Backpedaling to its Detriment | Halo Infinite Campaign Review 

Your boy coming in here with some hot takes that won't make him any friends but sometimes ya gotta lay it thick like Halo 4 Cortana

"And the ability to save you from death" Shows a clip of Bricky falling as the Grapplehook fails to save him from death

I honestly believe that Halo Infinite should have had the level design of Metro Exodus, and by that i mean having small open worlds that are separate from each other and representing different enviroments, but with a linear order in which you go from one to another.

watching this almost a year later hurts so much knowing how hard they tripped and proceeded to faceplany in pure turd concentrate

We're really in the timeline where "at least its playable" is considered good. Fuck.

I don't know if this will get buried, but I want to say this now seeing the bit talking about how Infinite had a philospy similar to Rise of Skywalker. If you look at the extended universe around Halo 4, and the Spartan Ops mode, you'll realize 343 did this TWICE. Since taking over the mantle for Halo they have not stuck to their guns once, and have flip-flopped between countless antagonists.

The campaign feels like an extended prologue. After you are done with it you ask ok I am done with the appetizer now where is the main dish? It feels like a filler episode of a show where nothing really happens.

“He’s at rock-bottom and going to Bikini-Bottom” is the best line you’ve ever had Bricky, I’m dead

I think if they had done a kinda Shadow of War thing, where there were like smaller open areas so you get that semi free roam status thats a lot more compact feels like a traditional halo but you make it like each area has its own little base youre trying to take control of and not all need to be like a command base, you could do a arsenal base and it unlocks near gear for you or an airbase and boom you get banshees, they could even do their stupid dlc plan but it would be a lot more enjoyable than the big empty they have

Adding to the grappling hook carrying the open world: the terrain discourages exploration with vehicles unless you're just traveling from A to B on a main road/path. So much of the terrain; rocks, barakades, mountains, dissuade you from using vehicles to the point the grappling hook is more convenient than anything other than a wasp or banshee.

The thing about the open world being bland is that I just used advanced grapple hook movement to make the movement a lot more fun and so I just mark somewhere and start grapple hooking over and then repeat. I rarely experienced the actual open world lmao

I really loved the campaign, but I definitely agree on one aspect: WAAAAY too much of the story happened off-screen. On top of that, the in-game exposition of the off-screen story seemed to happen in lots and lots of little pieces, which was a bit confusing.

My opinion on every aspect of Halo Infinite is that I love the core experience, it just needs more. More everything. I have big hopes for the future of this game and I could NOT say that about 4 and 5.

They wanted to sweep Halo 5 under the rug while simultaneously hyping up "The Endless" which we never actually see or figure out anything about. Infinite's campaign ended with more questions than answers and it felt like nothing had been achieved. While in Halo 2, for example, you ended on a cliffhanger but still kllled like 2 prophets, stopped a ring from firing and upended the whole Covenant.

One of my biggest gripes about Halo Infinite's story Halo 5: Cortana is now the biggest threat to everyone Halo Infinite: Cortana is dead now btw It feels like an entire game of story is missing between 5 and this. There could have been such a setup story in Halo 6 leading into Halo Infinite that would have made the game feel so much better. I'm sure I'm not the only person that was looking forward to fighting Cortana's guardian to only not.

Glad to see someone else also wishing studios would just stick to their guns sometimes in terms of story and narrative. I agree that Halo 5's story was the weakest, but if they just improved the character development, dialogue, and focus, they could have finished out that story strong, all while having amazing gameplay.

you know, this game's story does have one good point. it retroactively makes halo 4 better. like, fuck, that "pair you with another AI" line hits so much harder now.

Finally someone said it. I posted about the campaign's story on the subreddit a while back and all of the fanboys came out to say "oh, they explain that in audio logs" or "you have to wait until the DLC comes out". I even had a guy tell me "why did you expect this game to be the finale of the trilogy" when it's the SIXTH GAME IN THE FRANCHISE AND THIRD GAME OF THE "RECLAIMER SAGA". They pitched this as the "final Halo game for a while" and it did not feel like that. Maybe it'll feel more complete or satisfying with DLC but the fact that we have to wait for DLC to complete the story and we don't know the schedule of release for this DLC is what tells me that this campaign was not the "miracle" everyone kept raving about.

