Since 2001, the franchise of Halo has prospered, with their first game being something people had never seen before. Nearly 22 years later, we now have the sixth game of the two-decade juggernaut of a series. 

I had taken a break from gaming for a few months, but something about this game reeled me in enough to spend $300 on a brand new Xbox. The disappointment of this choice was non-existent. 

Halo Infinite was supposed to be released in its entirety on Dec. 8th, 2021. Still, the developers—343 Industries—saw some of the downfalls of many other games being released at this time and decided to strike early. 

While the campaign was still to be released on the planned date, 343 Industries decided to drop multiplayer for free to everyone. Essentially, it was a beta, but it was an absolute hit. 

The gameplay is smooth, and the gunplay is as balanced as it can be for still being in the “beta” stage. This means that not one single gun is the best out of the bunch since they all have strengths and weaknesses. Everyone seemed to enjoy going back to the roots of Halo after not having a game since 2015. Even Halo 5: Guardians release was questionable to many, so seeing a game this loved by fans is new. 

While this game has many positive reviews, there will always be those who find even the most minor issues. 

With the new battle pass system, many people complained that progression was slow for only 50 XP per match played. 343 Industries decided to implement challenges within the game to boost advancement. These challenges would involve going into specific game modes or even getting kills with a particular weapon.

While many players were gleeful about implementing challenges, other gamers were furious. The challenges involved you getting into a specific game mode and playing that. The only issue was that there were only playlists, meaning you had to hope you were randomly put into the correct game mode out of the four or so in the rotation. 

While this is a minor issue, people often forget that the game is still a “beta” version and that COVID-19 makes development more challenging than before. This game has hours of content, and the community should appreciate how hard developers worked on it.  

This is only the beginning of this game’s lifecycle. Players already were looking forward to the now released campaign, and 343 Industries will now be focusing on progressing and improving the game. 

After an interview with gaming company IGN, studio head Chris Lee stated that this game is supposed to be their future platform. 

“It’s really about creating Halo Infinite as the start of the next ten years for Halo and then building that as we go with our fans and community,” Lee said. 

With this being said, Halo Infinite is not going anywhere, and the game will only expand and improve. The baseline that 343 Industries has set now has impacted the whole gaming community. As we reach normalcy within our world, we also begin to see games flourish like they used to. 

343 Industries loves the game as much as we players do, so they know what we want. If you are a past Halo fan or are interested in beginning, try this game for free on Xbox. 

You will not regret it.