I think we’re just getting started…
Let’s turn back the clock. It’s 2001 or 2002. A child, 11 years in age, is hanging out at his local mall. The store in question is a gamer lounge – ten or so televisions lining each wall, a snack bar in the back, and a counter with a single employee stationed to run the shop. A chorus of monks rings from each speaker, some perfectly synced, a few just a few seconds off. A ringworld made of dreams featured on each screen, waiting to be explored. The 11-year-old approaches the counter with five dollars, asks for an hour of playtime, but specifically asks if the clock can start when another person enters the building. As the morning grows closer to afternoon, a few folks ranging in age start filing in, each grabbing their own TV to play on... and the clock starts ticking. Within 30 minutes time, the air is filled with interesting language, laughter, and calls for rematches.
While my love for Halo started in my childhood living room with my brother, it truly sparked with the growing notion that videogames were more than toys for kids. People of all ages came to that store each day, hopping on original XBOX consoles for Player-Versus-Player LAN games. Four bodies to a TV, sometimes a full house by midday on weekends, Halo: Combat Evolved would be all the rage. While I was the youngest of the bunch, there was usually a full range of ages to be found at the controllers. There could be football players from rival schools in the area, marines from a nearby base hanging out on their time off, or even a parent stopping in to play a few rounds... without their kids with them. Ultimately everyone would have a good time in the community melting pot that was Halo. We'd take joyrides in Warthog jeeps, blowing things up with Scorpion tanks, or just talk smack to the teams we'd just beaten in a game of Capture the flag.
Fast forward to the current decade. I’m 33 years in age with 8+ years between Player Support and Community Management in Gaming. Funny enough, I even got to work for Bungie with some of the original creators of Halo. I’m now sitting at my PC writing a mix of a love letter and review about a game and franchise that inspired my career. In this article, we’re talking about Halo Infinite, the most recent title from 343 Industries. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a review per say, but I’ll be going through my recent experiences with the game. We'll run through what I've been enjoying, what I find to cause friction, and what’s brought me back into the fold of weekly Halo play sessions with longtime friends.
Zeta Halo and Campaign:
Roaming Free on Fragmentation
When Halo Infinite first launched, I didn’t give the game much time. My life was in an interesting space, let alone the state of the world. There was COVID, never-ending work in community management, and general anxiety around the direction that my life was heading. It all contributed to a lack of patience. I hesitated to dip into a game that felt like dust and echoes of a past life lived. I initially made my way through a bit of the intro mission, but ultimately dropped off. I put the controller down for a few years, thinking about the game every now and again, but not fully engaging or dedicating much time until the January/February of this year (2024).
Without much reason other than a desire to game, I sat down on my couch and launched Infinite on my Series X. I had my previous compaign save file in-tact, set to Heroic difficulty (Hard, but not the hardest). I immediately reset all of my controls to “default” to embrace some oldschool feels with aim sensitivity and Field of View, then set off a new attempt to adventure with my old friend, Master Chief. I’d already been introduced to Zeta Halo (the fragmented ring world that this game takes place on), "The Weapon", an interesting Cortana stand-in of an AI unit, and Echo-216, my terrified but reliable Pelican jet pilot. Each were chattering in my ear about unlocking FOBs (Forward Operating Bases), taking out Alien targets known as the Banished, and finding an enemy who’d been taking prisoners.
My first instinct was to pull up my map and, well, do anything but the story. I felt the need to clear out every single waypoint on my map before doing any amount of campaign content. In some ways this was great! In others, I lost any and all story related momentum before I even had it. The days of sitting down for a straight shot Halo campaign wouldn't be found here.
Pictured: Tacmap, showcasing points of interest on Zeta Halo
Don’t get me wrong, I actually had a pretty fun time walking and grappling around the terrain of Zeta Halo. For the first time in any Halo game, Master Chief comes equipped with a Grapple Hook of sorts, enabling far more vertical exploration. Whenever scaling large structures or cliff faces, I felt some amount of nostalgia for my time with TES: Skyrim. Rather than walking on an 89 degree angle with my trusty steed, I was zipping throughout the air and grappling to any outcropping that my reticle could find. The joy of swinging from ledge to ledge never wore off as my half-ton green-armored Spiderman, er… I mean Spartan… was gaining altitude towards my next self-made objective.
