How is Halo Infinite's campaign the series' worst?

[Juxtapose13]

@Spikanor

you know halo 3 ODST open world is full with mini story missions its not a compleet story it self.

You means Sadie’s Story? That was cool, though it’s simply collecting audio logs. The concept is in Halo Infinite, though they’re more traditional audio logs.

@Spikanor

sadly not.

That’s still optional. You’re simply choosing to have the option of loading yourself out how you want instead of scavenging from the battlefield.

@Spikanor

still it can have a lot off other things for its open world setting.

No objection here, mind you. It would be very cool to see more.

@RamboBambiBambo

Look at Far Cry 3.
You play that game more than a couple times and it gets rather dull.
Then look at Skyrim.
I have played that game a dozen playthroughs and I am STILL FINDING new things to keep it interesting!

Again, different style of games and different expectations. Far Cry 3 and Halo Infinite are not role playing games. The scope of their open worlds are vastly different than The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, etc. They’re completely different genres of games.

Another way to look at it is Far Cry 3 and Halo Infinite are first person shooters with open world elements.

@FeudalPhoenix10

i do think 5 did it worse though

Keep in mind, we are talking over a decade between games. Social Media, heck even YouTube wasn’t a thing when Halo 2 was launching.

For Halo 2, the whole game was marketed as the war for Earth on Earth. It started with the announcement trailer showcasing graphical technology very similar to what ID Tech 4 was capable of, but something the Blam Engine on Xbox was not.

We then had the E3 gameplay demo of a completely fictitious Earth level that wasn’t actually possible in-game; the Xbox simply was not capable of doing this demo.

Halo 2’s marketing was actually worse (than _Halo 5: Guardian’s) because Bungie sold the game on actual gameplay footage that was a sham. Story-wise, you only spent 2 levels from the whole game on Earth. Just 2.

In the behind-the-scenes DVD that came with the Collector’s Edition, Bungie realized how bad they had fowled up (and the DVD itself shows them slacking off a whole lot), and that they had to restart, re-do, and rebuild the game from scratch.

Development of Halo 2 started after the first game launched, and near all of it was tossed away and Bungie built the current game in less than a year. This is why the game had visual issues, significant texture pop-in, and the “cliffhanger” ending that it was so heavily criticized for.

Halo 2 making it’s launch date was a miracle, and that it was still a great game another miracle, but the cost was technical issues and the last few levels of the game were cut. These levels were expanded upon and served as the first (roughly) 4 levels of Halo 3.

So because of how poorly Bungie developed Halo 2, the narrative of Halo 3 also suffered for it. That’s a huge fowl up affecting multiple games.

Note in-spite of the above, Halo 2 is still my fav Campaign in the franchise.

[Spikanor]

@Juxtapose13

You means Sadie’s Story? That was cool, though it’s simply collecting audio logs. The concept is in Halo Infinite, though they’re more traditional audio logs.

no i mean the story’s you play as the other ODST members from one time.
like buck or dutch.
since there are not link to each other at all.
if you start with dutch story then it has compleet notting to do with buck story.
its only the last 2 missions when you play as the rooky that make’s more like a story line.

@Juxtapose13

That’s still optional. You’re simply choosing to have the option of loading yourself out how you want instead of scavenging from the battlefield.

thats only for first 5 missions you can do random in any other.
the 6th one is only be able to do after you compleet the first 5 missions.
and after you compleet the 6th mission you are stuck in a small area where the 7th and 8th mission is going to play of.
that means for the first 5 missions you can do then in any orther more.
and after that you are force to do then in the same way like it has been always that mission 6 if you compleet it unlocks the 7th one and the 7th unlocks the 8th.

[Juxtapose13]

@Spikanor

no i mean the story’s you play as the other ODST members from one time.

Ah, you mean the flashbacks themselves.

So here you’re exploring the hub and then launching into a classic-styled level. In Halo Infinite, you explore the open world and pursue the main missions into more classic styled levels. There are indeed similarities. You’re simply doing it all from John’s perspective.

@Spikanor

thats only for first 5 missions you can do random in any other.
the 6th one is only be able to do after you compleet the first 5 missions.
and after you compleet the 6th mission you are stuck in a small area where the 7th and 8th mission is going to play of.
that means for the first 5 missions you can do then in any orther more.
and after that you are force to do then in the same way like it has been always that mission 6 if you compleet it unlocks the 7th one and the 7th unlocks the 8th.

Yes, I’m aware. That’s still much of the game.

[UrbaneRocket495]

What saved halo 2 is that while yes it went against advertising, it instead explored a whole other, possibly more engaging angle than just a big brawl on earth.

H5 just feels like a watered down sad version of what was advertised.

[RamboBambiBambo]

@Juxtapose13

@RamboBambiBambo

Look at Far Cry 3.
You play that game more than a couple times and it gets rather dull.
Then look at Skyrim.
I have played that game a dozen playthroughs and I am STILL FINDING new things to keep it interesting!

