PC Gamer - UK (2022-02)

What this results in is a game that

could be a true return to form for

Master Chief – but I’m just not

convinced Halo really needed to be

an open world.

Let’s make one

thing clear though: this

is some damn fine

Halo. Having played

Halo 3 with the lads

every weekend for the

last year, Infinite comes

as a breath of fresh air.

Running and gunning

in Halo has never felt

this good, Master Chief moving with

a real heft even as he slides and

mantles his way across ancient

alien amphitheatres.

Halo Infinite’s multiplayer gave us

a taste of this, launching a month

ahead of the story proper. But where

the game’s arsenal feels a little flat in

team slayer, the campaign helps even

the flimsiest weapons shine thanks to

a menagerie of alien baddies with

unique behaviours. Weapon types

have never felt more important,

especially on harder difficulties

(I played through on Heroic), and

juggling between bursting shields

with plasma, busting skulls with

kinetic, and stunning

foes with shock

weapons becomes

crucial. It helps that

every weapon feels

great, snapping and

popping and busting

with satisfying sounds.

Infinite’s firefights

feel electric, hectic, a

constant grab-bag of finding the next

best tool (even if that means tossing a

nearby plasma barrel at a pack of

Grunts). But none of this comes close

to the sheer absolute thrill of the

grappling hook. Infinite immediately

hands you a length of rope with

which to fling yourself around

Zeta Halo with.

At first you’re pulling yourself out

of enemy fire and grappling vehicles,

but a few upgrades will turn it into a

deadly electric wire that shocks

unshielded baddies and lets you

slam-dunk entire packs of foes with a

tap of the melee button. This comes

at the cost of making the rest of the

equipment feel a little redundant,

mind. Changing equipment on the

fly is a hassle and, honestly, you’re

always best served with the utility

of a simple hooked rope.

RING ROAD

That grapple is also essential for

exploring Halo Infinite’s open world.

Introduced after two more

traditionally linear missions, Infinite

introduces you to the open-ish plains

of Zeta Halo. But while your AI

sidekick (more on her later)

immediately floods your map screen

with icons, don’t be fooled. This isn’t

Far Cry: Ringworld – in fact,

you’ll find the open world to be

surprisingly small.

Instead, these activities feel more

like diversions between main story

missions. While heading to your next

plot beat you might find a squad of

marines to rescue, or an FOB (bases

from which to fast travel and

summon weapons and vehicles) to

capture. They’re fun, but incidental

• and while the larger strongholds
  provide a more structured challenge,
  I rarely felt the pull to break off from
  the main path to devote time to them.
  See, Halo doesn’t lend itself well
  to a drip-feed of unlocks. Main story
  missions are tightly controlled and
  rarely let you just rock up with a
  tank. Powerful weapon variations can
  be acquired by taking down high-
  value targets in the open world,
  but levels are constantly throwing
  completely different challenges in
  your face. Why cling onto a long-
  range Sidekick variant when a
  mission just tossed you into a
  pit of beefed-up Elites?
  There’s perhaps one mission
  that makes use of the open world
  structure, a mid-game level that tasks
  you with crossing kilometres of space
  to infiltrate Forerunner beacons

D

oes an open world work for Halo? Since it’s announcement,

that question is one that’s been constantly asked of Halo

Infinite. Six years after Halo 5 left the series on a sour note,

343 Industries has dusted off the Master Chief’s armour for

a throwback to Bungie’s original – nostalgic for a time when

Halo was just a big green man, his blue, holographic girlfriend, and a wide

open ring full of possibilities to explore.

BRUTE FORCE

HALO INFINITE comes frustratingly close to greatness

By Nat Clayton

That grapple is

also essential

for exploring

Halo Infinite’s

open world

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT?

An open world sequel in

the long-running

shooter series

EXPECT TO PAY

£50

DEVELOPER

343 Industries

PUBLISHER

Xbox Game Studios

REVIEWED ON

RTX 2070 SUPER, Ryzen

5 3600, 16GB RAM

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

LINK

bit.ly/3DNxecH

REQUIRED READING Catch up on your Halo before stepping into Infinite

HALO: COMBAT

E VOLVED

2001

Infinite’s forest valleys are a

throwback to the series’

debut, a simpler time.

While linear, it’s clear to see

how you could push these

expansive levels into an

open world.

HALO 4

2012

After a full trilogy and two

spin-offs, Bungie hands the

series over to new studio

343. The universe is reset
     with a new cast, a new ship,
     and the sense that not all is
     well with Chief’s holo
     girlfriend Cortana.

HALO 5: GUARDIANS

2015

The last we saw of the Chief,

Halo 5 ends with Cortana

going full fash, taking over

the galaxy with an army of

ancient robots. There’s also

a whole ‘has the Chief gone

rogue’ arc that doesn’t

really go anywhere.

HALO WARS 2

2017

Infinite largely hand-waves

all that AI apocalypse

nonsense and reintroduces

the Banished, a successor

faction of Covenant

baddies pulled from

Creative Assembly’s

RTS spin-off sequel.

Halo Infinite

REVIEW