Halo is without a shadow of any doubt a global sensation. Easily one of Microsoft Studio's more popular titles and a lot of FPS gamer's go-to game for Xbox - I know it's mine! The legacy behind Halo is rich and flavourful. This Xbox/PC exclusive has been going strong since 2001 and with the upcoming release of Halo Infinite, what better way to celebrate than by checking out this list of the craziest about Halo facts - that only true fans will know.

Halo: Combat Evolved went on to be the game that redefined the first-person experience. Halo 2 then solidified that. Halo 3 brought us one of the best campaigns ever. Halo Wars and Halo Wars 2 shows us Halo from an RTS perspective. Halo Reach gave us enhanced gameplay with an even better forge. Halo 4 had mixed reviews as 343 take over from Bungie, but some improvements were made. Halo 5 stands as a divider for the community but offered us so much in the end.

Whether you are new to the Halo Franchise, A Halo Lore expert, or you consider yourself to be a true fan, this list has something for you. The Halo timeline is a rather lengthy and intricate tapestry of events. Luckily for you, I've been out on the frontline, hunting down some of the craziest facts. From a Jackal's hand of choice to an Egyptian Queen, it's all here!

40 It Was Supposed To Be Single Player ONLY!

Via: northeastern.edu

Halo almost didn't have a multiplayer mode included in Halo: Combat Evolved. It doesn't take a genius to calculate Halo's success without the multiplayer mode included. Halo was renowned for its multiplayer prowess and without it, there's a good chance the game would have sunk - despite its great story. The featured multiplayer mode we know and love was whipped up in a couple of weeks and was added to the game at the very last minute! Good shot Bungie!

39 It Was Going To Be A Mac Game (Believe It, Or Not!)

Via: halo.wikia.com

The Halo franchise started its life as an RTS, just like the Halo Wars games, only it was going to be a Macintosh exclusive. That is, until 1999 when Bungie sold the rights to the franchise to Microsoft - thus making it an Xbox exclusive.

Halo went through many changes from its earlier development.

It was becoming more likely that the Halo game was going to be a third-person shooter. Eventually, after a while in development, the game became recognizable as the very first Halo we know and love - Combat Evolved.

38 The Developers HATED The Name

via reddit.com

Halo: Combat Evolved was the first in a hefty list of Halo titles that would blow us away. However, not many people know, Microsoft added the title Combat Evolved to compete with other military shooters. This comes from an interview for Edge Magazine with Jaime Griesemer - who worked on the first three games - he and the rest of Bungie... hated it. He went on to say that naming Halo "Combat Evolved" is like naming a Metal Gear Solid: "Sneaking Rediscovered".

37 How 'Halo' Works

It may shock you some fans and boil the blood of others, not everyone knows what the Halo Rings are! In layman's terms, think of them as an ancient super-weapon - floating in space, a giant ring world - created by an ancient race of beings. The weapon is capable of wiping out all life in the galaxy if they are all fired at the same time. Each ring can reach around twenty-five thousand lightyears. Including the Omega Halo, there have been 10 Halo rings made.

36 Halo 3 Was Censored

via gameskinny.com

Halo 3 actually had an achievement planned called "Cheynemania". The player would have to defeat ten opponents in a row with a shotgun without been defeated themselves. The achievement was renamed to "open season" after various debates.

You can't blame Microsoft for playing it safe with this one!

The achievement was making a nod to the time that Dick Cheney shot his friend with a shotgun in the leg by accident and his friend went on to apologize.

35 Elite Language: Wort! = Go!

Via: halo.wikia.com

The development of Halo has presented us with countless acts of innovation. One such act of innovation was the use of speech for the Elites in Halo: Combat Evolved. The team took English phrases then reversed and speeded up the recordings for the Elite language. "Go! Go! Go!" is remixed into "Wort! Wort! Wort!" and "Azuda" is thought to mean away, as it's grouped with "Wort! Wort! Wort!". They also did this for the Jackal species, carefully considering the species evolutionary restraints as they go along.

34 The Deleted Levels (And Story) Of Halo 2

Via: halopedia.org

Halo has had many cuts and changes throughout its life. From weapons to levels and even characters. The Grvemind was initially going to be unveiled to the player through a level known as "Forerunner Tank" in Halo 2. Interestingly, the Forerunner tank was going to be a vehicle that the player could use in Halo: Combat Evolved as well as a level from Halo 2. The level would have helped fill in gaps at the end of the Quarantine Zone cinematic and would have appeared after the level Regret. Instead, Gravemind was introduced through the cinematic at the end of Regret.

33 The Little-Known Change To The Arbiter

Via: halo.wikia.com

In Halo, it is a common thing for the Covenant soldiers to refer to Master Chief as "Demon". This isn't much of a surprise to us because we are aware of the countless number of Covenant plans we've thwarted. One thing that might surprise you is that Thel Vadam (Arbiter), refers to the Master Chief as "Spartan" rather than "Demon". This goes to show the Arbiter's faith in Master Chief and also the Arbiter's disbelief in the actions and words of the Covenant.

32 The Were Already Planning "Destiny"

Via: destiny.wikia.com

It may come as a surprise to Bungie fans that Destiny was teased as far back as Halo 3: ODST. Found on various billboards and posters throughout the city of New Mombasa in the ODST game, Bungie teased "Destiny Awaits". Hidden in Halo, nobody really thought anything about this because the poster fits the Halo universe and its lore, but also because Destiny was but a twinkle in a gamers eye at this point. This is one easter egg that lets us reflect as Halo fans about what happened to our game creators and where they left to.

31 Weird Things About Hunters' Bodies

Via: forums.sufficientvelocity.com

The Hunter's body is not an actual single organism. instead, it is made up of dozens of orange, eel-like creatures. Once one of these colonies becomes too big, it splits to form two new Hunters.

