As Chief continues his anti-silo rampage we see a counter in the top left that keeps track of the side missions’ progress.Big strides - As a whole, it's pretty clear that 343 wants Infinite to be a return to form for the franchise, and the devs are clearly aiming to trigger a rush of nostalgia for the aging fans who played the first one back in 2001. The player quickly unlocks the ability to go invisible after using the Thruster and then smashes a Brute in the back of the head with a gravity hammer. Each appears to have 4 upgrades which you use “Spartan Cores” to unlock. There is Grappleshot, Shield Core, Threat Sensor, Drop Wall, and Thruster shown off.
The big thing we see though is the Upgrade system. The video showcase the variety of ways in which you can take the facility down with various explosives or interactable prompts.
The Brute Chopper is back and redder than ever. After choosing to attack a local banished facility known as “Ransom Keep” Chief pulls out a SPNKr rocket launcher and immediately gets to work destroying it. Seven icons are representing the various in-game currencies and lore entries that you can find as you clear out each map. In the bottom left hand of the screen is the “Area Collectables” checklist. To unlock these you must secure a FOB near it, much like the old tower system that Ubisoft drove into the ground. The Tacmap is a map of the local area in which you can see whatever areas of interest that you have unlocked. Their energy weapon is a far brighter and more vivid shade of green as well.Īfter Tremonius is dispatched by the Chief we get a look at the Tacmap, with tabs for Upgrades, FOBs, Targets, and Database area seen as well. Hunters are back though less wriggling worm-like than in Halo 5. After running towards him like a maniac the Brute falls to a heavy melee, and a Craig-like face is nowhere to be found. A cutscene shows off the viciousness of the Brute’s as one tears apart a forerunner door and heaves it towards Chief. Previously seen cutscenes are re-shown including Escharum’s hologram which showcases a more finished, higher quality look to it. The lightning and texture work is leagues ahead of what we saw last July, though the depth of field effect does seem to indicate a possible photo mode where things could be set to higher settings. A beautifully ugly Jackal is shown aiming the new Stalker Rifle, which is a mix between the Covenant Carbine of previous titles and the Covenant Beam Rifle. Just like the MP beta, there appears to be no fall damage, at least not from the normal height you’d have in a Halo game, which should lead to some incredibly fun mid-air shenanigans. As Chief flies above an anti-air battery his wasp is quickly destroyed but not before he jumps out and uses a rocket to obliterate the Banished beneath him. More vistas are shown which showcase the vastness of the map along with far more verticality than any Halo game has had before. Gaining valor unlocks available resources at all captured FOBs…” The weapon variant system sounds similar to what was available in Halo 5, where a small number of the REQ variant weapons could be found in hidden areas of the map during the campaign. These are described as “fast travel hubs and rally points for UNSC marine support, and provide access to vehicles, weapons, and (very interestingly) weapon variants. We are shown weapon and vehicle call-in stations which appear to be available at Forward Operating Bases that you can unlock or FOBs for short. Next up is an enormous addition to the series.
In the recent Halo: Shadows of Reach book there is a plot device that would appear to be the basis for just how the Weapon was created, and it will be interesting to see if they mention that mission and just where Blue Team (Kelly, Linda, and Fred) have gone. The Weapon then asks Chief just what Cortana had done to make the UNSC create the Weapon solely to destroy her. She also appears to be looking at a city, which could possibly be the Forerunner capital city that Mendicant Bias attacked with the Zeta Halo ring after they were corrupted. A brief cutscene shows Cortana looking similar in face and model to her Halo 5 look but in her Halo CE purple hologram coloring and not the hard light body she used in the previous game. The first mission of the game is to locate The Weapon and try to determine what has happened in the six months that have taken place since the UNSC was defeated and Chief was left adrift in space.