4/5 ★ – the90sfirst's review of Halo Infinite.

Long standing franchises are constantly battling to keep their fanbase content. One wrong design idea either in the narrative or gameplay can spell doom for even the biggest franchises. Series like Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, and even Pokémon are under watchful eyes from passionate fans wanting the best for their favorite games. Developers have to walk the fine line between being innovative and satisfying to the players. The balance between pushing the envelope and building on what has come before must be a development nightmare. This song and dance was the same for Halo Infinite. Having already been delayed a year, 343 Industries had a mountain to climb. From the infamous Craig debacle from E3 2020, to the delay of series staples such as campaign co-op, Halo was in a tough spot. Delivering a good campaign and multiplayer experience was completely necessary for the Halo brand. Infinite had to deliver, no exception. With the surprise release of multiplayer a few weeks before the launch of the campaign, the gunplay and movement style presented in the free-to-play multiplayer suite brought high hopes for the campaign. The gun design and mechanics facilitated a top of the line arena shooter, making it even harder to wait for the long awaited return of Master Chief. In short, the campaign brought a phenomenal experience. Certainly there were things left to be desired, but the Master Chief and Halo were brought back in style. Master Chief, along with the grapple shot and an open world, has never been better, creating one of the most memorable experiences Halo has ever had. Gunplay: If it weren’t for the Grapple Shot (which I will get to later), the guns would be the stand out of this game. Each gun feels unique and brings a different level of strategy depending on what you’re using. There are obviously the series staples. The pistol feels like it’s Halo Combat Evolved counterpart. The Battle Rifle is better than it ever has been. Movement style in Infinite creates the best experience with the Energy Sword to date. Finally, the Sniper is as fun as ever, clipping heads from long distances with ease. In contrast, the new guns are some of the best additions to the sandbox that Halo has ever seen. I found myself gravitating towards guns such as the Shock Rifle (a shock sniper that one hits an enemy with a head shot), the Sentinel Beam (an energy beam that obliterates an enemy), and the clear stand-out, the Mauler (a pistol shotgun that packs a lot of damage). The Mauler was almost exclusively in my load-out. Design wise, the Mauler is perfect for Halo Infinite because of the amount of damage it does while using small amounts of ammo. This is a design that truly stands out in Halo Infinite. It rewards you for using different guns throughout the game, making a very unpredictable and resourceful Master Chief. Ammo for each gun type wasn’t always readily available, forcing me to use different guns in pivotal moments. So many times I had to drop a gun and pick up or grapple another to stay in the fight. Nothing felt better than running out of ammo, grappling another gun to switch it out, and then dominating the Banished. Gunplay, however, is nothing without sound design. Halo Infinite has some of the best sound design for guns in shooter history. Each gun sounds incredibly unique. Even guns in the same ammo family sound different, ultimately making it feel as if each gun mattered. I might have leaned towards certain guns within the sandbox but no matter what gun I was using, I felt as if it was making a difference in my battles. Movement: Plain and simple, Halo Infinite’s movement is the best the series has ever seen. In the broader spectrum of video games, it is one of the best movement designs ever. Sprinting has certainly been in the series before, whether it was a timed sprint (Halo Reach and Halo 4) or if it was a continual sprint (Halo 5), but neither comes close to the feel of the sprint in Infinite. Master Chief feels so powerful and determined in his sprint, but his sprint is nothing without the Grapple Shot. I said it before, and I will say it again. The Grapple Shot is the BEST thing that has ever happened to Halo. Movement throughout the open world felt so satisfying. Being able to grapple to everything and swing everywhere is monumental to the experience. The only time I really used vehicles was to battle the enemy tanks, but for the most part when I entered a vehicle it was because I grappled an enemy out of it. The only sour spot that came with the Grapple Shot is that it made all of the field upgrades, besides the health upgrade, useless. The only other upgrade I made to Master Chief was to the Threat Sensor, and even that I upgraded once to get a wider radius. There was no need to upgrade anything else because if I got into trouble, I would just grapple out of the situation, heal up, and then most likely grapple back in. I never used the Thruster mod and I barely used the Shield. All of this is to say that the Grapple Shot is truly the only necessary upgrade along with the Armor. Additionally, this is a good spot to bring up that switching your grenades and field upgrade mapped to the D-Pad is extremely tedious. I may have used other upgrades if it was easier to switch to them. Environments: The open world of Halo Infinite is solid. It isn’t quite as diverse as one would hope. Maybe different biomes throughout Zeta Halo would have made for a more well rounded experience. Despite that, it was still incredibly fun to traverse with the Grapple Shot. Different elevation throughout the ring made for varied battles with the Banished. Not one single fight was the same as the others. Couple that with the different guns and exploding canisters at your disposal, each encounter was truly unique. Zeta Halo is gorgeous. Taking the year off that they did really helped 343 bring the life out of this world in its color and design. Each corner of the ring presented new places to explore and no place was unreachable with the Grapple Shot. I found myself exploring and clearing bases more than I ever do in an open world game because the traversal was so fun and satisfying. As joyful and inviting the open world was, that same sentiment doesn’t hold true with the more story focused level designs. When pushing the story forward, a lot of times I found myself in buildings or bases that had several of the same designs. I honestly can’t count the amount of times I went through a certain tunnel with a ramp to get to a higher level. It would have been nice to engage with the Banished in different color palettes that black and blue, but I certainly understand the development side of it. Using the same style and room design makes it easier to develop more of the game in a shorter amount of time. Despite all of that, these rooms had enough variance that each encounter with the Banished was different. Having gun racks littered throughout these rooms still offered that sandbox feeling of using the resources that were at my disposal. Nothing in the industry quite hits the same for me when it comes to using your surroundings to continue the fight. Story: The Banished. A neglected group of the Covenant “banished” to Zeta Halo but made the ring their own. At least until the Master Chief shows up. I truly enjoyed each of the varied type of Banished in the game. Each encounter presented its own type of challenge. Whether it was a cloaked Banished with an Energy Sword or a big Brute who had heavy armor and a hand cannon. My time defeating the Banished was joyful. But, my main enemy didn’t seem to have too much to do with the story at large. Certainly the Banished are trying to make Zeta Halo their own, but the impact towards the story, specifically the dynamic between the Weapon and the Chief, wasn’t clear. They just seemed to be enemies that I had to fight through to figure out who the Weapon was. Speaking of the Weapon: what a wonderful surprise to the lore of Halo. She is a wonderful character and I can’t truly get into her without spoiling the story, but take it from me, I can’t wait to be exploring more story content with the Weapon by my side. In the end, I believe the story delivered, but the story beats to get there didn’t impact me as much as I look for in a Halo story. But this is a great start and guide for the future of the franchise. Verdict: Halo Infinite is a perfect game if gameplay was the only thing considered. Controlling the Master Chief is exciting, joyful, satisfying, and, because of the Grapple Shot, innovative. Gunplay has never been better in a Halo game, making this the best sandbox to date in the franchise. Unfortunately, the slightly underwhelming story and the lack of diversity in both the open world and the story levels hurt the game overall, but only slightly. I still believe this is the best Halo experience to date. Master Chief is back and better than ever to single handedly finish this fight. Verdict: 4/5 ------------ This review was written by Mike of The ‘90s First Podcasting Network. Each and every week join Mike and others on our video game debate show Test Your Might, airing every Tuesday @ 5pm CST on YouTube and all podcasting platforms.