Halo Infinite Analysis

Hallo (German: Heiligenschlights ) is a vanity shooter game collection, whose individual components of Bungee, 343 Industries as well as the ensemble workshops for Microsoft Gaming, today Xbox Game Studios were created.

Infinite is the Halo we had been waiting years: one with a campaign as solid as exciting, and with a fantastic multiplayer.

After several controversies, delays and even a pitch by surprise to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the franchise, Halo Infinite is already among us. The new first-person shooter of 343 Industries, which is converted by descent and on merit in the great workhorse Xbox for Christmas, also has a new format, the availability of a paid version and other FREE-to -play.

That is why we have decided to divide the analysis of the game in two parts. In one find our impressions and assessment of the campaign, which buy should — or download if you are subscribers of the Xbox Game Pass service — and on the other what seemed to us the multiplayer section, which can be enjoyed by worldwide in the distributed-to- FREE format play both console and PC, a novelty in the saga.

The bell

By Joseph Maria Sempre

All's well That ends well.

And never better because the additional year of development that has taken Halo Infinite has ended up being a blessing, and it is undeniable that has brilliantly done him good. It is public knowledge that the gestation of the new adventure of the Master Chief has not exactly been a bed of roses, and costs not think that along it has been an intense internal debate to decide whether to follow the guidelines and style more or less own 343 he imbibed in Halo 4 and Halo 5 (and I'm not going to hide: never convince the whole) or return to the origins of the formula established by Bungee to win back the hearts of the fans. Infinite because Halo is a game that looks ahead and tries to adjust its ethos to today's standards, but also one that is not afraid to look at the past. And you should not have.

Basic information

Developer: 343 Industries Editor: Microsoft Platforms: Series X / S, One, PC Tested version : Series X Availability: 12/08/2021

The first action you perform after the initial kinematics, in fact, is to calibrate the vision of the Master Chief following four lights, looking from top to bottom and from left to right, exactly as in the first interactive sequence Combat Evolved. It is an undisguised declaration of intent by 343 Industries, a few designers who want to make clear from the first minute to the players that this is the next step in the evolution of the franchise, yes, but also a love letter to a journey that began exactly two decades ago. Over the next few hours are dropping a wink here, another there, sprinkled with references restraint that will awaken more than a good memory; is impossible not to see on the surface of Zeta Halo, for example, a color and visual style reminiscent of the first delivery, or a tribute to the legendary Silent Cartographer level to Pelican traveling along the surface of the ring. It is evident and appreciated that without falling into cheap homesickness never want you out occasionally a smirk accomplice appealing to your memories. Seem right.

I recommend having memories pretty cool, indeed. If you do not have very much the story of the saga, especially the final installments, I will not come bad to look for a recap which lost not walk a garage for octopus in the early stages of Infinite. The new game's main antagonist Charm, the leader of Exiles (a Covenant faction that we saw in Halo Wars 2), but although the rivalry with Master Chief should be a priori the mainstay of the narrative, at the end ends up being a more intimate adventure that explores the relationship of John-117 with an AI (Area) that is almost a mirror of Cortana, and leaves behind large-scale war to tell a more personal hunting in which the destination is settled in The humanity.

But those echoes of Combat Evolved do not imply, as it said, that Halo Infinite does not point to the future, because it is actually, in its own way, the most novelist of all the deliveries published in recent years, especially since the IP is in hands of 343 Industries. It is novel mainly in its structure, which leaves linearity by a more open world (which not open at all, eye); After a couple of closed levels exerted to introduce and set the party point of the plot, the player lands on the ring and is before a map divided into several islands, initially disconnected. Later, after overcoming certain missions and having obtained certain skills, the master chief can travel freely by them, reconquering posts, winning centers to improve the team and armor and discovering secrets with which unraveling a narrative that sometimes sins Something confused. It is tempting to think about the last Far Cry as in a great influence of this configuration, although the implementation is very different: while the Sandbox of Ubisoft is obstructed in introducing more and more secondary icons and activities to the point of overwhelming the user, Halo Infinite Dosses that freedom to always maintain a certain control in the advance of the plot, reserving the ability to opt for more traditional and linear levels, with those spectacular Set pieces that have characterized the saga since its inception.

