We're all busy enjoying Halo Infinite's multiplayer right now, but we've still got the campaign to look forward to on December 8th, and some lucky critics have been getting hands-on with the first few hours of it recently.
The good news? It seems like it's going to be worth the wait! It's been described as "spectacular" at its best, and everyone at least seems to be enjoying it so far. That said, some have pointed out how it could prove "divisive".
Here are some snippets from various hands-on previews we've found across the web:
TechRadar
"Halo Infinite’s campaign has the potential to be the greatest entry in the series to date... Trust me when I say that the game’s single-player experience took my admittedly cautious expectations and fired them into the stratosphere.
VG247
"The Halo Infinite campaign is likely to be at least a little divisive. Some aren’t going to vibe with the open world, or with Master Chief finally having character progression. Some aren’t going to be able to push past disappointment that this isn’t a platform-defining visual tour-de-force. But me? Well, so far, I’m utterly convinced. I’m back in on Halo again. And I can’t wait to see this journey to its conclusion."
Metro
"How effective Halo Infinite’s campaign will be at attracting new players remains to be seen but for those that miss the franchise’s glory days this finally begins to push it back into the top tier of format exclusives."
GameSpot
"After a couple of lackluster entries, I've been feeling less and less drawn to the Halo franchise, so it was difficult not to read into that moment. For me, once a diehard fan, Halo Infinite feels like developer 343 Industries' last shot at reinvigorating my fandom. And, based on what I've played of the campaign, it might just be enough."
Trusted Reviews
"The story looks very promising at this early stage, with character interactions proving to be just as gripping as the combat. I do have reservations about the open-world design after a few hours of play, but that fortunately hasn’t had a negative impact on the more traditional linear levels so far, which still offers the classic Halo experience that fans have been craving for."
GamesRadar
"After spending hours with the Halo Infinite campaign, my fears have been largely assuaged – open world Halo isn't what I imagined it would be. 343 Industries has found a winning formula. While Halo Infinite has clearly taken inspiration from modern open world experiences, it's working across more self-contained, and smartly interlocked spaces."
AusGamers
"Ultimately, playing a decent chunk of Halo Infinite’s campaign was refreshing. Not only in how it managed to feel like a new entry in an iconic series but in how it managed to live to and exceed expectations in a way that most recent releases haven’t. From its sparing and well-timed use of piano chords through to the hero shots of Master Chief standing all stoic and heroic like, Halo Infinite’s campaign is a confident return to form."
There are a couple of potential negatives in there, then, but in general there's a great deal of positivity, and it sounds like Halo Infinite's campaign is going to be a great nostalgia kick for fans of the original Halo games in particular.
What do you think of these hands-on previews for Halo Infinite? Let us know down below.
Comments 25
Eurogamer are sounding a bit less enthused in their preview, and I've seen a few different mentions of the base clearing aspects of the gameplay feeling repetitive fairly quickly, but overall I am still cautiously optimistic.
Hey, guys! I was a Playstation kid so I didn't ever experience Halo during its glory days. Fast forward almost two decades and here I am with a Series S fresh out of the box (only a couple of weeks or so) and also I'm a newbie here (I joined Pure yesterday). My question is: should I jump in on Infinite or play through the Master Chief collection? Any input is welcome!
@OldgamerDave Definitely play Combat Evolved first then 2 and 3 😊
@oldgamerdave If you have Game Pass and can handle the hefty download, there's no reason not to give it a shot. Halo CE is worth a quick playthrough on Easy just to kind of understand the story and the purpose of the halo ring. That said, it's a lot of Halo and could very well burn you out before Infinite hits if you try to marathon it. No pun intended.
@OldgamerDave the original trilogy has aged very well for the most part and is worth playing on its own, regardless of whether you plan to play Infinite or not. But Infinite was made to be an entry point for newcomers, so you don't absolutely need to have played previous games in order to enjoy it.
@OldgamerDave If you have the time I would play through all of the Master Chief Collection and Halo 5 Guardians just for the story and to get into the pacing and gameplay finesse. If you play it on easy you could probably finish all 6 games in 30-40 hours.
