The most anticipated title for the launch of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will not be there: Halo Infinite has in fact been postponed to 2021 and will not accompany the entry of Microsoft's next-generation console into our homes. The reasons behind the difficult choice of 343 Industries are many and range from the obvious problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which still afflicts the entire planet, up to the welcome reserved by fans for the eight-minute demo of the Campaign Gameplay Premiere, released during the Xbox Games Showcase event on July 23rd.
Its Public response is the main cause of Halo Infinite being postponed as a cross-gen ferryman from Microsoft as several gaps were evident on the graphic side (who thought of Craig the Brute?) both in terms of texture and various effects.
Here then is that 343 Industries wanted to send two big messages to its fans: the first concerns the fact that the criticisms that have been leveled against the work done so far on Halo Infinite and its new Slipspace Engine, and shown in those exciting and at the same time disappointing eight minutes, will be heard; the second message concerns the release of the postponement of the launch window from November 2020 (coinciding with the launch of the new Microsoft consoles) to a generic 2021, in order to do justice to a long-awaited and very important product for Xbox users.
In the middle we find a whole series of rumors, news confirmed and then denied (such as the decision to concentrate the title only on Series X, abandoning availability on Xbox One) and the background behind the development, such as the possibility of dividing the title into various set off. Here then is that the month of August was really hot for Microsoft and not only for the beating sun that ferried the summer towards its end in view of a warm September, but for the attention and warmth shown by an attentive, demanding community that is really in love with this franchise for which it wants only the best.
It should therefore not come as a surprise to such a difficult decision, and not even unusual in the gaming industry (only this year we think of the many postponements decided by CD Projekt RED for Cyberpunk 2077), such as that of take more time not to disappoint fans and to guarantee a worthy heir to the titles that have made recent videogame history and, above all, Xbox. But from those "very short" eight minutes we have not only learned of the limits of Halo Infinite: we have in fact also been able to enjoy a gameplay that seems to be able to renew itself by adding small but fundamental details.
Halo Infinite will be the title of the largest franchise and it is evident how this First Person Shooter is evolving its historical sandbox setting allowing the player to explore this new planet as freely as possible and decide the most suitable way to pursue the main objective aboard the familiar Warthog. New planet, new weapons and enemies? In Halo Infinite will once again be the Covenant to stand between the Master Chief and his target but there is more.
It is revealed, and the various clues disseminated in previous Microsoft events had not gone unnoticed, the villain of the title: Escharum. He is the commander of the Banished faction, which broke away from the Covenant Empire after the defeat in the war against the Humans.
The demo shown is about an advanced stage of Halo Infinite game and we were able to ascertain the presence of new weapons when, having left the pilot (whose name we still do not know) aboard the Pelican shot down by the Covenant anti-aircraft present on this Halo ring, Master Chief ventures to the new planet also meeting new enemies, precisely those Brutes of which the aforementioned Craig belongs and who prove to be really fearsome armored adversaries. In all this, the presence of a new equipment for our John-117 is revealed the portable shield "Drop Wall" and the "Grappleshot" a grappling hook capable of attracting objects, catapulting the Master Chief on enemies and opening new scenarios for exploration thanks to the possibility of reaching stations across the board.
We still don't know anything about Halo Infinite multiplayer but it is certain that the news regarding Master Chief in the single player will also be reflected in the multi. The creation of an ad hoc team to manage this component, which has always been characterized by a large community, confirms the importance given by 343 Industries to multiplayer. It also seems obvious the PC-Xbox cross-play, since Halo Infinite, after the excellent results of The Master Chief Collection, will also arrive on Windows 10, Xbox Game Pass for PC and Steam, thus reaching a larger and more FPS-hungry market share.
Will there be historical multiplayer modes in the series or can we expect new features such as a persistent online world? A legitimate question, since there may not be any other single player titles in the franchise for quite a while (we're talking about a decade). We can therefore easily consider Halo Infinite the starting point for a new beginning and the first step in building a new Halo platform which will take root on the Xbox Series X. We'll certainly see, in the meantime, if there is one component to mention and that has always characterized Halo, giving it a cinematic edge in key situations, and that is the soundtrack. We've had some samples of the new songs that will accompany the exploits of the Master Chief in Halo Infinite and it looks like that we can once again expect a captivating and epic soundtrack thanks to the work of the new composers who will join 343 Industries in what is undoubtedly the most important work in their history as a development studio.
We will probably have to wait several months before seeing anything new on Halo Infinite but one thing is certain, also due to the Halo Infinite slip, 2021 will be a rich year for Xbox owners..
► Halo Infinite is a Shooter type game developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, the video game will be released on 30/09/2021 (in 224 days)
