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[Kev Kev]

im staying away from this thread to avoid spoilers but i am still loving this game. it has issues here and there. banshees are annoying and will constantly attack me in the air, and then disappear before i can kill them. snipers are scoping through walls and trees sometimes when im across the map just exploring and minding my own business, and other small gripes.

but for the most part the campaign is pure joy to play and explore. i love finding every thing in each area before moving on. the collectibles are hidden pretty good, but not absurdly hidden (except the skulls which is perfectly acceptable and expected... and appreciated!). mostly its just a challenge of the map being huge, but it forces you to comb over it multiple times and really learn the lay of the land, in order to 100% each area. i love it!

im probably 20-25 hours in on the campaign and i imagine im a little over halfway through. lol at people saying this was going to be a 7 hour campaign.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

I just have to say after finishing it this is a good game, maybe even a good Halo game...but it doesn't capture what Bungie's trilogy made so great. They throw in random iconic lines of dialogue as well as the iconic Halo music....however, it doesn't catch me as it did back in the original trilogy. It feels like The Force Awakens, some nostalgia thrown in without UNDERSTANDING what made those voicelines and music so great back then. It falls abit stale in comparison.

The only way imo where it really felt GREAT, like those moments we remember so fondly from back then, was right at...the end. The last 20 seconds or so...and then it cuts to black lol

It's actually better than the original trilogy by quite a ways. It did what missions like "The Covenant" "Halo" "Silent Cartagrapher" "Truth and Reconciliation" all did, but significantly better. They captured so well the feel of the original game, the Chief's character development and depth of character is some of the best it's clearly ever been, the dynamic between the pilot, the Chief and The Weapon are exceptional, and the overall story thus far has been very well told, especially from the Banished side of things. You also get a strong sense of the UNSC side of the story also from audio logs if you desire to know way more about the Spartans Chief is finding throughout the game that lead to his armor upgrades.

The best compliment I can give this game is no Halo title feels more like an Eric Nylund or Troy Denning novel than this game does. It does what it does with story very effectively without trying too hard to force "hey look, this is a big revelation here!" down your throat. It eases its way into telling you more about the characters, and unraveling the greater mystery at foot, and the environmental storytelling used to help sell all this is magnificent. Nonetheless, entirely your view, but I'm not seeing this stuff about them not capturing the feel of the original trilogy when they've made by far the best such game since then, which also happens to top many of the best gameplay moments from some of those past titles. Environmental and level design has also never been more clever, more impressive.

You can enter a cave well within a specific area that you would think keeps you well within the confines of the island you're on, but then takes you so deep into the very core of those hex walls, right to the edge of space. A cave led to an entire seemingly carved out section of space deep in Zeta Halo where find enemies as well as a Spartan core. There would be an entrance from a further up mountain that took you into a completely sealed off room or space with enemies. Upon initial examination I'm here thinking "shit, they messed up, you can't even get in there, the damn door won't open." Turns out you have to really search around the map, and boom you end up finding an entrance you really didn't expect would be there that takes you further in. This kind of environmental storytelling is used so well throughout this game.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

im staying away from this thread to avoid spoilers but i am still loving this game. it has issues here and there. banshees are annoying and will constantly attack me in the air, and then disappear before i can kill them. snipers are scoping through walls and trees sometimes when im across the map just exploring and minding my own business, and other small gripes.

but for the most part the campaign is pure joy to play and explore. i love finding every thing in each area before moving on. the collectibles are hidden pretty good, but not absurdly hidden (except the skulls which is perfectly acceptable and expected... and appreciated!). mostly its just a challenge of the map being huge, but it forces you to comb over it multiple times and really learn the lay of the land, in order to 100% each area. i love it!

im probably 20-25 hours in on the campaign and i imagine im a little over halfway through. lol at people saying this was going to be a 7 hour campaign.

Just over 53% done, over 25 hours. I maxed out my threat sensor. A god send on Heroic. Gives you a real amazing tactical layout of who is who and what is around you, even stuff behind you. Very well done mechanic, I must say. I initially thought, no way in hell I'd ever use this. It literally becomes essential in many encounters in a way that once you get use to it, you always want it active.