Clearing the map of waypoints also brought some joy to my completionist brain. Taking out targets from afar with my trusty Battle Rifle or getting in the mix with an Assault Rifle was a good time. Unlocking FOBs to show more waypoints for Spartan Cores, used to upgrade my Grappleshot ability or others that were unlocked later in the campaign, was fun. It was nice unlocking some cosmetic items for my PvP Spartans as well, which we’ll talk about later. Altogether, I spent probably 7 or more hours just mindlessly walking and swinging around Halo while voice chatting with friends, which is something I’d always wanted to do as a kid.
Pictured: Fully upgraded equipment, Grappleshot being the most enjoyable of all.
That said, things did start feeling a bit thin at times. After recently playing a few hours of Helldivers with friends, Zeta Halo felt a bit empty. I've been hoping for more patrolling enemies that were searching to destroy the remaining UNSC Marines on the ring, or even enemies calling for reinforcements as I was taking out enemies in freeroam. Comparable to Destiny 1 destinations, there would be small groups of enemies at various checkpoints or stations, but nothing in the vibe of roaming threats - and this makes things feel a bit dull.
It was still nice to find places of interest that sometimes had challenging enemies to defeat. One that stood out was a pair of Hunters, big armored combatants with massive cannons and shields larger than your character, defending a collectable fairly off the beaten path. Encounters like this gave great feelings of accomplishment as it sometimes took two or three tries to defeat the enemies defending a given item. Skull collectables in particular unlock modifiers for future campaign missions - things like more beefy enemies or removing your radar - which can be fun to mix and match for added difficulty.
Pictured: Not an enemy in sight…
After spending what likely was too much time aimlessly playing, I finally sat down and dedicated my time to clearing the campaign. Truth be told, it wasn't to get further in the story. Rather, it was to unlock more portions of the map/items to collect in freeroam. My wife sat with me for most of it, which honestly brought some nostalgic feelings of couch co-op into my heart even if she wasn’t playing in the world alongside my Master Chief. We laughed, we scoffed, we rolled our eyes, but we had a fun time. I admit to being bummed out by the lack of couch co-op, especially after the feature was announced and cut, but the campaign was still enjoyable in solo fashion.
The writing was fun at times, confusing at others, and there were a few threads that spun up around the rings oracle that I wish I’d learned more of. The voice acting was great, the in-game performances were enjoyable, but the narrative experience had a few rough spots in terms of visuals or objectives. The Weapon AI would flicker in unpleasant ways during important or dramatic cutscenes. A few vehicle heavy missions felt a bit rough compared to previous Halo outings due to vehicle health and fragility, leading to frustrating moments where my "Tank Beats Everything" nostalgia trip ended before it even began. When it came to the actual narrative content, I was fairly lost in many points of my journey as I hadn’t been following along through Halo 4, 5, or the Halo Wars games. At the end of it all, it was still a pleasant re-launching point for my interest in the story of Halo. What’s that big ol’ brute going to do with all those weird metal snowboards floating around a weird room? What fight is there left to finish now? What’s the deal with all the ships in the skybox around the Halo? How is the UNSC (Human Military Force) going to deal with this interesting new threat.? While I’d hope for some Halo Infinite DLC to navigate these questions, it’s not looking like that’s going to happen any time soon.
Maybe we’ll see answers to some of these questions in a future game, or some Halo novels. Until then, I’ll be keeping myself busy with a run through of the campaign on the higher Legendary difficulty to finish hunting achievements in online co-op, or maybe a bit of Multiplayer…
Multiplayer Offerings, Maps, and Modes:
Just One More Firefight.
As I’ve come back after a few years of maintenance/improvements to the game from 343, I have the pleasure of feasting on a much greater palette of multiplayer content than there was at launch. The fruits of their labor are on full display through a far larger amount of playlists and game modes available to players in 2024, and more rotating activities to keep things fun from week to week. You could be running 4v4 Team Slayer (Deathmatch) for one or two games, then transition to larger team sized objective modes like King of the Hill or Capture the Flag. In the last year, Firefight has also come back into the fold, pitting a four player team against AI enemies of scaling difficulty, giving a multiplayer night some flexibility to go into a PvE realm.
