Though known for its story elements, Halo's multiplayer is a large part of what turned the sci-fi shooter into a video game phenomenon, and yet the latest trailer for Halo Infinite gave fans a glimpse into what the game's multiplayer offers through a story-oriented trailer. An unnamed civilian flees a Covenant-occupied London, only to be saved by a team of Spartans dropping from orbit. This civilian is later revealed to be the commanding officer training potential Spartan initiates.
The Halo Infinite multiplayer trailer appears to suggest that players' characters will be the Spartan candidates shown in the trailer. Unfortunately, the story paired with Halo's multiplayer mode may have misunderstood its intended audience. Halo Infinite flaunted many changes for its campaign and hinted at an exciting next chapter for Master Chief. If 343 Industries desired to tell a new story, the efforts would likely have been better spent pushing more interest toward Halo Infinite's campaign, and less toward its multiplayer.
Halo Infinite is releasing as a split package, with the game's story campaign and open-world experience shipping out on December 8, 2021. The game's multiplayer will be free to access and feature a Battle Pass that supplies players with cosmetics. Halo Infinite's co-op campaign and Forge modes are severely delayed and won't be accessible until some months after launch. If the multiplayer's story required any development time that removed focus from Forge and co-op campaigns, it's likely the overall effort has done more to stunt the multiplayer's initial success rather than helping it grow.
Halo Infinite Fails To Learn From Its Multiplayer Past
Halo 4's Spartan Ops offered players a more cooperative multiplayer experience that featured its own story, cutscenes, and plot relevance to the Halo universe. Unfortunately, it was a mode that failed to capture the continued attention of the fanbase and lacked replayability. It is currently unknown just what kinds of stories Halo Infinite's multiplayer gameplay will feature, or if the story elements will be more set-dressing and theming, but it's up for debate whether most players need to feel like a Spartan in order to dive into Halo's signature multiplayer. This calls into question whether such elements will contribute significantly towards the mode's success. Details such as gunplay, loadouts, and map layout will likely remain much more important than any story 343 could tell in Halo Infinite's multiplayer, and while a little extra context never hurts, proper co-op for the campaign likely would have been far more valuable at launch.
It's also worth noting that one of the most popular aspects of Halo multiplayer is Forge, which gives players the ability to create and edit multiplayer maps and game modes to suit their own needs, and this is another mode missing from Halo Infinite at launch. In each installment of the Halo franchise, the fanbase consistently utilized this freedom and developed custom games and maps to enhance the multiplayer experience. Custom matches are an extremely popular aspect of the Halo franchise that have kept games such as Halo: Reach and Halo 3 active for years past their prime. Features such as Forge and the ability to customize Infinite's multiplayer would have delivered an experience based in Halo's previous successes, rather than risk a stifled narrative - no elaborate CG scene is likely to make up for that loss.
While many multiplayer fans of Halo may not be as interested in the story side of Halo Infinite, the development of more stories by 343 Industries isn't necessarily a terrible thing, but the company's multiplayer story efforts seem to have been directed at an audience that would have appreciated other developments. Halo Infinite's campaign shows great promise, and the title is sure to offer an exciting new experience for all fans of the franchise, though it remains to be seen how 343 will handle the narrative elements of its multiplayer seasons after launch.
Halo Infinite will be available for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC on December 8, 2021.