 

[yamaci17]

Just over 53% done, over 25 hours. I maxed out my threat sensor. A god send on Heroic. Gives you a real amazing tactical layout of who is who and what is around you, even stuff behind you. Very well done mechanic, I must say. I initially thought, no way in hell I'd ever use this. It literally becomes essential in many encounters in a way that once you get use to it, you always want it active.

Haha, i agree. initially I also felt like I would not utilize the shield and the sensor much. How I was wrong! Shield proved crucial in some encounters, and sensor became an integral part of my attack stragety. Being able to observe how much health shield some enemies, like Hunters, is also crucial help... I only underutilized thruster

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Haha, i agree. initially I also felt like I would not utilize the shield and the sensor much. How I was wrong! Shield proved crucial in some encounters, and sensor became an integral part of my attack stragety. Being able to observe how much health shield some enemies, like Hunters, is also crucial help... I only underutilized thruster

Thruster is getting serious use from me now thanks to the cloak ability. Another fantastic use of it, I think, is sometimes you'll be in an encounter where you maybe don't have time to think where to fire your grapple to get out of way. Thruster is a nice carefree, no aiming necessary means of doing just that and buying yourself the time needed to think about where you want to grapple to.

I have everything maxed out except my shields at this stage.




And don't sleep on that maxed out drop wall that is not only much larger and more protective, but also adds shock damage to every projectile you fire through it, even non shock grenades. So damn good!

 

[Leyasu]

I just have to say after finishing it this is a good game, maybe even a good Halo game...but it doesn't capture what Bungie's trilogy made so great. They throw in random iconic lines of dialogue as well as the iconic Halo music....however, it doesn't catch me as it did back in the original trilogy. It feels like The Force Awakens, some nostalgia thrown in without UNDERSTANDING what made those voicelines and music so great back then. It falls abit stale in comparison.

The only way imo where it really felt GREAT, like those moments we remember so fondly from back then, was right at...the end. The last 20 seconds or so...and then it cuts to black lol

I don’t know if I agree with this. Everything is pretty great so far. I will reserve judgment until after I have finished it, but so far it is probably my favourite. Although coop not being there does hurt it.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I don’t know if I agree with this. Everything is pretty great so far. I will reserve judgment until after I have finished it, but so far it is probably my favourite. Although coop not being there does hurt it.

I think they nailed pretty much everything except for the big set pieces. Loved the scarab encounters in the OT. Not really anything equivilient here

 

[GnomeChimpsky]

Some of my screenshots. I don't know how you can't be impressed when exploring Zeta Halo. Art direction is on point.

How are you taking screenshots without the weapon model?

 

[MidGenRefresh]

How are you taking screenshots without the weapon model?

Blind skull.

 

[Starfield]

How are you taking screenshots without the weapon model?

I'm assuming he has disabled UI and whenever he switched weapons he hits F12 to make a screenshot (while switching weapons theres a brief moment where you dont see your hands)


edit: or Blind skull. lol ye

 

[SenjutsuSage]

For some reason, the skulls are the only things I'm not interested in searching out lol.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

For some reason, the skulls are the only things I'm not interested in searching out lol.

You’re missing out. Bandana skull with infinite ammo and equipment with no cooldown is a game changer. You can grapple like 🕷 . Skulls are great fun.

 

[Leyasu]

I think they nailed pretty much everything except for the big set pieces. Loved the scarab encounters in the OT. Not really anything equivilient here

Good point. Yeah it is a shame that scarabs are not in the game

 

[SafeOrAlone]

Map would be littered with Scarabs, were it up to me. The Banished need more resistance up in the air.

 

[Vagswarm]

For some reason, the skulls are the only things I'm not interested in searching out lol.

They're in some nasty places. You either have to go well out of your way to find them or battle some ruthless enemies. For the two I found so far that is.

