Halo Infinite Reviews
Halo Infinite's multiplayer sees the series emerge from its decade-long existential crisis as something radically familiar.
Halo Infinite's multiplayer delivers a spectacular modern version of one of gaming's most esteemed first-person shooters.
Halo Infinite's single-player campaign is exactly what this series needed. It brings out the best in Master Chief's unique and satisfying combat style while leveraging old ideas to create memorable new moments. Its story falls short for both new and veteran players, but it was worth the six-year wait.
Halo Infinite's move to sort-of open world is a largely successful jumping off point for Halo's bold new future.
Halo Infinite is inevitably going to see a ton of play thanks to its day one inclusion on Game Pass and the campaign is well-positioned to impress. There are plenty of mechanical, enemy, weapon, and story throwbacks for longtime fans to smirk at and the game is approachable, exciting, and endearing enough to potentially win over a whole new generation of Halo fans.
Halo Infinite can't quite deliver on being an open-world throwback, but it's the best shooting the series has seen to date.
If the campaign will continue to be built upon with similarly intimate stories revolving around Master Chief and The Weapon then I cannot wait to see them, since the potential here for expansion is limitless. Multiplayer is spectacular, even as it struggles with teething issues associated with becoming a live-service model. At its core the punchy gunplay, reactive movement, and reliance on teamwork remains, and that’s all Halo Infinite needs to become a winner. As someone who grew up as a blubbering fangirl, it feels so good to see Master Chief deliver an adventure that is once again worthy of his iconic status.
Halo Infinite celebrates a 20-year legacy with style and smartly outlines the foundations for future expansion – and it's the best Halo has been in quite some time
A big game with a lot to offer through long-term multiplayer engagement and subsequent campaign plays; the whole thing feels rooted in legacy, but looking to the future
Halo Infinite transforms the series' two-decade-old formula for the better, giving protagonist Master Chief more characterization and implementing an open world.
Halo Infinite swaps out the loadouts and armor abilities of earlier games for a few new pickups, including the grappling hook, which is by far the most useful of these tools. After relying on it so much in Halo Infinite's campaign, it feels criminal to pass it by in multiplayer.
Overall, Halo Infinite is great but something of a mixed bag. Fans of the genre will certainly enjoy the additional mobility granted by the grappling hook while the rest of the gameplay delivers that well-polished Halo experience that shooter-heads have come to know and love over the decades. It's a bit of a shame that the story doesn't quite stick the landing, but add in the fantastic (and free) multiplayer and you've got a really solid foundation for whatever comes next, be that a story expansion or an eventual full-on sequel.
How do you even consider Halo Infinite in totality? I’m not sure that you do, not least because 343 Industries has stated that Infinite isn’t the end of a lengthy development process but the start of an ever-evolving game. (See: seasonal model, incoming cooperative and creative modes, the barest wisps of rumored story expansions.) Master Chief loves to prattle on about “finishing the fight.” But the fight never ends. And if Halo Infinite is what we get as a result? Bring it on.
Basically, 343 charts a few dozen encounters and terrain paths that would have been found in prior games' linear campaign levels, then spreads them over a series of floating, connected islands to make its open world. Additionally, 343 has a nifty tool in its toolbox: Halo's 20-year-long gimmick of warping enemies from outer space whenever needed. Infinite kicks serious butt in these moments. Follow your map to an icon or simply walk up to a weird-looking point of interest and the game will start inserting foes, all hunkered behind carefully crafted terrain that separates you from them. Surprise: it's a miniature level!
Halo Infinite isn’t perfect. It has foibles and struggles here and there. But it’s also a slam dunk of a release; it’s exactly what Halo needs to be now. As Halo’s relevance has felt to wane over recent years, this is a bold statement that, no, Halo isn’t ‘over’. It was never close. It matters, and it’s still brilliant. I don’t mind waiting to see where updates take it, because what’s here at launch is already largely brilliant. I’m excited for the future of Halo again.
Halo Infinite concludes a good run of 2021 Microsoft exclusives and it stands up to the best of what the Halo series has offered over its near twenty year run.
Halo Infinite is a fresh new take on the franchise, and manages to bring everything together into a game that is innovative, familiar, and a lot of fun to play.
A rickety storyline can't stop this from grappling back lapsed fans with its open world and nostalgic gunfights.
Consider me a Halo fan now. I was never really looking forward to Infinite. But now that it’s here, it’s so much more than what I was expecting. And I think that whatever 343 does next will be even better, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting it.