@OldgamerDave Worst case scenario if you don't have the time before you want to play Halo Infinite next month would be to play Halo 5 since Infinite is a direct sequel to that. Also, like already mentioned, the story was "born" in Halo Wars 2. If you like strategy games, that wouldn't be a bad play either.
If you have the time and don't think you'll experience burnout, then by all means play them all.
@SplooshDmg Hey, you're the nice fellow from yesterday: we talked about Tales of Arise! Now, about Halo, it'll be tough, because I'm a dad with a full-time job (in Brazil, no less), but I'll follow your solid advice. There's no rush, right? Thanks, man.
@XxEvilAshxX Yeah, I'll definitely take my time. I'm pretty used to playing games a long time after launch. And I agree: getting burned out is the last thing I want.
@Halucigens Yeah, I'm inclined to go with easy for the story, but at the same time I'm a bit too proud for that (stupid, I know). Let's see!
Really tempted to give this game a try even though I haven't really played the rest of the games properly, and with the amount of games I've got going on with the ps5 and switch I don't have the time to play all the other halo's before this one.
Is halo infinite the kind of game where its absolutely necessary to know what's happened before?
@KilloWertz @OldgamerDave absolutely not! One's first Halo campaign cannot be effing Halo 5!
@OldgamerDave I've beaten a lot of them on legendary but I went back over last summer and breezed through all of them just to get the story and get back into sci fi fps. There is still some rough parts.
I've seen a lot of preview videos today. It's looking very promising, it definitely has a more cinematic feel then previous Halo games. I've heard in one preview that you don't even need to clear the outposts if you don't want to. You can just do the main story Missions. The opening of the game is also excellent. Hopefully the rest of the game is great too.
@OldgamerDave honestly you shouldn't have to play the previous games to enjoy this one as they're trying to make it as newcomer friendly as possible. Having said that you will get a bit more out of the story if you've play the previous games.
Seeing how close we are to launch I'd probably play Infinite first. It's going to be amazing!
@OldgamerDave
Don't worry about playing all the old games (unless you are really into getting into the storylines).
But... If you only play one campaign from the old lot, the make it Halo 3... a masterpiece.
I'm all in.
Never felt so hyped.
8th december : HALO CAMPAIGN
15th december : SPIDER-MAN NO WAY HOME
22th december : MATRIX RESURECTIONS
Waiting for all that, playin Forza Horizon 5 and HALO Multiplayer (first time in my life I'm actually enjoying a multiplayer mode).
This end of the year is just unbeliveable to my eyes.
@SplooshDmg Will do, friend! But I guess I'll be takingvthe long route as you suggested before. By my accounts I'll get to play Infinite by February- considering that I'll be splitting my time between Halo MCC and Tales of Arise... Well, realistically, perhaps March then lol
@ParsnipHero Yup, but I feel Infinite will be so great that it might potentially "ruin" the old ones for me, so I guess I'll just time my time. Wow, even though I'm definitely not in the first world, I feel like I'm discussing first world problems, which is awesome X)
@OldgamerDave it's true it might ruin the old ones. They're just different games. This was in the back of my mind as I was typing this actually.
@ParsnipHero Same vibe here, man. I mean, it's hard to get back to older games once you taste a newer, and hopefully "better" game (by modern standards, of course - not taking away the merits of the classic ones).
@SplooshDmg That's great. I'm always up to knowing timeless classics. Gotta tell you friend: this community is awesome: I'm definitely gonna stick with you guys!
@SplooshDmg A bit of rowdiness is only natural among passionate fans! Lots of old dads around here, then? Interesting... Hey, have you seen any Brazilians around here as well? They can be a wild bunch, or so I've heard, hehehe
Well I am still grateful for Game Pass as I can play this Day 1 without having to worry about whether or not its 'worth' the money.
The latest trailer and previews though have convinced me its worth playing. With Game Pass, its not about whether a game is worth 'buying' and if so, is it worth buying at launch or if not, at what price is it worth considering. With Game Pass, the only decision is 'is it worth playing or not. The 'only' risk is time - whether its worth spending my time playing it or not. I don't risk losing money by buying something I don't enjoy.
All I can say is that if the game released last year, the trailer and concept didn't do enough to convince me it was worth my time but a year later, the previews have convinced me to try it...
@OldgamerDave Start with the Master Chief Collection and stop after Halo 3 lol
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