When you talk about Halo and Xbox, there’s always one MC that comes to mind, and it’s Master Chief. After somewhat of a disappointing absence (he’s there, but he’s not entirely there) with Halo 5: Guardians, it’s refreshing to see the Chief dawning his Spartan armor once more.
In Halo Infinite, The Banished from the Halo Wars games are the main antagonists this time.
Sidenote, if you think about it, Master Chief is like the polar opposite to the Doom Slayer. In a way, the Doom Slayer is the one that’s OP while everyone else is very much inferior to him. While in Halo, the bad guys are super OP… until Master Chief turns up a notch.
Speaking of overcoming the odds, here’s what I think about Halo Infinite. Did it live up to my expectation?
Features
One thing about this game is that it doesn’t include a co-op format yet. So, new players will be going into this game singlehandedly.
Apart from that, Halo Infinite introduces a brand new open-world format, which is a huge plus point for me as I love a great open-world game. The map is huge and there’s a lot of side missions to complete apart from the main storyline. One thing to note while you’re playing Halo Infinite is that there are tons of Data Pad you can pick up and listen to audio files and find out more about the lore.
Characters
Master Chief
Image via 343 Industries; Microsoft
Master Chief is by far one of the most iconic video game characters of all time and now we got to see Chief to be more human. It just goes to show how much of an impact Cortana has had on him through the years. With each scene, you see that his character and thought process isn’t entirely based on his missions or following orders anymore. His actions and feelings are done with the betterment of humanity and minimizing casualties in mind. Well, unless you drive the Marines to fight The Banished and they die…. then, woops.
One scene that hit a chord with me was when Chief first met the brand new A.I. known as The Weapon, and she was talking about her mission and how she should be deleted after her supposed mission to trap the original Cortana. She was ready to be deleted, but Master Chief had a change of plan. The Weapon then raises her concerns stating that it would mean that her mission will fail, but instead, he replies “the missions change, they always do.” Pure goosebumps moment right there.
I’m excited to see where Master Chief will become in the next instalment.
The Weapon
Image via 343 Industries; Microsoft
The Weapon is a clone of Cortana. Instead of being sassier like Cortana, Weapon is more chirpy and easy-going. She’s always grinning and coming up with jokes to ease the tension in the room. She may be the polar opposite of the original Cortana, but she does keep Master Chief grounded.
The Weapon was created to mimic the security of Installation 07 (Zeta Halo). The main purpose of The Weapon’s creation was to trap Cortana so that she could be deleted.
Pilot
The Echo 216 pilot, a.k.a Fernando Esparza is a great inclusion to the cast of characters in Halo Infinite. He’s like the Alfred to Bruce Wayne where he’s always reliable and is there when Chief needs him the most. He may say he’s against Chief continuing his mission against The Banished and that he wants to leave Zeta Halo, but deep down he knows what’s at stake and why it’s the right move to follow Master Chief’s orders.
Image via 343 Industries; Microsoft
The Banished
The Banished is a mercenary faction founded by Atriox that broke away from the Covenant Empire. In case you didn’t know, Atriox first appeared in Halo Wars 2. Moreover, Atriox was also the Jiralhanael Warlord.
Image via 343 Industries; Microsoft
During the Human-Covenant War, Atriox was sent to fight in 40-man teams of Jiralhanae, however, he was the only survivor in every battle.
But, there’s only so much death and destruction a man… or creature can take. Tired of seeing his friends and compatriots die in every battle, Atriox rebelled against the Covenant Empire and formed The Banished.
Through the years of conquest, Atriox gathered more forces and, with an armada of at least three warships, attacked and boarded the UNSC Infinity nearby Installation 07.
The Battle of Zeta Halo was a disaster to the UNSC forces, and the Master Chef himself, John-117, was defeated by Atriox. The battle then displaced to the Halo’s surface.
Six months later, Atriox is said to have died and was succeeded by Escharum.
Multiplayer
With so many battle royale/ battle arena games in the market today, Halo Infinite has a tall order to fill out, especially if they want to compete with the best. For me, the multiplayer was really fun… until it wasn’t.
I’m not saying that it’s terrible. But, it just feels too fast and with so many other games with a similar style, it tends to feel repetitive after a while. And, if you have someone who throws the game from the very beginning, then it’s not fun anymore.
Had I not played Valorant or Overwatch before playing this, I might enjoy it even more, but since I have… the Halo Infinite Multiplayer mode lost its mark in my book of reviews.
Overview
I’m not sure if it was worth the wait, especially for new players, but as a fan of the Halo lore from the very beginning, I enjoyed playing this game very much. I definitely had a great time and would recommend it to those who are fans of Halo, especially with the return of Master Chief and the classic open-world format.
Rating 8/10
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