The campaign for Halo Infinite WAS DISAPPOINTING

Games Halo Infinite
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#1

Alright, for starters, SPOILERS if you haven’t beat the campaign, but if you’re on the forums, then a spoiler warning shouldn’t be given due to this is a place to discuss the game / games.

The story was good for what it is, but if were being real… Halo 5 had better story telling.

Personally I and all of us knew there was going to be a soft reboot to an extent, but damn, 343 Industries just scrapped basically 99.9% of Halo 4 and Halo 5. Now alot of you’s are going to say, “ gOoD, hAlO 4 & HaLo 5 wErE HoRrIbLe “ But if you really pay attention to Halo Infinite’s story, then you realize that alot of Bungie’s Halo CE - 3 Story arc was scrapped / rewritten. Same with Halo Wars 2 Story telling, alot of it just tacked on the banished and didn’t even bother to really explain any of it. Cool visuals, CGI / Cutscenes may excuse story aspects for most of you people, but those invested in story telling, require explanation. That matters. ( Imma bring up Bungie / Destiny 1 - 2 Sometime in this post as an example. )

REMINDER TO ALL YOU BUNGIE LOVERS… Bungie botched Destiny 1 and had to basically remake it and call it Destiny 2. Bungie introduced alot of mechanics you bungie lovers give 343 crap for, such as armor abilities and equipment pick up’s. Bungie if they renewed there contract with Halo, they FOR FACT would of Monetized the heII out of Halo, what we have now in Halo Infinite’s micro transaction store would be worse if Bungie handled it based on the eververse store in Destiny.

I am in the small life boat that crashed really hard that actually enjoyed Halo 4, H4 Spartan OPs and Halo 5’s story, but I guess all of that means nothing. I think it is cool that some of the Spartans introduced in Spartan Ops where Spartans featured in Infinites campaign, but still, way to scrap everything you created without an explanation 343. Just Great story telling.

1. We got more Chief… Great… Awesome… AMAZING.

  • But at the cost of wiping out literally everything and everyone we’ve come to know.

BlueTeam on Reach based on Audio logs. ( More on that later )

FireTeam Osiris Off doing a mission, ( Base on an audio log )

Buck no longer with Fire Team Osiris, ( Based on a book and dialogue from the marines in game )

Palmer / Laskey, crashed down in a pelican onto Zeta Halo, where about unknown, ( Based on audio logs )

Locke, Some time before the Halo Infinite events and going on a mission with Osiris, there is dialogue from Hyperius during his fight with the IWHBYD Skull on where he states that he could of killed Locke, but chose to spare him as an example and message to send to the UNSC.
Im sure 343 Industries will bring back Locke, Osiris and Blue Team in future DLC’s or in a book / comic, but either way, this is bad story telling if you’re having to learn about things in audio logs or in gameplay dialog. I get that it can be “IMMERSIVE” but most of this context fly’s over the players head when just playing the game, especially on Legendary difficulty when just trying to survive encounters.

The Arbiter, During the Boss fight with Chak Lok and the IWHBYD Skull on, Chak Lok states he locked blades with the Arbiter and now holds the arbiters helm as a trophy and his blade as a tool to peal the flesh of those who refuse to talk.
Now I know 343 Isn’t that dumb to kill Arbiter off screen / game, but given how Halo Infinites story is told, then Honestly, I am not surprised if they do that, same with any of the characters. Look how Cortana is killed off and how Atriox is SUPPOSEDLY killed off… Through "past event” story telling. most of it is explained through Gameplay cutscenes, where you the player have to stop and watch what is going on while being able to shoot, jump and move around. SOOOOO IMMERSIVE.

