Looking to buy Halo... Which one to get?

My brother is looking to buy Halo, but he doesn't know which one to buy. Since I've never played any of them much, I'm passing his question on to you guys.

So... Which version of Halo do you think he should get for Xbox 360?

~Brian

Halo #3 if he wants online, multiplayer shoot-em up fun.

If he's never played any of them I would say get the frst one. The others are a continuation of the story line. I found that the first one gave good tutorials on weapons etc that you didn't get in the second. I guess they figure you already knew how to use certain weapons by the time you got to Halo2.
Of course once you get the first one you're gonna want the others anyway!

If he wants to play online, Halo 3.

If he wants to get a proper introduction to the series, Halo 1, which he can buy as a digital download on the Xbox Live Game Marketplace.

I must admit, I think that Halo is a bit dated as far as multiplayer. There are a lot of other multiplayer games I find more fun, like Modern Warfare 2. But Halo is still a lot of fun and the campaign is simply amazing. I still get pumped when I hear the Halo battle music on the second level.

Get 3 for sure and think about getting ODST.
ODST is supposed to be killer but I wouldn't want to play it before 3.

Actually the flavor and how much you care/know about the story counts for a lot in this series so playing 1 then 2, 3, and ODST would be the best way to go. Not playing 1 or playing out of sequence would mean you are going to miss some of the details.

Like in 3 they talk about the destruction of New Mombasa as you are speeding along. In 2 you are IN New Mombassa as the action goes down and your experience here with the big spider tank will help you in 3. And the Flood are no big deal in 3 unless you have played 1 in the dark alone for hours on the hardest difficulty trying to get the ring activation key.

Best thing about the first Halo was the Campaign which was really, really well done. It's far superior to the other two. Campaign in Halo3 was rushed to compete with the likes of Gears of War, and in my opinion both Gears Campaigns are far better to play than Halo 2/3. Gears of War 2 / campaign is one of the most absurdly fun experiences I've ever had on a console.

There's otherwise nothing to really learn in Halo 1 if you aren't interested in the campaign, and it will actually teach you bad habits. You can't dual wield weapons and the pistol/magnum is over-powered. Better off to start with Halo 3 because it's more polished in terms of muliplayer and more balanced in relation to other first person shooters.