I don't. Henceforth I don't accept the events in its campaign as belonging to the halo universe. To me it isn't Halo if not made by Bungie or 343.
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Lol OP, you can't decide on your own what you consider part of a series or part of canon. Anything MS/Bungie/343i/associates have released (with the exception of that one Legends episode) is official canon. Wether you like it or not. Pretending things you don't like aren't canon or didn't happen is not only pointless, it's also a bit sad to be honest. To answer your question: Yes, I consider Wars a Halo game for the simple fact that it is an official Halo game...And the best console RTS game out there. With an enjoyable story that is more in line with the books in terms of storytelling, epic cutscenes, great mixture between Age of Empires and Halo styled music and gameplay.