"You are then found floating around by Octane" Lmao that sounded so natural that it took me a moment to realise, my sides hurt so bad Bricky LMAO

I remember coming into Bricky's chat one time when he was playing the Campaign, Bricky was afk and all I saw in chat was "Are the jackals still racist as fuck?" "Yep"

Regarding the point you make about lots of things happening offscreen, which by the way I totally agree with, rather than sticking to h5 keeping Cortana as the main villain I'd maintain the current script whilst positioning the "Atriox against Cortana" part right after chief's passing out in space making it an à la arbiter mission where you play as Atriox. In that mission you would also be introduced to Escharum and his relationship with the former. Still, kudos for the whole video

I wasn't scared of Escharaum, but I do think that was the point of his character. I really felt for him and his desire to have a good death and to leave a legacy for the banished. The dream audio log and the other lore around him really interested me. I felt bad for him and was glad that the chief showed kindness to him at the end.

One thing I haven't heard anybody talk about is how the Marines don't really add ANYTHING to the story. Up to Reach, the Marines would talk about what's happening, if some survived you would hear lines that wouldn't play if they died. Who can forget "Dear Sarge, kicking ass in outer space. Wish you were here." ? There's nothing like that in Infinite.

Part of me just wanted the Banish to be more interesting. I like Atriox but...they are kind of the Covenant but red. They are doing the same thing but for a "different" reason and then throw on what I can only assume to be the Precursors but not the Precursors. Anyway, I hope to see in the campaign DLC we can live through some of those events that happened off-screen. The destruction of the Spartan base and Australia would be great for level variety and filling in the details we didn't get to see. The audio logs are fine but give me the chance to play through these momentous events! Did Halsey escape Australia if she was there? How did that happen? What about the Arbiter? Can we see how Atriox got the upper hand on Cortana? That is what I want and then further story progression

To me, a good open world has to do one of two things. They either Be designed around an amazing traversal system so that it basically becomes playground. Or Be extremely detailed that you can realistically explore the world without any map and not get lost. While still having fun because you are seeing details that tell a story. They Yakuza series does this really well. Ideally, an open world would do both. But that is unrealistic to last. A fun traversal system usually means that players are moving fast. So environments need to be big in order to compensate for the movement. And bigger usually means that they won't have time to put in as much detail as they can with a smaller world. Halo infinite does neither. Vehicles would fall over constantly from the terrain and the grappling hook can work in any environment. And as said in this video, halo infinite looks so similar everywhere

My greatest disappointment is that the vehicle explosions were cooler in Halo 3 and Reach. I just hope they add dlc campaings. I want part 2 of this campaign, I want one in Sangueilios playing as the Arbiter to understand that civil war, etc.

Interesting fact: Before you engage combat, Elite, Jackal, and Brute Chieftain shields are off, allowing a quick headshot. However, the foes react quickly, making surprise necessary to bypass shields.

I still can't wrap my head around the idea of the 6 month time jump. Why? Why not have us lose the infinity and land on the ring straight away, fight the war with the marines, have the entire story building up to the final confrontation between the weapon, Cortana and Atriox and have it finish with the ring being partially destroyed while we are on it? Already I've written a better story in 1 sentence then what we got.

Bricky, you *fixed a typo! "It's" = it is "Its" is the possessive form

My biggest problem with Halo: Infinite (and 343 halo in general) is how little respect it has for its characters. Like Cortana, the second most important character in Halo lore? Yeah she dies offscreen. Don't worry thought! Because you get another Cortana, but it's the Cortana your mom says you have at home. Like how hard would it have been to just have her be infected by the Logic plague by the Flood or something? Because we get no justification for anything that she does in five, she's just skynet now. Or take Locke. They wanted to create a new protagonist for a halo game, which great! I (and presumably alot of other people) would like to see other Halo games that take place from the POV of other characters, but no, they didn't bother to actually create a character, they just made "Generic soldier man, he has a job and he's gonna do it, damn it". And we all saw the result.