Another important novelty is the hook. It might seem ALADI, but its incorporation involves changes in draft, both in the transverse movement, when it comes to sliding quickly through the stage or reaching areas that would otherwise be inaccessible, as in combat, using it to rush violently on some enemies Or to break the defenses of others, as happens in the case of jackals that drop their shields a few seconds if we hit the hook on them.

The game's own design, both at the level of mechanics and levels, is very designed to let it be the player who decides how he wants to take advantage of all these tools, giving some freedom of action something unusual within the genre. I like to think about halo (in all of them, but in particular infinite) as in a sandbox not so much in general terms but in the circumscribed to their combat, in a game in which there are not two equal clashes, where you can invent Suitable new ways to combine weapons and physics to end a group of enemies. It is its main incentive, I think, and is where this new delivery shines with its own light.

Other things, on the other hand, do not change too much because, being sincere, they did not need any turn of nut, but rather an exercise of constriction and back to their origins. The combat, for example, is the best one that has offered a halo since 343 Industries took the Bungee relay; The intense shootings recover the flavor and feeling of Combat Evolved and Halo 3, and weapons have the perfect balance between forcefulness and precision, forming a varied arsenal where some favorites of the fans even return. The same can be said of artificial intelligence that is still ahead of the competition, and that it is especially enjoyed in the modes of heroic and legendary difficulty, where enemies have a lot of bad ABBA and position themselves and plan up with a lot of wit, rising as A rival to beat as interesting as challenging.

He said before the additional year of development had sat well to playable design, but this is especially noticeable in the technical section. Gone are the memes; Although the game does not hide its intergenerational nature, and it looks something ballasting by the need to function in the Xbox One hardware, it is undeniable that it has graphically improved much about what is seen in the presentation of 2020 and that is such a beautiful game in what is Visual as solid in its performance. Special mention also for the soundtrack, which evokes the original compositions of Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatore, with a greater presence of percussion to give an even more epic tone to combats.

By the time the campaign ends with a duration that can range from eight hours if we just follow the main story in the level easier or more difficult than fifteen if we choose high levels of difficulty and complete all the content, it is very difficult not be satisfied. Hallo Infinite clearly has the best campaign from Reach, and successfully fulfills its goal to revitalize a franchise that had lost its way in its last deliveries. Not perfect (I see the vehicles somewhat underused, for example) and sometimes suggests some edges that show the problematic of the development process, but looking fondly at the past and laying the groundwork for the future, Infinite is the Halo that we had time waiting. Which it is not little, really.

Multiplayer

By Jaime San Simon

Hallo multiplayer Infinite takes between us almost a month thanks to an open beta published by surprise. Analyze online is a complicated task because it is a weekly changing ecosystem, but this beta leaves us room to talk about what 343 is putting on the table. These final prints, by their very nature, can only talk about what is right before the launch, so there is room for change... but perhaps the first thing we note is that there is little change needed.

After about thirty-five hours in the beta of Halo Infinite, the feeling is not to be facing a trial, incomplete or pending testing, but before a finished product that perfectly meets their strengths. Infinite does not come out with the widest range of modes (the F2P Split gate, clearly inspired by Halo, beats smoothly in quantity) but the level of polishing maps and weapons is a game that takes several years on the market, now that of an early release.

Both maps and weapons affect what is unique about Halo instead of trying to find your identity among other games. Infinite is proud of its high TT (time to kill), the almost irrelevance of the ADS (aim down sights) pointed out, of the strongest scrum coup gender. Open spaces that reward the player who does not give up the pressure saluting with Granada, engaging conversation with controlled bursts and leave with a rifle butt, all while moving an instant.

Infinite practically melts of promotes weapons, even with adjustments Halo 5 remained an equipment too redundant, leaving only a few energy weapons. Bet on the classics and introduces only a handful of own weapons of Exiles, which are usually modified versions of Covenant weapons with great particularity: they have blades that increase damage from physical blows. Almost all of them point by the forcefulness: the hand cannon Mangler is lethal at short distances, while the Skewer shots are incontestable when they hit against a vehicle and an absolute delight when they manage to impale a Spartan unaware. A classic, though, he has gone missing along the way; I hope that at some patch the damage climb Pulse Carbine. And again the Magnum.