Pictured: Multiplayer Playlist Menu
My first few games were in 12v12 Big Team Battle, the Halo equivalent to… well, I actually don’t know. Halo is the only game I’ve played recently that has alien spacecraft (Banshees) raining down bombs of plasma as friendly Warthog jeeps are assaulting an enemy base full of armored humanoid opponents wielding sniper rifles, designated marksman rifles, electric grenades, all while some jerk with an Energy Sword is laughing at my corpse after a failed swing of a massive Gravity Hammer. Even with all of the chaos, things clicked pretty fast for me. This is likely thanks in part to my addiction to first-person-shooter games, all of which are fairly close in feel. Aim with thumbsticks (yes, I use an Xbox controller even on PC), shoot with a trigger, throw grenades, etc. While my game settings needed some fine-tuning to get to modern day control schemes, my Kill/Death/Assist ratio wasn’t too far off from my teen years. Sure, I wasn’t the best player back then, but I could hold my own to get a few double kills from time to time. Regarding controls, the customization in Infinite is deep. It’s hard for me to approach as someone who’s not accustomed to tuning massive amounts of settings. I ticked up my sensitivity a bit, played around with the weapon placement on my screen, and then hopped back into the fray. Some folks can go insanely deep in customization when it comes to "deadzones", weapon zoom, and aim acceleration settings… but this is where my more casual background shines. I could spend a few hours really homing in the perfect settings to maximize my capabilities – but ultimately, I just want to play the damn game and leave the majority of settings at default.
Pictured: Portion of Settings Menu
I do have to shout out to all of the folks at 343 that worked to deliver this level of customization, though. Even if it isn't super useful to me, it brings far more accessibility to the game for folks who need this amount of depth to make the game playable. While Infinite doesn’t have every setting or toggle to make it the most accessible game ever made, every move in this direction is great for gamers everywhere. The more people who can hop in and enjoy playing a game, the larger the community ultimately can become. I’m hoping to see it become more of a norm in this industry.
Moving along, I also have the benefit of coming back into Infinite after Forge was reintroduced to Halo. For those unfamiliar, Forge is a map editing tool that was first released in 2007 via Halo 3. While the feature was a bit delayed in Infinite, it has been beefed up beyond expectation to become a far more in-depth map creator. While a bulk of creation is reliant on pre-fab items and geometry, this is more than what Halo players have ever had. Thanks to the depth, players have been able to make more quality multiplayer maps faster than previous titles, leading to more content in the game to enjoy. While I couldn't tell you how many player-made maps have been released into the pool since Forge was reintroduced, I was able to see multiple make their way into the Big Team Battle playlist during my first few weeks back. Even the Firefight playlist has gotten a few more maps into the rotation with custom equipment/weapon placement thanks to the editing tool. Ultimately, this has led to multiple game nights where my friends and I could hop into a different playlist for variety and be pleasantly surprised with a new map, or even remakes of maps from previous Halo titles.
Pictured: Firefight on Vallaheim, remake of Valhalla from Halo 3
The sad thing when talking about Forge creations is how much more enjoyable I find many of the community made maps to be in comparison to the launch maps of Infinite. Between objectives that spawn well outside of bases, vehicle spawns that have awkward delays due to Pelican dropship deliveries, and awkwardly asymmetrical layouts with symmetrical objective types, I feel many larger 343 created maps do not play well. 343 maps dedicated for 4v4, however, all feel fairly solid. In some ways, it felt as if the development team had a great pulse on the competitive side of Halo when launching the game, but lacked a good sense on what made the larger/more casual experiences of Halo feel fun. At the end of the day I’m thankful that there are a handful of maps that feel more classic to play on. Whether they be remakes of older Halo maps or new creations crafted by the community, they’re welcome additions.
Multiplayer Balance:
Some Change for the Sake of Change
Let’s talk balance a bit. 343 has done a great job with Infinite in making this feel like a nostalgic Halo game, but there are a handful of changes to gameplay or previously enjoyed loops that end up breaking my enjoyment to a degree. In years past, it would be a joy to hop into a warthog and go on fun sprees, mowing down enemies with the turret or driving a friend to larger kill-streaks while other team mates were focusing on capturing flags. In infinite, there feel to be far more “answers” to vehicles that require less thought or strategy, sadly tarnishing one of my favorite aspects of the Halo sandbox.