I finished Halo Infinite's campaign a few days. I liked it. However, unfornately the plot is written in a manner that allowed Infinite to push the story of the prior two games under the rug. I firmly believe the campaign would have benefited from a 2 hr prologue. A prologue that explains how Cortana lost power. Additionally, I think remnant Promethean forces should have been in the campaign. Halo Infinite as a whole seems to be designed to distance itself from Halo 4 and 5 as much as possible. All the weapons [including the well received ones] from Halo 4 and 5 have been cut, excluding the Hydra. All enemies unique to 4 and 5 have been omitted, rather than redesigned and enhanced. Furthermore, key characters from Halo 4 and 5 are never shown directly, they are only mentioned off hand.

The biggest problem I had with Halo Infinite was seeing the game left on the table. If Halo 4 and 5's stories were better written with a lot of the fat cut off, and Cortana and Atriox conflict was the main plot of Halo 6, I would've been hooked. Cortana giving an ultimatum of peace, underestimating Atriox, being outsmarted and defeated by him and leaving humanity to have to answer for her actions; is a great story. Atriox having nothing to loose and wanting to kill humans for creating the monster that he knows as Cortana; is way better than Escharum, who just wants to fight because he's a warrior. Cortana's return to the character she was in 2 would be less jarring having seen her contemplate her actions for an entire game rather than 4 echoes. Humanity being at a huge disadvantage because of the AI's Cortana turned against them. Master Chief and Blue Team used to buy the UNSC time against the Banished while they came up with a plan. And having the end of the game be the way it started, The Infinity destroyed and Chief thrown out in space. Atriox established as the proper villain, Cortana having an actual Redemption arc, Chief properly motivated.

24:55 oh bricky. That made me laugh so much. Never stop doing you buddy.

Infinite will be the final Halo, just like XP was the final Microsoft OS.

Another thing about ignoring the past, anyone remember halo wars 2. Remember the mission where you destroy the banashed ship, and how Anders is sitting on a ring with a guardian. Not addressed in the slightest

This begs the question... What happened to the UNSC Spirit of Fire and her crew (including the Spartan 2s there).

I agree with pretty much all your thoughts on the story and level variety. The level variety is lacking and it sucks that so much happens off screen like the stuff with cortana and the banished. Also I have mixed feelings on Australia and the Brute home world being gone especially off screen.

The strangest thing is they actually had an incredibly good setup, had the writers seen it. Halo 5’s many issues include the fact you had to play every prior game, and read a ton of books, and watch and listen to a ton of money’s worth of extended media, to have any idea of what’s going on. But Halo 5’s ending effectively wiped the slate clean, cauterising all these threads to establish what could’ve been Halo 6’s plot. ‘Cortana rules the universe, we lost. Our hope or our doom rests in the hands of who can control the last Halo ring.’ Halo needed a spiritual reboot, but Halo 5’s ending actually provided a perfect setup for that. It offered a simple premise/plot that’s easy to understand, entirely epic in scope and doesn’t necessarily require you to of played a prior game, let alone an expanded universe’s worth of lore you have to buy/research.

The game feels A LOT like the last star wars movie. It really feels like 303 changed whole creative teams from 4 to 5 and then again to 4's in infinite.

I was excited when Halo 5 ended with Chief and the Arbiter together since I thought that meant that they would be the main characters of the next game. Now the Arbiter is no where to be seen :(

You can not tell me for a second that there was nothing left to do with a society that integrated AIs so heavily they're in the fucking crosswalks, having to now fight those AI it relies so heavily upon. Creator vs Created is fucking great all around as a concept for a conflict. Halo 5's story was a trash fire, but what it started and set up with its conclusion did NOT need salvaging, changing or editing. Help is the VERY LAST thing it needed. What it needed was 343 sticking to their guns and ignoring 4 year olds in the bodies of 35 year olds who replaced their personalities with Bungie. The banished are fucking mediocre and it's such a shame they replaced such an under used concept.

Bricks forgot to mention the plot hole at the very end of the campaign when Chief and Weapon jump into the teleporter and Echo says they’ve been gone for days.

Actually the most sensible review of Halo Infinite's campaign I've seen thus far. The gameplay does most of the heavy lifting while other aspects, such as art style and story, range from good to mediocre. This isn't a masterpiece by any stretch but it can be a pretty fun experience nonetheless. So yeah, B- is pretty fair assessment.

