Last Monday, the Halo franchise blew out its twentieth candle. A fanfare anniversary accompanied by a lot of information (on the television series in particular) but also the surprise opening of the multiplayer beta of Halo Infinite.
[Mise à jour le 17 novembre 2021 à 17h37] It was with a happy surprise that players learned on Monday that the Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta had been made available. An arrival three weeks before the official release date of the game which offers many fans the opportunity to immerse themselves in this free-to-play FPS both competitive and arcade. An experience that players already salute as the game shows unfailing fluidity, both in performance and in gameplay. Great news and a huge opportunity for anyone looking to explore the content (complete please!) And progress through the Halo Infinite Battle Pass. For the campaign, it will be necessary to wait until December 8.
Well the answer is quite simple, completely free of charge. Remember, however, that Halo is an Xbox and PC exclusive and that you will need to own either of these platforms to be able to participate. If you’re on PC, you can access the game’s beta on Steam and the Xbox client. If you’re on Xbox, head to the Store to download this big game. You’ll still need over 27GB of storage if you want to install it, but trust us, it’s worth it. Indeed, in this beta we find all the content of season 1 of multiplayer, whether it is maps, game modes or unlockable rewards, and all your progress will be kept during the official launch of the game. (free, we remind you). See the infographic below:
We expected a game that was quite greedy in terms of the recommended PC specs and we weren’t disappointed. It will be necessary to arm yourself with a fairly high-end configuration to enjoy the game in the best conditions. An RTX 2070 or a 5700 XT in the recommended graphics cards, it surprises a bit as these cards are not within the reach of all budgets. It must be said that Halo Infinite is likely to be the most ambitious opus of the franchise, with its open-world campaign mode which necessarily implies greater demands on PCs. The multiplayer mode on the other hand should be accessible with configurations slightly lower than those shown below:
We are in 2021 and it shows. Following in the footsteps of many FPS released recently, 343 Industries has decided to organize this multiplayer mode into seasons and battle pass. The first, Reach’s Season of Heroes, has already started and it is quite possible for you to already climb the hundred ranks. Of course, each level will grant you certain rewards, whether it is an XP boost, cosmetics or armor. There is also a premium battle pass which offers you for 8 euros the possibility of unlocking even more cosmetics (really cooler). To easily gain experience, do not hesitate to complete your daily challenges while changing them if they do not suit you.
This is the big news for the end of October. 343 Industries presented us in detail the solo campaign of Halo Infinite during a live this Monday, October 25 at 3 p.m. An event presentation that players were impatiently awaiting, as this new component seemed to be the most ambitious of the franchise. Indeed, the single player mode of Halo Infinite passes a course, since it will be located in an open world, Installation 17 or Halo Zeta. A turnaround on the gameplay side and a big risk on the publisher side, which we are impatiently waiting to discover. Watch the gameplay trailer:
Only 343 Industries made a big enough turn by transforming Halo Infinite into an open-world. While some of the levels in previous games have been relatively expansive, the franchise has never offered an open-world experience as comprehensive as that of Halo Infinite. In this new single-player campaign, Master Chief will have to wrest Installation 17, or Halo Zeta, from the clutches of the Banned, the Covenant faction that defeated the forces of the UNSC. By assisting USNC troops and capturing bases, Spartan 117 will progress in a campaign that feels less linear than in previous episodes. Fingers crossed, however, that 343 Industries avoided the pitfalls of a Far Cry-like game.
We can also notice that an aspect of character progression enters the game through armor upgrades. It seems that during his missions, Master Chief can collect “spartan cores” and use them as currency to improve his armor. A small RPG aspect that adds in-game progression and various ways for the player to customize their gameplay. We are waiting to see if the farming of “spartan cores” does not risk taking too much space in the game.
However, no need to deny that the universe of Halo is extremely rich and would easily furnish an open world of this magnitude. In addition, the gameplay experience of Halo, by the diversity of its weapons, its enemies and its vehicles allows an extremely sandbox gameplay which reinforces the impression of freedom of the player. The possibilities of a Halo open world are endless and if the campaign storyline lives up to its ambition, we could end up with one of the best games in the franchise. If you want to learn more about Halo Infinite, visit the official site from Xbox.
Halo Infinite finally has an exact release date. It was during Gamescom Opening Night that the fateful date of the December 8, 2021 has been revealed, confirming 343 Industries’ desire to release its game during the holiday season. This release, which will be done directly on Xbox Game Pass, among other things, will include the single-player and multiplayer campaign (entirely free-to-play). For the co-op campaign it will take three more months, and for the Forge mode six months. We have known for twenty years now that Halo and Xbox is a great love story, which is why the game will remain an Xbox and PC exclusive. The game, while optimized for 4K 60fps gameplay on Xbox Series X | S, will also be releasing on Xbox One, news that will be a hit with last-gen console owners. We invite you to the 2021 holidays, the opportunity to celebrate the twenty years of Master Chief.
On the technical side, 343 Industries has chosen to organize its multiplayer mode in seasons, like a Warzone or an Apex Legends. Moreover, at Gamescom 2021, we also had the right to a CGI trailer for the first season of Halo Infinite multiplayer. A breathtaking cinematic showing us the Spartans in action. This announcement, alongside an official release date, has had enough to excite fans, who can already get their hands on this multiplayer mode which will be completely free-to-play.
It should be remembered that Halo’s multiplayer mode is a benchmark in terms of first-person shooter. First good news, it will be entirely free and this as soon as the main game is released. The opportunity for many new players to discover a game mode that is often defined as one of the benchmarks of shooting games. In addition, 343 Industries also made the choice to make Halo Infinite cross–platform, allowing PC and console gamers to play together. In addition, in order to facilitate access to the game, the American studio has created the Academy, a sort of virtual camp accessible in multiplayer where players can test new equipment and train before embarking on real games. . A big emphasis has been placed on personalization. Whether at the level of vehicle skins, where the appearance of your Spartan, a battle pass will unlock exclusively cosmetic content, all essentially while playing (the shop will have its own content). The multiplayer of Halo Infinite will be for many the opportunity to discover the universe of Halo, its vehicles, its weapons and its very special atmosphere.
On this thorny subject, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that 343 Industries has confirmed that Halo Infinite will understand a co-op campaign. The bad news is that this campaign will be missing from the game when it launches. Indeed, in order to respect its release schedule, the American firm had to postpone the addition of the coop campaign and Forge mode to a later date. For the co-op campaign, we’re talking about three months after December 8 and six months for Forge mode. Releases delayed by a few months, which will not prevent the single-player campaign and the multiplayer (fully free-to-play, we remind you) from both being present at the release of the game, at the end of 2O21.