With the Halo Infinite multiplayer releasing a little under a month early, fans of the series are now looking forward to the litany of features that will be included at the game’s official launch date on December 8. 343 Industries’ decision to release the multiplayer beta a month early already has players buzzing about the latest entry to the sci-fi franchise. Halo Infinite's multiplayer broke Xbox Game Studios records, and the game's official launch will likely generate a similar level of hype.
Longtime fans of the franchise will likely notice that the game is launching without a few familiar features, though. On launch, Halo Infinite will not include access to Forge mode, the popular map-building game mode that allowed players to build their own unique iterations of the existing maps in previous Halo games. Additionally, Halo Infinite will not launch with a co-op campaign game mode. 343 has emphasized that it wanted to focus on the quality of the single-player and multiplayer experiences, and considering the fact that the single-player mode features a semi-open world, these delays shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.
Even with those missing features, Halo Infinite is still launching with a healthy amount of content. As previously mentioned, Halo Infinite's free multiplayer has already been released with the option for players to purchase a battle pass in order to access more content each in-game season. The single-player campaign is set to be released on December 8 with a completely new format and plenty of new features. Players can expect more to be added in the months following, but Halo Infinite's launch day package is still fairly comprehensive.
Halo Infinite's Campaign Will Be Included At Launch
The latest chapter of Master Chief’s story will be released at the game’s launch. Acting as the third chapter of the “Reclaimer Saga” and a true sequel to Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Infinite will follow Master Chief’s journey through Zeta Halo as he faces off against a mercenary organization known as the Banished. The enemies that Chief faces off against will be familiar to longtime fans of the series as the Banished is run by Brutes and staffed with Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and plenty more familiar foes. Halo Infinite's story trailers have revealed that the game will also pit Master Chief against the intimidating leader of the Banished, known as Escharum.
As this is the first game in the Halo series to feature a semi-open world, Halo Infinite’s campaign will be quite different from earlier entries. In addition to taking on Master Chief’s main adventure, players will also have optional objectives such as taking out enemy patrols, saving captured marines, and challenging Banished minibosses. The game will also feature player progression for the first time in the series which will allow players to upgrade their equipment as they advance the story.
Halo Infinite's Multiplayer Is Already Live
Multiplayer has launched at last, and while players are still waiting on Halo Infinite's forge mode, there is still plenty to do in the latest version of the popular first-person shooter. Many old game modes have returned, including capture the flag, slayer, one flag CTF, total control, stockpile, oddball, and strongholds. So far, the beta has included these game modes as either custom games or potential game modes in one of the game's four playlists. There has been some fan backlash due to the fact that the launch of Halo Infinite multiplayer hasn’t included a slayer playlist, but more playlists are sure to arrive at some point in the future.
The current playlists featured are bot bootcamp, quick play, big team battle, and ranked arena. While there are currently only four main playlists included in Halo Infinite's multiplayer beta, one can only assume that the line-up of playlists will expand and change as the game gets closer to its official release. Bot bootcamp is a new playlist that allows a team of human players to face off against a team of bots. Quick play features classic 4 v 4 Halo gameplay on the game’s brand new maps with modes like slayer, oddball, and capture the flag. Big team battle consists of 8 v 8 battles for players who enjoy larger firefights and more vehicular-centric warfare. Ranked arena is a 4 v 4 game mode for more serious players who wish to play ranked matches against players who are at a similar skill level.
Another multiplayer mode is the training mode, which will allow players to test out Halo Infinite's inventive set of new tools, weapons, and vehicles in an empty sandbox with no enemies or teammates. The mode is a solid inclusion for new players to the series as well as a place for veterans to familiarize themselves with the game’s mechanics. Players can even spawn in bots to face off against as they test out the game’s weaponry in a contained sandbox environment.
One of the most game-changing new factors in Halo Infinite is the inclusion of a battle pass. The battle pass allows players to pay to earn new aesthetics as they play the multiplayer. The first battle pass is $10, and it never expires unlike those featured in similar titles. While the current iteration of the Halo Infinite battle pass is a bit of a grind, players looking to get exclusive cosmetic items for their Spartan as they rank-up in the game may deem it a worthy investment.
Halo Infinite Will Feature Crossplay Between Xbox And PC
Following Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s lead, Halo Infinite will allow players from different gaming consoles to play together. Xbox One owners, Xbox Series X owners, and PC owners can enjoy the game’s fast-paced multiplayer content together thanks to cross-platform play. While this isn’t the first Halo to include cross-platform play, it’s still a welcome feature for Xbox gamers that want to play with their PC friends and vice-versa.
While there isn’t an option for players to completely turn off Halo Infinite's cross platform play, the game does allow them to turn select the types of lobbies they play in. For example, if a console player wishes to only play with players who use a controller in ranked, they have the option to select controller-only lobbies in which they will only play in lobbies populated by other players using a controller. It’s a useful addition for Halo Infinite players who wish to play ranked games against controller-only players.