back to article Halo Infinite ups the nostalgia factor for fans of the originals, but it's not without limits

Greetings, traveller, and welcome back to The Register Plays Games, our monthly gaming column. Although the outside world keeps going to shit, at least the closing months of 2021 saw the biggest shooter properties duke it out in time for the festive period. Battlefield 2042 was void of Battlefield feeling while Call of Duty: …

  1. TonyJ

    Confession: I am a massive Halo fan

    ....well, I am a massive Halo Combat Evolved (Halo CE/Halo 1) fan - I played it endlessly back in the day and still occasionally dip my toe in.

    Halo 2 was pretty abysmal - the whole dual-wielding of weapons and playing great chunks as The Arbiter detracted from what otherwise would have been a good game (my personal opinion).

    Halo 3 went some way to fix it but also by then the wholeadd-ons and gadgets thing had crept in and it became ever more difficult to master multiplayer.

    Halo 4 and 5 were ok. But another thing that let it down for me, personally, was that 3, 4 and 5 were console only. Which was a shame.

    "...Fortunately, one does not have to be a Halo lore boffin to appreciate the direction in which 343 has taken the series, and I have a sneaking suspicion that many long-term fans may hold Infinite as a return to form. The gameplay feels more like Bungie's Halo 3, widely regarded as the franchise's peak,.."

    Personally Halo CE was the franchise's peak for many players. Halo 3 was more of a return to form, but Infinite is the most Halo CE of the sequels yet, in my humble opinion. The pace, the weapons all feel very much CE. Even the grappling hook adds to the feel rather than detracting from it.

    I've played the campaign through and thoroughly enjoyed it but it does feel very unbalanced in places. Some bosses fold super easily. Others just pummel you into the ground time and time and time again until you catch a lucky break.

    As successors go, I'd rank it very highly. If you're a fan of the original you're in for a treat.

    1. Excellentsword (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: Confession: I am a massive Halo fan

      Thanks for adding your two cents! I can barely remember playing Halo CE but 3 was an exciting time that sticks in my mind.

    2. Down not across

      Re: Confession: I am a massive Halo fan

      Halo CE is/was the definitive game in the franchise. I didn't even bother with ODST and more or less gave up on the franchise at that point. I did, in a weak moment, get Guardians and played that through.

      I wasn't even going to bother with Infinite, but after the review and comments like yours perhaps the franchise deserves another chance.

      1. Gene Cash Silver badge

        Re: Confession: I am a massive Halo fan

        HALO Reach is pretty good. It's the only other game with actual storyline.

        ODST is "not bad" but I mainly liked it for the voice acting. The city is a pretty nice and well thought out setting, especially at night. It ranks above HALO 2 for me, but that's not saying much.

    3. D@v3

      Re: Confession: I am a massive Halo fan

      I've always been as massive Halo fan, playing 8 player CE LAN multiplayer was what made my get an xbox in the first place.

      Currently working through the Master Chief collection (Reach, 1,2,3,4 and ODST) that I picked up from Steam for dead cheap, playing on legendary, should keep me going for a while. Tried LASO, but decided that gaming is supposed to be fun, so gave up.

  2. Hubert Cumberdale Silver badge

    Well, don't know about this Halo thing, but it's been Red Dead Redemption 2 all the way for me over the last few months (I know, I'm late to the party, but it's a good one). Any game in which you have to periodically have an actual bath or NPCs will start complaining is a win in my book.

    1. Excellentsword (Written by Reg staff)

      Genuine masterpiece, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

  3. Gene Cash Silver badge

    Great game, but it's not HALO

    It feels like the HALO team did the original cutscenes, then got laid off and the Modern Warfare 2 guys had to finish it from their notes.

    There's literally nothing aside from "kill aliens" so far. There's a dig site I'm supposed to get to, but I have no idea how, and a team of guys on a hill apparently that I'm supposed to save, but I have no idea how to get there.

    I've found a tank, but there's nowhere to take it because it's hard to drive and the trees and rocks are in the way, and there's nothing obvious to attack with it.

    There's ghosts scattered around that I can't drive.

    The marines are stupid. I saved a bunch and now they're all clustered around the tank and won't leave to come with me.

