Halo Infinite Review

Played on Xbox One (base)

Developed by 343 Industries

Released 8th December 2021

With Halo 5 being a huge dumpster fire that lead many to believe that the Halo series has died, 343 had a lot riding on this game to prove that they can live up to the legacy that Bungie left behind with the original Halo trilogy.

Story

This game is 343's comeback. The story of Halo Infinite follows Master Chief on his 6th journey, battling aliens and suffering from self-destructing love for an AI. This time around, Master Chief is paired up with a new AI named 'Weapon' as they both deal with the Banished, a race of aliens that are hellbent on finalising humanity's extinction and taking revenge against our beloved Spartan for defeating their leader. With a vanilla plot and the fear of the past repeating itself, I had no hope for this game's campaign, however, it managed to not be half-bad. It's by far not anywhere near Bungie's magnus opuses, but it's a step in the right direction on behalf of 343.

The game can be quite muddling and confusing for new players with the constant onslaught of references to previous games and attempts to untie the narrative knot that Halo 5 created, but occasionally you'll feel the game pulling back on those puzzling moments and attempt to tell a cohesive story. Veterans and long-time fans will, unfortunately, also have to bear with the narrative flaws as it doesn't offer anything new or worth comparing to older titles. Additionally, the game does get quite boring and lacklustre in its third act considering I had to push myself to complete it.

Now after mentioning only heavy negatives, you're probably wondering why I said it's not half-bad. It's because it doesn't heavily change the formula that Bungie laid out 20 years ago. This game can be best described as a dishonourable remake of the original, which is still pretty good considering what a classic Combat Evolved was. This makes sense as the game was targeted to be not only a soft reboot of the series but a finale and an explanation for the 'Reclaimer Saga'.

Gameplay

The gameplay is by far the best part of this game. It’s fluid, and rapid, and contains features that feel right at home with this series. The main aspect everyone will be looking at is the grappling hook. This, out of the 4 gadgets you can have, is the best part of the gameplay. You can zip across the map, swing around vantage points, knock enemies' shields off for an opening, pull weapons and explosive canisters towards you for use, hijack vehicles, and my favourite; grapple yourself to an enemy for a meaty finishing punch. The fun doesn't stop there though.

Every second of your exploration of Zeta Halo is your own moment. While the game does fail to supply memorable sections, moments, or levels such as playing the Arbiter in Halo 2 or the whole Ark mission in Halo 3, it gives you the instructions and ingredients for you to shape your own experience. The way you take down an outpost, eliminate the target or rescue imprisoned soldiers is your own special, organic moment that you've created for yourself. This is because the game is now open-world and is full of activities that aren't monotonous and also consist of even more gameplay, which is never going to be a problem here.

There are linear levels planted throughout the game but their level design, weapon and enemy placement feel so refined and well-made that it's obvious they playtested each aspect of the game as much as possible. Back to the open world, a common comparison given to it is that it's simply the Silent Cartographer mission from the original Halo: this is true. In terms of gameplay, it can be seen as a generous compliment since the freedom of choice is unlimited, especially in how you approach foes.

While exploring you'll not only gain access to a larger variety of weapons but also receive Spartan Cores, which are essentially upgrade points for your gadgets. These upgrades not only help with the difficult elements of the game (especially if you're playing on Heroic) but can also change up gameplay styles. For example, you can upgrade your grappling hook to send a paralysing shock to your enemies, making those rush attacks easier, or you could upgrade your thrusters to turn you invisible, allowing retreat under safer circumstances.

There's so much more to say, like that the new weapons feel very accessible, and each weapon has its use, making none feel utterly garbage and a "last resort". However, the same can't be said about the enemies as there is virtually no new presence to challenge your combat expertise. The enemies you shoot, punch and annihilate are the same ones from previous games, with no new additions.

Bossfights

The bossfights of Halo Infinite aren't anything special but they do utilise the gameplay in the best possible way. Unfortunately, this game's roster of bosses is its biggest downfall. They're both forgettable and copy-pasted. For example, there is absolutely no difference between Chak 'Lok and Jega 'Rdomnai except for the colour palette of their Energy Swords. The same goes for Bassus and Escharum, but the only difference this time is that Escharum has an extra step to defeating him, which is not enough to differentiate this penultimate boss fight from the first one.

It's a bit saddening that they have no memorable aspects, however, fortunately, they don't deter from the gameplay standards. Escharum is a fun fight as you're required to use the thrusters to the best of your ability to avoid being crushed by his gravity hammer. Chak 'Lok was fun to deal with as I had to use my newfound Threat Sensor to pass by his camouflage. These bosses are by no means the greatest fights I've ever encountered, but they didn't destroy the momentum of the game, nor my enjoyment of it with their fortified health.

Characters

The characters of Halo Infinite aren't that special, but the dynamic between Master Chief and Weapon is sweet and fantastic. The interactions they have with one another are realistic and not forged in any way. They have their ups and downs, they bicker, they joke, and they manage to resemble a friendship with a tight bond, and this is incredible thanks to Jen Taylor's and Steve Downes' brilliant performances. However, all the other characters are best described as "eh". Any dialogue with Echo-216 is ruined by its corny and campy nature and whatever the antagonists were called apply a cliche and unoriginal coat of paint over this game.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is a mixed bag. The music is gorgeous. The classic "oooooh-OOOOOOO-oooooh-oooooh-oooooh" mixed with the "baaaa-ba-ba-ba-baaaaaaa" is exquisite. No, but seriously, these 20-year-old gaming hymns still land as the greatest and most iconic soundtracks in all of gaming. The sound effects also perform incredibly well, attracting a more fantastical feel to the firefights. The visuals, however, are plain. Earlier I said that in terms of gameplay, a comparison to the Silent Cartographer is most accurate for this game, but visually, it raises some red flags. The whole massive open world is mostly repeated landscapes of green trees and rocky mountains. It’s as if the developers imported the Silent Cartographer and made a whole game around it. It was hard to motivate myself to explore this world when, other than enemy outposts, nothing was fascinating to see. This isn't helped by how grey and shallow in design the inside structures are. They're organic in gameplay but manufactured awfully in terms of aesthetics. On a technical scale, the game operates well, never dropping in frames, but there was a crash that occurred for me halfway through the game, though that might've just been my nearly 7-year-old Xbox acting up.

Story- 6/10

Gameplay- 9.5/10

Bossfights- 6/10

Characters- 7/10

Atmosphere- 6/10

Good

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