 

[Vagswarm]

I think they nailed pretty much everything except for the big set pieces. Loved the scarab encounters in the OT. Not really anything equivilient here

They have some nasty bosses in place of them though. They've been equally as frustrating as the scarabs. Plus it's just one game. Halo 2 and 3 definitely had more than the original.

I love the template they have established and can't wait to see more. There's so much stuff they can add from here.

 

[the_master]

We need bigger vehicles. Marines fall behind fast and they don't drive your or other vehicles.

I think that investing in that would give a sense of massive battles like in Halo CE.
I would love to see marines sitting in the scorpion again. A marine could hold onto the ghost (like you do when you hijack it) chopper and such and they should drive next to you with any other vehicle, even banshees.

I am loving the game so far. I think I am at the final boss now and it is getting very epic.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

They have some nasty bosses in place of them though. They've been equally as frustrating as the scarabs. Plus it's just one game. Halo 2 and 3 definitely had more than the original.

I love the template they have established and can't wait to see more. There's so much stuff they can add from here.

Yeah the boss fights are some of the best in the franchise i think. The elite with the red energy sword was my highlight

 

[Termite]

This game felt like what I was told by Halo fans the original trilogy felt like. But when I played them, they didn't deliver. This game finally does.

Well done 343. Multiplayer is phenomenal too. I've gotten all three weekly rewards so far just by playing naturally - I never play a multiplayer game that much.

 

[ResilientBanana]

For some reason, the skulls are the only things I'm not interested in searching out lol.

Zeta Halo | Halo Infinite Interactive Map | Map Genie

Halo Infinite Maps - All Callouts, Weapon Spawns, Objectives, Equipment, Vehicles & more!

mapgenie.io

someone pasted this a page or two back.

 

[the_master]

Yeah the boss fights are some of the best in the franchise i think. The elite with the red energy sword was my highlight

I prefered the next one, where I used the red sword to finish the boss off, it was pretty eppic to keep attacking with the sword and interrupt his actions. Everything felt extremely badass and epic. Best boss fight in a long time. Then I kept his weapon for the next boss who I am fighting now

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I prefered the next one, where I used the red sword to finish the boss off, it was pretty eppic to keep attacking with the sword and interrupt his actions. Everything felt extremely badass and epic. Best boss fight in a long time. Then I kept his weapon for the next boss who I am fighting now

His last phase pissed me off so much lol. Kept getting him down to the last bit of health then he'd one shot me with that leap attack.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Tried it for a while, not long to be honest, but didn't feel the magic at all. Played on heroic I think (the third out of four). Only got until a bit after I met the little blue lady, but got bored since I think I'm missing a lot of info from previous games and the gameplay itself wasn't that fun to me.

Game looks pretty (at least indoors, didn't get to see outdoors), specially during action sequences. Explosions look very fine and the physics just make it better. That sequence at the start when everything starts to blow up? Very cool too.

The IA was a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes enemies flanked me or some heavy enemy (those big brutes with the gun that spits red plasma, destroyer it was?) didn't let me stay on cover while regenerating my shield. Those moments were nice fun, as I needed to think about how the fuck staying alive.
But other times I could send an explosive canister to a brute's face, send him flying to the nearest hospital bed, but their friends who were just a few metters away didn't notice and kept doing their thing. That was lame.

What I didn't like so much was, well... the gameplay. I'm not a Halo fan by any means, and I get that I have to be on the move and use the appropiate weapon depending on the enemies defense but nah, I think the gunplay in games like DOOM or Titanfall 2 was much better. Weapons don't have a lot of "humph" or proper feedback, feel a bit weak and the same goes when hitting an enemy, it's not very satisfying.


With that said I guess I'll give it another chance, since if anything this game has make me want to play the older titles.

