Halo Infinite

First published in GRIND Definitive Edition, pages 52–57.

PLAYED ON XBOX ONE · RELEASE DATE 8 DECEMBER 2021 · PUBLISHER XBOX GAME STUDIOS · DEVELOPER 343 INDUSTRIES

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Missions change.

Master Chief remains the same."

Time affects us all equally, but it seems to affect me a bit more since I plunged into the retro ocean. I tried to write this review the way I would have written an article for LEVEL 10 years ago. I wanted to enjoy the whole process, from the game to the cheeky metaphors, the screenshots with funny comments, and the legendary tech box.

I hope I pulled it off." ► Aidan In one of Halo Infinite's opening sequences, Master Chief floats in space, silently gazing at the Ring. A moment of respite coming immediately after an epic battle and a colossal explosion. The silence is gently pushed aside by music, and the atmosphere charges with static, little by little, as your player's perspective begins to blur into that of the armoured hero. It only took a single bullet to get you into this situation. A gunshot and the will of a Spartan.

The fight is only just beginning. The fight evolves. The mission changes. Master Chief remains the same.

Because whatever name he goes by – Sierra 117, John, the Demon – Master Chief is an outright hero. The symbol of a generation of players and protector of the Xbox realm. A remnant of a glorious past. The kind of character who doesn't need reinventing, because he came out right first time.

If anyone were to touch Chief, they'd chip away at the Halo legacy and, by extension, at the very essence of Microsoft's consoles. Which is exactly what the TV series did. Holy Warthog, the adaptation is so bad it insults everything, from the source materi- al to the fans, the actors, the paper the script is written on, and even little grunt Glibnub, with his fantasies about de-furred Brutes.

Anyway, Infinite, the newest game in the series, can be accused of plenty of mistakes. For instance, that it risks being the last Halo, given the way 343 Industries is moving relative to the rest of the universe.

Someone else might say that only a hard reset can save the story now. My accusation is the lack of a local co-op mode – a cornerstone when you're talking about the most famous console FPSs. But Infinite also did some good (when it wasn't too busy bringing the front of its pelvis up over its mouth like in the legend of Master Manson).

Because Halo Infinite doesn't lay a finger on Master Chief. On the contrary, the game doubles down on the laconic, virile attitude of the universal soldier who doesn't care that his boots are pinching him while he saves all 11 dimensions, the world and a few turtles choked with plastic straws. That's how it starts, with MC floating in the nothingness of the cold void. Except he isn't floating like a dead fish, he's at rest. He's catching his breath after a small violent incident. All he needs is a bit of lead and an open-world ring full of juicy enemies.

I'm immediately raising my middle finger...

MJOLNIR green, Warthog canister green. Master Chief is green. In armour and with envy. Back in the day, Halo was a linear first-person shooter with a rhythm of its own, opening up at the climax into spacious areas – let's call them arenas, for the sake of conversation. That's where it always ended in glorious battles, exploding vehicles and smashed TVs on Legendary difficulty.

Infinite, on the other hand, is a semi-open world shooter in which Sierra 117 doesn't feel at home for the first 30 minutes.

Fortunately, there's an introductory segment that sets out the gameplay rules and nails down the story. A kind of tutorial, though I don't think an old-school FPS like Halo still needs an instruction manual. You point the weapon at any Banished that crosses your path, pull the trigger, take a few shots in return, then sprint to cover and wait for the sweet sound of a recharged shield. A universal formula Was there supposed to be a giant diamond there?

like the Coca-Cola recipe, which refuses to age.

Except Infinite also adds a scoop of ice cream to the fizzy drink (if you've never tried a "Cola float" you don't know what diabetes you're missing) – the Grappleshot.

A ballistic hook that can bury itself in almost any surface and lets Hochmeister Johann cross maps horizontally and vertically just like Spider-Man. The Grapple simply exists, it doesn't need a backstory, and it doubles the dynamism of Halo's combat. Fancy melee-pulverising an Elite while injecting it with plasma in mid-air?

Grappleshot towards the unfortunate beastie and *jbang* an energy-augmented punch straight to the gob. At the same time, it can also be used to pull pretty much every object around you towards you: weapons, explosive containers, or ones with a handy effect of I'm getting that alien graveyard vibe stun + damage-skill unlocked from the ability tree. Believe me, it feels good, and it feels right. Initially I eyed the hook with suspicion, fearing Halo would turn into a kind of Doom Eternal, with rigid platforming elements. Don't get me wrong, I loved Eternal to bits, but the dashing about on walls and platforms was the most non-Doom idea possible, completely devoid of fluidity. And that's what sent me back to the classics (which I've been playing since the '90s) and to Doom 2016. Ahem, in any case, Halo Infinite does things differently and implements the most flexible, precise parkour mechanic going, via the hook, with no artificial restrictions. You can sink it into anything you can see through the visor of your MJOLNIR helmet and get there at full tilt.

And the whole thing fits marvellously with the ring, open to exploration, which MC has to survive on. In fact, the enemies are the ones trying to survive, and Master Chief has to show them that sometimes you lose too, when you try to stop a Power Hammer with your face, or stop MA40 assault rifle bullets with your chest – not to mention

Am I too big or are you too small?

the upgradeable abilities such as portable cover, shield, scanner, or the substantial range of vehicles: it includes the classics, Banshee, Chopper, Ghost, Mongoose (my agile love from Halo 3), Warthog and Scorpion, alongside some new models that are interesting in their own tactical and strategic ways.

