Thats what Im thinking of then. Just firefight.
Still, Covenant and Banished don’t share the same ideologies and views. The Banished are known for salvaging what they can, why wouldn’t they use human weapons? A rocket launcher is a lot more effective than a plasma pistol
Probably the best Halo campaign 343 has done but, IMO, still doesn’t quite reach the bar set by the Bungie original trilogy. Close, though. Story was decent but I probably would have been lost if I hadn’t just redone full Halo 1-5 playthroughs the month before release. Even then, I don’t feel like they did a great job setting up the Banished or why the Elites are willingly working for Brute leadership. And I really disliked Echo-216 despite learning his plot twists, which made a major portion of the campaign story feel less impactful overall.
Enemies on Heroic are pretty easy, except for bosses. The difficulty spike on bosses is ridiculous. Very bullet spongy, ridiculously accurate with their weapons, etc. The final three bosses are extremely punishing.
This is only the third open world Ubisoft-style game (meaning lots of sidequest and collectable padding) where I didn’t hit the open world fatigue wall as I usually do in games like Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry. (The other two were Horizon Zero Dawn and LoZ: Breath of the Wild, so strong company there.) I think a lot of this comes from the speed at which Chief moves around the map and the timely unlock of the WASP helps make exploration feel less tedious.
A bit disappointed in the cosmetic armor unlocks. Mostly just color schemes and a handful of trinkets. There really should have been a handful of decent armor pieces for the Mark VII armor from these chests.
Super buggy achievements, dumb AI in vehicles (elites would frequently get Banshees stuck in trees or would bail from them while mid-air), dumb Marine AI (but it’s Halo so what else is new?). Lots of audio cut outs and graphical stutter, sometimes with graphical freezes lasting 5+ full seconds.
Overall, bordering on great but needs some bug fixes.
I use “Ubisoft” as a descriptor more than a pejorative because it was Ubisoft that turned the open world model into what we think of today. It’s not an indictment of the quality of the game. Like I said, I consider BOTW and HZD to be “Ubisoft” open worlds, yet I 100%'d both of them and was never bored - not even finding all the Korok seeds.
Between the speedy traversal, the quick vehicle unlocks, and the fact that the final third of the game is back to being a standard, linear, mission-driven Halo title really helped prevent the open world fatigue I usually get in open world titles.
Just finished it.
My initial thoughts:
Overall, I am pleasantly surprised with Infinite’s campaign. Several times during my playthrough, I found myself thinking: “Wow, this is actually a real Halo game! This is the first real Halo campaign I’ve played since ODST. They actually did it.” And I think they salvaged the train wreck of a story that Halo 4 and Halo 5 left them with as well as they could.
Now we’ll see if they can follow this up with something good, because everything not tied to fixing Halo 4 and Halo 5’s story mistakes is pure sequel bait.
[quote=“Celoxamortis, post:144, topic:39149, full:true”]
I use “Ubisoft” as a descriptor more than a pejorative because it was Ubisoft that turned the open world model into what we think of today. It’s not an indictment of the quality of the game. Like I said, I consider BOTW and HZD to be “Ubisoft” open worlds,
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It’s just hard comparing garbage to something like BOTW.
It’s nice to see them reset all of their failures but now we gotta go through another 10 years of rebuilding storylines and doing surgery on the lore and unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be here for the end of it.
It’s really good. There were a few things I didn’t like, but it was still really good.
If I had to give criticisms it’s that the open world feels very bare, there wasn’t a point where I thought “that looks cool, I want to go see that” even the crashed Guardian that everyone freaked out about in the gameplay overview is just part of the backdrop. Like, it’s not part of the map, you can’t actually go to it.
The side missions were nothing but rescue the marines and capture the FOB which is kind of disappointing.
A personal nitpick I have (I know it’s just a nitpick but idk if anyone else feels this way or not) is that the Weapon kind of got annoying after a while. At first she started out super lovable, but after a while she was just a little too much for me.