  1. Past Events
  • Audio Logs / TACMAP - Database

This game is all about HUNTING THE TRUTH…
Yes we learn through audio logs on where Blue Team is / why there not in the game, Same with Locke and FireTeam Osiris ; BUT THOSE ARE THROUGH AUDIO LOGS!
Like stop and think about how the story was put together, Cutscenes and not gameplay.
The game opens up with the Infinity being attacked and supposedly taken down, in a later cutscene, we learn from Escharum that it only took 4 minutes to bring down the UNSC Infinity, Humanity’s greatest achievement / feat… Okay great, but why didn’t 343 have the game open up with FireTeam Osiris, BlueTeam, Palmer, Lasky and whomever all in a meeting on what is going to is going to happen, whats the plan and the BAM! Have the Infinity come under attack in the middle of this meeting.
Instead, we get all of that in Audio Logs, we get what KINDA happened in audio log form. That kind of story telling ( Story through AUDIO LOGS ) is equivalent to Grimmor cards from Destiny, where you just got to assume what the story is / go read / find out about it on your own time.
Bungie Really Killed Destiny 1 with this kind of story telling, it was so bad that they had to remake Destiny and call it Destiny 2, they stated before hand that Destiny 2 would be a soft reboot, but Destiny 2 launched and rebooted everything, keeping only the last DLC, The Taken King as cannon, with keeping bits and pieces of Destiny 1 and references or little nods to the story. With Destiny 2 being a 10 year title, with story being added to it monthly or yearly with there Road plan, Bungie has learned to better story tell and HARDLY rely on the player having to look up what is going on in its universe via grimmor cards. Bungie utilizes cutscenes more than ever, so much so, Id say more than any other game franchise… 343 Industries has stated that Halo Infinite too will be a 10 Year+ title, where they will add story DLC’s to the game to continue the base story events, Based on how the story was told in Halo Infinites Campaign ; It has me really concerned on the direction of story telling they have going.
The same template as Destiny 1 story telling, Grimmor cards = Halo Infinite’s Audio Logs and hardly any context given to us in cutscenes, where its basically, “ I don’t have time to explain to explain what the plot is “

What 343 Industries could of done, was had a major call back to Halo CE, the level 343 Guilty Spark, where Chief finds the body fo Jenkins, pulls a Video chip from his helmet and we get a cutscene instead of a audio log on what happened… From there we can go collect all logs and watch the cutscenes in order whenever from the TACMAP / Database screen.

Most of the story telling was done through, “Data whispers” or whatever The Weapon called it while through gameplay. This right here was really cool, but the issue I have with it and Im sure many others have with it is that these could have been cutscenes, most of these “Data whispers I and i’m sure others walked / ran right through without noticing what was going on due to just going to point A to point B listening to “Cortana” Whisper / talk. It wasn’t until my second play through when I noticed there was imagery of john as a kid or of past events…

The game is basically piecing together what happened 6 months ago while trying to focus / balance present events, such as discovery the Endless, What the Banished plan on doing now that Atriox is dead / once Escharum is killed off… This story isn’t just confusing, but doesnt make a whole lot of sense when it comes to context.

  • Atriox was introduced in Halo Wars 2 just to be killed off in a gameplay cutscene / off screen death / SIKE! He didn’t die based on the final cutscene, which either takes place before his supposed death or takes place 6 months later after the Campaign ; Which would mean Cortana sacrificed herself for no reason. Her sacrifice was to stop Atriox and the banished from gaining control of Zeta Halo. Welp, now it is rendered pointless if he is still alive.

3. No Explanation / Context

  • The Promethean’s / Guardians / Warden Eternal… WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM / Where are they?

Yes we see a Guardian down in the background of Zeta Halo and maybe bits of other guardians across the open world map with caskets that would of contained the Warden, but no context or explanation of where they are…

Remember in Halo 5 when the Warden appears with multiple copies of himself ready to body Blue Team and defend cortana ; And Cortana just waves her hand and blinks the Warden / the copies out of the room… Yeah, well Cortana or the Warden himself could of easily appeared and bodied Atriox when Atriox confronted Cortana during the second to final mission cutscene when you learn what happened between Cortana and Atriox… Call it a plot hole or plot armor to protect the story, but give the fans or the people who care for the story CONTEXT.
Did cortana get depowered at some point?
Did the Warden get completely eradicated? ( I highly doubt that due to a single guardian can house a couple thousand of Wardens based on Halo 5’ introduction of the Warden )

Blue Team… Why aren’t they in the game?
In a grimmor card… AHEM I mean an audio log, Recover file / UNSC Audio Log 2, Blue Team must return to Reach, Why? We will probably learn through a book or comic book, maybe through a future DLC audio log… Who knows???

