Halo Infinite officially released December 8 with multiplayer being released almost a month earlier returning to the style of the older games.
Halo is a futuristic combat game set in the 26th century exclusively to Xbox and Pc where the UNSC (United Nations Space Command) try to protect humanity against an alien threat known as the Covenant. Halo Infinite’s Multiplayer is set sometime after the conclusion of the Human-Covenant War and is a nice and welcome surprise for newcomers and veterans of the series with some detractors.
Halo Infinite’s Multiplayer was a nice refresher from the not so fan favorite Halo 4 and 5. Many people chalk this up to Bungie leaving Microsoft in 2007. This left the development for another company apart from Halo ODST and Halo Reach, both being games which Microsoft published.
Halo Infinite announced in 2018 at E3 and the announcement trailer with the cinematic trailer released in 2019. Afterwards a Beta of the game’s multiplayer released November 15, 2021, it’s a fun experience for casual players and returns to the aesthetic of previous games that were developed by Bungie rather than 343 bringing older fans some enjoyment.
The gameplay is smooth and is complemented with the addition of the grapple ability which pulls the player to different locations by a hook and rope. There has been one thing that was criticized at the launch of the Multiplayer, and it is the Battle Pass progression with Eurogamer stating in their review, “It is slow and boring, even after tweaks during the beta.” They ended up making changes a couple weeks after and many people think it’s in a good place with how players receive points. The first few games you play you get a lot of points, but this decreases overtime forcing players to try harder making the game challenging because players now must become riskier with their own style to get more points. The game modes are fun with IGN saying, “All of these game modes are excellent.”
The HUD (Heads Up Display) is very different from older games, even ones by 343 by having utilities on the bottom right of the screen. New utilities appear that haven’t been seen before which players have tried to adapt in various creative ways. For example, the Wasp is a vehicle meant to be flown as support, but players instead climb upon it (on the top of it) for transport despite there being only one seat. Many people praise the Halo franchise because of the sandbox element (a system allowing people to roam in large areas and do almost any style of play they want) and once again its back with Window Central stating, “Halo Infinite multiplayer delivers the most impressive Halo sandbox we’ve ever seen.” Abilities come into play which help the player escape, navigate, and operate with shields, dashes, and grapples.
The Drop Wall Ability which protects the player while they can fire behind it damaging opponents. The Grapple shot can take you to place or take players to you, you can also use the ability to take items like weapons and other ability. The Repulsor which knocks people away from you giving you the option to knock them off the map. The Thruster lets the player dash in all directions making them hard for the enemy to hit. Active Camo makes the player see through to the enemies but you have a shimmer effect so they can slightly see you. The Overshield gives the ability for the player to gain extra shield that decays over time making them harder to kill.
The multiplayer has a lot to offer to the players which are unique and refreshing to those new and old to the series. Gear and game modes which change how you can play the game giving players fun and challenging experiences.