The Halo games have been a big hit on the Xbox systems, bringing strong acclaim due to the amount of depth that has been put into a first person shooter game. Part of this is due to the story, which details conflicts that span multiple worlds and has the potential to affect billions of lives. Let’s review the universe of the Halo series and look at what sort of groups comprise the struggle for victory in the game.

The Humans

One of the races that figure big in the Halo games is the human species. The reason that they’re fighting in the Halo series is to prevent the extinction of the species at the hands of an alien menace. Prior to the start of the series, humanity had been fighting a losing war in this regard, with most of its colony worlds eliminated. Figuring large in this scheme are the SPARTAN super-soldiers, who received mental and physical enhancements to better counter the alien threat.

The Covenant

The Covenant initially represents the main antagonist to the human forces in the Halo series, with their troops seeking to eliminate humans from the universe. This is due to unknown reasons, though it seems to be some sort of holy crusade, as the Covenant is a theocracy. However, as the Halo series progresses, the Covenant develops rifts, most notably between the Elites, the Covenant’s own caste of powerful soldiers, and the rest of the covenant, with some factions allying themselves with the humans.

The Flood And The Forerunners

In addition to the conflict between the Covenant and human forces, as the secrets of the world Halo are uncovered, the enemy force known as the Flood and the ancient civilization known only as the Forerunners. These two groups are connected closely with each other, though the latter group isn’t actually seen in the game to date. However, the Forerunners are important, as they are the creators of the Halo worlds, which were used to study the Flood.

The Flood itself is a parasitic life form that attaches itself to other life forms and infects them to feed and reproduce. Released by the Covenant by accident in the first Halo game, the Flood is a dangerous foe, and also the reason for the Halo worlds to have been created, as they were intended to study and, if needed, destroy the Flood. As you can see, the various powers that exist in the Halo universe serve to create a depth of conflict that isn’t seen in most first person shooter game.