This blank canvas that Halo Infinite almost gives the player unsurprisingly leads to the sort of in-game moments that you just want to share with others. These constant moments of freedom offered to the player are immensely satisfying, which is facilitated by Zeta Halo’s massive scale and the new tools of destruction like the Grappleshot. A large group of Grunts incoming? Chuck a blazing-blue plasma grenade into the mix and watch them scatter. Under fire from enemy reinforcements? Drop a shield and turn the tables on your foes. Perhaps you want to pick off The Banished from a distance using a long-range weapon? No problem, use the Grappleshot to reach a higher vantage point and have at it.īut what about those stragglers inside those buildings? Your trusty Assault Rifle should be able to deal with them along with some well-timed melee attacks. You’ll have various weapons and Spartan abilities at your disposal to help you eliminate the enemy, but how you approach it is entirely up to you. When you step out into the game’s first open-ended area and see countless enemies dotted around the environment and strewn into the distance, Halo Infinite presents its first opportunity to really flex its legendary sandbox muscles. Much like that moment where Link stands atop the Great Plateau in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Halo Infinite’s Zeta Halo will likely evoke the same breathtaking reaction in many players – it’s yearning to be explored and is arresting in its beauty. From the vaultĪfter a familiar introduction and getting used to Master Chief’s new toys, the game’s world – and what you can do in it – opens up. Instead, it’s something that never fails to evoke a sense of giddy satisfaction when you use it to open up a new level of verticality to Halo’s combat that hasn’t been possible before. Not once does it feel shoehorned in or unnecessary.
Infamous first light screenshots series#
The Grappleshot adds so much player freedom and traversal options that it’s hard to imagine how Master Chief and the Halo series as a whole ever coped without it. You can pull weapons and canisters towards you scale previously impossible heights and buildings with ease fling yourself around corners to escape danger, and pull yourself towards enemies for a satisfying beat down. The Grappleshot, which has already been rightly lauded in Halo Infinite’s multiplayer, is quite simply a revelation. And thankfully, there’s a handy way to grab these volatile canisters from a distance, too. We’ve been blowing up red barrels and the like in video games for years, but being able to grab and throw these environmental hazards into the face of an onrushing Brute is incredibly liberating. You can now pick up various explosive canisters and lob them at enemies. The first change seems rather insignificant, but it’s something that I never grew tired of during my hands on. However, you’re quickly introduced to a number of new gameplay mechanics and design decisions that have a dramatic effect on how Halo fundamentally feels and plays.
Halo Infinite’s campaign begins in a typically linear fashion as you mow down waves of animated Grunts, burly Brutes, and deadly Elites onboard a now-ravaged spacecraft. And I’m happy to report that it’s better than ever in Halo Infinite. No, it’s the moment-to-moment gameplay that really cemented Bungie’s first-person shooter into the annals of video game history. But I’d argue that the series’ lore isn’t exactly the main reason why so many players fell in love with the original game 20 years ago. Halo Infinite’s story is very promising, then. He’s one terrifying Brute and establishes himself as a formidable foe early on. That was until the guttural, grave tones of the Banished leader Escharum graced my presence. Although the Pilot plays more of an ancillary role early on, I’m excited to find out more about how his story progresses as the game goes on.Īnd as for Halo Infinite’s antagonists, the Banished? Well, let’s just say I can’t remember the last time I was truly intimidated by an enemy in a Halo game. Desperate to return home to his family, The Pilot gets embroiled in helping Chief take down the Banished and seems like he’ll add some grounded perspective to the super-soldier’s relentless pursuit of duty. The Pilot, similarly, is also strangely likable straight away. From her witty interjections to her thoughtful observations, it feels great to have a little voice inside Chief’s head again. The new AI is noticeably more naive than Cortana ever was, too, and like you – the player – she’s slowly trying to piece together everything that’s happened since the Banished – a powerful army consisting of Brutes and Covenants – defeated humanity’s forces, the UNSC.