Halo Infinite officially hits PC and Xbox consoles in less than a week, and the hype train has reached full speed. Despite the game's initial announcement coming three years ago, Halo Infinite's campaign is still shrouded in mystery, causing a great deal of speculation among fans of the sci-fi shooter franchise.
A big question is whether Infinite will forget about the events of Halo 5. Developer 343 Industries has said Infinite is a direct sequel to Halo 5: Guardians, but all of the trailers leading up to the game's release so far have seemingly steered clear of any specific references to Halo 5's story. This could just be clever marketing, making it less daunting for new players to jump into the franchise, or it could be a conscious effort to make Infinite a soft reboot of the 20-year-old series.
How Halo 5's Story Shakes Out
In Halo 5, a team of Spartans called Osiris Team, led by Agent Locke, are sent to capture the Master Chief after he goes AWOL trying to find the remnants of his AI companion Cortana - who "died" in the previous game. By the end of the campaign, Chief finds Cortana, who has decided to try her hand at taking over the galaxy. After a bit of a punch-up, Locke and Chief go their separate ways, with the Legendary ending showing a brand-new Halo ring floating in space.
Halo Wars 2 takes place soon after Halo 5, with Captain Cutter and the crew of the Spirit of Fire fighting against the Banished; a new group of alien extremists made up of species left over from the Covenant. The end of Halo Wars 2 sees a Halo ring being launched into space. Based on released information and expanded universe content, it is still unclear whether or not the Halo rings shown at the end of Halo 5 and Halo Wars 2 are the same.
In fact, the time differences between Halo 5, Halo Wars 2, and Halo Infinite is pretty vague as of this writing. The novels that are set after Halo 5 try to limit the scope of the story, with them having no real bearing on the grand scheme of the Halo narrative.
Will Halo 5's Story Matter in Infinite?
Based on what fans have gathered from trailers and developer interviews, it seems Halo Infinite takes place about a year-and-a-half after the end of Halo 5. Apparently, the player and Master Chief are in the same boat when the game starts, with Chief suffering from a case of amnesia. It's up to the player to find out where they are, what happened, and why they're in this situation. This points to the game taking a departure away from Halo 5's story, as the proverbial slate is wiped clean.
Halo Infinite creative head Joseph Staten, a lead member of the original Halo development team, said while Infinite is a sequel to Halo 5, and playing the previous games does "enrich the experience," Halo Infinite is designed to be an entry point for new players. On the other hand, it's confirmed that Infinite is taking place on a Halo ring called "Zeta Halo." It's been heavily speculated that Zeta Halo could be that same ring that appeared in the end of Halo 5, but there hasn't been any solid evidence to support these rumors.
It seems as though Halo Infinite is trying to keep the essence and basic story beats from previous games, but is also trying to distance itself enough to get new players on board. The recent Halo Infinite launch trailer does feature some dialogue from Cortana, so it's safe to say Infinite isn't forgetting about Halo 5's plot developments altogether.
Halo Infinite releases December 8 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S