 

[iHaunter]

im staying away from this thread to avoid spoilers but i am still loving this game. it has issues here and there. banshees are annoying and will constantly attack me in the air, and then disappear before i can kill them. snipers are scoping through walls and trees sometimes when im across the map just exploring and minding my own business, and other small gripes.

but for the most part the campaign is pure joy to play and explore. i love finding every thing in each area before moving on. the collectibles are hidden pretty good, but not absurdly hidden (except the skulls which is perfectly acceptable and expected... and appreciated!). mostly its just a challenge of the map being huge, but it forces you to comb over it multiple times and really learn the lay of the land, in order to 100% each area. i love it!

im probably 20-25 hours in on the campaign and i imagine im a little over halfway through. lol at people saying this was going to be a 7 hour campaign.

The actual story is >8 hours.

 

[the_master]

It's actually better than the original trilogy by quite a ways. It did what missions like "The Covenant" "Halo" "Silent Cartagrapher" "Truth and Reconciliation" all did, but significantly better. They captured so well the feel of the original game, the Chief's character development and depth of character is some of the best it's clearly ever been, the dynamic between the pilot, the Chief and The Weapon are exceptional, and the overall story thus far has been very well told, especially from the Banished side of things. You also get a strong sense of the UNSC side of the story also from audio logs if you desire to know way more about the Spartans Chief is finding throughout the game that lead to his armor upgrades.

The best compliment I can give this game is no Halo title feels more like an Eric Nylund or Troy Denning novel than this game does. It does what it does with story very effectively without trying too hard to force "hey look, this is a big revelation here!" down your throat. It eases its way into telling you more about the characters, and unraveling the greater mystery at foot, and the environmental storytelling used to help sell all this is magnificent. Nonetheless, entirely your view, but I'm not seeing this stuff about them not capturing the feel of the original trilogy when they've made by far the best such game since then, which also happens to top many of the best gameplay moments from some of those past titles. Environmental and level design has also never been more clever, more impressive.

You can enter a cave well within a specific area that you would think keeps you well within the confines of the island you're on, but then takes you so deep into the very core of those hex walls, right to the edge of space. A cave led to an entire seemingly carved out section of space deep in Zeta Halo where find enemies as well as a Spartan core. There would be an entrance from a further up mountain that took you into a completely sealed off room or space with enemies. Upon initial examination I'm here thinking "shit, they messed up, you can't even get in there, the damn door won't open." Turns out you have to really search around the map, and boom you end up finding an entrance you really didn't expect would be there that takes you further in. This kind of environmental storytelling is used so well throughout this game.

I can't agree on this. The original trilogy felt more epic and also had larger scale battles. More enemies facing each other, more vehicles and better focused levels.
Infinite is great, but even beeing way bigger, it feels all smaller in several ways.
Also the open world as it is, was not necessary. I would have prefered either a few open areas, secondary quests, levels and path on main missions, or going the other way to the full ring.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

We need bigger vehicles. Marines fall behind fast and they don't drive your or other vehicles.

I think that investing in that would give a sense of massive battles like in Halo CE.
I would love to see marines sitting in the scorpion again. A marine could hold onto the ghost (like you do when you hijack it) chopper and such and they should drive next to you with any other vehicle, even banshees.

I am loving the game so far. I think I am at the final boss now and it is getting very epic.

I don't think i could cope with bigger vehicles with those trees in the way

 

[the_master]

I don't think i could cope with bigger vehicles with those trees in the way

That is another thing.
The open world is not tuned for vehicles.
In the end you just ditch the vehicle after a few meters and use the grappleshot.

 

[the_master]

His last phase pissed me off so much lol. Kept getting him down to the last bit of health then he'd one shot me with that leap attack.

That is when I used the sword
Instead of running all the time, sprint head on, slash him with the sword, move back or aside and strike again, learn when you can strike so that you interrupt his attack -> epic (hard as fuck, in heroic, but epic)

 

[Gameplaylover]

im probably 20-25 hours in on the campaign and i imagine im a little over halfway through. lol at people saying this was going to be a 7 hour campaign.

I got an achievement for beating the game in under 8 hours. Played on normal and died a lot. I mean a lot.

 

[ebevan91]

His last phase pissed me off so much lol. Kept getting him down to the last bit of health then he'd one shot me with that leap attack.