There is an article that goes into Halo infinite's development (by Jason Schreier). Apparently the game we have now was only 2 years in development. There was a hard reset. In the article it was detailed that the vision for this game was heavily compromised/ cut. It could have been more "breath of the wild" inspired. But due to the constraints and a bloated budget, 2/3 of that vision for the game was removed.

Excellent review. I especially agree with your point about previous story plots being carelessly dropped. I hated the halo 5 plot, but to just wave them off whilst saying they still happened is the worst solution.

The thing about Brohammer is that you're meant to think that he wants to get back to his family, but you find out that he lost his family and that's probably why he volunteered on the Infinity, he wanted to have a purpose, but then he got scared and just wanted to go home since he was scared of dying until he gained confidence in the Chief and he found some purpose in helping the Chief.

Bricky, regarding the pilot dude: What you might have missed was that watching his family's recording and saying that he wants to go back to them didn't contradict him later saying that his family's dead. He was about to off himself at the beginning right before he found Chief floating in space, thus "going to them". When he gives him the pistol, he says it only has 1 bullet in it... Though his change of character still wasn't handled that well.

Infinite reminded me of BotW in the sense that its gameplay is absolutely fucking fantastic, but I wanted more variety in *many* different aspects of the game.

I said the same thing about the environment when i finished the game. Theres no variety in the areas. A dynamic weather system could help, or maybe later if they add in other areas on the ring we can travel to would be great. I agree with you 100% here

Remember when Halo 3 was all about ‘Finish The Fight’ or how one of Johnson’s last words was to never let ‘Cortana go’. The problem with 343’s halo campaigns for me at least is that each new shitty story diminishes the impact and ending that Halo 3 was. And because of that i just don’t care about halo story anymore after 3.

Bricky really knows how take the words, forcefully yet tenderly, out of my mouth

I’ve been trying to say halo infinite isn’t as good as people are making out to be it’s still good it’s just sad that its potential was missed completely

I thought I would hate this review but it turned out to be the best one I've seen.

I played through the original bungie trilogy before Infinite for the first time and honestly? Shit holds up. Coming into Infinite off that, eeeeeeeeeeh. I say 2 and 3 beat it by a good bit for the overall story, but points to Infinite for having Chief actually talk and try be somewhat human. It reaaaaally lacked some big moments, closest one i can think of is Chief jumping off the spire before Echo gets shot down and the opening, which is a victim of the "create your OWN moments" element of the sandbox which, tbh, i think open-world Halo is a detriment to the story. The whole campaign feels its too busy being like "No guys, trust us, this isn't Halo 5, whats a Guardian? Locke, Spartan Locke is DEAD (maybe) LOOK ITS ALL CHIEF" and not being its own story. It has a sorta ODST vibe where you're dropped into the action and are working backwards, trying to understand what happened but the whole mystery of what makes Zeta Halo so special isn't even remotely concluded beyond "oh the endless are imprisoned here and the Forerunners did some bad things". Like, its really hard to get invested when you're given almost zero resolution beyond "here's our new Cortana, here's our new Johnson, away we go, new story arc" without ever being its own thing. Escharem really could've benefited from being more psychological. Like "look at us chief, two veterans of our respective wars, forever bound to duty, don't you wish for more yadayadayada" instead of just "ATRIOX WILLS IT SOOOOO". although Weapon's realization that she's a cortana clone literally clicking together by her clicking her fingers, as she does throughout the game whenever she opens a door or something? i really liked that, that was cute.

Regarding the environment, I wouldn't be surprised if it were around a similar size of Halo (Combat Evolved mission) when including the landscape. However, there are multiple ways 343 have made various environments in a single zone, mainly the explosion wrecked the local systems and thus the weather systems went mad in the 6 months between the opening and Warship Gbraakon, thus having inclement weather directly next to Silent Cartographer style beaches. Also in my opinion, the more interesting thing about The Endless isn't that they're the next OP threat but that they're a threat because they're an anomaly that the Forerunners didn't account for and dealt with in the bluntest way possible (presumably with the intention of Humanity dealing with the issue properly once they claimed the Mantle if the Endless were intended to be dealt with at all).

