They also work as fast travel and supply points where we can gear up and round up some of the remaining UNSC troops to hop in a Warthog with us on the way to the next mission. Instead, we’re treated to a handful of extra missions, a few optional collectibles and upgrades, and that’s it. These work almost like Ubisoft Towers in that they reveal nearby missions or collectibles, but they don’t then litter the map with ten ton of icons to wade through. The main missions are easily noted, but in between are Forward Operating Base’s to liberate. That’s not to mention the side activities that are here all work to progress the story and player in some way. The section of Zeta Halo we’re on still takes time to get across but with a Mongoose or Ghost the time just flies by. I’m happy to report though that the open world here is neither too large nor filled with a ton of busy body shit to do. Some may be slightly wary of this approach, with others likening it to Far Cry based on the preview coverage. Zeta Halo is, for all intents and purposes, ours to explore. Older Halo’s had the feel of a wide open play space but were really just large corridors with occasional pockets of openness. The core gameplay is solid then, mixing new and old to a fantastic degree, but clearly the biggest change players will notice going into Infinite is the new open world approach. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, but the effectiveness of 343i’s improvements here makes it feel as though Halo has always had them, and I can’t applaud them enough for their implementation. Hip firing the assault rifle is just as effective, but the zoom can help fine tune our aim that little bit. All weapons can be zoomed in by holding the trigger, but crucially this appears to be a mostly aesthetic thing in terms of accuracy or damage. Sprint, as in Guardians, is a given now which helps keep up the pace, and mantling lets us traverse more of Zeta Halo far easier than we’d have otherwise gotten. An area wide scan is available at a button press letting us see all the available pickups around us easily, even those hidden under bodies or behind walls. They’ve also taken great pains it seems to improve in ways that bring Infinite more in line with today’s standards. The combat was one of the key selling points in the original Xbox launch title for good reason, and for the first time 343i have nailed that feeling perfectly. And when a battle is all said and done, the carnage left strewn about the place is ripe for looting and weapon swapping before we move onto the next. An errant grenade might just tip the scales in our favour, or it might just fuck it all up as we detonate an unseen explosive barrel that careens right for us. Weapon impact is super satisfying, with shields crackling and bursting with a palpable sense of energy and damage. Enemies duck and weave behind cover, flank us, and even lob smaller grunts holding grenades at us. Movement is fast and fluid, and gunfights are hectic, weighty, and full of surprises in the way only Halo can do. The three pillars essential to the older games – Guns, Grenades, and Melee – feel spot on, and Infinite’s equipment additions are probably the best implemented yet, even better than their introduction in Halo 3. There are more modern elements for sure, but the core feel of the gameplay is the best the series has been since Halo 3. That is to say, Halo Infinite feels like a true Halo game through and though. We’ll discuss the Multiplayer of Infinite in a separate article later on, but having beaten the campaign this past week I feel confident in saying that not only is this 343i’s best effort yet, but it does a damn fine job of remembering what made Halo special in the first place. Multiplayer wise, those sentiments could be reversed per game, but no matter the game and mode, there was always something missing. While the campaign in Halo 4 was decent, it fell a long way short of the fun and chaos of the original trilogy, and the less said about Guardians solo effort to better. For me, ever since 343i took the reins of the Halo franchise the series has lost that spark that made it all but essential play.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |