Halo Infinite Campaign - Hands-On Impressions - Xbox Series X and Series S! 

I'm actually happy to hear that the Open world sections are chopped up. I rather like that design a lot. Like more dense smaller areas instead of one massive area where you get bogged down with fetch quests

I gotta say, the constructive criticisms are much appreciated as always, but my biggest takeaway is that the campaign is looking great. Whether it's you guys, Game Informer, IGN - all the coverage of the campaign so far has me breathing a big sigh of relief. I think I'm finally allowing myself to get properly excited for it!

If the open world is anything like the style done in metro: exodus, I'm all in. That style of contained open worlds is so cool

Are you able to tell us if there is a fall death timer? Do you die after falling for a certain amount of time

Deus ex, Mass Effect, dishonored, all these segmented open area games are better then 99% of fully open world games.

Multiplayer is amazing but the campaign is really what I’ve been looking for. This semi “open world” approach seems like what Bungie wanted to do with Halo CE but never trully could due to technical limitations

Holy S… this is what I wanted Halo Infinite to be classic CE style with a modern touch can’t wait.

All I wanted was for Halo Infinite to be good. Looks like it might be great!

Great that you confirmed the animation framerate. I feel like this is in Multiplayer as well. I hope it is fixed in the future, we are far from the LA Noire days...

20:00 spot on. If I’m not mistaken, this happens in multiplayer too. I have my fps count on and out of nowhere it seams like the frame-rate drops to like 30fps but my computer still is doing above 90+fps. Very weird, glad you pointed it out.

Been playing multiplayer non-stop and can't wait to get stuck into the campaign. The game looks amazing and I'm hearing awesome things regarding the story.

The key is that there always should feel like there's a strong NARRATIVE DRIVING you through the campaign. I'm in favour of half/semi open world design.

wow the DF VFX team really outdid themselves on this video, I loved John's cutscene impressions!

Dafuq. Series S at 30fps 1080p at QUALITY MODE?! That's Savage man

People universally shitting on FarCry restores my faith in humanity

So it sounds like the actual game/game play is looking really good. To me that's the main thing because it can't be "fixed", the constructive criticisms described at the end... all fixable. So all in all then to me, it sounds pretty damn good. Can't wait to play it!

The option for 60fps or 120 mode has been a console dream over many generations.

Glad it’s not just sci-fi Far Cry.

You guys nailed it, I'm glad to hear I'm not losing my mind lol. I'm running this on a 3090 and pretty solid specs, but the game just feels off even though it says I'm clocking 90+ FPS, animation quality on max etc. I really hope they fix this because it is jarring for me. I play Halo for the story first and everything else second, but that IMO is very immersion breaking.

Really can't wait for the campaign now. Looks like the years delay has been very much well-used and we're getting a FAR FAR better end product as a result. Roll on December 8th!

This console generation has changed the FPS paradigm! Image quality focussed games (RPGs & more) have now a 60FPS option, while fast-paced action games are 60FPS base, and have a 120 FPS "Performance" option. I think this is really great!

that "dont you dare" bit with the zoom was by far my favorite thing yall have ever put in these videos lmao

400% zoom? Unsubscribed! Sounds like Halo Infinite is shaping up nicely as this is the most excited I’ve been for a new Halo game in the post-Bungie era. I can’t wait to play the campaign now.

Why is the animation at 30fps? What is the possible advantage to 343 when they built the game to do something like that??

The cutscenes in the multiplayer beta are super choppy too, both pre-rendered and in-game.

From playing a lot of the multiplayer, the low animation fps is distracting and does ruin the smoothness of the game. It happens quite often and is a real shame mainly cause the rest of the game is so so good!

The multiplayer alone is so much fun to play, I can't wait to play the campaign, even the sound FX and music is great.

15:40 I noticed choppines on academy cutscenes (i think they arent prerendered) on halo infinite beta on series x, it surprised me to say the least as I felt uncofortable watching them. strangely enought, gameplay is super fine.

The campaign looks amazing, can't wait! Hope 343 gets the cutscene stuff improved, but other than that the campaign is looking really good. Multiplayer is fantastic, can't wait for the full release next month.

The most important aspect of the game is the gameplay, I'm so relieved that you guys seem to like how it feels and plays, relieved it's not like farcry and seems to be well thought out in terms of its design and variety of what you can do. really looking forward to it especially after feeling underwhelmed with the halo 5 campaign.

Haven't been this excited for a Halo game in a long time. Feels good!

Finding some of the animations in MP jarring and also some slow down on SX on lg cx, other than that, it is very good

0:08 That was a satisfying explosion!

Very similar to how some of the Acts in Gears 5 played out with the open areas and side missions

Haven’t played halo before (apart from 20 minutes of the first), but I’m glad people are positive on this. I’ll probably want to play through the others first though.

Looks like they listened to people over the last year, and really turned back time. So many people are interested it's amazing to see again. Keep up the great work.

This game looks so fun.