I did feel like they handled the passing of the mantle of Chiefs AI pretty well. I've seen too many stories where they kill off a character and then a few episodes later there is a clone or an alternate dimension version and then they carry on like nothing happened, effectively turning the death of the character into a cheap cliffhanger. They didn't do that here. The Weapon was a little annoying to me in the beginning but she eventually won me over. I didn't feel like they were trying to convince me that she was Cortana and that nothing would change. I also felt like she had earned her place in the story by the end. I don't know if that happened for everybody but that was the case for me.

I like Infinite, but it feels like such a hollow shell in a lot of ways. They've put Chief on a ring more or less by himself before, and this just drops the ball. I really hope we go back to a more linear mission structure in the future. I kinda was ok with the limited map variety, open worlds look weird to me that you could go from the arctic to the Sahara in about 15 min. The npcs have personality, but they dont have the personality like in the other games, no real radio chatter, no good set conversations, or stand-out characters. All the set up from past games, and books...dosen't use any of it. They nail the 30 sec loop, but like he says, its broken up by all the boring, samey missions and boring travel time. I hope this isn't the 'end' of Halo. Kind of disappointing

I will say, the game canonically takes place in just a few days or less. There’s a line halfway through where brohammer mentions how much you’ve done in 6 hours, so it all feeling like one big mission is pretty accurate-

"escalation of enemies and stories is such a writing crutch that every time I hear it, it makes me want to die" *looks at current 40k writing*

10:56 You explain stuff so well. TOO well. I *subscribed* after seeing your mention in Act Mans recent video on COD III. Love how ‘matter of fact’ everything is.

What I find more sad than anything is Cortana, as you said Bricky, the iconic AI companion which now exists as Microsoft's bootleg Siri. Was the sacrifice, the ret-con, the character they had to shed to shelve the embarrassment of Halo 5. I hated it, but I would have kept her the villain rather than kill her off screen. They handled Cortana like they handled Rey from Star Wars. Inconsistency and no forward thinking of the character's arc. Halo would not be as popular if not for the dynamic between Cortana and Chief as the narrative element. Sure, the weapon supplements it somewhat but I cannot put it as the same as she has zero character history whereas Cortana shared that with the chief. RIP Cortana, a truly mishandled Character past Halo 4.

Halo Infinite reminds me of Vanquish, an amazing base/proof of concept that just needs some more fleshing out to reach its true potential.

Happy new year Bricky and everyone else! Here's to a promising 2022.

The ending was genuinely an exercise in frustration. They ruined Cortana then replaced her and smiled while doing it.

This Video shows me once again why I love reviews after having finished the game. Reviews in the most cases open my eyes to the faults of a game without really changing my opinion on it, because in the end I already finished it and I had a blast doing so. I love Infinite, it was the first halo game I ever played (almost finished all of the MCC campaigns by now) and it´s a clear 10/10 to me. Now I watch this video and I´m like "damn he´s right after a few armor cores I just skipped exploring and did the campaign" "damn he´s right the whole map looks the same". Coming out of this review I still love the game but now its maybe an 8/10. Thanks for the great review Bricky!!

I actually really liked Escherum. Yeah hes not really intimidating, but the the guy just wanted a good fight. Also I really wish that the marine rescues were dynamic instead of set one off points. There is zero reason to return to an area once its done. They should add the reoppression mechanic from Just Cause 3

Honestly, Infinite backpedaled so hard, they ran right into highway traffic and was rammed by a 18-wheeler. I do love the ROS comparison, 100% true. I believed that 343 was setting up this evil Cortana to be nothing more than one of her rampancy fragments she split off in Halo 4. The true Cortana was dead and this Cortana would have to fight the truth that she was nothing but a fragment, kinda like RVB's fragments. I truly believe that Halo 6 would take this route and at the end, Chief would remove his helmet completely and shed tears as he has no choice but to crush evil Cortana's core in his hand as she cried for him to help her. The next trilogy could have had SO much potential. But nah, the fans want a watered down CE. Here you go. 🙄 And do NOT get me started on them wiping out UNSC Infinity. DEAR GOD HOW DARE THEY. UNSC Infinity is my favorite warship in Halo, #2 over all in fiction, and #3 of all time. How dare they trash it in the first cutscene then almost never mention it, and Lasky abandons Chief. You're going to tell me, the most powerful warship humanity ever created, a ship that could carry an entire squadron of 575 meter long frigates, had a 4 uber MAC cannons, AND the most powerful shielding and weapons known to humanity, got jumped by a few older, smaller vessels and became so damaged it was forced to retreat or was destroyed during the time it took for Chief to go the Halo ring, plant the weapon AI, then returned to Infinity. This is like WW2 destroyers and cruisers jumping a Nimitz or Ford-class carrier in near open ocean and the carriers having to retreat. Possible, but HIGHLY unlikely.

