Halo Infinite test: a very good episode yes, but no next gen slap ‘…

The test

The spearhead of Xbox consoles for twenty years now, the Halo saga finally arrives on Series X, with all the same a year behind schedule. The PC, Xbox One and Game Pass also have the honor of hosting this Infinite episode, developed by 343 Industries just like Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. If the adage says that we do not change a winning team, the studio still takes advantage of this change of generation to change its recipe, since the Major is entitled this time to a small open world as a field of game. But is this really the main asset of Halo Infinite …?

Halo InfiniteWhile waiting to answer this question in detail (spoiler: “no”), the first contact with the game reveals in any case a great quality: that of maximum accessibility. Before even being able to launch the adventure, the menus present us with a myriad of options that will allow all types of players to customize the experience to their liking. Subtitle size, interface colors, field of view, sound mixing, text chat text to speech, voice chat to text conversion, and message display time are just a few of the dozens and dozens of settings. available. We note all the same immediately that the campaign launch interface is designed to accommodate several players, while the co-op mode is not available at the launch of the title. And it shouldn’t happen until next year, which is obviously extremely unfortunate. Let’s go over this gap, and put on the Master Chief’s armor!

Halo Infinite

You certainly already know the introduction of the game, which reveals a Major in bad shape, because unconscious following a confrontation with Atriox having gone badly. Luckily, the Echo 116 pilot finds our hero floating in space and gets him back on his feet. Then follows a first sequence of fights on the warship Gbraakon, then the landing on the Halo Zeta. The latter is currently in the hands of the Outcasts, led by Chief Escharum who was once Atriox’s mentor. So much for the general context, which will naturally be enriched thereafter and will also give us more information on Cortana and a certain Augur. We won’t tell you more so as not to spoil any surprises, but don’t wait for an incredible storytelling twist. If the story unfortunately remains fairly classic, it benefits on the other hand from very pleasing cutscenes to the eye. These sequences displayed in real time benefit from extremely detailed facial animations. The female hologram accompanying the Major will feel more alive and real to you than ever before.

Halo Infinite

IT’S THE GRAPPLE THAT CHOSEN IT!

Halo InfiniteBut no more suspense, the biggest strength of the game actually lies in its fights. Which is not nothing for an FPS, you will agree! More tactical than ever, clashes constantly require using the right gun against the right enemies, and the right gadget in the right situation. Knowing that the weapons can be of five different types (kinetic, plasma, electric, solid light or heavy ammunition) and that the Major now has five additional equipment, the possibilities are numerous. This “combinatorial” aspect could come into opposition with the limitation to two weapons, but the levels are fortunately full of racks in which it is only necessary to draw. Of the five gadgets whose presence we have just mentioned, the grapple launcher is undoubtedly the most innovative possible for the saga and the most interesting. It not only allows free hanging on to any surface (making it easier to move, explore, and platform phases), but also propel itself towards enemies to briefly stun them, temporarily remove a held shield by an opponent, or to attract a weapon located a few meters away.

Halo Infinite

This really energizes the gameplay, without however distorting the feeling of “heaviness” typical of the series. The developers managed to find a perfect compromise, thanks in part to a relatively low grapple pulling speed. The second most exciting gadget is certainly the portable wall, since this one-way shield stops enemy fire but lets the Major pass through. The threat sensor is only useful in very specific situations, since it allows the presence of invisible enemies to be revealed. Simple but effective, the shield generator simply boosts the Major’s level of protection. Finally, the thrusters make it possible to perform lateral evasive maneuvers. This is certainly the most dispensable equipment (the game offers it to us quite late in the campaign), but its presence is in no way bothersome. It should be noted in passing that the fights benefit from a particularly well-known automatic backup system. The recording is indeed frequent enough so that the player never has to repeat a too long sequence. If during a confrontation against several opponents you defeat a particularly powerful enemy, the game is for example immediately saved. Boss fights also benefit from a recording at each milestone. And don’t panic if you see the message “save checkpoint” pop up a few moments before you die, the game will notice it and reset you to the previous point on its own. Absolutely perfect !

Very static, this open world clearly lacks life. The most striking example comes from trees, which do not budge from a leaf when fired at with a rocket launcher or driven into them with an armored vehicle. Moreover, the physics of the vehicles is very questionable, some being too light and others too unwieldy.


Halo Infinite

HALO VARIANT ZETA

Halo InfiniteNow is the time to address the issue of the open world, a marketing argument par excellence for too many years now. As much to say it right away, the halo Zeta of Halo Infinite is based on recipes seen and reviewed in the past, in particular in the open worlds concocted by Ubisoft. Thus, it is full of collectable items (audio files serving the narration, gameplay modifying skulls, Spartan modules intended to improve gadgets, Mjolnir lockers housing cosmetic items for multi mode, Forerunners artifacts to scan …) and takes over the famous concept of the bases to be captured. These outposts are generally defended by a few dozen Outcasts and Covenants and allow, once the change of ownership is recorded, to order vehicles and find a few soldiers ready to follow the Major. They also act as fast travel points, and their capture shows the surrounding points of interest on the map. These take the form of allies to free, Pariah towers to destroy or VIP targets to shoot down, defeating the latter allowing you to get your hands on improved weapons. A system of bravery points rewards the fact of participating in these various activities, their accumulation allowing to unlock ever more weapons, vehicles and marines in the captured bases.

Halo Infinite

Nothing really revolutionary then, and it’s even worse if we consider the questions of form. Very static, this open world clearly lacks life. The most striking example comes from trees, which do not budge from a leaf when fired at with a rocket launcher or driven into them with an armored vehicle. Moreover, the physics of the vehicles is very questionable, some being too light and others too unwieldy. And all of them tend to be disturbed by the slightest tree or rock that stands in their way. Ultimately, it’s the indoor levels that do the best. We find there the cold colors typical of the saga, as well as a rather pleasant Gothic-futuristic architecture. However, Halo Infinite retains a flaw that already appeared in Halo Combat Evolved twenty years ago: some places are copied and pasted several times, without any shame. Where is the next-gen in all of this?

Halo Infinite

TOWARDS INFINITY, AND BEYOND

Halo InfiniteIf the open world offers nothing exceptional or new (especially since it is relatively small and divided into several islands), its presence is still welcome because it allows to extend the life of the single player campaign. We completed the latter in fourteen hours, visiting only moderately the open world. It must therefore be possible to travel the adventure in eight to ten hours in a straight line or, on the contrary, to spend twenty to thirty hours freely roaming the Halo Zeta. Note also that the game leaves us the possibility of continuing the exploration after the end credits. Another way to prolong the fun is naturally the multiplayer mode, which made a surprise appearance on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Xbox on November 15th. Free-to-play and therefore accessible independently of the single-player campaign, this multi has the good idea to offer training with bots via the Spartan Academy and to use certain gadgets from the main adventure, starting with the grapple launcher . It’s a success, and we can only advise you to try it for yourselves. This separation between the campaign (paid) and the multi (free) seems to us to be beneficial to everyone. Players who don’t really care about soloing won’t have to open their wallets, while those who have purchased Halo Infinite or are subscribed to Game Pass will enjoy cosmetic bonuses for multiplaying, in addition to the good times spent during the game. the adventure. Because if the next-gen promises are not kept, the game is still very satisfying!


Source

Read also