Overall I really like it, and it’s much better than H5’s campaign, but I do have some gripes.
I thought the open world would be my biggest issue with this game. Sadly, it wasn’t.
Finishing campaign was painful. After you meet harbinger the game gets extremely repetitive. The levels all look very samey with one set piece or two to seperate them. The open world is small and its tasks once you do them once or twice make it quite apparent they’re all the same.
The cinematic flair that was even present in CE is gone. There is no sense of scale or epicness. Heck the story doesn’t do much but, as another poster put, pretty much wrap up 4 and 5. I thought the goal was a new point for new players to pick up the game? This has none of that.
All of the plot elements are very predictable. By the time its ‘revealed’ you’re like “well, yeah?”. The writing itself isnt necessarily bad, it feels like they’re making the best of the limited resources this 500 mil game apparently has.
Better story than 5. I’d rate the campaign roughly equal to 4, as everything 4 does right is bad in infinite, and everything infinite does right is bad in 4.
Open world was a mistake. Free to play was a mistake. 343 needs to focus on making a good Halo game first, and then trying all these extra gimmicks after.
Pretty disappointing. It’s better than 4 and 5, but has a flaws that hold it back from its full potential. Six years of development and however many millions of dollars should have produced a better game than what we got.
The open-world is a good concept for Halo, which has traditionally emphasized exploration and mystery in both gameplay and story. Infinite’s open-world is pretty lackluster, though. Every location and fight feels the same, and the player doesn’t have much real impact. I can clear out bases and retake FOBs, but there are still just as many enemies endlessly respawning across the map.
Combat is fun, but enemies have too much health and not enough sense. They rarely do anything other than shuffle from side to side and shoot, so winning is more a matter of patience than skill and planning. Bungie’s Halo enemies, in contrast, were much more active when fighting.
The story is weird. Everything important happened six months before the game starts and the player doesn’t participate in any of it. I also don’t have any idea of the wider state of the galaxy or the consequences of the bad guys winning. Most of the characters were written and acted well, but the Harbinger was boring and I really don’t like what they’ve done with Cortana.
I like the art style and graphics, though they are just a little bit too cartoony in places. A lack of blood reduces the visceral feel of fights. The music and sound design is good. It doesn’t quite have the impact of Marty’s works, but is better at feeling mournful and alien.
Yup… That’s because it’s the 3rd game in the “343 wants the game to be about Cortana but doesn’t know what to do with her character” trilogy.
They wrote such an awful story in Halo 5 that there was no way to have a story in Infinite be great unless they completely ret-conned away Halo 5 and pretended it was just a dream or something
I loved it. I had so much fun in this game, it game me a sense of enjoyment I haven’t had in a while.
Campaign was good, wish it was longer!
That legendary ending was INSANE
I actually really liked the campaign in contrast to Halo 5’s where I still just hate it and never want to touch it again.
The main story missions were very intriguing and very interesting, especially towards the end. The boss fights were suitably challenging and actually fun. After the ridiculous “boss fight” of Halo 2’s Tartarus and the very tiring Warden Eternal who got really old really fast after fighting him for the upteenth time in 5, these boss fights in Infinite were great in comparison, even if playing them on Legendary had the tendency of getting me one or two-shotted by them. But even on Legendary I didn’t find them unfair or broken and employed various strategies (Threat Sensors to expose them, Thrusters to avoid their strikes and fire back, Grappleshot to get distance or kite them around) to not only defeat them but feel a great sense of accomplishment when I triumph over htem.
I really liked the interactions between Chief and Weapon. I actually thought Weapon’s perky attitude may get more annoying than it did, but with her bouncing off Chief with his stoic, shorter responses that nonetheless spoke a lot more about Chief than any other game before save for 4, I really ended up liking her and their dynamics. The later twists and revelations made with them made it not only better but - in my opinion - I thought the story really made up for 5’s and set Infinite up perfectly for the future. Also my emotions towards the end which got put through the ringer moreso than 4 did.
