HALO Infinite, Review
HALO Infinite, let’s cut to the chase; “Brings HALO back to bear like a a no-scope sniper headshot on the fly”.
HALO 4 was repetitive, HALO 5 was forgettable, HALO Infinite – a game for our age.
Microsoft are on a roll there’s no debate Gamepass is the service du jour, Flight Simulator made a massive splash and now we get the Master Chief for Christmas. Make no mistake the silly season is going to be peppered with the screams of a billion Grunts.
HALO Infinite continues the story of millions of gamers favourite jolly green giant. The Master Chief is synonymous with Xbox Gaming at its best, easily one of the most recognisable characters of the brand. Throughout the years of Xbox I’ve seen these games being released as global events, midnight launches were a thing and even celebrating at the crack of dawn in Auckland. Where we took turns shooting a massive ice block with water pistols for Halo prizes. Pre-pandemic salad days for sure.
HALO games are also incredibly emotive, they come with fond memories and for a gamer that has enjoyed the franchise through the years, there is nothing quite like hearing that tune again. Especially now. For me the series wobbled a bit in HALO 5, but here we are with the power of the X/S generation, let’s see if the vision is true.
Thanks to Microsoft for kindly supplying the Korucottage team with early review code.
Three Spartans walk into a bar…the bar says “Ouch!”
Guy:
I’ll be honest, the opening cinematic looked rough. Almost 720p!? That said, I strongly suspect that must be something to do with the review build I was playing. Chances are the retail release will have had this addressed. Superficial stuff aside, I liked the intro, but I have also read all the Halo Comics as well as Atriox’s origin story series, so I had a very good handle on whats going on. Those who haven’t may be a bit lost. I think thats OK though, as I think back to my Halo 1 days, before knowing about Reach, Halsey and the Prophets etc…. and Halo’s universe WAS a mystery.
Richard:
You all know I’m not big on narrative a lot of the time. Being ignorant of the surrounding canon, I actually enjoyed the drama of the intro, it felt big and ballsy. I can’t remember what happened in Halo 5, but seeing the Chief in action, then discarded and finally back was all popcorn for me. Although I couldn’t help but draw a dotted line to Tony Stark’s rescue in Avengers: Endgame, obviously.
Barrie:
Being a true blue(green?!?) Xbox user Halo is my Origin Story. I picked up the original back with the OG Xbox on release in New Zealand and that theme still has the same effect. Even though I was a bit ambivalent about Halo Infinite, as soon as that music started I was back onboard. I’m not a fan of pretty much anything Multiplayer so had only very briefly played the MP, knowing the Campaign would be more my jam. And boy, was I right.
The Feel of HALO, if you know, you know…
Guy:
This game feels like Halo. Somehow 343 have managed to modernise Halo, whilst making sure not to loose that feeling of what Halo is. Halo 5 lost its way majorly in feel and level design. Importantly Infinite’s ‘sand-box’ (How everything works with everything else) is masterfully back. To start with, the opening couple of combat encounters made me worried, as I was playing on Heroic and it all felt too easy. There was no need to be smart with weapon selection, keeping a heavy gun on back-up for those big enemies was not needed.
Barrie:
Like Guy mentions, Infinite has all the right feelings for a Halo game. It is like the team at 343 stripped the modern take back to its bare bones and rebuilt Halo Infinite as a homage to Combat Evolved. Yes, we are now in an open world, which I love, but the gameplay and look just scream Halo. The Halo we all love. The addition of new weapons and gadgets doesn’t take away or dilute the experience but somehow refines it. One niggle I had was throwing grenades when wanting to use the grapple. Just a user issue though.
Richard:
The feel is nailed, absolutely. It’s hard to completely address, but the Halo universe is so well constructed. The design of building interiors and exteriors, the vehicles, the mobs. It all fits together, and it should do, it’s been around longer than a lot of its players. As soon as that theme tune kicks in and you watch John leaping over space debris to get your started, you’re in. Disbelief well and truly suspended, grab that controller and feel The Chief, be The Chief.