In short, in Halo Infinite you get this: a bad-ass Master Chief with Steve Downes' voice, an insane arsenal, vehicular combat on the ground and in the air, together with an open world to range around in without restrictions, from Grappleshot to Grappleshot. But wait, there's more!

Is your Cortana a good woman?

Once the introductory chapter is over and you've got your boots on the synthetic terra firma of Zeta Halo, Infinite reminds you that it has a story too, with secondary characters, spectacular locations and memorable antagonists. The narrative picks up directly from the events of Halo 5 and sets the ground for the clash with the Banished brutes led by Atriox, shortly after Cortana has a personality crisis and subjugates the universe using Forerunner technology. John is saved by a UNSC pilot, who later becomes a blood brother and his main support in the campaign, and the operations start to escalate in difficulty and importance.

Main missions tend to unfold in a set order, but exploring the ring, the secondary objectives and liberating allied bases depend strictly on the player's initiative, especially since that's how new weapons and vehicles get unlocked. There's no "correct" way to play Halo Infinite, just a series of necessary steps to hit the Banished as hard as possible – such as taking out key bosses. Hehe, but John isn't alone.

The absence of a female AI to give Master Chief tactical support would Young Spartan, seeking Cortana...

have been an unforgivable crime, so in Cortana's place there's The Weapon, a kind of copy with equally advanced functions and voice acting you miss when she's gone, in the quiet moments. Not-quite-Cortana is the perfect partner when the fighting gets intense or when you need a bit of advice, and she's the one who cements the Spartan-AI chemistry we've all known since Combat Evolved. Jen Taylor does an excellent job and proves that Infinite stayed beloved by the actors involved, unlike the televised plague, ptoo, ptoo!

Of course, the story gets complicated until a new threat surfaces, in a full circle Over the hills and far away...

Lads, is this gear any good for an airsoft beginner?

I know Halo Infinite is also available on PC and looks a million times better than on Xbox One, where I mashed my way through it.

Still, when you say Halo, you say Xbox, and I will die in an oiled-up wrestling match, greased like Macho Man Randy Savage, against anyone who says otherwise and reckons it would be better played on a computer. Every word in the sentence 'Halo is better on PC' is wrong, full stop.

Well, how else would you get the pleasure of a side mission where you hunt Banished officers, if not with a gamepad in your hands? How are you going to enjoy a Warthog vs. Chopper fight without it being part of the TV-console-sofa loop? If those clueless sorts at 343 Industries had also made a local co-op mode possible, every other argument would have been pointless. So you'll just have to trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Not all games are automatically charming with a mouse and keyboard. Sometimes you have to look at the whole picture, and the whole picture bears the X logo.

Consolidated FPS I've never been a hardcore fanatic of competitive multiplayer, but I have to admit Halo Infinite pulled a clever move when it gave the multiplayer component away for free. Free in the sense that it can be downloaded and played separately, even without a Gold subscription. On top of that it has crossplay, a flood of cosmetic content, seasons and – more recently – all the modes associated with the series, including Forge.

Is Infinite the best Halo in the franchise's history? Not a chance! Halo 3 remains their daddy and the game that put a full stop to the gaming industry in 2007, the year after which everything slowly but surely started going to hell. On the other hand, Infinite is the most open-world Halo, and that counts for something, because it opens the way to a future we have every right to dream about. Of course we'll never get more than this, because Microsoft is rotting from the head down with herp-derp decisions like buying Activision-Blizzard, instead of looking after its console, which is showing signs of dying and which similar to the ring installation. Where the Ouroboros bites its own tail, Cortana's actions meet John's past, the fight with The Banished and the mystery of the Forerunner civilisation. I don't want to spoil the pleasure of the single-player component, especially for those who have been playing Halo since the original Xbox. 343 Industries' vision doesn't live up to the standards Bungie set, but it shouldn't be brushed aside either. It's better than nothing. Seriously though, when will Microsoft understand that an Xbox without new Halo and Gears of War titles isn't really an Xbox? yearns for AAA exclusives capable of standing up to the competition.

Right now, Xbox is a game rental machine. Back in the day it was a cool, radical console, with a spiky haircut, cargo pants and a Slipknot t-shirt. It had personality and an edgy attitude. Play Halo Infinite for a small dose of the cool factor from much simpler times. You'll like it. ► Aidan

GRIND

► The most open-world Halo to date ► Probably the last Halo made by 343 ► Master Chief, gameplay and voice acting ► No couch co-op and no clear direction for the future

IN SHORT

Infinite is 343 Industries' attempt to publish a Halo like the old days, one capable of washing away the mistakes of 4 and 5. Fortunately they did more good than harm, but the series should be handed over to someone else for a safe future.

Genre Master Chief Simulator Producer 343 Industries Distributor Xbox Game Studios Supplier Christmas gift from Rozi Online https://www.halowaypoint.com/

THE HALO 3 ALTERNATIVE

The coolest Halo in the series' history and one of the defining games of that glorious year, 2007.

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@Dosboiaidan Retro Gaming & Tech content creator. Former LEVEL editor, then Second Editor-in-Chief of NIVELUL2 magazine.