It seems like only a few days ago that players were posting to social media about their inability to download 343 Industries’ Halo Infinite campaign mode the second it went live. Now, some gamers are actively seeking ways to run through the campaign as quickly as they can or skip it entirely.
Speedrunners are known for not only finding every glitch that can help them get through a game more quickly, but also for accomplishing some impressive feats in order to reduce their game completion time. Recently, a speedrunner defeated all of the bosses in Bloodborne in less than an hour, a praiseworthy achievement, particularly for those who never got past the notorious werewolf at the beginning of the game.
With Halo Infinite, whose campaign mode went live on all platforms on December 8, speedrunners almost immediately figured out how to skip entire story missions. For instance, one content creator named Mint Blitz shared a video on YouTube demonstrating how to bypass the majority of the game's campaign, which they consider to be the biggest skip discovered in Halo Infinite thus far. It allows players to move from the Excavation Site, the fifth mission with the mining laser, all the way to the second-to-last mission called House of Reckoning.
The glitch doesn’t take any particular level of skill to carry out; anybody can do it once they learn how. And Mint Blitz believes that the skip won’t ever be fixed because, historically, Halo campaigns do not get patched. First, gamers need to upgrade the grappleshot to level four in order to unlock First Strike, which allows players to ground pound. Then, play through the game normally until reaching Halo Infinite's Excavation Site mission. Once the opening cutscene finishes, end the game, and reload in order to create a checkpoint in case of mistakes.
Mint Blitz then demonstrates exactly how and where to grapple, ground pound, and time the initiation of fast travel. After fast traveling, players will be invincible and the game will think they are dead. This means that all of the timed death barriers in Halo Infinite will be disabled, though soft barriers will still be in effect, which is why upgrading Halo Infinite's grappleshot is imperative. Mint Blitz continues to show players precisely where to jump and grapple to avoid the soft barriers, ultimately ending up at the House of Reckoning.
Players who want to try out the speedrunner glitch should perhaps back up their save file first, because the ability to replay campaign missions without having to start a new game won’t be added to Halo Infinite for at least a few months. Or, as Mint Blitz advises, play through the game normally first and then have a go at the different speedrun strategies. There are a few fun tricks to try out, including a Halo Infinite glitch that launches the player across nearly the entire map.
Halo Infinite is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.