After spending time with both the campaign and multiplayer we review the highly anticpated ‘Halo Infinite’ and see what all the fuss is about.
This may be a controversial opinion, but ever since 343 Industries took control of the wheel for Halo, things have felt a little off. Though Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians may have looked the part, both entries lacked the special sauce that transformed the series into the juggernaut it is today. That’s not the case with Halo Infinite.
Despite copping a few delays, suffering multiple staff departures and receiving some pretty harsh fan backlash, Master Chief is back and better than ever – easily providing the Xbox Series X/S with its first mainstream system-seller.
Without getting too heavy into Halo lore, Infinite picks up about 18 months after the events of Halo 5 and gets started with everybody’s favourite green guy floating through space after being bested in battle and tossed into the endless abyss. That is until he’s found by Echo 216, a stranded UNSC pilot who spurs him back into action. As it turns out, Master Chief’s cheeky power nap saw him miss the end of the war where humanity were the ultimate losers.
But this is still a Halo game after all, so before long you’ll find yourself exploring the dangerous surrounds of Zeta Halo, putting an end to new baddies on the block ‘the Banished’, and looking into the whereabouts of Cortana. Just another day at the office, really. It all equates to shooting most things until they either die or explode, but for the Halo faitful there’s plenty of new story threads to chew on.
Watch the trailer for Halo Infinite below:
By taking the series back to its roots, Infinite is able to focus on what made Halo so successful in the first place: rock solid gunplay. Thanks to consistently intelligent AI and a varied mix of enemies, each battle is fast, frantic and filled with grenades. Oh, why are there are always oh so many grenades?
How you choose to take out each foe and with what weapon is entirely your call, and those options are expanded further still with the addition of new suit upgrades. The grapple hook for example, will allow you to zip around almost all environments (or even latch onto enemies), while a deployable shield grants you a brief reprieve from the hustle and bustle of incoming fire. But while we enjoyed the flexibility these new options presented, we rarely strayed away from the grapple hook, mainly because it was easily the most effective and switching between the alternatives with the D-pad always felt too difficult to manage in the heat of a firefight.
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Master Chief’s suit isn’t the only thing that’s been supersized. Halo Infinite’s map has also been seriously beefed up – adopting open world design sensibilities that expand what you do and when outside of the main story-focused missions. From saving groups of UNSC soldiers, taking over Forward Operating Bases or eliminating high-profile targets, exploring Zeta Halo adds plenty more meat to bone and will reward you with currency to spend on upgrades, new weapons and even the odd multiplayer item as well. We rather enjoyed the brief distractions and they certainly helped change up the pace when we wanted to stew over the main narrative for a while.
Speaking of multiplayer though, it should come as no surprise that Halo Infinite’s competitive suite is an absolute marvel. In our experience matchmaking has always been fair, games stable and the gameplay exhilarating. It’s not perfect, and there’s still plenty of work that can be put into the game’s existing Battle Pass and its match modes, but the fact that this experience has now gone free-to-play is positively bonkers. If you have an Xbox, you owe it to yourself to try it.
The same can be said of Halo Infinite as a whole. Sure, not every element is perfect – Echo 216 can be something of a buzzkill for much of the campaign and a few of the boss encounters take place in frustratingly cramped spaces – but it’s a step back in the right direction for Halo and a killer app for the sheer ridiculous value of Xbox Game Pass.
Welcome home, Master Chief. It’s good to have you back.
Hands-on with the Xbox Series X
While we were mighty impressed with the value proposition of the Xbox Series S a year ago, we’ve had our mitts on the Xbox Series X over the course of our time with Halo Infinite and rest assured, the machine packs a hell of a punch.
While the Series S makes up for its lower specs with a shockingly small and sleek formfactor, the Xbox Series X throws all that out the window. This is a seriously chunky machine – more reminiscent of a PC tower, or large rectangular prism – that may not slot into your entertainment unit so easily. You’ll definitely want to give the console some extra breathing room, but thankfully the simple black finish means it should seamlessly blend into most home setups.
With that boost in size though also comes a boost in power. Where the Series S caps out at a 1440p resolution, for example, the Series X can present games in a full stunning 4K display alongside more improved processing capabilities. If you’ve got yourself a fancy OLED television you’ll likely notice the difference in-game, especially during tentpole experiences like Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite. Everything just looks a little sharper and runs a smidge smoother.
There’s also an in-built disc drive, which is particularly helpful if you value a physical collection or want to avoid paying full-fare for new games via the Xbox’s digital store.
If you’ve got the extra cash and can actually find yourself a system in the wild, the Xbox Series X is well worth the $250 price increase, especially if you own a 4K TV. Games look better, run better and you even get a fair bit more storage space to boot.
If you don’t? Well then the Series S is still a bloody good deal worth looking into.
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