Halo Infinite on Xbox Series X
For the past four or five years, Microsoft has been attempting to close the gap with Sony when it comes to cinematic, AAA experiences. PlayStation has become synonymous with third-person, story-driven games that take players on epic journeys across frost-bitten mythological lands and immersive historical settings, while Microsoft’s studios have struggled to reach the same dizzying highs. Halo Infinite, however, marks a turning point in this narrative — not quite an all-conquering great, but certainly a sign that Microsoft has started to find its footing when it comes to evolving its iconic franchises with new, exciting design. Infinite’s incredible production value, which marries cutting-edge visuals to simply sublime gameplay, pushes forward a movement kickstarted by Gears 5 back in 2019.
Importantly for Halo fans, it’s a clear indication that 343 Industries has been listening to fan feedback following the divisive Halo 5 and, more recently that iffy gameplay trailer from last year. Combining another epic adventure with everyone’s favorite gruff-voiced Spartan, Master Chief, with a refined but still hectic multiplayer mode, Halo Infinite is a return to form and one you absolutely cannot miss out on.
Halo Infinite offers up two distinct experiences — one a lengthy adventure with Master Chief in its campaign, and the other a chaotic arena shooter multiplayer experience. For the sake of clarity, this review will be covering both under clear headings, and both parts of the game will play a part in determining the game’s final score at the bottom of this review.
Campaign
Halo Infinite’s campaign is where the most noticeable advancements for the series can be seen. Set approximately 18 months after the events of Halo 5 — which was a largely Master Chief-less experience — Halo Infinite puts us firmly back into the iconic green Spartan armor of the Chief as he aims to discover what actually happened to Cortana, all the while stopping the Banished from seizing total control of the Zeta Halo before it’s too late.
While I’m going to avoid diving too much into the story beats to save you all the twists, turns, and revelations that it offers up fans along the way, I will say it’s gripping and kept me hooked throughout the 20 hours or so I spent on Zeta Halo to write this review. What’s most noticeable is how this feels like a more emotional look through the visor of Master Chief. There’s more range in this super-soldier than the brief, gruff-voiced lines he’d occasionally mutter in previous titles. He wrestles with his past regrets and decisions and how these failings have led him to where he is.
Accompanying Chief along the way is The Weapon, an immediately likable AI with a chirpy and charismatic persona that juxtaposes with John’s steely personality perfectly. The two soon grow close, providing plenty of comic relief, something I hadn’t expected to get out of Halo Infinite outside of its true-to-form Grunts that can often be heard screeching things like “It’s the big green man!” or “he’s definitely here… unless he’s right behind me… AHHH!”
But The Weapon also provides Master Chief the moments to engage with his inner feelings. It makes for a formidable partnership when you’re busy jumping your way through story missions and around Zeta Halo on a broader scale.
The big bad antagonist in Escharum is equally fleshed out, with cutscenes suitably explaining his plight and audio logs flesh things out on the Banished side suitably. Finally, there’s the pilot, often referred to as Echo-216 — his ship’s name. Though not given as much screen-time he’s a likable enough character, often questioning MC’s gung-ho approach with panicked comments or heated outbursts, providing an average human’s rather bleak outlook on our protagonist’s perilous missions.
All of this makes for a more rounded Halo experience. Personally, I always found the world of Halo fascinating, but the stories in some of Chief’s past adventures are two-dimensional. They seldom offer the opportunity to get a real look at the man inside the imposing armor. Infinite does this, making Chief feel more human, and thus more relatable. Master Chief’s armor and combat skills may be inhuman, but he still has the feelings, thoughts, and regrets that we all have to comprehend and come to terms with.
The broader story focuses on Master Chief’s mission to put an end to the Banished’s reign on Zeta Halo once and for all. Yes, you’ll get answers to plenty of other questions along the way — you’ll have to play for yourself to learn those — but the driving force behind the Chief’s exploration of Zeta Halo is the objective of reclaiming the ring from the enemy before it’s too late.
It’s this overarching story beat that helps provide logical context to Halo Infinite’s adoption of open-world design. The game flits between linear story missions and its open world, allowing players to take on optional side content such as High-Value Targets, capturing enemy bases, or picking up collectibles scattered throughout the world.
As you complete a mission, you move around Zeta Halo into new areas that were previously inaccessible. The act of rescuing some UNSC soldiers from Banished forces, or taking down a High-Value Target in a remote part of the world all makes sense because the Banished are busy occupying and defending the ring while Escharum is busy trying to unlock its inner secrets, and Master Chief is, more or less, the sole aggressor who can turn the tide of battle.
The open world of Zeta Halo gives a real sense of scale to Master Chief’s mission to reclaim it, and it looks stunning throughout. A dramatic landscape of a myriad of towering mountain peaks, laced with futuristic, metallic hexagonal pillars stretching their length, punctuated with large pine trees and rolling green pastures.
Hidden camps of former Spartans can be found tucked away in a tight-packed cluster of trees, or at a vantage point on the side of a mountain, sniper rifle aiming down into a camp of Banished below. Banished Propaganda Towers spout the comical ramblings of some high-level Grunt, while audio logs littered throughout the world provide more context for everything you’re seeing and doing. Enormous alien monolith-looking structures rise out of the ground, indicating something of interest to you may be hiding underneath.
All of this goes to make a world that’s intriguing, and one that encouraged me to put down Chief’s grappling hook — albeit briefly — to explore on-foot and unearth new discoveries. But actually, it was in doing this that Zeta Halo’s drawback became clear. What is here is fantastic, but it’s ultimately limited in terms of its quantity and the ambition of its side content.
Amidst the various Banished bases and outposts, there’s not a whole lot to see. The map eventually becomes littered with icons, but many of these are Mjolnir Armories — a type of collectible that unlocks multiplayer cosmetics — and Spartan Cores used to upgrade your various abilities like your Shields, Grappling Hook, and Thrusters.
Finding these often requires little more than heading to the location marked on your map, defeating a handful of enemies, and picking them up. It’s basic open-world stuff, and while it’s all well and good being included, I had hoped for some more in-depth side missions to accompany these.
The most obvious means of doing so would have been the various weapons and vehicles you unlock to be requested from a FOB (Forward Operating Base) by earning Valor, a cumulative currency earned by rescuing UNSC Squadrons, completing main missions, and clearing out enemy bases.