I only needed to hit him maybe 1 more time and he'd leap over to me and kill me. So annoying. Ended up beating him eventually though.

 

[Kev Kev]

The actual story is >8 hours.

I got an achievement for beating the game in under 8 hours. Played on normal and died a lot. I mean a lot.

Lol no the game is way longer if you’re actually playing around with it. bum rushing through the main missions doesn’t count, not at all

gameplay lover my ass

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Lol no the game is way longer if you’re actually playing around with it. bum rushing through the main missions doesn’t count, not at all

gameplay lover my ass

I did at least 2/3rds of the FOBs and still managed to get the 8 hour achievement. It's not a long game at all.

 

[Termite]

One thing that confuses me - the game starts with MC being thrashed by Atriox. I assumed that was the end of Halo 5 (I skipped 4 and 5) but looking on wikipedia there's nothing about any of that.

Is that like a totally new, cold opening in Halo Infinite? Just this totally new character that mangles Chief and then... dies? I can't make heads nor tails of it, it doesn't make any sense. The story seems to start in the middle of something, but I can't tell where that something starts, lol

 

[Topher]

Lol no the game is way longer if you’re actually playing around with it. bum rushing through the main missions doesn’t count, not at all

gameplay lover my ass

I've got over 12 hours in the game playing on normal and I'm no where near done.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

One thing that confuses me - the game starts with MC being thrashed by Atriox. I assumed that was the end of Halo 5 (I skipped 4 and 5) but looking on wikipedia there's nothing about any of that.

Is that like a totally new, cold opening in Halo Infinite? Just this totally new character that mangles Chief and then... dies? I can't make heads nor tails of it, it doesn't make any sense. The story seems to start in the middle of something, but I can't tell where that something starts, lol

They've done a poor job with explaining the story. This is a continuation of Halo Wars 2.

They also fill in some of the gaps (Atriox's attack on the Infinity) through the audio logs. His death is confusing but it's explained later in the game

 

[Vagswarm]

One thing that confuses me - the game starts with MC being thrashed by Atriox. I assumed that was the end of Halo 5 (I skipped 4 and 5) but looking on wikipedia there's nothing about any of that.

Is that like a totally new, cold opening in Halo Infinite? Just this totally new character that mangles Chief and then... dies? I can't make heads nor tails of it, it doesn't make any sense. The story seems to start in the middle of something, but I can't tell where that something starts, lol

I think they're just as confused as you are:

 

[Topher]

I think they're just as confused as you are:

I need to start sneaking up on grunts more.

 

[Vagswarm]

I need to start sneaking up on grunts more.

This is from the propaganda towers scattered about, but the grunts are hilarious too.

 

[Sakura]

I armed 3 marines with the special explosive spike launchers and 2 snipers and wreaked havoc on a mini-boss from 100 yards away while chilling in the razerback on a cliff-edge. It’s was a site to behold watching those marines get theirs.

Yeah.
It's pretty funny just sitting in your razerback, watching your marines completely demolish a high value target, while the Weapon is still in the middle of explaining just how dangerous he is.

It's actually better than the original trilogy by quite a ways. It did what missions like "The Covenant" "Halo" "Silent Cartagrapher" "Truth and Reconciliation" all did, but significantly better. They captured so well the feel of the original game, the Chief's character development and depth of character is some of the best it's clearly ever been, the dynamic between the pilot, the Chief and The Weapon are exceptional, and the overall story thus far has been very well told, especially from the Banished side of things. You also get a strong sense of the UNSC side of the story also from audio logs if you desire to know way more about the Spartans Chief is finding throughout the game that lead to his armor upgrades.

The best compliment I can give this game is no Halo title feels more like an Eric Nylund or Troy Denning novel than this game does. It does what it does with story very effectively without trying too hard to force "hey look, this is a big revelation here!" down your throat. It eases its way into telling you more about the characters, and unraveling the greater mystery at foot, and the environmental storytelling used to help sell all this is magnificent. Nonetheless, entirely your view, but I'm not seeing this stuff about them not capturing the feel of the original trilogy when they've made by far the best such game since then, which also happens to top many of the best gameplay moments from some of those past titles. Environmental and level design has also never been more clever, more impressive.