Honestly for the price of the series s that performance is still pretty good and it looks great still imo 👌

Digital Foundry is as good as Santa Barbara of the early 90’s. All actors/ team members are lovable and characteristic, there’s endless digital drama because of messy games being released all the time. 😊😉

15:38 top tier funny editing

Nothing looks next gen here.

Valid criticisms and they wouldn't detract from the game for me because it looks SO good and, more importantly, the gameplay looks incredible!!

even in multiplayer I thought I was having fps drops at times but now I realize it was just the animations

First halo I've played since halo 1 on the PC. Had a bit of a nostalgia trip! Also the gameplay is tremendously fun imo.

Awesome to hear that you guys are enjoying the content of the campaign after some initial concerns. It's reassuring to know that Halo hasn't taken the Far Cry route of doing things. Bit of a shame that there's some weird technical issues present (especially those low framerate animations) but hopefully 343 can get that patched up so the game can look its best! Will be curious to see how the game's look also changes/improves when raytracing is brought in sometime post launch. Can't wait to dive into the campaign on December 8th!

I just appreciate that the open outdoor areas aren't over uber saturated LSD trip like so many games recently.

Alex has a "there's something about Mary" hairstyle

I've obviously only played the multiplayer, but some of the graphical decisions confuse me. The texture resolution, and lod distance for non foliage objects is extremely high, even on low settings. Meanwhile shadow resolution for the 1 or 2 lights that actually cast shadows at all is very low on ultra settings (it barely picks up the huge warthog tyres). The priorities for different graphical options seems off We also need an option to turn off taa, it's great for DRS but it's always quite blurry, even rendering at 6k downsampled to my 1440p monitor

343 should listen to those constructive criticisms. The game looks amazing, and if they can fix some of those animation problems / framerate problems, it would be awesome. Digital Foundry knows what they're talking about.

It seems like there is mention of the stuttering animations on the Halo Infinite Known Beta Issues. It reads as follows: "Some first-person animations may appear to stutter at 60 FPS or higher". I sincerly hope 343 is aware of this issue + bad cutscene playblack and is working to address those issues.

I know the graphics isnt cutting edge but damn its pretty. Especially the indoors section.

RIP to those poor Marines in the Razorback around 5:20’ish :(

Best part of this video was adding the incorrect settings to his overlay so we can understand what was missed by Bungie in the cut scene. As someone that doesn't notice 60pfs 120hz and 4k plus motion blur and black levels and all these other things.... but rather just the game play and assuming no real input lag/rubber banding- it was nice to visualize the issue.

I thought something was wrong with my PC when I started noticing that some animations in the multiplayer looked super choppy and not as smooth as the rest of the game. Glad to see that you guys are talking about that too

The multiplayer is so good, the campaign looking good is fantastic

That weird low framerate animation shit was in Halo 5 too if I recall.

I only wish they would reward players in multiplayer for beating the campaign, especially on Legendary.

Halo Infinite has gone from barely on my radar to my most anticipated game of 2021

Stellar Video as always, I’m glad someone talked about the TAA as honestly at lower resolutions especially 1080p on PC it really turns everything into a bit of a soupy mess. Hope 343 could perhaps give us an option for different types of AA or an Off feature.

The fact that the guys have felt the urge to "pray" certain viewers to not get annoyed about their contructive criticism speaks VOLUMES about the Halo fanbase. Keep on the amazing work Alex and John! Thanks for your informative preview - as usual.

The year of Xbox. Forza & Halo (so far) are / could be the top best games of the year!

It seems the campaign will be great, just hope the technical issues get fixed. Also, 1080p30 gameplay in almost 2022 is inexcusable, is the Series S that underpowered compared to Series X and PS5?

I just can't wait until we have graphics as good as Halo 2's cutscene

@Digital Foundry, I would like to let you guys know that, in my opinion, having a background in the "multi-webcam" shots like this one here at 4:00, looks much better than just plain black "abyss". And the funny thing (at least for me) is that I was just thinking about how cool it would be if you would've added it, while watching the latest DF Direct (#37 to be exact). So, yea - thanks I guess... 😀 Appreciate your work.

God I can’t wait to play this campaign. I am LOVING the multiplayer. This will keep me busy until The Witch Queen!

Nice! Just 0:34 in for the first "friend and colleague".

Hell yeah 7pm Australia time woooo! DF helping to make games better once again.

I’m SO glad you guys mentioned the intro video, I honestly thought I had some settings messed up, it looks horrid

It’s so surprising that even Halo seemingly isn’t able to use sampler feedback streaming yet. Really curious what the story is there.

7:18 No shadow from the mountain. Chief shadow flying in the air.

500 million dollars and this is the result?

The PC version (via Game Pass) is about ~26.4Gb, but it has a high rez texture pack that is not default install that is about 7.7Gb! That better make as much of a different as that size implies. (I know this this is because you can preload this version)

The tone of the announcement trailer is still my favourite thing about Halo Infinite. I’m hoping the campaign delivers on that initial statement.

