What The Critics Are Saying About Halo Infinite
The "Halo" franchise has been one of the most iconic series to exist, but the games have disappointed fans plenty of times since the original was released. The latest entry in the series, "Halo Infinite," promised to be a return to everything that people loved in the originals, but people remained cautious and were worried about the game despite its appearances. However, critics have finally gotten their hands on the campaign of the game and confirmed that 343 Industries lived up to its word.
It's important to know that the company behind the original games, Bungie, hasn't worked on the franchise in quite a while — instead, 343 Industries has been developing the newer games. People have argued that the games haven't felt the same since the trade-off, and many critics honed in on the idea that 343 Industries finally understood the assignment.
Nicole Carpenter at Polygon stated that "for the first time in years, it feels like 343 knows where 'Halo' is going." Kotaku's Ari Notis called the game "both a return to form and a revelatory evolution for 343 Industries."
Between the return to great storytelling, combat features, and open-world environment, critics found plenty of things to praise in the campaign of "Halo Infinite." It's worth noting that these reviews excluded the multiplayer of the game, which had a surprise release a month before the release date of the rest of the game.
The combat in Halo Infinite just feels good
Any FPS game needs a good combat system, otherwise killing enemies feels like a chore. Natalie Clayton from PC Gamer wrote that "running and gunning in 'Halo' has never felt this good." Ari Notis agreed, calling the shooting "a blast" because of creative tools and weapons along with varying enemy classes.
IGN's Ryan McCaffrey explained that it wasn't just standard combat that felt great — the boss fights were some of the "best encounters" in the game and the franchise as a whole.
Critics also pointed out that the storytelling was great, too. Nicole Carpenter called each of the three main characters — Master Chief, the Pilot, and the Weapon — "well-rounded." Ari Notis also explained that "Infinite" put Master Chief "in touch with his feelings," a change that they thought could be indicative of a shift away from the more stoic, macho characters in gaming.
While there was plenty to enjoy, critics were split over how well the game looked compared to past "Halo" titles.
The graphics of Halo Infinite had critics split, but the game was still great overall
Some critics were thrilled with the way the game looked, like Ari Notis. However, Ryan McCaffrey pointed out that in the past, the "Halo" games always felt like they were pushing visual limits. In McCaffrey's opinion, the world of "Infinite" didn't feel all that impressive.
Natalie Clayton fell somewhere in the middle, pointing out that the game was "gorgeous" but lacked diversity, which was something that made missions run together more often than not. In a campaign that takes about a little over 10 hours to beat and 30 to 40 hours to complete, tasks started feeling repetitive for Clayton quickly.
Overall, the campaign didn't disappoint, and it currently has a favorable Metacritic score. "Halo Infinite" was pushed back by an entire year, and fans should be happy that it was — the end result is the clean and polished "Halo" game that fans haven't seen in quite some time, according to critics.