It makes you wonder? Why do we never see different sized Hunters?

Apparently, they usually stand between twelve and thirteen feet tall, however in Halo: Legends episode - The Duel - we see Hunters at least fifty-feet tall. Frank O'Connor commented on this saying the Hunter's shape changes based on the planet's gravity

30 Yes, A Real Warthog Was Made

Via: www.geeky-gadgets.com

The real-life version of the Warthog from Halo is very real and very much working. The first time I saw one of the real working Warthogs was during an article for Official Xbox Magazine. It was during the time Peter Jackson was supposed to be working on a Halo film. There are more than one of these vehicles in the world too! One fan even built his own! Despite the speed that you think you're going in-game, its top speed is only 60MPH.

29 There Are 25 Halo Books... That's A Lot Of Halo Books

via pinterest.com

Halo has a series of novels out there that are actually extremely popular, among readers and gamers alike. Currently, there are 25 novels out there! These novels go deep into the Halo lore - given how juicy that is - there's really something for everyone. They cover various sections of the Halo timeline, from Forerunners to the Flood and everything in between. The novels are often the works of various writers, between them all, they have many awards - combine that with the experience of the games themselves, and you get the Halo supergiant.

28 Flood Logic Is Godly

Via: www.deviantart.com/themefinland

The Flood from Halo actually holds some reference to "The Great Flood" from mythology. The story behind Noah's Ark is one most of us are familiar with, God tells Noah to build an Ark as he will be starting over on Earth. So Noah goes ahead and builds his Ark ready to leave the world behind at the fate of "The Flood". It's just that in our story, the Flood are an alien species who want wipe everyone one, and the Prophets great journey eradicates not just the Flood but the rest of life in the galaxy!

27 Pre-Order For The Minstrel Chief (Fable 2)

Via: fable.wikia.com

Halo has its fair share of cameos inside and outside of the Halo universe. One of the most notable goes to Hal from the game: Fable II. Books and scriptures foretell of a hero who had a mighty blade and armor, the game then edges its players to find these said items.

The armor of Hal is uncanny to that of Master Chief.

Given that Fable was also an Xbox exclusive it comes as no surprise to find the Chief in the Fable world. The people of Albion also refer to Hal as the minstrel chief, another play on the name Master Chief.

26 The 8 Different Kinds Of Covenant

Via: windowscentral.com

The Covenant stars in pretty much every Halo game and is usually seen as the main antagonist by players. The Covenant is actually made up of eight individual species, all led by the Prophet race. Grunts make up the cannon fodder and numbers of the Covenant. The Jackals are the sniper race. The Elites are seen as the Prophet's hands, who were used for carrying out their doing. Then we have the Brutes who make up the muscle. Drones are your bug-eyed, flying, pest race. Hunters are the living tanks. Engineers are the docile race who bestow protection on their troops. Finally, there are the Prophets, the leaders of the Covenant.

25 Huh. Secret Stealth Is Awesome

Via: halo.wikia.com

If you were lucky enough to experience Halo 2's campaign with a friend, you may have noticed this interesting quirk. Whenever the player controls the Arbiter, the eyes of the Arbiter are not actually invisible when he activates camo. This tiny bug was discovered when two players played the Arbiter based missions in Halo 2 and looked at each other in the camo state. Camouflage was introduced in Halo 2 as a unique power of the Arbiter, to heighten the player experience and make the character slightly more appealing.

24 BBC And The UNSC...

Via: techfleece.com

One boo-boo the internet won't let the BBC forget anytime soon is when they featured the UNSC logo from Halo instead of the United Nations Security Council logo. All be it a simple mistake, it's one that us Halo fans will always remember. In 2012, presenter Sophie Raworth was talking about Amnesty International's criticism of the UN for their actions in Syria. Behind her was shown the UNSC logo from Halo rather than the real-life UNSC logo. It was probably a simple Google search gone wrong as Google shows Halo's UNSC logo more frequently than the United Nations Security Council logo.

23 Forge Nation Is Totally Bonkers...

via halonation.com

The Halo Forge community is without a doubt one of the best things to come out of the Halo experience. Hundreds of players, dedicated to building maps. Some, show initiative in their creations and some show promise - all capable of becoming future level designers.

What would Halo be without the Forge experience?

The Forge has gone through many changes from forge 1.0 in Halo 3 through to Forge 5.0 in Halo 5. The Bungie team actually wanted to feature weather effects in Halo Reach but time restraints stopped this, luckily we have the power to do so now in Halo 5.

22 There Are Over 39,000 Lines Of Dialogue In Halo 3 — Ridiculous!

Via: coub.com

It's estimated that Halo 3 has around 39,000 lines of dialogue. I can only imagine the job the writers had! From iconic one-liners to less notable battle-cries and dialogue-heavy sections. Halo's voice is definitely full of variety. Some of these lines are actually hilarious, most notably is the grunt dialogue. This is a massive increase from Halo 2's 14,000 lines of dialogue, that seems miniature in comparison to its little brother, Halo 3. Bungie found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records Gamer's edition for the amount of dialogue in the game.

21 The Voice Of Cortana Also Does Princess Peach (Woohoo!)

via deviantart.com/zipdodah

Did you know that Princess Peach has the same voice actor as Cortana! Jen Taylor is a successful voice actor who has many games under her belt. She voiced the damsel in distress from the Mario series: Princess Peach. She also voiced our beloved AI Cortana. Jen has done a small bit of TV work but is most renowned for her gaming voices. She started out by voice acting for the game: Backyard Baseball. Her other notable voice skills can be found in Aliens vs. Predator 2, EverQuest II, The Matrix: Path of Neo and Left 4 Dead 2.