You can enter a cave well within a specific area that you would think keeps you well within the confines of the island you're on, but then takes you so deep into the very core of those hex walls, right to the edge of space. A cave led to an entire seemingly carved out section of space deep in Zeta Halo where find enemies as well as a Spartan core. There would be an entrance from a further up mountain that took you into a completely sealed off room or space with enemies. Upon initial examination I'm here thinking "shit, they messed up, you can't even get in there, the damn door won't open." Turns out you have to really search around the map, and boom you end up finding an entrance you really didn't expect would be there that takes you further in. This kind of environmental storytelling is used so well throughout this game.

I would agree with the development on the Chief and the Weapon. I never liked the supposed relationship between Cortana and the Chief, because it felt like it kind of came out of nowhere. Cortana in Halo 1 is very different from the Cortana in the other games, but there is never any actual relationship building between them. When did the Chief and Cortana ever have any kind of actual conversation in the original trilogy? Then all of a sudden in Halo 4 Cortana is rubbing up on Chief's body saying she's been waiting so long to do that, like what the fuck.
With Halo infinite though

Spoiler

it feels a lot more like the Chief and the Weapon are actual characters talking to each other. I'm sure people will have different views on the writing, but when they are talking about trust, when the Chief seems to be opening up a bit more, I actually liked that. It made it seem like there was an actual relationship developing there.

Outside of that though, I think the overall story kind of has nothing really going on. Sure it is fun to play through, don't get me wrong. But as someone else said, it feels like all the cool/important stuff has happened either before the start of the game, or is going to happen after the game.

Spoiler

Where is Lasky? Why doesn't the Chief care? You'd think he'd be interested to know what is happening with the UNSC.
He just plops down on the ring, and continuously talks about stopping the banished. Stopping them from what? Does the Chief even know what the banished are up to? Lord knows I don't, even after playing the game. And of course, you don't actually stop the Banished during the campaign.
Basically the entire campaign culminates in you defeating Escharum. Which accomplishes what, exactly? Chief remarks that someone else will just take his place (or something like that), and the Banished still control most of the ring even at the end of the game, apparently. Not to mention Atriox is still around.
And what is the deal with Escharum anyway? He, along with the banished, constantly talk about how the UNSC have lost, the war is over, blah blah blah. Uhh last time I checked, I got all the FOBs, destroyed all your factories/outposts, killed all your best dudes, and am roaming the lands with my marines pushing you guys back. War seems hardly lost to me. It was so jarring.
Then we have the whole plan to lure to the Chief to him so they can fight. They take the pilot hostage in order to do this. You know Escharum, you didn't really need to order the blademaster to bring the Chief to you. You could've just sent the Chief your coordinates, and he would've shown up to kick your ass regardless of your hostage. After all, the Chief is all about stopping the Banished.
And oh man, when you go through these areas that the Banished used to train against the UNSC. Escharum is all like, "This is how we beat we you! We trained to fight you!" No shit? I'm pretty sure all military forces would train to fight their enemies. I'd be more surprised if they didn't.

Sorry, it's late and I'm rambling. But I think the overall plot, while it does some things well, leaves a lot to be desired, and the writing really falters in some areas.
I'm really hopeful though, that now that they have this out, and they have Staten on board, they can really build on this and make something truly epic.

 

[aries_71]

Combat in Legendary mode is godly. There’s nothing close to this, absolutely nothing. Assaulting the Armory with a Razorback full of marines and armed with heavy weapons is total chaos. Grunts flying through the sky, berserker brutes dropping in pods, Phantom troop carriers bringing in reinforcement, while you grapple a brute chieftain with an energy sword is something to be seen.

Well done 343. Well done.

 

[Gameplaylover]

Lol no the game is way longer if you’re actually playing around with it. bum rushing through the main missions doesn’t count, not at all

gameplay lover my ass

I did a lot of other stuff and i think i played around 20 hours, but I guess the achievement is only the campaign missions. Btw there is no need for mocking my name, it's not my fault that the campaign is short.