Another Great Video/Review from the Foundry.....Nice One !! Did you manage to find the Secret & Cool Alternate way to Clear the Landing Pad for your ship to be able to land in the 3rd level, along with a Hidden Room which contains an Equally Cool Easter Egg !?!? !! Keep Up the Great Work Guys !!

This is making me consider buying my first ever Xbox…

excellent commentry, I too hope 343 are able to fix those issues and improve the feel of the presentation.

Thank you. I hope 343 listen to feedback regarding cutscenes. Excited to play on Series X at 120fps. Expected max 60fps. Shame it appears to run at 1080p but will be playing on 1440p 120hz monitor

Ppl forget Halo 5 Warzone was the build up to what Infinite is… open world with bosses that have life bars and strongholds. The far cry comparisons I did not see like everyone else 🤷🏾‍♂️

I’m with you guys, choppy animation in a high frame rate game is showstopping. I would never allow that to even go out for preview. That’s not really a graphical issue that’s actually a Gameplay issue because it breaks immersion.

Great video guys! Thought I was going crazy when I noticed the problem with the animations and am very happy to hear it’s not my system dropping frames! Haha

Quality Mode on Series S feels more broken than anything tbh. Quality in MP (so far) has been SUPER janky and stuttery whereas Performance is rock solid.

I was waiting for this, specially from DF. Awesome 👏

I am absolutely buzzing for this 😀 currently playing through MCC and can’t wait for another Halo game. Totally worth Buying a Series X for

Are you able to do an analysis on the lack of exclusive fullscreen for Halo Infinite and if it really causes input lag? Been seeing it said both ways, that borderless definitely introduces input lag, or that DX12 actually doesn't and it's not an issue. Would love you take on it of it's something you can test!

for cut scenes the main difference is that this time around they are real time and before they were all pre rendered. That's why it doesn't look as good. The choppiness is not acceptable either way though.

the cutscene animation i believe is a glitch/bug, i remeber HiddenXperia saying when he went to play the game at 343I HQ they were told it would be a day one patch so hopefully that is correct

This is looking great. I was worried about AI but trusted you tubers has set that to rest for me. Looking amazing

Does this game only have one biome? I hope not

That was a perfect "Tschüss" from John at the end. It surprised me how well he pronounced the letter "ü". 😄👍

In my opinion; after playing all the flights and this beta, Ive noticed the Spartan models do a odd shake/vibration when even standing still and sometimes you can see this when you look straight down. idk if maybe its a issue with the model being two halfs {like shown in single halo clips the body can be separated at the waist }. The cutscenes I believe is not prerendered, I think the cutscenes is using models like how bungie did in their old cutscenes. but perhaps the vibration/shake of the models is having a glitch issue and its showing in the cutscene that yall was describing . Also maybe having more than one issue with that like probably syncing issue with a variety of things. To me, Infinite is takes aspects of Halo 3s Physics engine, Halo 5s Mechanics but nerfed , and Halo Reachs aesthetics but more vibrant and good storytelling from the Bungie era. So they have talked about whats the best parts in each Halo and then build upon that. I can see it in a variety of things even though the progression/customization isnt like how it could be. Lots of potential for sure. If they gave out 4 missions, then i hope we will have more than 20 missions because that alot of content to show to the many. Hopefully they have a updated version than what yall played. Perhaps a compression issue of the original upload for those 4 missions had affected it. but then again im not a expert or know anything about this. Just a possible perspective for others to build upon for any help to the matter

"To run down there didn't take that long at all" Well you are a bipedal tank that can run at 60KpH

9:09 "the weapons themselves are really nice looking" * shows footage of The Weapon * I see what you did there

"The weapon's themselves looking very nice" *proceeds to show your AI companion called 'The Weapon' looking... very nice*

I noticed the shitty black levels last night when going into the MP tutorial. They play a nice cutscene and the black bars end up looking gray even on my 55" LG CX. It's super noticable and better be fixed by the campaign release. If those cutscenes look like that during the singleplayer playthrough it's going to really hamper the experience.

Wow that grenade throw at 25% speed was crazy! There seems to be literally 3 frames to the animation. I seem to remember some Halo "making of" documentary where they talked about the melee animation feeling best in 3 frames. That way it really feels like you're connecting the punch almost immediately. I wonder if this is some remnant of that which hasn't scaled with all the various framerates they support now

Some of the animation issues you show in the campaign are also noticeable in the multiplayer as well.

Had no idea there was a 120fps mode in Campaign. That's nice.

I’m so glad MS/343 waited after listening to fans. I wanted it at launch, but I’ll take it finished and polished at Christmas a year later! I’m glad the new Xbox strategy is working for the consumer this time around (although it’s an evolution of Mr. Spencer’s work from Xbox One but the stigma is gone).

Halo infinite is going to be the biggest game of this year. 💯

18:02 Alex's long sigh 😫