Pictured: Brute Chopper disabled by Electric Weapon, or Electric Grenade – I couldn’t really tell.
Electric type grenades or weapons can easily disable vehicles, quickly ending a joyride with less aim required than a Halo 3 plasma pistol or sticky plasma grenades. Sniper Rifles do large amounts of damage, easily taking out lightly armored vehicles (or even tanks) while still leaving ammo to pick off infantry in the field. Grapples can close the gap to disabled vehicles, or even grant a quick car-jacking, leading to many moments of frustration due to the general ease of shutting down what used to feel like a power-play.
Equipment in general can also be a mixed bag. While the personal elation I’ve had while pushing an opponent into a pit of death with my wrist mounted Repulsor is unparalleled, it’s equally as rage-inducing when an enemy denies a vehicle splatter simply by pressing their equipment button. It’s the equivalent of my ultimate displeasure with Armor Lock in Halo: Reach – what once was an incredibly gratifying kill thanks to a well-placed plasma grenade or well-timed vehicle boost, your play is now a deathtrap thanks to a quickly respawning piece of personal equipment that can be spammed at a moments notice. 343 did add a piece of equipment that I enjoy - one to regenerate shields or even heal vehicles - but the equipment isn't available on every map.
Pictured: Moments before disaster
When it comes to gun feel, Infinite straddles a few different lanes. In some ways, the game feels like it was mainly balanced for skill. Between fine tuning control settings and how many of the weapons handle bullet bloom and recoil during a firefight, I can see how the game plays well in tournament settings. There’s no greater feeling than getting a “perfect” medal by landing 100% headshots for a kill or practicing for weeks to master the way a weapon fires. That said, a few weapons feel strangely out of place, and aim assist sometimes clashes with mastery. The Plasma Pistol, a neat alien weapons from previous games, no longer disables vehicles with a well timed shot... and the charge time oddly feels different when compared to older versions. The Plasma Carbine, the Banished equivalent to a Battle Rifle, is generally clunky due to the slow speed of its energy projectiles. It's easy to strafe between shots and usually ends with me wishing I had any other weapon in the sandbox, begging the question of why it exists in the PvP environment.
I also question why the DMR was brought back in two flavors, one with a holo-sight and one with iron sights. The sighted version feels far superior in both look and feel thanks to some added zoom when dealing with longer range engagements, but isn’t default. Outside of these, most everything else feels solid. Ye olde Battle Rifle, Auto Rifle, and even the sidearm can be a joy to use. Slicing through enemies with an Energy Sword is unparalleled. One new addition in Infinite is a favorite - the Skewer. Basically imagine a rocket launcher that shoots a giant, high speed metal spike that impales your foes. Even with some interesting additions, still missing some weapons from previous Halo games - the Spartan Laser, the original pump action shotgun, or even the Covenant Carbine. Each have been replaced to a degree with alternate weapons, but my nostalgia still begs for their return. When it comes to the feel of aiming my weapons during a gunfight, I admit to having some difficulty at times. I can’t tell if some amount of aim assist was changed in Infinite compared to older games or if my Field of View settings are making things feel a bit different, but I find myself scratching my head often wondering why things feel weird compared to older Halo titles. Maybe I'm just getting old, who knows.
Pictured: Customized Ma40 Assault Rifle
To end my more “friction” based thoughts around PvP, I have to talk a bit about objective items. It’s a silly gripe all things considered, but something about the choice of melee damage settings when holding objectives grinds my gears. Oddballs, the cool skulls that your team holds to earn points, or Flags for Capture the Flag modes, are two-hit melee kills in Halo Infinite. Back in my day (I say as I say while shaking my fist at the young whipper snappers sitting on my lawn), objective items were one-hit kills. If you are bold enough to infiltrate an enemy base to grab a flag or get your hands on an oddball, you’re at a large disadvantage compared to opponents. Often, your location is marked by a waypoint in your opponents HUD, or you’re slowed due to the weight of the object you’re carrying. You’re unable to fire weapons or really protect yourself, save smacking your opponent in the face. Cracking a skull with a literal skull is a delight, but nowadays due to the two-hit requirement, most attempts end in failure, trades, or an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. I long for the days where I could make a slightly offensive play while holding an object.
