Everything we know about Halo Infinite

Halo Infinite has captured worldwide attention ahead of its release date with a surprise early launch of its free multiplayer component. With the release of the full campaign in just a couple of days, it’s time to round up all we have on this phenomenal new game. 

First off, here's the Halo Infinite campaign trailer:

Halo Infinite Story

At the end of Halo 5, Master Chief was found frozen and drifting alone in space. Having since been rescued and fully recovered, he goes on a new mission to the furthest reaches of space. His destination is the largest Halo installation ever found: Zeta Halo. There, he must contend with a new threat—The Banished, an organization that broke off from the Covenant and is using Zeta Halo as their base of operations. Leading them is Escharum, a charismatic Brute lieutenant to Halo 2’s antagonist Atriox. The Banished have allied themselves with an entity called the Harbinger, and together they are scouring Zeta Halo for someplace called “The Auditorium.” Whatever the Harbinger has planned, it won’t bode well for the galaxy.

Master Chief has even more on his hands with the return of Cortana, whose Rampancy-induced insanity had led her to form an army of loyal Guardians. How she will figure in Halo Infinite’s plot is yet another element to look forward to with the full campaign.

Halo Infinite Gameplay

The first notable thing about the gameplay is that Campaign Co-op mode won’t be available for the initial release, meaning players will be going solo throughout the story. Forge mode, which lets players create custom maps, won’t be present either. Instead, these modes will be made available in future seasons. 

Halo Infinite takes place in Installation 7, or Zeta Halo. It’s the oldest and most expansive Installation thus far, and players will see the difference with previous Halos. Oddly enough, it’s also heavily damaged. Players will explore enormous biomes that function as arenas to drive or run through. While it’s not quite an open world, you can move back and forth through these areas to fulfill side missions and discover secrets. You’ll also experience night and day cycles as well as dynamic weather. 

Found all over Zeta Halo are Forward Operating Bases for Master Chief to capture. These then turn into hubs where you can fast-travel to other places. They also provide Valor points, which may be used to summon vehicles or weapons. 

Lead Designer John Mulkey says:

Enemy strongholds can be approached from any direction, and there are so many options available for how you take on the challenges at hand. Do I blaze through the front gate in a Warthog full of Marines and just light the place up with zero subtlety? Do I scout the perimeter and discover a subterranean entrance that allows me to enter through one of the interior structures? Do I Grappleshot to a sniper tower, take out the inhabitant and begin picking off enemies from my raised vantage point?”

Halo Infinite Multiplayer

After a beta test from September to October, 343 Studios gave fans a pleasant surprise by launching the multiplayer portion in mid-November, to great acclaim.

Multiplayer in Halo Infinite is essentially the same as previous games, but with some added features. Players can find ability pickups that provide special powers for a limited number of uses. These abilities include dashing, camouflage, and a repulsor shield that protects from projectiles and pushes back enemies.

Multiplayer features various game modes, including:

• Capture The Flag - Control a flag and bring it back to their home base. 
• Fiesta - a 4v4 match where everyone gets random weapons and equipment
• Oddball - players fight for control of a ball and score points
• Slayer - a deathmatch where players rack up the most number of kills
• Stockpile - a 12v12 match where players collect seeds to store at their home base
• Strongholds - players fight control of three zones on a map and gain points for every second they control the locations.
• Total Control - an advanced version of Strongholds, players must control locations as they spawn on the map. 

Halo Infinite also has 14 hidden multiplayer modes, the playlist of which can be accessed offline. You can save and share the playlist making it available for use online.

• Arena: Attrition
• Arena: Attrition Dodgeball
• Arena: Elimination
• Fiesta: Attrition
• Fiesta: CTF
• Fiesta: One Flag CTF
• Fiesta: Strongholds
• Ranked: Elimination
• Ranked: One Flag
• Tactical: Slayer
• Tactical: Slayer Commandos
• Tactical: Slayer Manglers
• Tactical: Slayer Sidekicks
• Tactical: Slayer Stalker Rifles

Halo Infinite Ranking

Players looking for a competitive experience can join the Ranked Arena and progress through the tiers. Halo Infinite Ranking is as follows:

• Bronze (6 tiers)
• Silver (6 tiers)
• Gold (6 tiers)
• Platinum (6 tiers)
• Diamond (6 tiers)
• Onyx (1 tier)

Note that you may only use the Battle Rifle for a weapon in Ranked matches. Radar and Grenade Hitmarks are disabled, and power-ups appear only in specific locations. 

Starting in the Ranked tiers requires you to play ten matches in a specific playlist. Your performance will then determine your initial rank. 

Halo Infinite Battle Pass

Halo provides new battle passes every season. These passes give access to various cosmetics you can use to customize your Spartan. Most of the items are skins and armor coatings, though armor pieces are also available. Much like in Fortnite and Call of Duty, you unlock these by progressing through challenge tiers and earning XP. Each Battle Pass costs $10 each, but they will never expire, giving them long-term value. Players can also pick up Battle Passes outside of the season where they were introduced. 

Halo Infinite Weapons

Halo Infinite boasts of a large arsenal with weapons new and old.

UNSC 

• MK50 Sidekick - The standard UNSC pistol
• MA40 Assault Rifle - A reliable and standard rifle
• BR75 Battle Rifle - Fires accurate and powerful triple-round bursts
• VK47 Commando - A fully automatic rifle
• CQS48 Bulldog - Automatic shotgun with a 7-round drum
• S7 Sniper Rifle - Your longest-ranged weapon
• M41 SPNKR Rocket Launcher - Fires rockets that home in on enemies
• UNSC Hydra - Shoots micro missiles that lock onto targets

Banished

• Plasma Pistol - Fires single or charged up shots but no longer has the EMP ability
• Energy Sword - A powerful one-hit-kill blade
• Needler - Shoots bunches of needles; deals high damage at close range 
• Pulse Carbine - 5-round bursting carbine that fires slow but powerful bullets
• Gravity Hammer - A slow firing weapon that damages an area
• Mangler - High-powered 8-round pistol with blades attached to the barrel
• Disruptor - A pistol that fires an EMP to disable vehicles
• Stalker Rifle - A plasma-based automatic rifle 
• Ravager - A plasma launcher that fires an incendiary charge
• Skewer - A rocket launcher that can quickly fire rockets but is slow to reload
• Shock Rifle - shoots an electric bolt that can jump from target to target

Forerunner

• Heatwave - a shotgun that fires bouncing bullets
• Sentinel Beam - an anti-Flood weapon that can quickly deplete energy shields
• Cindershot - A launcher that shoots bouncing grenades and fires micro-missiles

Halo Infinite system requirements

Here are the system requirements for Halo Infinite.

Minimum:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 RS3 x64
• Processor: AMD FX-8370 or Intel i5-4440
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: AMD RX 570 or Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 50 GB available space

Recommended:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10 19H2 x64
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel i7-9700k
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: Radeon RX 5700 XT or Nvidia RTX 2070
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 50 GB available space

Here is a short video about Halo Infinite’s PC settings:

When is the Halo Infinite Campaign Release Date?

The Halo Infinite campaign release date is December 8, 2021, for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, and PC. If you haven’t picked it up yet, get the cheapest prices for Halo Infinite with our comparator.