Halo Infinite Review
Master Chief fans have been waiting for months as 343 Industries wraps up production on the launch version of Halo Infinite and releases the game. The sequel to Halo 5: Guardians was originally expected during holiday 2020, but after a series of delays, it will finally launch today, in early December 2021. Halo Infinite boasts a larger map than to any previous game in the franchise and a long list of side quests and optional activities that can keep players busy in solo or cooperative multiplayer mode (when it launches next year) for hours beyond the game’s main campaign (which clocks in at fairly typical Halo lengths). The new Halo ring features a map that seems ripe for post-launch content and it will be very interesting to see how the title evolves over the coming year. For a core campaign experience, Halo Infinite certainly manages to breathe fresh life into the franchise with a unique mix of linear missions and plenty of optional side quests to explore in the semi-open-world along the way. Almost all of the game’s optional quests and objectives can be tackled between story missions or after all of them. This allows players to power through the main narrative as soon as they want (probably around eight to ten hours for the average player on Easy or Normal difficulty) or to stretch the experience and try to get around 100 % completion before going to the final mission of the story. The side missions offered Chief the opportunity to recapture parts of the ring controlled by the Banished and allowed the UNSC to regain its footing in a battle it had been losing for months.
Many of the hallmarks of the Halo experience are still present and have been updated for the new console (and PC) generation. Chief is joined on his mission by a new AI (see the spoilery events of Halo 4 and Guardians if the need for a replacement Cortana is confusing) and a human companion to escort him around the new ring. The story ties heavily into the events of previous Halo games and manages to answer many of the cliffhangers left open at the end of Guardians, while still offering enough context to make sense to new players. The story is emotional, personal, and likely to cause some division in the fanbase. Specific spoilers will be avoided here, but suffice it to say that we found ourselves emotionally invested throughout the tight campaign experience and look forward to replaying it multiple times. After the credits rolled, the game’s worldbuilding won us over enough that we immediately jumped back into Finish the Fight mode to go back and capture the remaining FOBs (forward operating bases) and tackle other objectives. which was incomplete on our first run through . The only real letdown in the semi-open-world experience comes in the form of navigating around some large landmarks. The map is quite large and the Chief has access to many vehicles if players successfully acquire FOBs across the map, but even with those vehicles there are still frustrating obstacles that prevent access to the next desired location. The grappleshot ability comes in handy here, but even with that technology some obstacles are still too big to scale.
Throughout the campaign, the ability to rotate grappleshots, thrusters, shields, and radars is a very fun combination of tools to play with. Players need to know which ability is most useful for any given encounter and sometimes quickly rotate back and forth between several different abilities as different threats approach the next game . The only complaint about the system is that toggling between each ability can sometimes be a bit clunky compared to the ability/weapon wheels used in many other games. The toggle felt clunky on both keyboard and mouse. While the campaign and semi-open-world experience is where many players may spend the first few weeks of gameplay in Halo Infinite, the quality of its multiplayer experience will be crucial to the game’s staying power and legacy. Many players have already had a chance to experience multiplayer thanks to the open beta and the evolving season pass and leveling experience. It’s clear that the Infinite Multiplayer experience will require some tweaks and tweaks along the way to optimize player incentives and make cosmetics realistically attainable for players who don’t want to drop a ton of real-world cash on system. There is already a lot of drama in the multiplayer community and it will be very interesting to see how the game continues to evolve based on user feedback on consmetic and Battle Pass leveling. That said, outside of the season pass debates, the core gameplay seems to deliver what Halo fans want. Some important game modes are missing at the start of the beta, but those are on the way. The current game modes provide the expected fast pace of small and large battles that players have come to expect from the Halo franchise. Halo Infinite is sure to see a ton of play thanks to its day one integration with Game Pass and the campaign is well positioned to impress. There are plenty of mechanics, enemies, weapons, and story throwbacks to make longtime fans smile and the game is approachable, exciting, and charming enough to potentially win over a new generation of Halo fans. Halo Infinite releases on December 8 for PC and Xbox consoles. Today Technology was given the PC code for this review and played the game 50% with keyboard and mouse and 50% with an Xbox One controller. MORE: Halo Infinite Players May Have to Wait a While for the Right Slayer Playlist