Guy:
I was very, very worried. But 343 were just easing me in, as after about 15mins, I was getting my ass handed to me in a satisfying manner. Elites moved and flanked, Brute Chieftains laughed off a sticky grenade ‘stick’ and sniper Jackels popped my head regularly. Chief moves and jumps with the right speed and flow that feels so familar. The addition of the sprint, is clearly a ‘modern’ allowance all gamers expect, but 343 have cleverly masked it to be only a fraction faster that normal speed. So modern gamers feel happy they can sprint, but in fact this balanced speed keeps the combat encounters and enemies balanced.
When is an open world not an open world?
Guy:
The Open World is more like a hub over-world, to get access to the actual linear missions. Clearing the FOBs or Banished Bases is all fine and good, but it feels like it lacks the tuning and design that the linear missions have. It is definitely noticeable. Its not to say its not fun, it IS fun. But it’s not the open world design that creates that sense of “fun”, it’s the weapon and enemy design that kinda props it up.
Richard:
I get what you mean Guy, but having bounced off a few open world games in recent years Halo Infinite is giving me the exact playground I need. I remember you telling me to play Far Cry recently because it was more like Just Cause. To me, Halo infinite lands the Just Cause sense of fun and freedom. I’ve had a few late nights just because there was another FOB over the hill, or another squad that needed rescuing.
The freedom of being able to tackle anything however you want is all me. Along with the vehicles and weapons liberally strewn around, even when it starts to tire there will be plenty of satisfaction just messing around.
Barrie:
I live in open world games, and have found myself doing my usual thing. That is traversing the world collecting upgrades and items while avoiding major conflict. No doubt this will mean many of the missions will be on the easy side now. But hey, I am The Master Chief. I have very much enjoyed skulking around the Ring and playing a sniper role. As usual the Grunts have some great reactions when ambushed. One glorious moment really showed off the power of the Series X, after sniping one Grunt I had up to ten Banished start spraying the hillside I was on. With all the different weapons fire it just looked great.
Guy:
I’m not sure the open-world actually bring anything to the Halo franchise. The new Halo ring feels a bit empty and from what I could see, there is no real reward for exploring those nook and crannies of the map, as anything of use, like XP, Armour mods or collectables are pretty well signposted on the over-world map. It lacks that sense of wonder and reward for exploration that open-world games benefit from.
Richard:
Here’s the thing, it reminds me of Biomutant in a way. Once you’ve found targets you can deal with them, I like that. While the Ring isn’t overly populated there are enough Halo-esque events happening to keep you busy. As for exploring, I applaud the world-building. It’s drawn on a grand scale, that first breath of air when you open up the vista and see the scope, I was impressed.
However, I decided to dig around behind the base and became doubly impressed. There is no lazy design here, you can scavenge every corner, I was grappling my way around places that would be off-limits in any other game. Not to mention the sneaky cave, with an Elite and a sword begging for a bruising.
Guy:
My pet peeve is actually The Pilot, who I understand is supposed to be the very human antithesis to Chief’s Robotic mission focused soldier. But his constant whinging and scardy-cat chatter, seemed a bit over the top for a enlisted UNSC Pelican Drop-Ship pilot.
Richard:
Absolutely, when I did manage a whole cutscene I just wanted the Chief to pop him and be done with it. We’ve all had enough of negative whiners this last few years. First; you do what the Chief tells you, second; you do what the Chief tells you.
Halo Infinite Replayability, Collectibility and Co-Op-ability?
Barrie:
The sheer amount of Marines scattered through the landscape surely lends itself to a co-op possibility. Having the ability to have mates drop in and out of your game as Marines would be great fun. And would also leave you as the ‘driver’ of your campaign. I do like the real flexibility to just dive in and have a quick blast and complete a couple of small objectives if you are short on time. This is one thing that can frustrate if you have long linear missions.
