with the motion tracker in the lower left-hand corner of the player's screen. 

Showing the shield bar being depleted as the player takes damage and then a message appearing letting the player know that their shields are down. 

Shield bar depleting and flashing red as the player takes a lot of damage and the shields are low, then down.

Shield bar regenerating. 

What 2 player co-op split screen looks like. 

Halo 3 (XBOX 360)

In Halo 3, the shield bar lives in the center of the player's screen. 

Shield bar depleting as player takes damage. 

Shields are down and flashing red. 

Overshield item being collected and applied to the shield bar. (This occurs in a custom game on The Pit map) 

Halo: Reach (XBOX 360)

In Halo: Reach, the shield bar lives in the upper center of the player's screen. 

Shield bar depleting as player takes damage until it turns red and says WARNING.

Player taking damage after shields are down (depletion of the bar underneath the shield – this the health bar) 

Shield regenerating after the player stops taking damage.

This is what 2 player co-op split screen looks like.

Halo 4 (XBOX 360) 

In Halo 4 the shield bar lives in the center of the player's screen. 

Shield bar depleting as the player takes damage and then shields are down and flashing red.

Shield bar regenerating after the player stops taking damage.

This is what 2 player co-op split screen looks like. 

Halo 5: Guardians (XBOX Series S) 

In Halo 5: Guardians, the shield bar lived in the upper center of the player's screen. NOTE: There is no 2 player split-screen for Halo 5: Guardians. 

Shield bar when the player is taking damage, the shields are eventually down and then the player is downed. 

Shield bar regenerating after the player stops taking damage. 

The Shield & Health bar do look different in Multiplayer.

Halo Infinite (XBOX Series S)

In Halo Infinite, the shield bar lives in the upper center of the player's screen. 

Shield bar when the player is taking damage, shields go down and then the player is downed. 

Shield bar regenerating after the player stops taking damage.

Multiplayer Shield & Health Bar does not look different than the Campaign one.

The campaign does not support 2 player split-screen, but this is what the HUD looks like in Multiplayer 2 player split-screen.