Again, this kind of story telling is bad, really bad. I bet the voice actors went into the installment thinking they were voicing lines to be in a cutscene only to learn after the game is released that it was in the form of audio logs… Id be disappointed, but not all voice actors / actors care for the projects there involved in, so who knows?

Halo Infinite is a good game, but honestly 343 industries could of easily told a better story and handled the story direction better. No questions were really answered, but more questions are being asked…

  1. MULTIPLAYER…
  • Honestly, I don’t need to add anything to this, the community as been very vocal about this topic, but adding it too this list to show that the game, Halo Infinite is FAR from perfect.
    I get that players are going to defend the game, by right they can and will, I’m just saying, take off the nostalgia goggles and see the game game as face value before defending it. Like many of you’s on the forums and in the community, I am a big Halo fan, lore nerd and would pick Halo ( Any Halo ) to play over any other game, but you have to be real as a consumer first, you have to be honest about a product your going to invest your time into…

Campaign unlocks… just armor coatings, emblems, vehicle skins and no armor??? Like Yo, what a SLAP TO THE FACE.

Beat the game on Legendary and earn NOTHING… AGAIN!?! Like Yo, WHAT A SLAP TO THE FACE.
Like Halo 3 and Halo 4 in my opinion had the best methods of unlocking armor, through campaign gameplay or multiplayer gameplay… Reach, eh credits were alright, great system, but MCC again, in my opinion, nailed it when it came to a “credit” system.

What do you guys think? ; How do you think 343 Industries should of told Halo Infinites story?

( I’ll add more in the comments if need be )

6 Likes
#2

What is this heresy you speak of?

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#3

Read and see.
Honestly though, For story telling, Halo 5 did better.
READ THAT AGAIN, I AM NOT SAYING Halo 5 had a better story, I AM SAYING HALO 5 had better story telling.

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#4

Don’t even need to read the rest of it (I still did). This is my biggest problem with the Campaign, which is followed by the Campaign not setting up its own story very well either (as you covered in the rest of your topic post).

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#5

Im just messing with you. I don’t agree with your points, but it is your opinion and I can respect that

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#6

I know lol Typing the topic, I knew I would stand trial in front of the counsel and come off as if I was committing heresy.
For that I am willing to take up an “Arbiter” title.

#7

I for one personally don’t care what happened to most of those side characters. I didn’t find them well written, or interesting. I’m sorry for those who were into those characters/stories, but to me, 343 has been butchering characters, who they are, and the universe itself.

Infinite feels like a return to form, and for me, as a long time fan, a joyous one. It’s the first Halo that’s actually gotten me excited, and that just feels good.

3 Likes
#8

In my opinion I really loved the campaign. But one thing I do wish was executed better was learning about the Hand of Atriox specifically on Hyperius and Torvus. Ever since we saw the concept art of those two characters i was so pumped to see cutscenes of them that show their deep banished background. Especially Hyperius having Spartan Locke hunter helmet as a shoulder pad and a spartan finger necklace. Maybe we’ll learn more about them in future side story DLC. Just wish we had gotten more closure on what happened there. Still enjoyed the overall campaign.

1 Like
#9

The issue isn’t that the characters were benched for the entirety of the story.
It’s how it’s being handled.

Despite them not being particularly well written in Halo 5, they were there in the story, affecting it.
Warden Eternal and Prometheans overall along with many AIs were at the centre of it.

We remember Jul Mdama, set up as the big bad in Halo 4, killed in a cutscene at the start of Halo 5. The siding of important characters in Halo Infinite doesn’t help i343’s case of butchering them. They remain butchered if they’re not improved upon.

3 Likes
#10

I actually think it’s pretty solid. Yes, there are a lot of open ends and questions, but unlike your comparison to Halo 5, Infinite should be looked at from the same lense as Halo CE. It’s the start to a new story arc for Halo that ties up most of the remnants from Halo 4 and 5 Reclaimers story.

