Halo Infinite has a shocking new feature in its campaign mode: Technically, it is an "open world" game. For a series of shooting games that has been traditionally structured so far, this can be said to be an earth-shattering revelation, so it naturally made headlines. But the truth about Halo Infinite is: it is not as revealing as you think. In fact, it is more of an evolution than a revolution.

However, this is not a bad thing. Infinite feels like the adulthood of Halo studio 343 Industries, the only task of the developer is to continue the adventures of the Master Chief, but still strive to get rid of the shadow of the creator of Halo. Infinite feels like an absolutely introspective game, reviewing the Halo series as a whole, and then working hard to reuse, reference and improve every element of this franchise for the new generation. In many respects, it has the proper cyclicality-the nominal aura is a ring, and the entire game can loop the entire series. This involves not only bringing it back to the original version, but also contacting everything that has happened since then.

For example, the open world of Halo Infinite is less due to the large number of open world adventures currently on the market, and more to Halo's most beloved original level, The Silent Cartographer. The fourth task of the original game is the prototype halo experience. You start at the beach, with a car and marines. Before reaching the facility you entered and explored, you use the vehicle to traverse a semi-open environment. A crossfire in an open natural environment will be immediately replaced by a claustrophobic corridor. This is the structure of Halo Infinite-except that a large part of the game takes place within this framework, not just one level.

In this sense, Halo 3: ODST will also come to mind. In that game, you will explore an open world city at night, but then you will be plunged into more traditional and linear battle levels. There is a shadow of ODST in the battle structure of Infinite; this is an open world, where you will enter a building or something similar at certain points, triggering a short loading screen, transforming you into a more typical A -to-B-to-C Halo story mission. The core story of Infinite unfolds in a series of stages in a set sequence, but the non-linearity spreads through auxiliary activities and explorations that you can carry out between the main campaign missions.

These narrations involve things like destroying enemy facilities, assassinating their leaders, and generally working to disrupt their operations on the Zeta Halo ring. All of this is centered on combat-this is not any other type of open world. The Chief cannot lead his buddies to bowl on the map or play against the Warthogs-but he can kill a large number of exiled troops in all sorts of wonderful ways. The battle of Halo Infinite is indispensable. This game provides an open world. You only do one thing, but you still land perfectly; I didn't get bored for a second.

I can't describe the excitement of this battle. It is not just the same old Halo; Infinite's new equipment options, led by grabs, are further opened up. The world itself also plays a role here, because all side events take place on the Zeta Halo map. This means you can handle every encounter in your own way; you can shoot and assassinate, you can snipe from a distance, or you can try vehicle cheese-or anything in between. A wide variety of weapons and equipment-thanks to the active expansion of Halo Universe 343, which has been steadily advancing since Halo 4-means that every battle will feel a little different-even if you are repeating the same thing .

At the same time, the story task is usually a more traditional thing. Some of this takes place in the open world and includes a brilliant string in which you need to dismantle a series of sites far apart. But many of them are more typical Halo levels, you just need to travel to a certain location in the world to start. Some will take you deep into the building for well-designed encounters. Others are open questions all over the open world, and how you travel between each goal is up to you. In terms of scale, this is the largest halo so far, but in many ways, the vigorous story mission is most reminiscent of Halo 3, and I think it is the high watermark of the Halo campaign.

The end result is that there is something for everyone. If the non-linear elements don't work for you, just drive directly next to the story waypoint to take you from one level to the next-so that the structure of the old game is well replicated. There will be some missions that are deliberately open-ended, but when taken individually, they are not substantially different from the more free levels in previous Halo games.

Earlier, I suggested Halo Infinite to draw inspiration from almost the entire series, but I only checked the names of a few games-so let's briefly introduce the rest. The way the equipment blends into the rhythm of the game feels more like "Zhiyuanxing". When you take over the base, the way UNSC exists on the ring is not a direct reference, but in any case it corresponds to the scale of Halo Wars.

The impact of 343's other two games, Halo 4 and 5, seems to be huge. These games are not as popular as the Bungie trilogy, but Infinite gave me a new understanding of what 343 has achieved with them; Infinite has a wider variety of weapons, enemies and aesthetics—and an amazingly influential narrative. .