 

[BigLee74]

That is another thing.
The open world is not tuned for vehicles.
In the end you just ditch the vehicle after a few meters and use the grappleshot.

I thought that to start with, but the areas open up and generally have big roads running through them. Driving vehicles is fine!

 

[Captain Toad]

Just finished. The first Halo game I've finished. It's still not really my thing, but I did find this more intriguing than the older ones.

I was surprised it wasn't as open-world as it seems. It feels like there would be about five times more places to go and things to do in the main map, but it just kind of funnels you to traditional levels.

 

[Vagswarm]

Don't underestimate the smaller weapons in this game. The striker sidearm (below) is f'n lethal. Just used it for the first time and cleared out an FOB pretty fast.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Yeah.
It's pretty funny just sitting in your razerback, watching your marines completely demolish a high value target, while the Weapon is still in the middle of explaining just how dangerous he is.

I would agree with the development on the Chief and the Weapon. I never liked the supposed relationship between Cortana and the Chief, because it felt like it kind of came out of nowhere. Cortana in Halo 1 is very different from the Cortana in the other games, but there is never any actual relationship building between them. When did the Chief and Cortana ever have any kind of actual conversation in the original trilogy? Then all of a sudden in Halo 4 Cortana is rubbing up on Chief's body saying she's been waiting so long to do that, like what the fuck.
With Halo infinite though

Spoiler

it feels a lot more like the Chief and the Weapon are actual characters talking to each other. I'm sure people will have different views on the writing, but when they are talking about trust, when the Chief seems to be opening up a bit more, I actually liked that. It made it seem like there was an actual relationship developing there.

Outside of that though, I think the overall story kind of has nothing really going on. Sure it is fun to play through, don't get me wrong. But as someone else said, it feels like all the cool/important stuff has happened either before the start of the game, or is going to happen after the game.

Spoiler

Where is Lasky? Why doesn't the Chief care? You'd think he'd be interested to know what is happening with the UNSC.
He just plops down on the ring, and continuously talks about stopping the banished. Stopping them from what? Does the Chief even know what the banished are up to? Lord knows I don't, even after playing the game. And of course, you don't actually stop the Banished during the campaign.
Basically the entire campaign culminates in you defeating Escharum. Which accomplishes what, exactly? Chief remarks that someone else will just take his place (or something like that), and the Banished still control most of the ring even at the end of the game, apparently. Not to mention Atriox is still around.
And what is the deal with Escharum anyway? He, along with the banished, constantly talk about how the UNSC have lost, the war is over, blah blah blah. Uhh last time I checked, I got all the FOBs, destroyed all your factories/outposts, killed all your best dudes, and am roaming the lands with my marines pushing you guys back. War seems hardly lost to me. It was so jarring.
Then we have the whole plan to lure to the Chief to him so they can fight. They take the pilot hostage in order to do this. You know Escharum, you didn't really need to order the blademaster to bring the Chief to you. You could've just sent the Chief your coordinates, and he would've shown up to kick your ass regardless of your hostage. After all, the Chief is all about stopping the Banished.
And oh man, when you go through these areas that the Banished used to train against the UNSC. Escharum is all like, "This is how we beat we you! We trained to fight you!" No shit? I'm pretty sure all military forces would train to fight their enemies. I'd be more surprised if they didn't.

Sorry, it's late and I'm rambling. But I think the overall plot, while it does some things well, leaves a lot to be desired, and the writing really falters in some areas.
I'm really hopeful though, that now that they have this out, and they have Staten on board, they can really build on this and make something truly epic.

Excellent answer. I like that. I do feel there is more evidence of a building relationship, a getting to know you type of thing going on. Also, it's clearly not the case that Chief doesn't care about you know who, as he obviously has immense respect and trust for the man, and I believe genuine friendship because he was there for him for multiple crucial moments in Halo 4, especially the end. That said, the reason I'm loving the story as presented is because the Master Chief doesn't have time to worry about where this or that person is unless some information comes his way. He's faced with a threat in the here and now, and he must do what he can, as he's always done, to stop it. If along the way he comes across information that will lead him to his allies, then being the Chief, he will pursue that, same as how he pursued major UNSC distress signals in this game related to potential allies.

