Much of Halo Infinite's multiplayer has been shown off (and played by many beta-testers) the past few months, but little has been said about Master Chief's newest campaign. Finally, Bungie has allowed the press to go hands-on with the story mode, revealing new footage and information.
Aside from a recent story/gameplay trailer showing off Halo Infinite's new and improved look from the initial trailer in 2020, Bungie has been quite mum on the story details regarding Master Chief's next adventure. A new hands-on with press has revealed that Bungie seems to be taking an even more serious approach with Chief, depicting a tired and sad soldier. Miranda Sanchez from IGN says that, "He's a man of few words, but his movements in cutscenes and response to those who need him are heavier than I've seen before." This is leading many to believe that Halo Infinite's campaign will hit much harder than previous entries, especially when contrasted against the much-maligned Halo 5: Guardians.
It is apparent that Halo Infinite's narrative mostly involves Chief's fight with the Banished, but will include his side arc with his AI, Cortana. Details on what happened after Halo 5 are scarce, as Chief doesn't give away what happened after being blown into space, yet. For anyone thinking that this will be a good starting point for newcomers to the franchise, be aware that unless a catchup video is added to the beginning, it seems as if Halo Infinite is telling its story with Halo fans in mind first and foremost.
The big pull of Halo Infinite however is its fully-explorable open world, and in classic open world fashion players will be taking down outposts commanded by Banished (named Forward Operating Bases or FOBs), and earning points in a new system called Valor that allows Master Chief to purchase vehicles for use at these bases. The world of Zeta Halo also has bigger Banished facilities that will require Chief to not just slay the enemies inside but destroy power sources, among other activities. These side missions appear to be fully optional and have no bearing on the main missions of Infinite, and of course there are collectibles like Skulls and hidden weapons for players to search for out in the wild.
Along numerous story beats, players will come across new equipment such as the much-talked about Grappleshot, as well as the Shield Core, Threat Sensor, Drop Wall, and Thruster. These items can be upgraded with Spartan Cores to really give Chief a leg up in battle and sometimes add second abilities to the item. Most of these items will be on the main path, but some may just be tucked out of reach ensuring some items will be missable.
With a rather large map and engaging gameplay to back up its open-world it seems like Halo Infinite is poised to give fans the grand comeback Master Chief deserves.
Halo Infinite releases on December 8 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.