Halo Infinite Review (Xbox One)

STAFF REVIEW of Halo Infinite (Xbox One)

Monday, December 6, 2021.
by Adam Dileva

WELCOME BACK, CHIEF:

There are an endless amount of games, but every now and then there’s one that not only garners a massive following, but becomes the face of a genre, a console, and it becomes a brand as well. When you think Xbox, you most likely think of Halo, as it was what made Xbox so popular in its early beginnings. Halo has always been special to me, and while I do have an obscenely large Halo collection, I’ve also read the majority of the novels, so my Halo lore is pretty on point. While I enjoyed the new direction that Halo 5: Guardians went in terms of its' lore, it is clear that most fans weren’t feeling the same way, so I was quite unsure what to expect with the long awaited Halo Infinite, a direct sequel to Halo 5.

First and foremost, this is a Master Chief story, so no bait and switch playing as someone else for a portion of the game. You are Spartan 117 from the opening moments until the credits roll for Halo Infinite. Also, this review is solely covering the campaign as the multiplayer portion was released weeks ago and is completely free to play.

CHIEF'S CAMPAIGN:

It’s been a very long wait to find out the consequences and outcomes from Halo 5: Guardians, as the game released back in 2015, but Halo Infinite finally answers many questions and ties together loose ends that us fans have been waiting years for, literally. Taking place roughly a year and a half after the events that took place in Halo 5: Guardians, players begin their journey as Chief alongside a new friend and AI partner. There’s so much that’s happened in Chief’s story since the first game that I’m going to assume you know most what what's happened to this point so far, not just because it would take a novel to fill in the backstory, but also Halo Infinite is clearly meant for existing Halo fans. That’s not to say that new players can’t enjoy its fantastic gameplay and dive into the world, but the narrative is very focused this time around and doesn’t delve too far into the history of certain characters or events aside from a brief mention or recap, so existing fans who know the previous characters and events that have occurred will get the absolute most out of Infinite’s continuing saga.

After Guardians’ ending, Cortana’s fate and intentions were still a mystery. What ever happened to her? Why did she do what she did and betray Chief? What happened to Chief since then? All of these, and more, will be answered quite definitively. Along with a pilot that finds Chief floating in deep space (we've all seen the trailer), you’re on your way to Zeta Halo, which is a pretty big deal if you know your Halo lore. Here you’re going to attempt to stop The Banished, an exiled faction that broke off from the Covenant Empire and who just happened to be the main adversary you faced in the Halo Wars 2, led by Atriox, a fearsome foe that had a face to face encounter with Chief.

With your new pilot friend reluctantly willing to help with you, and a new AI simply called The Weapon, Chief is going to do what he does best; defeat any enemies in his way to save humanity and stop The Banished from gaining access to Zeta Halo’s secrets. Are they looking to fire up the ring or is there something else they’re searching for? How did they end up taking over the ring in the first place? What objective was The Weapon programmed to fulfil? If Escharum is leading The Banished, what happened to Atriox? There’s plenty questions like these and many more that will be answered by the time the credits roll.

I’m purposely going to avoid anything else narrative-wise as Halo Infinite is full of questions and answers that are best experienced for yourself, and hardcore Halo fans, like myself, are going to experience some jaw dropping moments when certain events unfold. Oh, and make sure to stick around after the credits. The only other notable mention is that unfortunately co-op campaign won’t be included until roughly Spring 2022, so Halo Infinite at launch is going to be a solo affair for you as Master Chief.

The campaign is easily the series’ most expansive to date, not only because you’re placed on Zeta Halo’s exterior, but the game is now somewhat open world. I say 'somewhat' simply because in the beginning, sections of the ring are essentially cut off from one another and Chief won’t have the equipment needed to get to the next ‘area’ at first. As you play through the various campaign missions you’ll be taken to new areas thanks to The Pilot, and by the end you’ll be able to go anywhere if you can hijack and get your hands on a Banshee. The majority of the first half of the campaign missions take place on the exterior of the ring, going from area to area, whereas the last half is a bit more traditional Halo as you explore linear interior sections. And yes, once the credits roll you’ll be able to freely explore the outer ring once again to finish up any exploring and collectables that you may have missed during your initial playthrough, but more on that shortly.

I tend to find myself usually overwhelmed with open world games, as I like to be a completionist to a point, so simply having TOO much to do in a sandbox at once stresses me out. Thankfully each ‘section’ isn’t too overwhelmingly large, allowing you to capture bases, search for high value targets and more without having the whole map open to you all at once. While I did enjoy the open world variety and options, I felt much more at home in the later campaign missions within the linear forerunner interior level design that brought me some serious classic Halo nostalgia.