The UNSC technically did lose, they were on the back leg, desperate, dying, top tier elements of their arsenal, Spartans, being taken out left and right. And as someone who pursued the FOBs and various objectives, like it sounds to me you did, you will have heard many signs of just how much trouble the UNSC was in, and how bad things were going. To the Banished the UNSC lost, to the Master Chief and those still left and willing to fight, so long as there is 2 one or two of us alive, there is hope. That's Master Chief's central driving theme. They must do what they can at all possible costs. And understanding the nature of the threat means that while you can deal significant blows, sometimes that's not the end of the threat.

What I respect and love about this game so far is that it isn't trying to do too much. It's focusing on a very specific story thread, highlighted by specific important events. It demonstrates that there can be galaxy impacting consequences and outcomes, but just because that's where these events might lead doesn't necessarily mean the events of this war need to be anymore than what they were. It looks like war in the fashion that many wars are fought, but so far obviously it's obviously not the biggest war yet. Master Chief, The Weapon and the Pilot are, apparently, one of many splintered factions across Zeta Halo trying to make a difference and fight back and win strategic battles, but it's obviously not yet the big war or showdown, and that's totally fine. I think the problem games run into some times when they tell their stories is they are often trying to go so big that they fail to nail very important subtleties, which I think Halo Infinite is just knocking out of the park, especially with the story sequences following the 2020 demo AA gun missions.

That's my take on where I am in the story so far. We are building towards something, and we may not fully face what that is yet in this game, but that doesn't make the story this game is trying to tell any less crucial to the overall war effort, and that's what the Halo books have always nailed so well, and what Halo Infinite is getting so right for me thus far, and I guess some major Halo lore fanatics like me out there.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Don't underestimate the smaller weapons in this game. The striker sidearm (below) is f'n lethal. Just used it for the first time and cleared out an FOB pretty fast.

Yes, it's a lethal mofo, same for the upgraded disruptor you get from a high value target. An absolute animal of a gun with automatic fire no less...

 

[SenjutsuSage]

I thought that to start with, but the areas open up and generally have big roads running through them. Driving vehicles is fine!

Same! I thought the same initially also, until I saw tons of other areas that were perfectly fit for vehicles, and it still doesn't mean the earlier rough terrain wasn't vehicle fit. It just wasn't fit for high speed vehicle movement. Think about it, if you were really driving through these places, with some of this terrain, would you be going max speed, knowing you can flip over or fly off a mountain at any moment? No, you'd take your time. Early on I conditioned myself into not viewing driving in this game like a racing game or a thing that needed to always be done at high speeds. Just simply drive to point a or point b, driving slow enough to actually traverse the available space they give you, and it worked amazingly. You'll sometimes get to points where it makes no sense to stay in the vehicle, and that's when you get out and go on foot.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

You’re missing out. Bandana skull with infinite ammo and equipment with no cooldown is a game changer. You can grapple like 🕷 . Skulls are great fun.

How do the skulls work exactly? Are they things you can just activate whenever you feel like to change the game to your advantage, and it remains that way all the way to the end, even in boss fights? I've never bothered to learn about Halo skulls.

Also, just got my Halo Infinite art book, and it starts out so damn interesting, even talk about the game engine, and what it was designed to do. It was basically designed to allow artists to do incredible work with much more ambitious and different playspaces. So all the amazing scenery, the locations, the views into the distance, the engine definitely does a fantastic job showing off an artist's vision.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Grunts making fun of Master Chief name :

Holy shit!

 

[Mr.ODST]

Whats the challenge completion reward for this week? Cant login for a while.

Wrong thread to post this but ill help you out.

Its a "scoreboard" backdrop for your profile so not much.

Challenges have changed though which is really good, its a lot better