Halo Infinite dropped their long awaited and much anticipated campaign overview trailer on 10/25. It was a 6 minute plus dive into the solo (or Co-op at a later date) story of Master Chief’s story. Let’s react accordingly!
“The Banished have invaded Zeta Halo” and after those words I was like “what?” But you know what got me and what will always get me? The score of the Halo series. The moment you hear the iconic track you just know some crazy sh*t is about to go down!
Master Chief is looking for Cortana, but to me the new A.I. aptly titled ”The Weapon” seems more like my kind of A.I.. She seems more fun and humorous, if that makes sense. The trailer then hits with why we need Chief and why he’s our last hope: to survive.
Open-world Halo is here! The game world is open and how you want to tackle it seems to be up to you. I’m of two minds here; I love Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed because of what feels like an endless checking of boxes when it comes to the map, but having that in Halo? I’m not too sure if I’m completely on board with it yet to be honest. What I really was into was the skill tree they showed off. Chief has some skills to upgrade and judging by the brief teaser shown it’s not gonna be as heavy as some might think, but I welcome this new aspect.
The hunt for Cortana seems to be the early focus of the game as well as fighting a new enemy (new to me at least) The Banished. They sure do look like the old enemies, but with different armor so who knows? Actually 343i knows, but they didn’t reply back at the time of this write up. Will there be other biomes to explore or am I just getting industrial camps mixed with forest? After playing the Flight (Beta) test over the Fall, I can tell you the gameplay feels solid and very ”Halo” if that makes sense. I’m awaiting the launch of Halo Infinite and am open to change so bring on The Banished and let’s Needler the F out these fools on Zeta Halo!
Eric’s Take:
Halo Infinite is almost here and I am hyped! Overall, Halo has been my go to gaming franchise for 20 years. From exclusive console purchases to collectibles, books, events and of course the games – Halo has always been there for me in terms of entertainment. I’ve met so many friends and formed gaming memories over the years exploring this whole franchise universe.
I won’t go on and on with my history of Halo – we’re here to react to the campaign trailer! At the time of writing, Halo has also released the Campaign launch trailer on 11/30.
Once again, humanity is under threat of destruction from galactic forces. Not only from a new faction of Covenant called the Banished led by a Brute named Escharum, but a mysterious alien self-proclaimed as the “Harbinger of Truth”. I am not fully caught up on the novels or comics, but I know the Banished are from Halo Wars 2. And while I haven’t played the Halo Wars series (Real Time Strategy games just aren’t my thing), The Banished look as formidable as any Covenant force in the series.
Which is to say, they don’t stand a chance against the Master Chief.
Zeta Halo looks incredible, with amazing detail rendered in 4k resolution. Like Mike, I am wondering about the different biomes of the ring. Will we get to explore the WHOLE ring or just open world sections of it? Apparently, this will be the last Halo game, with Infinite being a platform for future expansions according to 343 Industries. If that’s the case, I can envision different parts of the ring or even portions inside the ring being the basis for future missions or at the very least, multiplayer maps.
What really stuck out to me about these launch trailers is the selling point that you get to “Become” the Master Chief. That is highlighted in the campaign trailer with ways to upgrade the Master Chief’s armor and equipment, like an RPG. Mike mentioned the “Assassin’s Creed” style of quests, but I actually love that about this version of Halo! Combining that gameplay style with an open world map will offer hours of exploration instead of strictly linear maps. How this will work with the story remains to be seen, but I am excited.
And in just a few short days, we’ll get to discover Zeta Halo for ourselves.
Halo Infinite’s Multiplayer Beta is available free-to-play right now on Xbox and PC. Halo Infinite’s campaign and worldwide release is Wednesday, December 8th. Pictures courtesy of Xbox Wire.
