Halo Infinite Reviews
Halo Infinite can't quite deliver on being an open-world throwback, but it's the best shooting the series has seen to date.
Halo Infinite's move to sort-of open world is a largely successful jumping off point for Halo's bold new future.
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 multiplayer delivers a spectacular modern version of one of gaming's most esteemed first-person shooters.
Halo Infinite's multiplayer sees the series emerge from its decade-long existential crisis as something radically familiar.
The bizarrely structured and frequently uninteresting story campaign threatens to undermine the multiplayer, but this is still easily the best Halo has been for over a decade.
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 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.
Halo Infinite transforms the series' two-decade-old formula for the better, giving protagonist Master Chief more characterization and implementing an open world.
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.
And therein lies the inherent issue with launching Halo Infinite as a platform for the Halo series. It’s clear that there’s tons of potential here, and there’s so much to love about what 343 Industries has already introduced, but playing it at launch feels like you’re playing the worst version of what could rightly wind up being a fantastic game. Game Pass lets subscribers experience games like Halo Infinite on a whim, and it also lets developers like 343 take risks on launching a “Halo platform” that’s a work-in-progress. Currently, its single-player campaign is fun if somewhat empty, while its multiplayer flickers between exhilarating and frustrating. With the former being available on Game Pass while the latter is free-to-play, it’s not much of a gamble to just play it despite its problems, but by now I think we all miss when games felt like they were finished at launch.
If I had one piece of advice for people on the fence with Halo Infinite, it would be to not worry about the open world and embrace how it’s handled here. I was incredibly worried at first that 343 wouldn’t be able to resist the siren’s song of other major publishers, but the restraint here is appreciated. This is an extremely 2021 Halo, and I think it’s going to win over both lapsed players and diehards.
Not only does it manage to expand the playable frontiers of Halo, but it also makes us feel "at home" with sensations similar to those of the beginning of the franchise.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Halo Infinite's compendium is a remarkable one, a game that excels in all areas and that properly shows the hard work that 343 Industries has put in the game. The campaign is cool and the multiplayer is lots of fun, so all in all John 117's first appearance in the next-gen is a fantastic one.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Halo Infinite marks a clear moment in 343 Studios' handling of the series. They finally have a grasp on what makes Master Chief tick, and they bring all of that knowledge to bear in often-spectacular fashion. While some issues nag, it's clear that Halo Infinite is a brilliant new entry in the series, and one that makes this particular sci-fi FPS relevant once again.
Halo Infinite might be the best campaign 343 has done, but considering I didn’t love the last two, I’m not sure how much weight that carries. Halo Reach remains the gold standard for me in that department, and while I had a lot of fun here zipping around the open world, and I can see the potential of the concept, something about Infinite feels small and unfinished to me compared to both other Halo campaigns, and other open world titles. I don’t need (or want) a sprawling Assassin’s Creed map that takes 200 hours to clear, but I think I need more diversity than what’s here, and a better story with better characters told within it.
Halo Infinite is 343 Industries' third entry in the franchise and the team manages to deliver one of the best Halo experiences to date.