Halo Infinite Reviews

With an adventurous campaign, complete with a sandbox that’ll still be there when your friends can join the fight, and a multiplayer suite that feels like a note-perfect revival of the Halo of old, Halo Infinite feels like the complete blockbuster sci-fi shooter we’ve been waiting for from 343 Industries. It hasn’t happened overnight for the team, but the mantle passed to them, at last, feels earned.

Halo Infinite is a fresh new take on the franchise, and manages to bring everything together into a game that is innovative, familiar, and a lot of fun to play.

Despite an unfulfilling progression grind and lack of regular content updates, Halo Infinite hosts a welcome assortment of fun multiplayer modes.

It looks like third time’s a charm for 343 Industries, who’s spent the past decade trying to live up to making a Halo worthy of its original creators Bungie.

“Halo Infinite isn't going to reinvent the shooter genre, but it's a fun solo and multiplayer experience that can only get better with time.”

Halo Infinite Review

While there are some improvements that can be made, Halo: Infinite is a return to form for the storied FPS franchise.

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.

343i had failed to live up to the high bar set by Bungie — until now. It was worth the wait to see Master Chief return in such an impressive manner and I am once again excited for the future of this franchise. The multiplayer and campaign combine to make a stellar experience.

I’ve never been more anxious about a game than with Halo Infinite. Halo has always been a huge part of my life and of those games that really got me into gaming. Booting up Combat Evolved for the first time, I was blinded by its majesty. Since then I’ve played just about every Halo game and put countless hours into both the single player and multiplayer of the franchise. I could always count on Halo for a good time.

Brace yourself, Spartan. Six years after its last game, the Halo series returns with an open-world game that provides a mix of nostalgic and modern elements that make for a satisfying journey through an old, familiar planet.

Thanks to a stellar campaign that recapture the essence of Halo while also redefining the series' long-standing formula, and an insanely addictive multiplayer component that has all the pieces in place for improving even further as time goes on, Halo Infinite is one of the series' best outings in years, if not ever.

When all is said and done, Halo: Infinite delivers an amazing entry into the franchise. While it doesn’t manage to take the top spot on my personal list of favorite Halo games(Remember Reach!) it is easily in my top three. And with Xbox looking to keep players engaged with Xbox Game Pass I can only imagine that we will be getting more stories with the Chief as he continues his fight against the Banished. If 343 Industries can keep what comes next to the same level of fun and polish they have established here, I will gladly pick up my trusty Battle Rifle anytime they have a new mission for me.

Like Master Chief himself, Infinite lets its combat do the talking while looking towards a bright future. After that initial showing, we couldn’t ask for more.

I would argue that Halo Infinite could and should be marked as a fresh start to the series, even though it's the third of 343 Industries titles and marks the last of the originally planned "reclaimer trilogy". This trilogy is now a saga. Why could it be marked as a fresh start? Because it feels like a jump in the same way that Origins was to Assassin's Creed, only this is far more polished and well-designed.

While Halo Infinite's campaign structure is new territory for the series, and will likely divide opinion, it tells a good story, and creates moments that rank it in the top half when it comes to good Halo campaigns. Throw in a phenomenal multiplayer arena and some stellar shooter mechanics, and it's safe to say that 343 has finally put its stamp on the wonderful world of Halo.

Halo Infinite is a quintessential Halo experience. 343 Industries has managed to create a Halo that harkens back to the classics while still ensuring it feels modern without muddying the iconic feel that long-time Halo fans have come to love. For those that follow the narrative closely, the story that is told in Halo Infinite is heartfelt and emotive, and may just bring you to tears. Not only does Halo Infinite offer a return to greatness, it caps off important stories while introducing new and exciting mysteries. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to experience it in co-op at launch. And even though the multiplayer has some growing pains to work through, it remains an absolute treat to play, especially with a group of friends. Hats off to 343 Industries. The whole team should feel proud because Halo Infinite is an instant classic. Halo’s back, baby!

How do you even consider Halo Infinite in totality? Not just any Halo game but this Halo game—one that was supposed to herald a new generation of Xboxes but was delayed out of the launch window; one that’s had no shortage of public scrutiny over its tumultuous development process; one that’s not even out yet but has already been the centerpiece of multiple internet-dominating conversations; and, most crucially, one that’s meant to revitalize a totemic first-person shooter series after a stretch of metabolic dormancy. There are so many expectations on Halo Infinite’s armor-clad shoulders that you’d think it’d crumble apart in a pile of pixels. Every single player is bound to come into this game with their own predetermined definition of what it is and what it stands for. I sure as hell did.

Master Chief's long-awaited return comes frustratingly close to greatness.