Even Escharum, despite his exaggerated trope of “Old Warrior looking for his final battle” that people meme’d hard on, actually became a deeper, more sympathetic character to me as the story went on and there came a couple revelations on his end. I ended up liking him.
Didn’t get anything on The Endless though other than them potentially being a “Worse threat than The Flood” which I think is a really tall order for me to believe, but for the moment I’m content to wait and see more about them before passing judgement. Echo-216 was an…okay character. Thought he was annoying and though my opinion of him approved minisculely, he was just a meh third wheel.
The open world, however, was a pretty weak part of the campaign, as it, unfortunately, fell in the trap of many other open worlds which I had hoped it wouldn’t have fallen into, that being reduced to “Go to these marks on the map, do the activities here, okay now here’s more marks for you to go do them again”. While I did have fun and really enjoyed fulfilling old fantasies dating back to CE when it comes to just goofing off and setting up enjoyable confrontations with my Marine posses, the rinse and repeat effect of things could turn it into a drag at times.
What I think made it worse though is that there’s no narrative connection to the open world and the main story which turned it into less like the Chief rallying the UNSC to fight the Banished and more Chief just randomly derping around during his quest towards the big showdown with Escharum. Other than being able to pull out better vehicles and guns at the outposts you capture and seeing more UNSC patrols on this section of the ring, you don’t get any kind of other feedback or progress in a narrative setting - no unique characters or anything there to link with and inspire any sense of how the Chief is gearing the UNSC towards a potential comeback.
For those collecting the Spartan Audio Logs, there’s a story there that’s not only very interesting to read and learn about as it catalogues what has gone on on Zeta Halo but also makes me really, desperately wish that WE had been part of that story and not something that we’re hearing about months later.
There were some other funny/interesting bits about the open world such as what their Grunt Propogandist likes to announce through the Propoganda Towers, but, still, on the narrative side it feels like the open world is just…there. I hope to see something more done with it in the future.
All-in-all, the campaign felt like a massive prologue to set up what will whatever come in the future while also making amends to the story elements of Halo 5 and I think what it accomplished in the main story missions went fabulously and although the open world had its activities I enjoyed thanks to the Halo combat formula, I do wish there had been a lot more to it.
That said, I’d give it like an 8/10. Maybe a 7.5 if I didn’t love the Halo gameplay formula that much.
And now I’m starting to get some real game breaking bugs… dying for no reason, but it sends me back to the start of the mission ignoring checkpoints.
Saying there’s a second person in my fireteam but there’s not.
Not launching campaign missions.
Skipping cutscenes results in unrendered models and textures. Also a black screen crash just now.
Sound disappearing, enemies disappearing, doors not opening when they should…
I don’t know if that’s the result of the aforementioned Anti-Cheat flagging me, or some other bug.
It has never been more satisfying killing aliens. The gameplay is addictive and fun. Currently on my second playthrough to get all collectibles and beat it on legendary. Then Laso which I’m sure is gonna suck. The open world is pretty fun, allowing you to tackle an objective differently the 2nd time around. Main story missions are alright but I wish there was a little more action going on in the cutscenes. Boss fights could have been done a little better I feel. The best strategy seems to be just gathering a bunch of coils before the fight then just whipping them to drop their shields. A little more creativity would have been appreciated. Not a fan of the companions and their dialogue personally. Overall pretty good but not a masterpiece. Knowing what the development was actually like im happy with the end product. Im looking forward to any dlc or content they add later on.
I’m on the 4th mission, so far Halo 4 is a lot better.
H4 is way better than this installment
It’s only your opinion anyways. Can you at least explain why H4 was better?
I’ve finished the Campaign and so far its been overall good. I had aversion to the “spiritual reboot” notion, using it purely as fan service for long time Halo fans, like myself, but it exceeded my expectations for the most part.