Usually I skip ad segments but seeing a youtuber you like saying something nice about another youtuber you like is like *chefs kiss* xD

I don’t even play Halo. I just love watching these Bricky style reviews.

The last time I was this early there was still hype for Halo 2's release

Funny thing is: Spartan Locke *is* referenced in Halo Infinite. Hyperius has his helmet grafted to his armor. He's still alive, but only because he was spared out of pity

This Halo would've been PERFECT if it had something like the Nemesis System from Shadow of Mordor. Imagine if after getting killed by a random Brute or Elite or even Grunt they became a unique enemy, and every time they manage to kill you or complete a task they "level up" and become stronger and smarter. The major issue with this approach is the lore surrounding it.

It’s a shame now that we know this game won’t be basically getting any DLC with the layoffs of the campaign team so yeah see halo in another six years I guess

I didn't think the campaign was amazing but I personally really enjoyed it.

Bricky. That head punch joke. S-tier meme use.

That's actually a very good argument, I felt something was off and you had to say it for it to hit me, the is no variance in biomes, it's the same climate everywhere, and that's what made the "open world" feel off from all the other open world games I've played before which did include different biomes.

actually you are very right, there are many elements from halo 4 and 5 that aren't bad and they just ditched them for being associated with halo 5, blue team was just badly implemented and their characters didn't have time to shine or be fleshed out, locke wasn't bad, he just suffered from the same as blue team, people loved him in the promotional material, and other aspects that could have been salvaged.

I perfectly agree with his entire review of the storyline.

I literally just finished watching the VOD on Twitch, and I can now even continue seeing Brick solid Halo content on RU-vid!

I agree that Halo 4 was underrated, and I honestly think the new trilogy had been better off if the Didact had remained the primary villain in both Halo 5 and Infinite. Especially since, and I'm not sure a lot of people know this, he actually survived the end of Halo 4.

Personally I'm glad they are moving away from halo 5 story and i think Infinite works much better than Rise of Skywalker because rise of skywalker is the end of the story while Infinite feels like the beginning of a new story and we'll see it continue. I also really liked esharum. I hated that he wasn't a bigger presence in the game. Wanted to learn more about him, see him develop

Honestly I think I enjoyed it so much because of how disappointing halo had been for such a long time. Plus Grappling hook is fucking sick. But I agree it has some flaws too

Coming off the coat tails of Halo Wars 2 and Halo 5 I did find the setup very intriguing. Because they committed to the AI vs humanity theme hardcore and there's nothing wrong with it, a lot people love that trope and with all the work they've done they could've crafted a high A-tier story with it Blue team, Atriox, Halsey, Arbiter, Cortana, Cutter & co, Pavium and Voridus - So many great characters that could be fleshed out, mixed and mashed, but left by the wayside in this campaign. Cheers to the next!

I'm probably more fond of the story in Infinite than most, but you got me thinking. How about an Atriox prequel campaign DLC? Play through his outsmarting Cortana. Let us kill some Spartans. Would add to his strength, his legend and also give the main story more oomph by proxy.

The modern era of extreme reactions to about everything needs to stop extending to reaction in response to failures. Halo 5 was not a good story. But it planted the seeds of something entertaining and interesting. All they would've needed to do was handle it with a measure of grace and tact, and seriously analyze what did and didn't work for people. But that's remarkably difficult to do anymore.

When i first started playing this game i had to stop after the first mission to look shit up because i was so confused as to what the hell happened between 5 and infinite. Finding out that they just did like 6 years of story telling, dealt with an entire plotline they just barely set up at the very very end of 5 and killed off a major series character for the second time, but now completely off screen really turned me off of the game and i never bothered playing it again. I kinda want to try again for the gameplay but the story just pisses me off every time they mention that cortanas already dead because they did so damn much off screen.