Pictured: Desperation in Capturing a Flag
To newer players, these changes to the formula are the norm. To folks like me from what feels like an ancient past, what used to be exciting moments usually end up being a disappointment reminder that things have changed. Is this better or worse for Halo and the everchanging playerbase? I couldn't even attempt to say my opinions here are the "correct" ones. End of the day, this is just how I'm feeling.
Character Customization:
Cosmetically Appealing, for a Price
I have to say, without a doubt, that Halo Infinite has provided more opportunities for me to make Spartans that I wish I could be than any Halo before. This is thanks in part to time – numerous armor sets and pieces have been released since launch, and systems have been updated to allow slightly deeper customization. That said, there are numerous limitations on these customization systems within the Armor Hall, and quite a few decisions made in Halo Infinite that drive the harshest of my gripes for the game.
Pictured: Customization on the recently released Mark IV Armor Core
For a quick explanation, your character customization primarily lives in a "Spartan Core" system. Each Spartan Core is effectively a unique Spartan that you can build based on a version of spartan armor from the Halo universe. The main friction comes from the lack of ability to use armor pieces, armor coatings, or other customization options across each Spartan Core. My silly explanation, imagine you have five Barbie dolls, each with a variety of outfits, but you can't put pieces of those outfits on other dolls in your collection. Even if they look like they're the same doll, you can't put that fancy wristband or that cute tank top on a doll that didn't come with them.
While there are many technical or justifiable reasons that one could make from a developer perspective in Infinite, it's hard for me to look at something like a paint swatch or camera mount on a helmet and accept that it can't be applied to most pieces in my collection. Many spartan cores are indeed different in size when I look at the underlying "bone structure" that each has - but things like shoulder pads, knee pads, wrist guards and helmet attachments feel like they should have been made from the start to fit any and all core types.
Thankfully, 343 has been doing work to address this style of complaint. Helmets and shoulder pads are all cross-core now, and the majority of armor coatings are as well. While I still may be frustrated over many helmet-attachments being limited or wrist guards being locked to specific spartan cores, it's good to see the changes.
Pictured: Legendary Armor Coating, Zero Customization, Pink for some reason
When it comes to Armor Coatings (color customization), my frustrations are similarly driven by what feel like arbitrary limitations, or limitations to push me towards additional purchases. In Halo games past, you had a collection of free primary colors, secondary colors, an emblems - and that’s about it. While limited in scope, players could customize things within the confines of this system and call it a day, no further purchase necessary. Infinite offers far more potential in character customization, but the majority is locked to preset combinations. As an example, I've provided an image of my Spartan above with a slick Black/Gold armor scheme. It's pretty cool that one arm can be gold, most other pieces black... but I'm unable to edit the pink pattern underneath it all. On top of that, this armor coating is only available through a paid bundle. It's understandable that 343 needed ways in which to fund further development cycles, but these limitations inspire more frustrations with the system rather than desire to spend. I'd be excited to purchase things like unique glows, patterns, and even individual armor pieces if available. Sadly I'm sitting here waiting for the opportunity to spend money, just to make a clean Spartan with a Black/Marigold color palette - no random pinks, reds, greens, or armor bundles forcibly included.
Pictured: Lineup of Armor Cores
I must give credit where it’s due: 343 has been giving players opportunities to earn free cosmetics since launch through limited time weekly challenges, as well as giving players free armor cores like the recently released Mark IV core from Halo Wars. Visor colors, Armor Coatings, Shoulder Pads, and more can be earned by playing the game, but many of these are only available for a week at a time.
343 has also been releasing free "Operation" reward tracks every few weeks since I've jumped back in. These are basically limited time event tracks (or permanent, if you spend a bit of cash) to replace full on Seasons of content. There are a collection of freebies to earn, but they're usually themed or dedicated to a specific Armor Core.
Pictured: Operation Cyber Showdown III Reward Track
In the campaign, there is also a collection of cosmetics that I've been earning by scouring the map for UNSC Lockers. While these are limited to player stances, emblems, and coatings, it’s still nice to have some items to earn for free. Additionally, 343 created some options for Prosthesis, giving more players ways in which to represent themselves through their spartan avatars. It may be limited, but it's a nice touch.
Pictured: Prosthesis Customization
I’ve heard whispers that weekly cosmetic items may become available in the future through a MCC like unlock system – but I’ll be waiting for more official announcements before getting too excited. 343 has been featuring some great comms on Halo Waypoint and livestreams, so I'll likely be tuned in waiting for some fun news.
