Glitches are errors or bugs in any program that can cause undesired or interesting results. Glitches in video games can often be exploited to gain practical advantages. In the Halo games, glitches are often used in such a manner, and for that reason they are documented quite extensively on some websites. A full list of glitches in the Halo games can be found at Category:Glitches.
In Halo: Combat Evolved
Glitches in Halo: Combat Evolved typically required the bypassing of invisible walls or the forcing of objects into areas they were not meant to be brought into. Some animation glitches also occurred.
There are more glitches in Halo: Combat Evolved than in any other game in the series.Template:Fact The amount of glitches in the game is estimated to be between seven and nine thousand.Template:Fact Blood Gulch has over 400 known glitches.Template:Fact
- There is a Marine that copies himself when dead.
- There is a glitch at the end of the level Halo in which the final structure has Marines and two technicians. If you kill the Marines, the techs will squat down in fear as normal. If you stick one with a Plasma Grenade while in this position, they will stand up, spread their arms, drop their weapon and start spinning, before being killed by the grenade - because they lack the animations necessary.
- On the level The Silent Cartographer, it is possible to drive a Warthog through the door that leads to the Cartographer, skipping the need to fight two stealth Elites, four Hunters, and many other Covenant enemies. Doing so can allow you to kill the Zealot elite that stands in the doorway, but it doesn't matter because he will reappear at the end of the level anyways.
- On the multiplayer map named Death Island, you can drive out on the sea surrounding the island with any vehicle.
- If you shoot an unarmed Flood Combat Form in the arm with the tentacles, the Flood will be rendered harmless, and will follow you around.
- on 343 Guilty Spark, there are floating Assault Rifles if the player manages to throw a grenade when inside the pelican. That will allow them to stay in it. They can then let it carry them out of bounds, and the player can drop down in front of the structure to see floating assault rifles.
Glitches in Halo 2
- Main article: [[:
- Category:Halo 2 Glitches|List of Halo 2 Glitches]]
In Halo 2, players could do things such as Super Jumping or Super Bouncing, get past Invisible Walls to get out of maps, etc. "Button Combos" also existed, such as one that would allow you to kill a player instantly.
In the level, Delta Halo, there is an excessive amount of glitches. For example, there are many cracks and errors in the invisible barriers surrounding the playable areas of the level that enable the player to skip an amount of the level, explore the distant hills, and even get under the lake, on foot or in a Ghost.
In the level Metropolis, the player can perform a glitch to get inside a pelican and be carried out of bounds.
Glitches in Halo 3
- Main article: [[:
- Category:Halo 3 Glitches|List of Halo 3 Glitches]]
Halo 3 has been combed over for glitches by a considerable amount of players, but Bungie has put a lot of effort into making sure that there are few, if any, in Halo 3. There are a few that do exist in active gameplay though, such as the Mine Glitches, driving an AA Wraith, going under the playable area of Construct, Fusion Coil glitches, the Elephant speed boost. Another glitch in Halo 3, one that effects machinima more than gameplay, is commonly referred to as The Bump.
The introduction of the Theater made it easier to find glitches in animation and rendering; its hidden Pan Cam mode introduced some others. The new Forge mode allowed for a large amount of physics, environment, and other gameplay glitches. The use of a new game engine introduced many kinds of glitches that were not present in the game's predecessors.
On the other hand, Bungie cracked down on glitches during Halo 3. Numerous steps were taken to prevent them, including what appears to be an algorithm that detects if items have bypassed the level boundaries. This algorithm is used to delete "lost" Forge items, kill players that exit the map, and return the Theater camera to the nearest living player if it exits the map.
In Forge Mode, the player can build skybases. This is a good trick for sniping, as most players can't see the sniper.