    I have had a couple boss fights but I've learned almost nothing from them, except one guy's name. There was "sooper dooper sword elite dude" who instead of attacking me with his sword, just spammed me with impossibly accurate grenades from an absolutely impossible range.

    The "new girl" is too perky and idiotic. I feel like I'm traveling with Mr. B. Natural from MST3K.

    The Pelican somehow has an unlimited supply of vehicles and doesn't mind coming to drop them off, but won't pick me up and take me anywhere.

    I'm playing "normal" and Brutes and Elites fall instantly with simple faceshots, then there are these "fast attack" brutes that land and you have to grenade spam them.

    I guess I'll go shoot some more aliens. I don't have much else to do.

    Edit: and I started the game, and got "you are not the fireteam leader" and it refused to play the game.

    I googled the error and "halo infinite" and "campaign" and got NO HITS. I updated my HALOBOX and it played. Yay. Is this fuckin' Windows 10 or what?

    1. Excellentsword (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: Great game, but it's not HALO

      If you don't know how to get somewhere, I would suggest placing a waypoint on the map marker. It tells you which button does that on the map. Then move in that direction.

    2. TonyJ

      Re: Great game, but it's not HALO

      Been a while and I hope you're getting on more with it but to answer some of your comments:

      "...It feels like the HALO team did the original cutscenes, then got laid off and the Modern Warfare 2 guys had to finish it from their notes.

      There's literally nothing aside from "kill aliens" so far. There's a dig site I'm supposed to get to, but I have no idea how, and a team of guys on a hill apparently that I'm supposed to save, but I have no idea how to get there..."

      I agree that some of the routes are less than obvious to put it mildly - some of the objectives appear to be right in front of you but take time to learn where they actually are/to get to them and some feel illogical. Just persevere.

      "...I've found a tank, but there's nowhere to take it because it's hard to drive and the trees and rocks are in the way, and there's nothing obvious to attack with it..."

      The vehicle driving mechanism in all Halo games has never changed. Unlike most others where you use the keyboard to change direction and the mouse to look, in Halo it's always been the mouse to look and the vehicle basically follows in that direction. It takes some getting used to but eventually feels more natural in my personal opinion.

      "...There's ghosts scattered around that I can't drive.."

      These are damaged beyond use, simply. If you look closely you will eventually see how to tell them apart.

      "...The marines are stupid. I saved a bunch and now they're all clustered around the tank and won't leave to come with me...

      Yep. The marine AI has always been odd like that - pretty dumb across the whole franchise.

      "...I have had a couple boss fights but I've learned almost nothing from them, except one guy's name. There was "sooper dooper sword elite dude" who instead of attacking me with his sword, just spammed me with impossibly accurate grenades from an absolutely impossible range..."

      Per my comment above - sometimes it feels like a breeze (especially some bosses) and others you just get pummeled time and again and that does get frustrating.

      "...The "new girl" is too perky and idiotic. I feel like I'm traveling with Mr. B. Natural from MST3K..."

      She's supposed to be. She's meant to be a throwback to naivete and innocence

      "...The Pelican somehow has an unlimited supply of vehicles and doesn't mind coming to drop them off, but won't pick me up and take me anywhere..." there are ways you can move around the map built in, but come on... it's be a short game if you could call a lift every time you wanted to get anywhere!

      "...I'm playing "normal" and Brutes and Elites fall instantly with simple faceshots, then there are these "fast attack" brutes that land and you have to grenade spam them..."

      Interesting - I never felt that ease with general opponents. Perhaps you're a better player than you realise? (Not sarcasm)

      I guess I'll go shoot some more aliens. I don't have much else to do.

      Edit: and I started the game, and got "you are not the fireteam leader" and it refused to play the game.

      I googled the error and "halo infinite" and "campaign" and got NO HITS. I updated my HALOBOX and it played. Yay. Is this fuckin' Windows 10 or what?

  4. Jim84

    Nemesis

    If they've got a semi open world it would have been interesting to see them nick the Nemesis system out of Shasow of Mordor:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm_AzK27mZY&t=442s

    It would be cool to have Elites that beat you level up and become base comanders. But then you'd need to stick some story device into the game whereby master chief can come back to life.

    Even better would be if the UNMC soliders also leveled up and remembered you and each other.

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