When long-time fans think about their ideal Halo game, a few key things probably spring to mind. The perfect Halo game should have a lengthy campaign, with plenty of open-ended areas to explore, tons of weapons and vehicles, and plenty of enemy variation, along with a great story and the return of some classic characters. It would also feature a multiplayer mode that hearkened back to the glory days of the franchise, all while keeping the mechanics themselves refined and modern. And to top it all off, the perfect Halo game would be one with plenty of content to enjoy, ensuring that it's replayable for the long haul. For a brief moment in time, Halo Infinite was that game.
But while it started on the right track, Halo Infinite soon stumbled into hurdle after hurdle, leaving it with a decimated player-base and leaving fans disappointed. Designed to be a live-service game, Halo Infinite failed to live up to that promise, delivering just a handful of modes and maps over the course of almost two years now. But it's never too late, and there's still a chance that Halo Infinite can find some kind of redemption.
How Halo Infinite Can Redeem Itself
Released all the way back in November 2021, Halo Infinite started out strong but lost its footing quickly. But with a proper plan, Halo Infinite might be able to claw its way back up, rebuild its fan base, and potentially even sit alongside juggernauts of the live-service industry like Call of Duty: Warzone, Apex Legends, and Fortnite. But a few big changes need to occur before that can happen.
The biggest, and probably the most important change Halo Infinite needs to make is ensuring that the game's seasonal updates occur more often. In the last year and eight months, Halo Infinite has had a disappointing total of four Seasons. For comparison, Fortnite has had double the number of Seasons in that time, and even Apex Legends has had six. To make matters worse, Halo Infinite's four Seasons have also brought little content to the game, adding only a handful of maps and game modes, most of which have been franchise staples for years that should have already been in the game.
If 343 Industries wants Halo Infinite to succeed, then its seasonal updates need to be happening much more regularly, and on a consistent basis. Though titles like Fortnite and Apex Legends can have Seasons that vary in length, they all usually last around the same amount of time, giving fans a consistent timeframe that they can look forward to. The content in each of these Seasons should also be fairly consistent, keeping fan expectations in check. For instance, when a Fortnite Season drops, players know there'll be some map changes, a Battle Pass, and some new weapons at the minimum. It's also extremely important for 343 Industries to increase its level of communication with its player base to remain as transparent as possible on any future updates.
While those are the main factors that 343 Industries needs to really nail down in order to redeem Halo Infinite, there are a few other things it could do to speed that process along. 343 Industries could bring a lot of fans back to Halo Infinite if it brought more campaign content to the game. Halo Infinite's campaign wasn't perfect, but it was a good starting point for the next phase in Halo's formula, merging open-world RPG elements with classic Halo gameplay. Bringing out some more campaign missions or side activities could definitely redeem Halo Infinite in a lot of fans' eyes, especially with the recent inclusion of campaign co-op.
Halo Infinite is available now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.