For starters, I was fan of the Halo 4 and 5 art style, for the most part. The highly detailed designs were fresh new, and really I enjoyed. The GEN 2 Mjolnir armor, as a whole, looked athletic, and almost superhero-esque, and i loved alot of the new takes on familiar and new weapons. However, the Elites I feel could and should’ve been more like their Reach counterparts. Returning the Elites to their sleek, athletic physiology was the correct choice, especially since the Brutes afe back and fulfill the role as the big, poweerfull aggressors. Some of the vehicle redesigns were a bit too much, like the pelican for instance: It was too bulbous, and its lifting-body design was scrapped in favor of an almost ‘Hind gunship’ asethetic. I prefer the more angular, lifting body design of the new pelican, reminiscent of an F117 Nighthawk, Cobra Gunship, and a Chinook helicopter.
The Chief’s armor seen is Halo 4 and 5, while unique and almost tanky, was a radical departure from his more established look. In hindsight, 343i shouldve gone for the GEN 2 Mk VI armor for his look rather than the one we got. That way, people may have not been so dismissive of his appearance in Halo 4. The Chiefs new armor is a return to form, while keeping some of the newer artistic designs of Halo 4 and 5
The Forerunner architecture is spot on; an elegant mix of the large, ominous baroque designs of the original trilogy, with the specular highlights, and floaty bits from the new. It definitely solidified the forerunner aesthetic as a highly advanced, and mysteriously large engineering capable species.
I loved the return of the MA37 assault rifle style in the new MA40. It gave a more stripped down, light weight look that somewhat emulates today’s army rifle, the M4A1 with its shorter carbine look. The Sidekick is what I always imagined and wanted from the pistol, a reliable, accurate weapon, that deals adequate damage, fast RoF, and decent accuracy. A true side arm to compliment a main service duty weapon.
The new Heatwave, Cindershot, and Sentinel beam really hit the mark of alien weapons with distinctive roles, and utility, while fitting it into the sandbox nicely.
I do feel the Whedon-style comedy used by both the Weapon(#newtana) and Brohammer fell abit flat, and the constant nagging and whining of Echo 216 really was a chore to listen too. The Chief embodies the human spirit, he is a legend and a symbol of hope, a hero for all humanity. And then there’s this pilot who is akin to a child who doesn’t want to do this, is crying about everything. Should they(343i) have instead made him more reluctant because he admires the Chief, and doesn’t want to let him down, or doesn’t feel like he could live up to the Chief’s expectations, as he feels what they might be, then he could’ve been a better character, instead of a whining b****.
The Weapon, i feel, shoulve been less naive about Halo, understanding what it was designed to do first and foremost, but also admiring its architecture, and its care and detail, but never forgetting its purpose. To me, it seemed like they did the opposite, almost allowing the character to forget what Halo is. Just a bit too faulty.
All in all, I feel like the story, and combat was good, solid gameplay and shooting mechanics. The Chief felt powerful, fast, and you could approach each combat with whatever tactical procedure you wanted, or jump in guns blazing.
I do wish there was more exploration with mysteries available to uncover, more Forerunner audio logs would’ve been a nice addition, as well as some more info on the whereabouts of the Infinity and its crew.
That my hot take, with as little spoilers as I could muster.
The story had more momentum to it, the relationship between Cortana an chief was at an all time high without compromising the overall arch and a sense of urgency that culminated in an emotional send off. There was a ton of gameplay and level variety, each level was different - from boots on the ground infantry to vehicular sections, or mech sections. The cut scene were fantastic as well.
Halo 4 is not my favorite halo, i found the Prometheus boring to fight, but the overall package was great. It felt complete… and oh man that final flight level. Hype.
Lol I agree with everything you just said. Halo 4 was an amazing campaign. I personally would say infinite is up there with Halo 4 in terms of story or even better