Brad Wyatt

CAMPAIGN This feels like the closest 343 has gotten to creating an experience that feels like true Halo. That being said there are quite a few shortcomings. The game environment feels bland. The map overall is decently sized (although it could be much larger) but almost every section is the same. There are not any key landmarks that really stand out at ground level. There is no biome diversity. No weather. And the changes in the lighting system from day to night and vice versa are lazy and shuddering. The "rebuilt" sections of zeta halo look lazy and unfinished. They definitely have a "that will work" feeling about them. In fact much of this game feels that way. It is as if all of the building blocks for a great game are there but delivery is weak. Level design feels very repetitive. Some campaign missions look so similar I had trouble remembering where my checkpoint had placed me upon respawn. There were only a few memorable moments for me. It really felt like each encounter was rinsed and repeated. From going room to room in missions tackling what felt like waves of the same enimies, to tackling the same objectives over and over in the open world. It definitely feels like busy work at times. There are some great designs sprinkled throughout though. I really enjoyed seeing the room full of cylixes of different species. It really reminded me of the type of environment you would find in a bungie era halo game. Gameplay is fun but lacking in areas. Gunplay feels like a return to the expected halo norm. Some enemies, however, don't quite feel as balanced as they should be. Shield-carrying jackals feel too strong, especially their shields. Hunters feel much stronger than they should. It required a lot of effort to take them down even on normal difficulty. The story is really where infinite showed strength in my opinion. There were tons of nostalgic moments that called back to earlier games. The way the story sets you up to find out what happened to cortana is excellent. It really had me wanting to fight through the next mission to find the truth. While I didn't like The Weapon at first, I feel that was by design. 343 doesn't want you to like her immediately. They want you to go through the same process of questioning her motives to eventually trusting her just as you watch Master Chief do. They pull that emotional process off extremely well. While I loved that aspect of the story some of the missions felt like space filler. The story of Escherum and the Banished could not have gripped me any less. From the first time I saw him I knew he was an enemy I would inevitably defeat. He and his bad guy cohorts all had little to no depth. In older entries the moment you took down one of the stories' antagonists it felt empowering and meaningful. In infinite it felt empty and meaningless. There has been info that has been leaked that states 2/3 of the campaign content was cut and the story was mostly rewritten. I feel this is evident in multiple ways throughout playing Halo Infinite. It feels rushed and that it lacks true direction. It doesn't know who's story it wants to tell. Ultimately if you are a Halo fan I would recommend you check it out. Just don't go into it expecting the best halo game ever as some reviews are stating. It will leave a lot to be desired. Also I don't believe the game's shortcomings all fall on 343. Microsoft and other publishers have a history of putting unreasonable demands on their developers. The answer should simply be if a game isn't ready push it back. Fans would rather have a complete game.