4v4 maps are small but dense, intricate but legible, laden with verticality to encourage constant mobility. They are so bright that seems so easy to design, but each game is more evident the great work that has been put into work spaces to promote various encounters. The selection may be somewhat reduced levels of launch, but do not feel as such by the great personality that holds each and the possibilities they offer to navigate them in different ways. We mobility find that Infinite is a Halo fast but still retaining inertia and weight in motion. The sprint is slower than in Halo 5, but is better integrated and does not penalize recharge shields; does not seem added another game, but ends up feeling like something that has always been there (although not true). Hook, although it has an importance as capital in the campaign, introduced from the beginning a ceiling higher than skill skilled players are already exploiting lethal combo with the sword of energy or as a method to assault vehicles.

For its part, the War 12v12 mode between computers offers more similar to the sandbox experience that promises the campaign. Enormous maps where space left over to handle large vehicles, turrets climb from which repel the opponent team are ambushing bottlenecks or infiltrate carefully to initiate a silent chain colleges. Their clashes are more disordered than in 4v4, but its potential for creating unique moments is tremendous. The main reason is a design intelligent maps that can drive both teams to combat asymmetric but not unfair.

Not only succeeds in brain part: Infinite is a sandbox embracing chaos as a source of fun and comedy (only slightly) involuntary. Competitive Arenas in sometimes you forget what it's genuinely funny when Halo Infinite lets us explore his catalog the strangest weapons, when physical and dynamics give rise to moments that allow us laughing. To emphasize this, a classical commentator has joined a team of IA that make hilarious comments on our performance in the games. The Castilian dubbing also refers to the way the community refers to the instruments of the game: Granada death after several rebounds hear a Good pineapple, Spartan!. The translation team has gone far beyond what they could have demanded, also new weapons: if impale an opponent with Skewer (somewhat more difficult than it sounds) usually hear Panchito!. It is a job that is appreciated when you're in a fight and AI dropped a comment that makes you drop a laugh.

Designing a map to be balanced is difficult, but it is at the same time an inexhaustible source of laughter it is even more. 343 has managed to hit on both fronts, so clearer in the 12v12 but also visible in 4v4, especially during the week we were able to play the Party Mode. The result is a multiplayer in which it is easy to spend hours without realizing, with an enviable pace of games where the action never falters. The tools provided are useful both to create epic moments as funny moments. The entry into the single cycle peak intensity-discharge-intensity-discharge hardly anyone has been able to play is as easy as satisfactory.

The only aspect where 343 has erred in a clear shooting is in progress. I understand that the Battle Pass is the standard method of joining progression, monetization and engagement current, but the current system collides with the rest of the set. While in other aspects Halo Infinite has looked to its own past, it seems that progression has had some fear to exploit their particularities, going to challenges seem own multiplayer with very different dynamics. In a battle royale with a giant map can afford one of your teammates go a little to the air to get challenges, but in a game 4v4 losing a member of the computer for a specific type of death or weapon minor caliber can ruin the balance of the teams. Or maybe one of the members directly is out of the game because he is in a way you can not progress in passing, that this also happened to me. Ideally, players will not need this type of mechanism to return every day, but we have to assume there because someone within the company has a holding graphs to fulfill. On this basis Halo Infinite this progress should guide actions to reinforce the virtues of the game itself. Something as silly as simple as rewarding and deaths, assists and catches you trying to achieve naturally, instead of asking you to change your playlist and playing style.

Analyze multiplayer is difficult for their own changing nature. Today I can not know if 343 will be able to launch content at a rate that Content community if the cheaters will take over the online or a new way eclipse the popularity of classical giving a twist to the formula. The initial work, in any case, is almost irreproachable: 343 has been able to connect with the best feelings in previous Halo without losing the train of modernity. Infinite is based on solid foundations and on this basis it seems easy to build a multiplayer shooter of epochal.