Oh I just thought of a great idea, what if they add on to halo infinites campaign an Atriox story line, in that they could use it to put all of that off screen story onto screen while setting up the master chief vs Atriox conclusion. Kinda like how we played as arbiter back in the day.

18:25 the endless are interesting because aren’t the the precursors? Th alien species that ACTUALLY created the rings and gave the mantle of truth to humanity but the forerunners betrayed and stole it? I think it’s possibly the BEST new species introduction especially with how low key they are about it and mysterious.

Dang that's disappointing... Halo's big thing was always the campaign it offered over its competitors. And I agree completely. My impression within the 1st three missions was it felt like Rise of Skywalker too: no continuity, and felt like it was using old elements to pander instead of develop its story, but still bound to solve its predecessors problems so it COULDN'T be it's own standalone game. I got whiplash trying to figure out where in the overarching timeline/universe this fits in: -"Finally- more classic looks like armor and music!" (but how... Where'd he get a new suit made just like his original?) -"This is great, the mechanics are more simple like Halo used to be!" (But wait, the last 2 games kept pushing jetpacks and dodging, why'd they just disappear?) -"It's nice not having lifeless side characters again..." (But wait, where'd they all go? They were all WITH chief on Arbiter's planet, but how'd he get onto the Infinity without them?) Mechanics and gameplay is only one aspect of what makes a good game, and the others like art style, story, and characters were always the backbone when Bungie was behind it, I felt. Not groundbreaking by any means, but simple and endearing in each game. I was 7yrs old when Halo CE first came out, and its been my whole family's favorite series to unite around since, but despite some classic, old trusty components like chiefs voice and the gameplay loop, this one feels pretty hollow.

10 min into the vid, I felt the same from the start too the end of Infinite. I felt like I was playing Halo sprinkled with a little Crysis and Farcry, and it felt good! However awhile later I started to feel the drag of 'going to the place, to do the thing' and unlock/open the things. It really does feel like 1 mission thats good but over stays its welcome. Side note/ramble; I started a 2nd playthough with the intention of snaging collectibles I missed (mostly skulls) but only unlock 1 FoB per 'island' to cut down on how empty and waypointy it felt roaming. I'd clear any other FoBs I wandered into but wouldn't capture them while also not specficly looking for/way pointing collectables. The map feels too barren after capturing FoBs and destroying main bases, that it left me WANTING to leave the main bases on the 'islands' intact so there's a stronghold I can skirmish with or skirt while roaming.

You know Halo Infinites campaign could have been so much better. 1) Scrap the Endless, they barely do anything to add to the game. 2) Cortana and Atriox are still alive, they are working together. 3) Chief and Arby both go to Zeta Halo to stop Cortana, Locke takes a back seat as a supportive character who shows up from time to time. They all get absolutely bodied by Atriox. 4) You can coop, someone takes on the role of Arby. 5) More weapon variety, bring back old classic weapons from the days of Reach and Halo 3. Needle Rifle, SMG, Pump action Shotty etc. 6) Sentinels, Monitors and MAYBE Prometheans (the Forerunner enemies from Halo 4 and 5) show up from time to time, as a foil for the Banished as Cortana controls them. 7) More setpiece big battles like the Scarabs from Halo 3, less boss fights (1 dude with big health bar) 8) Chief and Cortana get their final moments together and Chief kills Cortana himself, completing their character arc over the sequel trilogy. 9) Atriox subplot still unresolved as in original. The Cortana subplot is resolved permenantly. Heck you can even introduce Weapon at this point. 10) There is wiggle room to hint at the Endless, or a flood containment facility deep in the ring without making it the main focus of the story. It can be addressed in later material.

343: sets up Master Chief Cortana romance ark. Also 343: never mind, here’s Cortana junior. Oh, you WANTED to see Cortana’s character redeemed?? Oh you WANTED to see the characters DEVELOP and GROW??? Too bad.

The gameplay is just so good, I enjoyed it. But yeah. There needed to be more variety I would like to see a Locke DLC with the downfall of the Infinity and destruction of the ring. I also would like the flood continuation DLC.