EQUIPMENT:

Chief has gotten many upgrades over the years with his Mjolnir armor, and while this is usually one of the biggest features in a new Halo, Chief will now have access to new equipment as well, notably the Grappleshot. This is a wrist mounted device that not only allows you to traverse in completely new ways, but it also has a variety of different uses when in combat. This allows you to shoot at nearly any surface and pulling you up to that point, flinging you with momentum, somewhat like Spider-Man. If you know your Halo lore, Chief in his armor weighs roughly a thousand pounds, so being able to propel him alone shows how powerful this new device is.

Not only will the Grappleshot be used for reaching new areas, it saved me countless times in battles, especially against bosses where I needed to make a quick escape to let my shields recharge. While there’s a small cooldown between uses, you can upgrade your equipment, Grappleshot included, to not only recharge abilities faster but allow you to perform new abilities too, like a charged up punch if you happen to grapple onto an enemy. Tired of Jackals (Kig-Yar) using their shields to block your shots? Use the Grapplehook to briefly make them open up their defenses so you can get that head shot easier. See a nearby weapon on the ground you want to access quickly, simply use your Grappleshot to snag it and pull it to you. There’s a lot of uses for this new piece of equipment and 343 Studios have made it feel like it perfectly fits with Chief’s combat prowess.

If you’ve been playing Halo Infinite’s multiplayer, you’ve already had a taste of the other equipment that Chief will acquire during his adventure. While you begin with just the Grapplehook, you’ll eventually gain access to a few other tools to round out Chief’s combat abilities such as a Shield Core, Threat Sensor, Drop Wall and Thruster. Shield core boosts your shields abilities for a short while and can be upgraded to absorb more damage. Threat Sensor is a little beacon you shoot out, showing outlines of any enemies within its radius. It can be upgraded to cover a larger area and show more enemy information. Drop Wall is self-explanatory, allowing you to drop a one way shield in front of you to hide behind briefly when needed. And lastly Thruster, allowing you to boost quickly in any direction, even while jumping, to evade when needed. It is especially useful during boss fights as you attempt to avoid massive attacks.

Every piece of equipment is able to be upgraded a number of times depending on which ones you enjoy using the most and that compliments your personal playstyle. While I would have loved to use all of the abilities, you can only have one slotted at a time, and while these can be swapped at any point, it’s quite cumbersome to do so as you need to hit a direction on the D-Pad to bring up the menu and then another press of the D-Pad to swap to the ability you want. Sure, if you memorize the directions for each equipment it won’t be an issue, but trying to do so in the middle of a challenging firefight with two Hunters or during a boss encounter will most likely get you killed. Because of this I simply just stuck with my Grappleshot and fully upgraded it first, as I actually ended up relying on it quite often including the ability to shock enemies that I stuck it to. You can swap your grenades the same way, which again, is a hassle to do when needed in a split second.

So, how do you upgrade your equipment exactly? This is where you need Spartan Cores. Each tier of upgrade requires a different amount of them and you’ll get these by completing campaign missions and searching all over Zeta Halo. Without even really spending much time exploring I was able to fully upgrade my Grappleshot to its maximum, so those that want to scour the ring will be able to upgrade more equipment as well. I just wish the way to swap equipment and grenades was more intuitive, which is really the only main complaint I have about Infinite’s gameplay.

ZETA HALO:

I wasn’t completely sure how the transition to semi-open world would feel with Halo’s gameplay, but after finally getting a grasp on how it all works and everything you can do, I quite enjoy its freedom. You’re not forced to just complete the campaign missions until you want to move to the next section of the ring, as the game allows you to explore to discover secrets, find Spartan Cores, hunting down high-profile Banished leaders, clearing out heavily guarded Banished bases and even take over UNSC Forward Operating Bases (FOB), but more on those shortly.

Even though Infinite places you on a very small section of the ring, it feels vast and huge, able to freely explore wherever you like at your own pace. Do you take a Warthog and rush into a base and try to just take out all your enemies in brutal fashion, or do you strafe around the perimeter and try to slowly pick off Banished one by one before you get overwhelmed? Your story missions are always marked on your map should you want to progress Chief’s journey, but you’re never forced to do so. Exploring pays off though, not just for Spartan Cores to upgrade your equipment, but even cosmetic armor unlocks for multiplayer as well.

New to Infinite are Boss Fights. Technically you’ve fought bosses in past Halo games, but now there are numerous ones and they actually have a life bar above their head, so you know they're quite powerful. Some bosses simply take a tremendous amount of firepower to down, whereas others are a little more involved including phases or certain tactics to make them vulnerable. While there are some new enemies you’ll face, familiar foes also return as well, and I’m not kidding when I say that Hunters are absolutely powerful once again, making me dread having to fight pairs of them at a time.

