With the launch of Season 3 of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer I once again found Halo Infinite in the crosshairs of my battle rifle. Halo Infinite’s multiplayer may be a source of discussion in the gaming community for all the wrong reasons, but we’re here to take a look at the campaign. It’s been nearly two years since the release of Master Chief’s longest adventure and it’s time for a revisit. This was 343 Industries’ third attempt at making a Halo game, but did this one do what Halo 4 and 5 failed to do? Let’s dive in and find out!

                Halo Infinite is rather unique in the sense that the multiplayer launched the better part of a month before the campaign dropped, as the campaign didn’t launch until December 8, 2021. This was conceptually the opposite of the original Combat Evolved campaign, which was launched before Xbox Live was established. However, this is the opposite side of the coin as while the original launched with local game options and the potential for system linking as well as LAN parties, Infinite’s multiplayer is free-to-play Xbox Live subscription notwithstanding. Infinite marks the first time in the franchise that people were paying exclusively for the campaign. The game still had a $60 price tag, but does the campaign of Halo Infinite justify that price? Let’s dispense with the background and dive right into the story.

                Synopsis & Writing

        Following the events of Halo 5 another titular Halo ring is discovered and the Banished, formerly of the Covenant, lay claim to it as well as the secrets that lie within. Humanity has lost the fight for the ring, but one final hope remains, which is Sierra 117, the Master Chief, and his mission to stop the Banished whilst also discovering what happened to the galaxy.

                One can tell at first glance that Infinite was built with attention to the history of the franchise. Not only is this the first FPS Halo game to take place on a Halo ring since 2007’s Halo 3, but 343 Industries in the past had often avoided referencing the events of Bungie’s Halo games, often to the detriment of the universe. Infinite feels like what the game’s long-time fans have been waiting for since Halo 3 ended. Infinite isn’t shy about paying homage to past titles as the fanservice is scattered throughout the campaign’s runtime.

                The character writing in Infinite feels much more natural than 343’s other attempts at capturing the magic of the Halo Universe. Halo 4 had decent character writing when it came to Chief and Cortana but everything surrounding them was the definition of mediocre and Halo 5 lacked focus and consistency on top of said mediocre writing. Infinite, while rather straightforward in its writing, has a much better understanding of the characters in Universe.

Since Halo 4, 343 has distinguished itself for writing Master Chief differently than how he was portrayed  under Bungie’s tenure. In the original trilogy Chief largely existed as an extension of the player without dedicating much time to what made the character the way he is. Halo 4 and 5 stepped away from this approach and gave the Chief more of an established character. Despite these attempts it felt hollow in those previous entries. I’ll go out on a limb and say that Infinite is the best Master Chief has been written as a character since his debut in 2001. Unfortunately, the villain’s Chief goes up against him in this installment lack the same consistency. Our main antagonist Escharum has clear motivations but the rest of the Banished come off as very one-note, lacking depth.

Gameplay

                Having spent enough time discussing the story, let us dive into Halo Infinite’s gameplay. One could hardly think of FPS (first person shooters) without thinking of Halo, but time has passed since Halo entered the game industry. One might wonder if Halo still has what it takes to fit within the hyper- competitive FPS genre? Honestly, it’s like Chief never left. Gone are the days of Halo 5 where the series sought to follow the advanced movement trend of the times and instead gives us something a bit more traditional. Yes, you still have the ability to sprint but the major addition to Chief’s arsenal is the return of equipment, be it a grappling hook that allows Chief to get around faster or a piece of deployable cover, Chief’s arsenal is greatly expanded. And he’ll need these tools as the Banished have set up shop all across Zeta Halo. In what is Halo Infinite’s biggest change this marks the first game in the series to be open world in what is the largest campaign to date for the franchise.

                Halo Infinite is filled to the brim with content as it contains 14 main campaign missions, seven optional missions in the form of Banished Outposts that you can dismantle, as well as 15 optional bosses you can take on to unlock extra weapon variants. And that says nothing of the various collectibles and upgrades you’ll find throughout your adventure. On the topic of enemies, the Banished make their FPS debut and if you played Halo Wars 2 and were excited for all those Banished exclusive vehicles you’ll be disappointed as there are no new Banished/Covenant vehicles in this game. Outside of the return of Brutes and Jackal Skirmishers as enemy types, the Banished play like Covenant except they have a red color scheme. It is nice to see the return of classic weapons such as the Sentinel Beam, but we also get new weapons like the Shock Rifle and the powerful Skewer.

                The gunplay is tight and responsive, it is a bit clunky to change equipment on consoles, but controls are rather intuitive on keyboard and mouse. Infinite marks the return of marine allies to support you in firefights, but unfortunately as a result of the open world design your allies are not capable of driving vehicles due to the problems that would arise with complex pathing.

Presentation & Graphics

        If you cast a glance at Halo Infinite during it’s development cycle you can clearly see the game had the aesthetic and artistic style of Halo down. Something that 343 had struggled to capture since assuming control of the franchise. Infinite truly feels like a continuation of classic Halo in terms of looks and sounds. Now while the artistic style is very pleasing to long-time fans, you may take issue with graphical fidelity. For a game that was released five years after Halo 5 the game doesn’t look much better in terms of pure graphic fidelity. That being said all cutscenes with the exception of the opening and ending scenes are rendered in real time, meaning that your equipped weapon will be reflected in the scene, which is a nice touch.

The score is an excellent supplement to Chief’s adventures on Zeta Halo, we do hear the main Halo theme, which has been absent from the series for far too long. The rest of the score is excellently composed with new arrangements. One of the composers, Curtis Schweitzer had previously worked on music for the franchise as he provided the score for the Discover Hope trailer for the E3 presentation for Halo Infinite.

Technical Problems

After the backlash regarding Halo 5’s lack of split screen cooperative play the upper management of 343 Industries promised that all future FPS Halo titles would have split screen going forward. However, not only did split screen not come to Infinite but online cooperative play didn’t come to the game for close to a year. And present updates have disclosed that split screen has been scrapped with no plans for it to return. This directly flies in the face of what was promised to consumers, and it is incredibly disappointing that the most expansive campaign ever created in the franchise can’t be played locally with your friends.

                Within the campaign itself the AI of your allies can be a bit on the simple side. Most of the time the marines are pretty good about following you or getting in your vehicle, but occasionally they get stuck with regard to geometry or just don’t follow you. Graphical glitches are rare, but visually humorous when they do happen.

Conclusion

                Halo Infinite is by no means a perfect game, but it has a much better understanding of what Halo is about. It brings new things to the table whilst also refining the core experience. Infinite doesn’t do everything right, the story while enjoyable plays it very safe. But when it comes to 343 developed Halo campaigns it messes up the least. Infinite is proof that Halo can improve this far into it’s lifespan, proof that things can get better. Whether or not 343 can keep up this quality is yet to be seen, but I’m cautiously optimistic about the future of Halo’s storytelling, but multiplayer is a different story. Infinite’s campaign however earns that $60 price tag and is a must play for fans of Halo and FPS’s in general!