Again, different style of games and different expectations. Far Cry 3 and Halo Infinite are not role playing games. The scope of their open worlds are vastly different than The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, etc. They’re completely different genres of games.

Another way to look at it is Far Cry 3 and Halo Infinite are first person shooters with open world elements.

You seem to be missing my point.
I am not making a distinction of one being an RPG or not.
I am making a distinction that open-world games are a lot more fun when you can alter the outcomes of certain chapters or even come across random encounters.

Take a look at Metro Exodus.
A shooter with a limited open-world experience in a few chapters where your choices in the main campaign and even the DLC campaign can influence how the ending occurs.
Thus allowing repeat playthroughs to not be the same as you might go in and do the opposite action of what you did before.

Crysis had this too, with there being optional objectives you could complete in order to alter how the next section of the mission may play out. Ignore the optional objective of gathering explosives at a nearby outpost? Now the next section has a harder fight against armored vehicles as a consequence.

[GAMRKNIGHT352]

I really liked it. I enjoyed how the new open world environment and abilities freshened up the combat and innovated in new ways. Yes, there should’ve been more environmental variety and the story was sub-par at best but at the end of the day it’s the gameplay we’re after and Infinite has some awesome gameplay if I do say so myself.

[Juxtapose13]

@UrbaneRocket495

What saved halo 2 is that while yes it went against advertising, it instead explored a whole other, possibly more engaging angle than just a big brawl on earth.

The story was excellent, and seeing the Covenant’s perspective added so much depth. But a lot of people, the average Joe’s, did not like that. They just wanted to play as the Chief and kill aliens. Thus one of the major driving factors behind Thel Vadam being a sidekick in Halo 3.

@RamboBambiBambo

You seem to be missing my point.

You’re actually missing my point, I understand perfectly what you’re saying.

Unless I’m mistaken, Metro and Crysis were built around said choices, most first person shooters are not. The game’s you’ve listed are the exception to the rule.

Unless such gameplay is actually shown off in development footage, it’s unrealistic to expect such things of the first person shooter genre. Halo Infinite’s Campaign, never showed such choices.

[UrbaneRocket495]

@Juxtapose13

The story was excellent, and seeing the Covenant’s perspective added so much depth. But a lot of people, the average Joe’s, did not like that. They just wanted to play as the Chief and kill aliens. Thus one of the major driving factors behind Thel Vadam being a sidekick in Halo 3.

All true. But its why h5 is remembered for its false advertising while h2 is considered the greatest in the series by many.

Yes, what we got wasn’t what was advertised, but it was generally good. Even initial knee-jerk reactions by many aren’t necessairly a reflection of the whole. For example many lament the lack of playable Arbiter in 3.

[RamboBambiBambo]

@Juxtapose13

@RamboBambiBambo

You seem to be missing my point.

You’re actually missing my point, I understand perfectly what you’re saying.

Unless I’m mistaken, Metro and Crysis were built around said choices, most first person shooters are not. The game’s you’ve listed are the exception to the rule.

Unless such gameplay is actually shown off in development footage, it’s unrealistic to expect such things of the first person shooter genre. Halo Infinite’s Campaign, never showed such choices.

Precisely what I was kinda getting at.
For what purpose is Halo Infinite an open world experience when all the missions could’ve been just linear like the games that came before?
Bungie even considered making Halo 3 open world on the Ark but ditched that idea.

[ChaosFlame10000]

Halo 5 Guardians is the WORST single player experience EVER in Halo, possibly all of time. They would have to commit to atrocities to ever come close to its landfill of garbage. Halo Infinite’s campagin isn’t perfect BUT WHAT AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE in comparision, its only serious flaw is WE NEED MORE MASTER CHIEF AND MORE SINGLE PLAYER CONTENT WITH THE CHIEF!!!

Beat Infinite’s campaign and I have two save files to happily replay it in singles and co-op online.

I’ve yet to complete even the third level of Halo 5 single player because I despise it so much.

[Juxtapose13]

@RamboBambiBambo

For what purpose is Halo Infinite an open world experience when all the missions could’ve been just linear like the games that came before?

I imagine because being able to more openly walk around a Halo ring is a very cool idea.

[RamboBambiBambo]

But we don’t get to wander the ring. We wander 1/2 of a destroyed sector

[Bouncyt3rrorist]

The weapons all feel horribly unfun to use in comparison to any other halo title. Some of the weapons actually have no use at all in the campaign. Why would I use a sidekick when the brutes use the boring mangler which is just the ce magnum without the cool look and with bullet drop. Just use the mangler and you’re all set. Why use the plasma pistol when I can just have a pulse carbine. There’s just a lot of why this why that with weapons and it all just culminated into it feeling boring and bad.

