Content Warning: This game contains violence and some profanity. This game is recommended for ages 13 and up.

Excitement has been spiraling about a new video game release on Dec. 8, Halo Infinite, and has many Arcadia students along with the mass media raging about it. This is big news as it has been 20 years since the release of Master Chief and Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo has been known for its iconic innovations from other video games, and overall players are psyched to see this new release of Halo Infinite.

“Halo Infinite somehow feels entirely like Halo and entirely not,” said writer Nicole Carpenter from Polygon.

A big part of Halo that lured in video game players was the form of combat they used. From the last release 20 years ago, it still managed to keep that form of intensity while creating a platform that players can have more exploration throughout each map of the game. The way the game begins starts off with Master Chief (supersoldier who was raised as a child for combat) facing an unfamiliar subject to him which is him losing. Halo Infinite’s main goal is to regain control over the Zeta Halo (where Masterchief travels to, the oldest surviving halo) and find out what happened to Cortana (love interest, AI character who spends most of the time with Masterchief), from the cliffhanger in Halo 5: Guardians. Another objective is to stop the Banished (alien antagonist) from pursuing any other bad intention. 

As someone who is new to the Halo series of games, Halo Infinite may not be a good place to start at. A lot of events that happen in this game are continuations from past Halo games, so it might be difficult to understand what exactly is happening if you did not play the previous games. Seasoned Halo players even find it a bit difficult to follow along with the storyline because of how many references there are to past games.

“​​Halo Infinite still tells a linear story, the structure of its world allows for exploration,” said Carpenter. 

The release of Halo Infinite basically allows players to get a closer look at the world provided for them in Halo. Because of the many amounts of missions you must complete, this gives the audience a new glimpse into the scenic routes, being one of the main aspects of this new game experience. The creators of Halo’s intent was to get the players of this game to admire the scenic views that were made, while still conquering the numerous missions.

“I think that the game is great,” said Arcadia High School junior Nataniel Jayaseelan. “It’s a fresh take in the area of FPSs. There are some issues that still need to be fixed, and there are some modes that aren’t out yet like Forge, but other than that I would definitely recommend it to others.”

Halo’s new open-world structure, even though it does add to the beautiful sites of the experience, there are some downfalls. One of the main aspects of the past Halo games was the ability to replay missions, yet in this new release, some missions are not replayable. The environments that are seen in a mission, may not be able to get replayed in that exact environment. This is a downfall because of the fact that many Halo players often returned to the game to look for secrets and easter eggs, though with this ability gone it ruins a key part of the Halo games. 

Overall, the game experience is there, and so is the storyline. With a few downfalls, this new release is still an amazing video game to play with endless scenic views and references to past gameplays.