Halo Infinite (2021)

Wow! what an introduction. After not playing halo 3 or reach for some time this was quite a special comeback. Definitely a throwback to the older halo days, whether thats through the movement, music/sounds, or the fact that the first mission is set in iconic spaceship corridor layouts. Master chiefs one liners are as corny yet loveable as ever and i'm genuinely becoming hooked on the story the more I play.

Yet to see if the open world formula will detract from the experience but a solid start in my books as far as a halo game goes at least. When you hear the warthog run music from halo 3 playing as you descend onto halo its hard not to have a smile on your face!

I am dying a lot in this game on Normal and finding it a bit frustrating, whether to tough bosses, snipers, big mobs of charging brutes, or whatever. It was not long ago that I had a nice time replaying Halo 3 and Reach without this problem, but those were in co-op, which is a very different feeling experience. Of course, this game does not have co-op yet because it was in development hell for half a decade.

I think the campaign so far is decently fun to play though. Some of the visual component is downright amazing before you enter the open world. Not really feeling that open world itself as it seems a bit visually boring and empty, and the side content in it is nothing I’m too anxious to complete. Story became monotonous and uninteresting very quickly, but then again I have never really loved the stories in these games as much as the cool individual moments they lead to.

Not sure how to feel overall yet, to be honest, there are plenty of pros and cons. When I think about my favorite past moments in Halo games, besides local multiplayer with friends back in the day, it’s local co-op campaign, firefight, hours of Slayer matches, all things I can’t exactly do in this game… yet. We’ll see if I still care by then, but I guess the game will get there eventually. For now will definitely see where the rest of this campaign goes.

Apparently 343 is “trying” to by the end of the year get Free-For-All and SWAT added as playlists to the paltry selection they have up until now. And dedicated playlists for normal Team Slayer not until next year??? Is this not Halo’s most iconic mode? I have played Halo for well over a decade, I mean god maybe 15-18 years at this point, and I only play Slayer, SWAT, FFA, and the occasional meme mode like Infection, Grifball, etc..

Quick play already has Slayer just mixed in with a bunch of other stuff, so it makes zero sense that they couldn’t have a standalone playlist for it. CTF and Oddball with randoms who also just want to shoot stuff and drive vehicles is not fun to me. Fiesta mode with random weapons is not that great either. Unbelievable that this was not a core part of the day one plan for a game that’s been in the works for this long by a now-veteran studio.

Multiplayer is a hell of a drug.

Its probably been at least 10 years since I've touched halo. I considered the fight finished in Halo 3. It still is, story wise. Halo 4 onward doesn't exist to me but multiplayer still has that scrappy grip after all this time. Nostalgic feel with tech upgrades.

It's just missing my old friends list and the exciting golden shine that was 2007 xboxlive.