The franchise created by Bungie Studios in 2001 and developed by 343 Industries for a few years, presents Halo Infinite, a reboot of the saga that continues the Master Chief’s fight now in an open world and with free multiplayer.
Halo Infinite It is available for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S.
Before starting this review I am going to share my experience with the Halo world. Like any franchise with 20 years of development, novels and even a series to come; It is obvious that knowing a little about his lore or universe would be great.
I was never a die-hard fan of Halo but I know the impact it has had on gamer culture. The main problem for me is that I am a PC gamer and I was very excited to get hooked on it Halo 1 in 2001 to later discover that its continuations were exclusive to Xbox consoles. Saving a few titles in between, PC folks had to wait Halo: The Master Chief Collection to have up to the fourth game on their machines.
Now before I get to Halo Infinite we should follow the story of Halo 5: Guardians but unfortunately this is not available on PC. You can always read a summary to know all the details but the interesting thing is how despite the lack of information this new part of the saga is perfectly understood and feels like something new.
Salvation at our hands
As previously mentioned, Halo Infinite is the continuation of Halo 5: Guardians and the story happens 2 years after the events of that game. The Master Chief was defeated by Atriox and left wandering through space. Luckily, a pilot who was also adrift, finds him and rescues him.
We soon learn that the Outcasts have won the battle and have taken control of the Zeta ring, taking the remaining humans as prisoners and wiping out all remaining Spartan. Our mission in this case is to return to the ring and recover an AI known as “Weapon” capable of infiltrating and investigating the whereabouts of Cortana. Hot on our heels, we have Commander Escharum, who takes Atriox as the hero to follow and who will not stop to take down the Master Chief.
The story hides some other twists and turns or mysteries that are revealed, but here everything revolves around the Master Chief, there are not so many secondary characters that fill the ring. And if we think that we are dealing with a human character hidden within a terrible armor, what we have to do is give it enough empathy and nostalgia for the idea of having failed and having to redeem oneself. That’s all the feeling it produces Halo Infinite.
Also for those who need extra information, there are various audio files to find on the map that connect events from past games to it.
The fun hook
We cannot talk about Halo without mentioning that they were always games that bet on action and combat. And in Halo Infinite the thing follows the same path. Although there are obvious changes and two important although complementary: the open world and the Spartan hook.
It seems incredible but in recent years the trend of turning everything into an open world continues to be repeated. It can be a fad and some works better than others. In Halo Infinite It could be childbirth sometimes if it weren’t for the beloved hook.
After some introductory sequences and when we find “Arma”, the world of the Ring opens up to us, a vast territory that can be walked on foot or in all the characteristic vehicles of the saga.
Like any open world, the place is divided into zones and practically all of them are within our reach. Almost, since some of us only arrive when we are in that part of the adventure.
There are settlements, underground bases and large protected towers. We can take possession of a place when we link to “Weapon” and we take down the bad guys. So we can quickly travel there or deploy a vehicle. But the truth is that at no time did I see the need to fast travel somewhere. Maybe to finish finding collectibles. The Master Chief’s movements are strong.
The famous hook is the key to moving around the map without getting bored. We can use it anywhere to propel ourselves forward with speed (gravity is not zero but there is a very great freedom in jumps or impulses). The grappling hook in combat is also key to electrocuting enemies, escaping or grabbing a weapon on the ground.
Scattered around the map are Spartan cores that allow us to improve the abilities we find: such as a special barrier, a sonar, the famous hook or a propeller for the sides. It is inscribed as these are selected with different buttons (either keyboard or joystick) but they feel complementary. So we can set up a sonar, hook away, and deploy a barrier to cover ourselves from attack.
Now let’s chat a bit about combat and I have to say that it works in two different ways indoors or outdoors. In the first case, everything is a little more strategic, the action is closer, the enemies manage to take cover or attack you from the side and the difficulty increases a lot when they corner us.
Outdoors things change completely, arbitrariness is more common. We can grab a sniper weapon or anyone with a good scope and shoot an enemy or even a final boss in the distance; and if we are lucky we “dodge”. This is not a bad thing, it is just a trap that takes away the cinematic. It is also much more difficult for them to catch us and we cannot escape; less with the hook and spinning like we’re Tarzan. But on the positive side, this lack of strategy makes it exciting, even when we think that the enemy is not going to approach and ends up doing so. Or while we are walking calmly and a ship launches stations where the Brutes leave and we go from being 1vs12.
Also outdoors we can enjoy the fighting in vehicles and attack from the sky a base that does everything possible to stop us.
It must be recognized that the battles are more personal this time, that the epic moments are more in the cinematics than in the gameplay; although without spoiler intention some final confrontations are worthy of being part of the saga.
One for all and all for one
The campaign of Halo Infinite It does not come alone, it is accompanied by a multiplayer that is free and can be installed separately. This contains all the game’s weapons and abilities. With the exception of saying that it is still in beta.
The fights are the classic ones of capture the flag, keep a skull for a longer time, control an area or team battles. There are 4v4 battles and there are others up to 50 players on larger maps. All very funny although they suffer the typical abandonment of companions or a lack of logic in matchmaking. Topics that happen in all multiplayer games.
The community has also mentioned that the progression in scores to get skins or items is very low and takes a long time. Also that the free battle pass does not include anything as flashy as its paid version does.
Are you there, Spartan?
Halo Infinite suffered some delays after harsh criticism for its graphics, the people of 343 Industries listened to the fans (or people who complain about everything) and did a decent job. Do not expect hyper realistic graphics or anything like that, but its mechanics dovetail with its designs, whether they are enemies such as terrains and bases. To solve the problem of the infinite open world, the game gives us invisible walls or inaccessible structures; breaking a bit that immersion that so much proclaims but nothing that cannot be polished in future deliveries.
I could speak highly of the music (which appears at key moments and is great both in the campaign and in the multiplayer); but I’m going to stop at the dialogues of the enemy NPCs. They have so much charisma that sometimes they even gave me a little tenderness. And they are all functional to what we do and also when they defeat us.
System Requirements
MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows 10 RS5 x64 – Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 or Intel i5-4440 – Memory: 8 GB of RAM – Graphics: AMD RX 570 or Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti – DirectX: Version 12 – Storage: 50 GB available space
RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows 10 19H2 x64
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel i7-9700k – Memory: 16 GB RAM – Graphics: Radeon RX 5700 XT or Nvidia RTX 2070 – DirectX: Version 12 – Storage: 50 GB available space