Halo Infinite (Multiplayer) Review: A long time coming

   Regarding updates to legendary franchises, it’s not always perfect from the start. Sometimes, you're going to deal with flaws. And Halo Infinite, the latest game of the long-standing Halo franchise, had its faults shown… at least for the multiplayer. When it first launched and when it was first free, this surprised a lot of people and a lot of people jumped on board to check out what was going on. While it was good… it wasn't the franchise's spirit at first. Sure, you can check out a few matches with the homies, but overall, it needed a lot of work to live up to its legacy.

While this version had issues then and even now, it does have some advantages compared to the other shooters of this day in age. A noticeable example I have seen is the fact that Halo Ininite’s battle passes never expire, so you can go back to the ones you've missed without the fear of missing out on cool loot, unlike the other shooters where once it's gone, it's gone. That and while it was weird at first, the multiplayer has steadily improved over time and become one of the biggest community-supported multiplayer franchises since TF2. And just recently, 343 Studios has started rolling forward with cross-core helmets, visors, attachments, and armor colors, with the promise that shoulder pads and more armor colors are on the way as well.

And for the store, it’s a lot more generous than other stores from other games. Heck, when you unlock a battle pass, you can earn enough credits to unlock other battle passes from them, so it's almost like you pay for one, and you get to unlock everything from here on out, if you plan things out. But as for the various bundles… I think they could be a bit cheaper, but that’s just me. Unfortunately, the team at 343 did not get the message, as prices are being raised yet again.

As for the single-player campaign… I haven't played that yet, but I should later. It grants the player more gear for the multiplayer stuff, but it costs 60 dollars to unlock it. But I heard it's a lot better than Halo 5: Guardians, so that’s good, at least.

But the one thing the series does best is improve on its weapons. Throughout the 20+ years of Halo, the one thing that makes it stand out from the rest of the competition is the unique choices of weapons, both human and alien. You have our human weapons: pistols, shotguns, basic battle rifles, rocket launchers, and sniper rifles. On the other side, you also have the option between the alien weapons as well, like the needler, the energy sword, the gravity hammer, the plasma pistol, and much more that have cemented their way to being pop culture icons. While we have seen some buffs for these weapons, I also want to acknowledge the much-needed nerfs of the energy sword and the gravity hammer, no longer have unlimited power to them, which means you need to pick and choose when and where to use these game-changing power weapons. This makes for competitive play to be balanced, yet still fun for everyone, unlike overwatch. 

As for the final thoughts, we've seen a lot of various updates get put into this multiplayer mode, both good and bad. While it is tedious to have to grind to get everything you want without paying a single penny, it should also be noted that playing this game with friends can make the nights feel similar to that of the Xbox Live days.