That story frankly would drop it to a 5 or 4 for me (especially taking into account the multiplayer that wouldn't initially let you progress, but will gladly let you pay money. Halo 5's premise of setting up Cortanna as the final big bad could have worked with a proper follow through. Chief is forced to do the thing he said wouldn't happen, with his growing humanity being a burden as he is forced to go stop his dearest friend, with a replacement goldfish of her no less. But he has other friends at his side, helping him become more human, while Cortanna has lost that humanity she once had, becoming a monstrous machine. But no, they make Cortanna's defeat by someone who was not emotionally invested like Chief was, and have an entire campaign's worth of story relegated to flashbacks, so you feel like you missed a game, except there was no game to miss.

Thanks for this new years gift Bircky, i fucking love your videos. Thanks for everything dad

I know I'm a few months late to comment, but like, I completely agree with them sticking to their guns with the Cortana stuff, I honestly thought that she'd contracted the Logic Plague, and since she infiltrated her way into the Promethean network, she was going to use the Guardians, these massive things that can teleport everywhere on command, to spread the Flood, since Zeta Halo was renowned for having the most flood in Quarantine in it so it'd make sense for her to go there. I also don't see the point in Banished wanting to activate the ring? It's literally the same thing the Covenant wanted to do, so they've just removed like a distinctive difference between 2 of the main antagonist factions, just doesn't make any sense to me

I think the way they've handled Master Chief's character in the wake of Halo 4 has been the most disappointing thing ever. Halo 4's ending gives Chief this one moment where he's suddenly overwhelmed with emotion for the first time and barely has the ability to express it before his entire world crumbles down around him. It's the moment when Chief realizes that at his core, he's always been a broken man. He's left disillusioned with his own life, in a place where no-one wants or needs him anymore. He's biologically scarred by what The Librarian has done to his body and lost every connection to the people he went over and above the call of duty in order to protect. After completing that game I saw this as a promising new direction for the story. Even the base outline for Halo 5's story: the Master Chief going rogue in search of what may remain of Cortana, is a good place to take Chief. But you play Halo 5 and Cortana is actually alive, and Chief has a group of friends with him??? They fumbled the story so hard I can't believe it. It's no longer about Master Chief's burgeoning motivations to reclaim the humanity he lost at a young age or his disillusionment with military life. It's about Cortana becoming evil, and also wasting time with Locke n' pals. I feel that Halo 5's story should have been about Chief chasing down echoes of the dead Cortana, only to be tricked or forced by The Didact into restoring him, followed by a bunch of missions geared around developing Chief as a person. All to conclude with Chief coming out of the experience a well-rounded individual: no longer just a machine, and forcing The Didact to escape to an unknown location: setting the stage for Halo 6. Even looking at Infinite and seeing stuff like Chief *comforting his fellow man with an inspiring statement* makes my eyes roll into the back of my head. Perhaps if they followed through on what Halo 4 set up then by now Chief might have been developed enough as a character to do that. Chief doesn't comfort anyone because he's never known what comfort means. He inspires through actions alone, and never words. There has been so much potential for Master Chief as a character, he just has never been in the hands of a writer talented enough or brave enough to follow through on a bold new direction. It's downright cowardly how these last couple of Halo games have been written.

I think it really depends on what you see halo infinite as and I see it as what they called it a spiritual reeboot and I agree they got the tone and the feeling of halo and it would be hard to have that if chief had to deal with too much shit escharum was not an actual enemy he was chief basically at least. He did not fight chief cause he wanted to win or even to destroy the world he was simply another warrior who wanted to proof his abilities. I don’t think he is the best villain but I think he does a good job letting us familiarize ouer self with chief cause he got this. And the way we at the end dident achieve enything besides chief being chief again. In my opinion that’s all we needed cause if you got the gameplay and you got the chief down you can then worry about a story wich I think infinite sets up with the so called endless and big monkey atriox

What pissed me off only was the Infinity getting destroyed when it cost the UNSC most of its fleet budget to build it

I love how civilized and honorbound these new waves of brutes are. I want you to picture the things that a chimp can do to a human being at half your size. Now imagine that.. only a half human taller than you are. _That's_ the kind of sh•t the Marines would've been dealing with in Halo 2. Brutes these days are _victorian_ by comparison. Like, Atriox and his ilk are some pinky-out effing brutes.