In retrospect, I truly have found a great deal of pleasure playing with the customization offered within Infinite while finding the things that work well together. Sadly, I’m ridiculously nitpicky when it comes to customization. Always searching for perfection, I’m so close to making my perfect Spartan. So close, yet so far…
Community: A Library of Content
My final thoughts on infinite are centered around how 343 has embraced and elevated visibility of community created content. I mentioned above how Forge has reinvigorated a few playlists thanks to community created maps, but I’d also like to put a spotlight on the community tab within the game itself. This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to quickly browse a list of community custom games and get into the mix without using a website or LFG forum, and it’s pretty nifty.
Pictured: In-game Community Tab
I've found a handful of modes and maps squarely focused on competition, as expected from the Halo community. That said, I also found myself loading in to a random custom game where a player had recreated aspects of Fall Guys. I couldn't stop laughing as I ran my Spartan around, tile to tile, trying not to fall into a pit of lava while others scrambled to do the same. Players could filter in and out as they wanted, and I even got a small chunk of XP for my time.
Shout out to UneeQ who recently shared Inquisitor, a remake of Midship from Halo 2, arguably one of the best Halo maps ever made. The fact that I can bookmark this, load it up, and dominate my friend Helveck in a 1v1 without much effort just makes things feel like… Halo. That, or my bud Mobi trash talking both of us as he puts up the highest points in a larger match.
Pictured: Inquisitor, a Midship Remake, by UneeQ
I’m excited to see more maps coming in, as 343 just recently announced 5 player made maps from the Husky Raid group going into matchmaking, not to mention the new Elevator map for 4v4 modes. If the studio can continue to leverage this player made content frequently, it’s going to keep me coming back for months on end.
Pictured: Theater Mode
As a final note here, I have to applaud the continued inclusion of a Theater mode. While streaming has pushed more folks to a first person PoV when sharing content, the fact that I can load up a recent match to snag screenshots for a random article I’m writing is pretty nice. It’s a bit clunky at times, but free flying to see the action of Halo, or even trying to learn the movement of a good opponent, is never a bad thing to have.
Closing the Loop, er… Halo.
High points and low, I’ve always wondered what Halo could become in the current era. From the dawning of Xbox, through the advent of Live, over rough seas and uncertainty… this is where we’ve landed. Halo Infinite has somehow recaptured my joy of Halo, and I would be remised if I didn’t say I was overjoyed to say it. Expanding my weekly gaming sessions to more than a couple of titles has done wonders for my enjoyment of gaming in general. A little bit of mobile gaming here, a few raids there, and a great night of laughing with my teammates in Halo just feels so right.
Pictured: Team Doubles – Cosplay a Spartan III in combat… or just roll with some Cat Ears
In the years since launch, 343 has done a great job in adding community content, variety, and generally keeping things afloat while players hit the grind. There are tons of great systems in Infinite to find between training grounds, AI matches, deeper customization, and more. While it’s taken a bit of time to get Infinite to feeling like a fuller Halo package, it feels like it’s there in 2024. I’m still waiting for a few things (more PvE campaign style missions, as an example) – but there’s no real promise of that… and that’s OK. There’s more than enough here to keep me busy for quite some time.
I may have my gripes. I may even close the game in frustration from time to time. In the grand scheme, I’m reminded of a few play sessions in 2005 when I’d freshly gotten my ass kicked in Team Doubles on Halo 2. I’d complain a bit about the balance, even talk smack about the map I’d just played and the player spawns to blame for the loss. Even with that frustration, I’d wake up the next day thinking about signing on after school to play a bit more. Thankfully, now in 2024, I find myself with similar things wondering when I’d be getting a game together with the buds in Halo Infinite.
Thanks for reading. If you've made it this far, I can only assume you're genuinely interested in my ramblings. While I think this will be one of the longer blog articles that I post, I hope to be sending these out once or twice a month. I may even split some up into 2 or 3 articles to avoid a brutal 20 minute read! Feel free to subscribe if you're so inclined. There's also a feedback form on the main page. Happy to hear your thoughts, and suggestions for games I should check out in the future! Thanks again for stopping by as I try this out. See you next time!