Halo fans, myself included, have eagerly and sometimes impatiently awaited the arrival of Halo Infinite. 343 have finally delivered the follow-up to Halo 5: Guardians more than six years later. At this point, many are relatively aware of the immense, time-consuming challenges development studios face when creating massive AAA projects. While little is known of what occurred behind the scenes during these last six years, it’s evident that the direction shifted significantly at 343. Having played the entirety of Infinite’s campaign and spending nearly sixty hours across flights and the current state of multiplayer, I strongly believe the game could’ve used more time in development. Development is ongoing, but I’d have much preferred a more complete package on day one.

Halo Infinite is a strong package, offering exceptional story missions in a campaign with a underutilized open-world, and compelling, chaotic multiplayer. Its campaign offers yet another unmissable adventure with the Master Chief, giving us a glimpse at a more emotional man inside the armor. The world of Zeta Halo is a solid foundation for the series' open-world format, but its side content all feels a little basic and there's not a massive amount of it in favor of keeping attention on the main missions. It's a step forward for the series, but does nothing groundbreaking in terms of industry standards. Fortunately, the combat gameplay remains some of the most enjoyable in games right now. The lack of co-op campaign at launch is a little disappointing, but the promise of its release in 2022 will give players all the more reason to reclaim Zeta Halo from the Banished all over again. For now, the classic Halo multiplayer offering will be more than enough to keep them playing for months on end, even if the game modes and maps offering needs some refinement, ideally sooner rather than later. This is the evolution the series needed and provides a promising foundation for the future of the series.

With Halo Infinite, 343 Industries seems to want to break the cycle and start afresh. The irony is that it has done so by drawing closer to the past.

Microsoft's new shooter delivers. It's very old-school, but that's what I like. Halo Infinite will not revolutionize the genre, but not only groundbreaking works can provide entertainment.

Halo Infinite might be kind of underwhelming on the single player side, but multiplayer has tons of promise if 343 can tackle launch issues swiftly.

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 does a great job of nailing what makes Halo work so well while expanding the gameplay, adding in new elements like an open world and new armor abilities. The core experience can still be found in the linear style levels you'll come across so there's something for new or returning Halo fans. The Multiplayer itself is fun but does seem feature lite while in its "beta" phase.

No game has been more emblematic of Microsoft’s shift in priorities post-Game Pass than Halo Infinite. Its free-to-play multiplayer launched ahead of its planned release date, with 343 Industries providing the full experience — albeit in beta form — in November. Now, its long-awaited single-player campaign is gearing up for launch, with it headed to Game Pass as a wholly separate component. This untraditional release highlights the good, the bad, and the ugly of games launching through the Game Pass service, as while Halo Infinite truly feels like the start of something special for 343 Industries — the developer has stated that Infinite is a decade-long platform for Halo — it’s also been left unfinished by design.

I may be a shameless simp who grew up with classic Halo LAN parties where I demolished my trash friends and sees Halo Infinite as a dream come true, but I am far from alone in that. Play Halo Infinite on an Xbox Series X on the biggest and best screen possible, and it’ll be the best game experience of 2021 — maybe even 2022.

Just over 20 years since we first meet John-117 on the Pillar of Autumn, Halo Infinite continues the big, green spaceman’s journey to defeat otherworldly foes. 343 Industries, with the support of Certain Affinity and SkyBox Labs, may have struggled with significant delays but the result is a solid entry to the story and a new direction for the multiplayer.

I rumble along in the armored cocoon of my Scorpion tank, scaling an elevated path to the Banished stronghold. With each explosive cannon blast, the outer sentries prove they’re not much of a threat, but my foes have prepared for this approach, and the narrow mountain path hits a blockade. While my marines disembark and charge ahead, I grapple up into the nearby hills and begin to pick off Jackals with a unique variant sniper rifle – spoils of an earlier conquest. But no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and I’m eventually scaling the outer fort wall and dropping into a nest of entrenched Brutes, as the familiar rattle of my assault rifle begins to clear the way.

Halo Infinite's campaign closes a few doors and opens some others, and even if the open-world stylings could be better integrated into the overarching gameplay design, it's a title that pays homage to the past while looking to the future. The refined and addictive multiplayer is a certifiable breath of fresh air, even if the menacing wind of microtransactions blows simultaneously.

The missions I’ve played so far have kicked off a big mystery, and right now, I have a lot of questions, and not a lot of answers. I’m loving the feel of being out on my own in this most wonderful of video game universes, the vistas and sounds of Zeta Halo washing over me as I make my way from small USNC outpost to large Banished installation. I love the modern feel and sound of this new take on Halo.