Just kidding, the sergeant is a non-character, right? He is not afraid of anything when he kills aliens. But... he really isn't that simple anymore, do you know? He is a character. He has a relationship. feelings. In Halo Infinite, he is often funny and even more often a real contradiction. This is mainly achieved through the incredibly broad but surprisingly subtle body language and the outstanding performances of Steve Downs and Gentile, this pair is the core of this team. The accomplishments of these two men in these roles are underestimated. I think: playing the machine and emotional blocking gear in the military machine, but they have instilled a strong sense of humanity in the series.

Narrative may be one of the most important reasons to play Halo Infinite. After all, although its core mechanics are excellent, they can be obtained for free in multiplayer mode. This is also one of the biggest surprises for me because it is effective and fascinating. In recent years, my interest in the legend of Halo has declined-but Infinite attracted me early on and kept my interest.

The most interesting thing is that I think this is a game that actually has something to say on the subject. Under the explosive battle, there is a story about betrayal and learning to re-trust. There is another story that may resonate deeply with 343 Industries—about it is okay to leave the elements of the past behind, while also acknowledging that certain parts of the past are too sacred to be discarded. It is in this way that I think that Halo Infinite feels that 343 has finally embarked on the role of the guardian of Halo with confidence; the game itself is great, but in terms of gameplay and narrative, it is also an effective mission statement. In the future, the flagship of Xbox.

So, all in all, I'm talking endlessly. Of course, some elements are not so commendable. Halo Infinite has proper boss battles-the health of the named enemy must gradually decrease. These are very accidental. Some of these boss fights are really exciting, while others are rather dull. The enemies that were quietly hyped in the pre-release version ended up not many in the game, but everyone got an unforgettable battle. Some are memorable just because of the wrong reasons. When I was about to jump into the run of Legendary difficulty, I was afraid of having to face a powerful barbarian who spent half of the battle in a relatively tight arena and charged at you with a gravity hammer.

There are also visual things. I was upset by the preview of this game because I said that Infinite "looks like a glorious Xbox One game." Of course it is, some people retort that this is an Xbox One game. You are right, of course. But the key is that there are different types of inter-generational games. Take a look at Forza Horizon 5, which is a cross-generational game and a wonderful Xbox Series X showcase. This is not the case with Halo Infinite.

What you get on the new machine is a higher resolution, not a frame rate hit, not a visual display. That being said, Infinity does look particularly good on occasional moments-looking at certain vistas from a very distant place, or when the cutscenes stare at the master chief's armor in extreme close-ups. Sometimes even this doesn't work, and sometimes it feels that the distance details on Zeta Halo are a little lacking. Other times I want them to pull the camera back a bit. For example, in multiple scenes, a villain provides a monologue through a hologram. In this case, the tightness of the camera lens does expose the flaws in the model and animation. Everything is fine-I can't emphasize enough-but as a 3A flagship game, you do feel that it may be lower than your expectations.

However, in the end I can't let myself care too much about these. Halo Infinite didn't really focus on its appearance. 343 can of course make a visually strong Halo, but it will not be a game of such a scale and ambition. Perhaps other aspects of polishing, including the lofty balance of combat, will be affected. So I am very happy to accept infinity.

Some clues to the nature of Infinite are in the name. The last chapter of this game has not been written yet. Of course, there is no cooperative, which is the main part of the Halo series. Most of this feels like a continuous content treadmill setup. But there are a lot of games here-it took me about 15 hours to complete the story and get about 60% of the overall completion-as the basis for future single and multiplayer updates, there is nothing better than this.

Halo Infinite is not perfect. It has shortcomings and struggles everywhere. But this is also a released dunk. This is exactly what Halo needs now. As the relevance of Halo has diminished in recent years, this is a bold statement, that is, no, Halo is not over yet. It has never been close. This is important, and it is still outstanding. I don't mind waiting to see where the update is, because the content at the time of release is already very exciting. I am again excited about Halo's future.

Disclaimer: Tested on Xbox Series X and Series S. The game is provided by the publisher. It is also available on Xbox One, Xbox One X and PC.

Alex started his career in the game media field when he was an overzealous kid working on fan sites and now has decades of experience. He is a resident expert on esoteric issues such as Pokemon Go, hardware, Japanese RPG, and fighting games. In addition to VG247, he is also the co-founder of the genre-specific export RPG Site. He also collects original arcade Lego blocks and considers himself a whiskey lover.

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