Just over 8 months after its release, Halo Infinite has never been closer to providing players with its long-awaited co-op campaign. However, we will have to wait a few more days to test it in beta.
[Mise à jour le 12 juillet 2022 à 11h00] Acclaimed by players and critics alike for its free-to-play multiplayer and engaging campaign, Halo Infinite still suffers from the absence of two of its core game modes. These are of course the co-op mode of the campaign and the Forge mode for the creation of environments and scenarios. As for the first, a beta of the cooperation mode was supposed to start this Tuesday, July 12, but was finally postponed for a few days. It was Brian Jarrard, Community Manager at 342 Industry who expressed himself on this subject on Twitter, providing the necessary explanations to the many fans who wish to live or relive the adventures of Master Chief accompanied. We summarize everything for you.
Apologies to folks who expected the flight today – we’re eager to get this into your hands but we also want to ensure it’s a positive and worthwhile flight experience. Still targeting this week but it’s day by day as work continues. Ty for your patience and understanding. (3/3)
—Brian Jarrard (@ske7ch) July 11, 2022
That was the big question surrounding the release of Halo Infinite last December: when will we be able to experience the game’s open-world co-op campaign? Indeed, the co-op single-player campaign has been at the heart of every Halo since Halo 2, an essential if not unavoidable element that we’re starting to miss a little bit in the vastness of the landscapes of the Zeta installation. However, we have good news and bad news for this new feature. Indeed, since the last moments of Halo Infinite’s development, 343 Industries has been running closed beta test periods called Flight Test. They are back in July 2022, with a beta dedicated to the future cooperation mode of the game’s campaign. The bad news is that the Flight Test of the coop mode should have started shortly, but was finally postponed for a few days. The good news is that this week is still the studio’s goal for the start of the co-op beta. Brian Jarrard explained it himself, the target of the studio for the deployment of this beta remains the week of July 11, but the studio is working day by day to solve its various problems before opening it to the public.
Everything we wrote in the previous paragraph applies to Halo Forge mode. Absent at the launch of the game, this tool for creating and modifying environments and scenarios, present in the franchise since Halo 3, we miss a little bit. But once again good news: 343 Industries has assured us that they want to present the Forge mode at the same time as the cooperative mode, so we should discover it as soon as possible. next september.
Along with the big news about Halo Infinite’s single-player and co-op modes, the star of the day is free-to-play multiplayer. The latter is offered a brand new season, season 2, which will offer us a ton of new content in addition to a brand new battle pass. The latter has not yet been revealed to us, but know that you will have a long period to pass the 100 levels, extending from May 3 to November 7. There are 3 new game modes, King of the Hill, Last Spartan Alive and Land Grab. We can also discover two new cards, Catalyst and Breaker.
We told you about it in the introduction, Halo Infinite’s single-player mode seems to appeal as much as its popular multiplayer. With a score of nearly 86/100 on Metacritic (79 reviews) This new Xbox and PC exclusive seems to be rising to the level of press expectations. A rating that surpasses that of the previous chapter, Halo 5: Guardians (84/100) and equals that of the popular Halo 4. The adoption of an “open-world” style of play seems to be greatly appreciated, a model that greatly benefits from the “sandbox” spirit that has long characterized the franchise. The player is freer, the problems differ and their solutions too, creating a favorable universe for the epic saga of Spartan 117. At least this is the opinion of gamespotwhich gives it a very nice 90/100: “It turns out the franchise took a risk that was worth it because Halo Infinite is an amazing game. Admittedly, a few facets of the storyline have weaknesses, but that’s hardly disturbing in a game that seems to have the best single-player campaign in years, and shows us an excellent evolution of what Halo can become.” Same opinion on the side of JVC who offers him 16/20: “Certainly, in the collective unconscious, Halo has always been an FPS set in vast environments. But Infinite finally delivers a successful vision of what Master Chief can give within a universe that lives up to its reputation. In addition to bearing few traces of its tumultuous development, the game manages to make John-117 so fun to embody that it is difficult to let go of the pad once the campaign has begun.“
On the negative side, there is a lot of lightness in the writing. The gameplay sequences are a little less epic, a little less spectacular. This is the opinion of IGN France who rate it 80/100: “Master Chief is back for his fans, with great gameplay and solid multiplayer. Fans will appreciate the “good old days” side of the story, probably more than neophytes. They may also be frustrated that the ambitious storytelling stops when it should have started..” We also note the absence of the co-op campaign (which will be integrated into the game within 3 to 6 months), this is the case of gameblog which gives it 80/100: “The sensations are there, the music is there and so is the universe. And 343 manages to make the game feel familiar while adding some new and welcome features. Halo Infinite also appears to be Master Chief’s most intimate story to date. It’s just a shame that players now have to wait several months before they can play the co-op campaign, which is essential to the series.“
Moreover, for some, like Paul Tassi for Forbesthe single player mode lacked something: “I don’t need a huge Assassin’s Creed style map that takes 200 hours to complete, but I think I need more variety than what I’ve seen, and a better story with better characters.“The open world is all well and good, but it definitely takes away from the “epic” side of Halo. The action sequences are less scripted and therefore often less grandiose, and although Master Chief is presented at his best in Halo Infinite, the characters around him can sometimes seem cartoonish.
In summary Halo Infinite seems to offer us a campaign that meets the expectations of fans. Switching to an open-world game mode offers great possibilities of freedom to the player, possibilities enhanced by new welcome gadgets and features. The world is nonetheless no less familiar, and projects us into the very special atmosphere of the Halo games. If the player gains in freedom, however, he loses in spectacle, as the scenario sometimes lacks power. We also note the absence at the launch of the Forge mode and the co-op mode, the latter seeming so often essential to the campaigns of the franchise.
We were expecting a fairly demanding game in terms of the recommended PC specs and we weren’t disappointed. You will need 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’s a bit surprising as these cards are not within the reach of all budgets. It must be said that Halo Infinite risks being the most ambitious opus of the franchise, with its open world campaign mode which necessarily implies a greater requirement for PCs. The multiplayer mode, on the other hand, should be accessible with slightly lower configurations than those shown below:
