Im going to sound like an idiot

The only reason why I would consider Halo is to just play with you and sabby and some other people. Do they rely heavily on the first one?

 

On Halo 1, you mean? Well, imo you don't need to have played all the games to understand the story. Since Reach is a prequel you could just get that and read the novelizations of the games that take place later in the story to understand the whole thing. Reach is the most fun anyway.