Where are the friendly Spartans, odsts, any different type of marine. Where is literally any ally. They can’t just be gone from the ring since the infinity crashed here. If they died why didn’t we see it. If they didn’t why can’t we contact them. Why doesn’t any marine that we find know of anything pertaining to them. Speaking of those marines, why do they play like garbage. They can’t drive you around, they have no impact on the story, there’s no squad mechanics that you could use to feel like you even have any by your side. There’s nothing of substance to them. They are just walking robots that shoot at aliens.

The enemy variety is a hard pass. I would rather have to fight only rocket flood through the entire campaign. There is no shortage of problems. Elite ranks all turn into a camo energy sword elite past the rank of major. All of them, it only depends on when which is only when you get close or break their shield. Brutes are basically brain dead bricks walking around ready to be shot except for chieftains. Those chieftains are playing bloodborne. They move way too fast and swing way to quickly. What happened to the fun tango of the halo 3 chieftain. All fodder enemies are pretty much negligible as you can just walk past them without any regard for damage. Since this is the banished from halo wars 2 where is all the special units from that. Where is the colossus, scary scarabs, suicide pack grunts, skitterers, honor guards, and many MANY more. There is no shortage of boring, unbalanced, and unfun enemies in this game.

Vehicles are boring. Like where are the fun ones. Where is the falcon, hornet, gauss hog, revenant, any halo wars 2 vehicle, where is anything. Not only is there nothing but what is there has horrible physics and any flying vehicle you can destroy by tapping your wing on the edge of something at 1 mph. I actually tried that with the wasp and it destroyed it which is pathetic.

The open world lacks any variety in encounters, visuals, exploration, collectibles, secrets, and so on so forth. There’s nothing to do and it was a giant waste of time. “Bosses” were boring. Collectible were only audio logs which I would’ve rather seen. Show don’t tell. Skulls were there but would disable achievements for some reason. Every enemy encounter was the same few enemies lazily designed to use human and forunner weapons because they’re broke or something. I don’t understand where all their armaments went from halo wars 2. Where’s the brute shots, spiker, mauler, plasma rifle, plasma carbine, and many other weapons from previous games. It’s not like it wouldn’t have been there. Atriox was there. THE LEADER OF THE BANISHED was there. If he is there so is all that armaments they used to fight and win. And if they won wouldn’t they want to use the weapons they used to…you know…win. Shameful.

Finally, the story was awful. It was a fanfiction but as a video game. The endless was the biggest cop out ever. I don’t understand why they were made to be such a threat if they were easily contained on the ring, can’t take all other sentient life into its own, and can be beaten to death by 3 punches as the finally of the game. They have no lore, no interesting fight mechanics, not even interesting looks. As for the other parts of the story. Cortana had hers off screen and slightly shown to us through holograms. We had nothing to do with it…at all. What kind of boring lazy storytelling is that. The banished suffer the same fate. Atriox has his story off screen and does whatever he does with nothing pertaining to us. Esheram and the other banished play far cry with us as the only “hands on” story. They only talk with us through a walkie talkie as we complete menial events that feel like time padding until the end. When at the end we just beat him up and that’s it. That is the end of that old bag who did literally nothing but talk and tell someone to try and fight you.

There is no saving grace for this dogwater campaign. There are no good side characters. Everything from the previous games is forgotten or just washed off as if it were nothing. There’s nothing fun to do. There is just plain old nothing there. It is a bare bones boring experience that only could be fun if you don’t play it at all. Rant over, TLDR, the game sucks in every facet.

[LITTLE_LEVEL]

Everyone knows it was so enjoyable to play as Sparten Locke I mean who is the nerd master chief

[Super87Ghost]

you mean the Master Nerd?

[NOBLE_SOBEK]

I think the Halo:Infinite Campaign was fine AS LONG AS they continue to ADD TO IT. Give us Expansions, keep building on the story, & LET US PLAY WITH OUR SPARTANS and not 4 Master Chiefs…

[FeudalPhoenix10]

i know what you mean, like there’s games where it’s so good you hope they make a sequel, but infinite was not like that for me. it’s so bad it NEEDS dlc or an update which shouldn’t be the case, honestly i think they could probably make a better sequel but i still like games that are so good in a series i dont mind buying the previous ones. for example i got into gears around 3 and liked it so much i got 1 and 2, they offer a pretty significant difference as well in gameplay and add to the story. infinite just doesn’t offer much to the gameplay or story of the series that i think no one will miss anything not playing infinite.

[Ben_Mccrash]

It was better than both halo 5 and halo 4. It was literally 343Is best campaign since they took over the franchise

[FeudalPhoenix10]

for me theres a lot of issues that hold infinite’s campaign back from the rest, including its story. there’s the lack of level and enemy variety, not as many weapons or vehicles also the game not launching with basic features like mission replay or even online coop! i was just majorly disappointed with infinite and feel this is 343s worst halo game.

[ZETREN]

They gave us a grapple and forgot about everything else!