To prepare for Infinite, I am playing through the entire Halo franchise (FINISHED)

[Shadow1980]

Yeah. I have very similar feeling regarding Halo Infinite.

In terms of gameplay, it's the best Halo has played since the Bungie era, if not ever. The weapons all feel amazing to use, and there's minimal redundancy between them. The power equipment is the best iteration of the "fourth leg" added to the classic "Golden Tripod" since equipment was added in Halo 3; you have to pick them up off the map like in Halo 3, but they're reusable like in Reach & Halo 4, though you only get a few charges before they're depleted. I honestly would not mind one bit if Halo Infinite sets the standard for all future games, and that 343i doesn't try to reinvent the wheel again.

The campaign had some amazing moments, but in general was hampered by bog-standard open-world design complete with the standard checklist of repetitive busy work objectives (e.g., liberate X number of UNSC FOBs, rescue X number of Marine squads, kill X number of Banished HVTs), as well as a total lack of variety in the outdoors environments. This stands in stark contrast to previous Halo games, which had discrete levels that took place in different locales, with varied biomes. The best parts of Infinite are its linear main story missions, which look more polished and play much better. Also, I was also bummed that 343i yet again decided to ditch the antagonist of their previous game, have them killed off-screen between games, and have a new one as the overarching threat. They got rid of the Didact and replaced him with evil!Cortana in Halo 5, and then replaced her with the Big Bad Duo of Banished War Chief Escharum and the mysterious Harbinger. At least it seems like Atriox and the Banished are still a threat, and hopefully 343i keeps them around in Halo 7.

It's a great game, and overall I'd say it's 343i's best Halo game to date, but it could have been so much better.