Halo Infinite Gameplay Debut At Xbox Series X Stream

Halo Infinite Campaign Gameplay

The gameplay session started with Master Chief crash-landing with the assistance of a pilot, who was previously seen in the E3 2019 trailer for Infinite. Despite the pilot's objections, Master Chief told him they have to stop the Banished (returning from Halo Wars 2), and then headed out on a mission. After dispatching some grunts, Chief headed into a Warthog and consulted a map for his objectives. It appears to be a more open-world structure, with various objectives that can be tackled in any order.

An extended combat sequence confirmed the rumors of a grappling hook--known as the grappleshot--as Master Chief used it to grasp a crate and throw it at an enemy. The grappleshot works off of a cooldown, allowing it to be repeatedly used but with a short delay in between. In addition to pulling in items, it can be used to pull yourself to new locations, or even toward enemies.

The trailer ended with the apparent antagonist explaining that he's already taken over the Halo, and he looks forward to clashing with Master Chief as a fellow battle-hardened warrior.

Bigger Environments And New Weapons

This first-look at gameplay from the next entry in the Halo series also showed off just how enormous Master Chief's adventure will be. Halo Infinite's titular Halo ring is massive. In fact, it's bigger than the worlds in Halo 5 and Halo 4 put together, and the campaign is locked at 60 frames per second on Xbox Series X and runs at "up to" 4K. Microsoft promises the battles will be bigger than ever before, and there will be all-new gameplay mechanics we haven't seen in the series. You can see a selection of screenshots below.

There are many returning elements from previous games, as we saw the standard assault rifle, frag grenade, plasma grenade, and warthog. We also saw a variety of new weapons and equipment, such as a deployable energy shield that can be fired through by players. New weapons include the VK78 Commando and Ravager plasma weapon.

Halo Infinite arrives on Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC this holiday season. As part of the Xbox Smart Delivery program, those who buy the game for Xbox One will be able to upgrade to the Xbox Series X version for free.

If you were missing more traditional Halo-style music, Microsoft has also released a more condensed gameplay trailer, which you can watch below. This actually has some additional bits of gameplay, confirming the return of the energy sword and introduction of some type of new electric grenade or piece of equipment that shocks nearby foes.

Prior to the presentation, Microsoft teased the footage and hinted at the return of the Banished from Halo Wars 2. Xbox boss Phil Spencer also said Halo Infinite is rethinking the structure of a Halo game. Subsequently, we learned that Halo Infinite is intended to serve as a long-term platform for the franchise.