Richard:
There’s also plenty of reasons to revisit areas for the completionists among us, with upgrades and logs hidden around the place. I’d love to say whether I’d found any Skulls, but I’m sure that will need some help from Youtube in a few weeks. I still keep settling down with a grin when I’m fluidly smashing the Banished as my best badass Spartan.
Guy:
Gameplay wise, Halo Infinite is sublime. The grappling hook is super useful, but not game breaking. If anything the levels can just have a lot more verticality. The guns feel great, and unique. They have strengths and weaknesses in any given situation and learning that is half the fun too. Open worlds are always more fun in Co-Op and I think Legendary runs with a buddy on the gun of a Warthog would be awesome, but alas that is likely a year away.
Richard:
Oh yes, couch or online co-op in the world of Halo have always been top notch sessions. Bring that on asap guys. I’ve also had some fun recently getting back to the pace of Halo Infinite Multiplayer, but I felt that I was missing out with the weapons. Now I’ve had time to experiment in the campaign I’m itching to go back to the online game. I have renewed confidence and understanding of how and when to use these things.
Don’t forget to take it online Spartan
Richard:
With the multiplayer being a couple of weeks old now it’s fair to say I struggled initially. Having binged CoD and Battlefield for recent years I had to get used to the more sedentary pace. It’s also unusual these days to not have personal progression, yes, there is the agonisingly slow Battlepass (patch incoming). I mean the ability to fix a load-out with weapon and accessory unlocks. However, that’s not Halo and once I remembered that I took it for the rock solid online experience it was.
Guy:
I enjoyed the Multiplayer, it felt like halo, the longer time to kill rewards skill and not just run and gun, first to pull the trigger. And, its free, so whats not to like. That said, I now want my Multiplayer games to overlap with single player…you can blame Destiny. I want to play MP, get some sweet loot, then go into some Single-player content, or PvE with MY Spartan and use my loot! Alas, Halo Infinite isn’t there yet, but I will bet you $100 thats were we end up. With Destiny type Strikes, Firefight missions and weekly quests I can see my time getting chewed up. At least I hope so, as that would be awesome.
Richard:
Sounds great, I did notice the Armour Cache collectibles were pointing toward customisation that would be relevant in Multiplayer. That said, Halo online has always had a pretty even playing field where skill is the deciding factor rather than your arsenal. So, I can’t see a Destiny style upgrade path any time soon.
Barrie:
As I said, not a multiplayer fan. But with the inclusion of cosmetic pickups for multiplayer, in the campaign, I can very well see myself having at least a dabble online. Who knows I may well even find my Multiplayer mojo again…
Sum it up heading
Barrie:
With a beautiful campaign and a multiplayer supported by a massive player base thanks to Game Pass, Halo Infinite is a winner. Yes it is a FPS but some how Halo manages to stand out from the COD and MW crowd. Actually saw someone call it COD in space the other day. Ha! Whatever! What we have here is a fleshed out universe with great characters and storylines. Add to that super tight gameplay in a drop dead gorgeous environment and you can’t help but be a happy gamer.
Guy:
Minor gripes aside, I think this ‘New Phase’ of Halo is suuuper promising. I loved the linear Campaign missions and the story associated to them. I am well invested in the trials and tribulations of The Chief and Cortana, and I loved seeing where their story is going. Xbox is in a very strong position with this stallion back in the barn.
Richard:
If there’s one thing I know is for real, it’s your passion for all things Halo, Guy. I can’t match that for knowledge, I can say Halo Infinite for me is the most enjoyable Halo game since Reach. Scrub entries 4 and 5 from the log. Give me this much playability, on a blistering Series X, with co-op and Forge sometime next year – other games are going to struggle to compete.
Microsoft have just won Christmas, Halo Infinite has the kudos and impact to be a system seller all over again. See you on the Ring.