To take down your enemies you’re going to have to utilize all the weaponry you can find along the adventure. Iconic Halo weapons return with the classics like the Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Pistol (technically different than the classic Pistol), Plasma Pistol, Energy Sword, Gravity Hammer, Needler and more, but there’s also a few new ones you’ll have to try out to see if they suit your playstyle. My favorite new weapon by far though is the VK47 Commando, almost a mix of a Battle Rifle and DMR but precise and powerful at the same time, allowing for close and far accurate shots. The Bulldog is a new take on the shotgun and there’s a handful of others to find and try out, which I quite enjoyed, seeing how they all perform against my enemies.

I’m not sure if it was just me, but it felt like ammo replenishes were much more scarce this time around if you weren’t using the main weapons Banished enemies were using. You’re able to carry two weapons at a time (technically three if you’re holding a heavy turret before it runs out of ammo), so I found myself always keeping one powerful or long range weapon as a backup while constantly swapping my main weapon with whatever I could find on the ground after a hard fought battle. There are ammo refill station boxes scattered around, refilling your certain types of ammunition when used, though I’m not sure why these are within the later campaign missions when you’re not in the open world, as it doesn’t make sense lore wise.

FORWARD OPERATION BASES:

Even if you’re not into doing side missions, the Forward Operation Bases (FOB) are well worth your while to do. These are previous UNSC bases that Banished forces have taken over, so if you manage to clear them out you’ll regain control, making these safe zones where you can refill ammunition, call in certain equipment, and even have UNSC Marines join you. In the beginning you’ll only have access to your starter weapons and grenades, but as you earn Valor, a currency gained by completing missions, new equipment will unlock for you to call in at any FOB you have control of. Taking over a FOB also reveals other missions, bases, Spartan Cores and collectibles in the area nearby so you can see everything available to you. Even better, FOB’s also act as quick travel locations, so you can easily travel back to any FOB you’ve liberated at any time, not just as a travel convenience but also to restock should you want to. You’re not required to capture these points, but they come in quite handy later on when you want to explore everything Zeta Halo has to uncover.

ACCESSIBILITY:

I’ve been trying to be much more conscious about Accessibility options lately. As games are evolving to include a larger variety of gamers, accessibility options are becoming more common. “When everybody plays, we all win" isn’t just a catchy phrase Xbox is using for attention either, and Halo Infinite has plenty of options from subtitles, vision choices, UI elements, fonts, controller remapping and sensory settings like adjusting Blur, Screen Shake and more.

A NEW LOOK:

Halo Infinite on an Xbox Series X looks absolutely stunning. On more than a number of occasions I simply stood on a cliffside and took numerous screenshots of the spanning vistas across Zeta Halo. Nearly everywhere you look you can see the beauty of Zeta’s world, even with its mysterious structure that’s become fractured. There’s plenty of life on the ring of Zeta, and not just from the Banished forces, but how gorgeous the nature and biome is as well. I also never had any framerate issues and the draw distance is nothing short of amazing when looking across the whole ring. Chief is more battle worn and detailed than ever this time around too, as you can see plenty of detail in the close-up cutscenes, even the reflection on Chief’s iconic visor. Cutscenes of course are the highlight of the visuals, impressive as ever.

While the stunning visuals will be what you notice first and foremost, the audio can’t be ignored either. While there’s no licensed music in Halo Infinite, there’s no feeling quite like when an awesome battle starts to take place and that iconic theme song kicks in. It STILL gives me goosebumps after all these years, and it’s no different in Infinite. Weaponry audio seems to have been either vastly improved or completely redone, because it all sounds so much more prominent and impactful. Having played with numerous headsets, low-end to high, Halo Infinite’s audio is absolutely immersive. The dialogue is all done masterfully as you’d expect, but there’s a healthy amount of humor injected, not over the top or that stands out, but more than a few times I chuckled because of a Grunt’s one-liner or something The Weapon said.

FINISH THE FIGHT:

Halo Infinite has been a long time coming, and fans have been waiting for answers for a very long time. This latest chapter in the iconic series not only answers many outstanding questions, but asks new ones which we’ll inevitably have to wait for the next iteration to find out. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the drastic changes of having a semi-open world and utilizing the Grappleshot to quicken traversal. Even with all these major changes, it still felt like a true Halo, a refined and improved experience overall.

Playable on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Streaming and even via Game Pass, there’s virtually no borders to prevent you from playing Halo Infinite and experiencing this evolution of the series. I absolutely enjoyed my time stepping back into Chief’s shoes, and I wasn’t sure how connected or how much I would care about new characters, The Pilot and The Weapon, but by the time the credits rolled, I really quite enjoyed The Weapon, making for a fine replacement for Cortana in her own right. As a Halo campaign, this is easily my favorite since Reach and right up there with the best of the series. Get your favorite weapon and finish the fight, Chief.

**Halo Infinite (Campaign) was provided by the publisher and reviewed on an Xbox Series X**

Overall: 9.5 / 10
Gameplay: 9.5 / 10
Visuals: 9.5 / 10
Sound: 9.5 / 10

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