343’s aim seems to be to take every iconic element from the nearly
two-decades-old series and play it forward for modern shooter fans,
with a theme of ‘familiar but different’. The Covenant are still Spartan-
117’s enemy, but they’ve joined forces with The Banished, a faction
encountered in Halo Wars 2 but not yet seen in a mainline Halo. The
Banished are led by Brutes, thugs that are bigger than Elites and able
to throw Grunts at the player, and display smarter AI behaviour, such as
being able to pick up and use any found weapon. Master Chief has
a few new toys, most notably a grappleshot that he can use to pull
himself towards enemies, and to traverse the environment.
The Halo Ring is fully navigable in Infinite, and is several times
larger than Halo 4 and 5 ’s campaigns put together, dotted with
objective markers and secrets as a reward for exploration of the world.
And what a world Halo Infinite promises us. The game will run
at a locked 60fps in 4K on Xbox Series X, and 343 claims ten times
the processing power per pixel over Halo 5. That’s all mouthwatering
next-gen stuff – but again, looking to the series’ legacy, the return of
split-screen couch co-op hits yet another nostalgic bullseye. Certainly,
taking aim at the series’ most notable design touches and beloved
gameplay moments is a smart move, and Halo’s perfect feedback
loop remains its most treasured facet. Still, merely refining that may
not be enough to put the Chief back on top – Infinite’s real test will
be in how players engage with its keenly-anticipated multiplayer,
of which we have yet to see anything concrete.