#11

Except it can’t be. CE was the 1st game of the series, while Infinite is the 10th console game of the series, 20 years later. Halo 4 didn’t just start with Chief already awakened from cryo, and the game proceeded to tell us what happened during the previous 6 months. That’s what we’ve lost. It’s akin to just playing as Chief on the Shield World, rescuing marines, and taking out Jul 'Mdama- Wait, that’s Spartan Ops! But Spartans Ops actually had more, with the Infinity being invaded.

Infinite’s Campaign is worse than Spartan Ops. -Yoink!-.

How is god dam, with another n at the end, profanity? XD

1 Like
#12

Halo 5 told a bad story, but how it told it was better.

Infinite told a very basic, at least not insulting plot, and pads it with a bunch of “what happened 6 months ago” nonsense I stopped caring about halfway through the game.

Both games share a bad structure though of quickly tieing up the the previous plot, doing a whole lot of nothing, and ending on a cliffhanger with a new threat. Infinite’s even worse in that regard as we dont even properly see the new threat.

2 Likes
#13

The story was good for what it is, but if were being real… Halo 5 had better story telling.

I can’t stop laughing. Why did you do this to me xDDDDD
Go and watch Act Man’s 5 part series on why Halo 5 Campaign is bad. He covers everything which is wrong from both a Halo continuation standpoint as well as a basic game story telling standpoint.

#14

Halo 5’s story wasn’t good. We all agree on that. However the way they told the story was very “marvel -esque”. There was too much action, too many different stories going on at once. I get some people like this way of storytelling but I’m not a fan of it

Halo Infinite kept the story simple, yet so mysterious. But to each their own

#15

Blue Team isn’t on Reach. If you loook at the date it’s October 7, 2559. The day Shadows of Reach starts. Blue Team got off of Reach and back on the Infinity. Where they’re at now,
No one knows. Only thing we learn is Lasky decided they could be repurposed for other missions while Chief was on the Zeta Halo mission.

#16

I feel like there’s mystery and then there’s just avoiding telling the player anything.

I don’t feel mystery in infinite. I feel they’re just items left out till they sell us the next DLC. Its hard to sort of explain the difference, I guess in a way its the way the game makes itself feel expansive and alive. Infinite feels very small and simple

2 Likes
#17

I’ll admit, it took me a second playthrough of the campaign to understand more of what’s really going on. Tell me what you felt they avoided telling the player, maybe I can help explain or even understand what you mean.

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#18

I guess it doesn’t really do a good job explaining the banished, how it works, how it runs. What its goal even is. It similarly does next to nothing with the endless.

I don’t particularly care for all the ‘mysteries’ of what happened between 5 and Infinite. They don’t effect the plot and are just like someone’s podcast to fill in the gap.

The game feels like if halo CE rambled on and on about what happened at Reach while we run around its second level, and it talks about how the Flood is this scary thing we should be worried about, and then the game ends without actually facing the flood or Reach being relevant.

The game hasn’t given me a reason to care. I don’t see how all the ‘6 months’ updates are supposed to bring in new players either.

#19

Yeah, it’s kinda like hey, there’s a new enemy to fight and we’re just fighting them now. It makes more sense if you’ve played Halo Wars 2. That game delves more into the Banished origin story. We know Atriox was one of the Covenants top fighters and they used him to send into battle, expecting him to die. Each time they sent him into battle, he say his brothers die, battle after battle. When he defied the Covenant, he was the first to do so, and survive, and it inspired others to join his force, as to not die worshiping a false god as the Prophets were.

I’m not sure if we even know their end goal just yet. We know Atriox led the attack on Humanity as a result of Cortana destroying the Brutes home world. We know they wanted control of the ring because of it’s secrets, and to potentially control the universe. but we don’t know why he wants control in the first place.

The endless were left to a mystery intentionally I feel. This obviously sets us a major DLC or story continuation.

1 Like
#20

Halo 5 had better story telling.

I stopped here.
As someone who actually enjoyed Halo 5 a lot, I can safely say NO it did not.

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