#New halo game series

Mostly, though, it's a tool for getting around. The grapple can yank dropped weapons and throwable explosives straight into Master Chief's hands, and it gives him a way to more easily hijack vehicles that are otherwise out of reach. It turns the hero Spartan himself into one of Infinite's most potent weapons I won many a battle by simple grappling a foe, punching its lights out, and moving on to the next one. It's exactly what it sounds like: An extendable cord that latches on to a surface (or living being) and pulls Master Chief straight to the point of connection.

#New halo game series

But the best tool by far is the grapple.ģ43 Industries is finally putting its own stamp on the series that Bungie created and stuck with through 2010's 'Halo: Reach'. A Threat Sensor becomes vital later on as you run into a growing number of threats armed with cloaking tech. Thrusters allow for quick dodges on the ground and in the air they're an incredibly handy counter to major threats like energy swords and fearsome Hunters. You'll be able to use Drop Shields to toss out temporary cover in pretty much any location, giving Master Chief a fighting chance when he's caught out in the open. But the most impactful change by far is the addition of permanent tools to Master Chief's inventory. It's also evident in the addition of ammo stations where you can resupply your weapons instead of constantly swapping over to new ones. It's evident in the way FOBs offer an increasing array of weapons and vehicles for Master Chief to call on as you take Zeta Halo back from the Banished. Infinite, on the other hand, slows things down and gives players chance to lean on their individual preferences and style of play. Most of the previous games put a premium on tactical improvisation, forcing players to claim whatever weapons happen to be available nearby and swap them out for new ones regularly due to resource limitations. It's a foreign concept for a Halo game, this idea of slowly expanding Master Chief's power base. But the more land you reclaim, the more potent gear you can later call on at reclaimed Forward Operating Bases (FOBs). Wresting these locations away from the Banished is a sort of ongoing secondary (and somewhat optional) objective throughout Infinite. The landscape is dotted with Banished encampments and captured United Nations Space Command (UNSC) outposts. So when Master Chief touches down on the broken Halo's surface, he's stepping into occupied territory. A working Halo would give them quite a bit of power. The Banished are led by a group that's at the lower end of Covenant society, and they've traded zealotry for the pursuit of raw power.

The new hostile faction is a rebellious offshoot of the Covenant, a theocratic empire of religious zealots whose society breaks down along strict species-distinct class lines. This collection of floating space islands is of particular interest to the Banished. This particular Halo has been through some tough times: It's no longer functional as a weapon, and a section of its surface - where the bulk of Infinite unfolds - has shattered. The setting is Zeta Halo, one of the series' eponymous ring-shaped superweapons with a planet-like surface running along the entire inner ring. It's not just the way the world is built, but also the tools at Master Chief's disposal. Infinite isn't quite an open world game à la Far Cry, but there is a newfound focus here on letting players explore, discover, and forge a path of their own through the story. A new visionĪ big part of what makes it so good is how much certain fundamentals have shifted. It's undeniably an incomplete experience at launch, but Infinite gives good Halo nonetheless. The campaign's stronger moments outnumber the weaker ones by a wide margin, and the multiplayer - which some fans consider the real heart of the Halo series - is the best it's ever been for me. Yet for all of that unevenness, I really have loved the time I've spent with Infinite. That also says nothing of the technical mess of bugs and missing features currently weighing the whole production down. But it remains hopelessly rooted in the past for vast stretches of Master Chief's latest adventure, and not in a good way. It's a serious leap forward for the series, and in a way that feels like developer 343 Industries is finally putting its own stamp on the series that Bungie created and stuck with through 2010's Halo: Reach. Halo Infinite is both great and terrible, a real study in contrasts.