Both Halo Infinite and Gears 5 have changed the direction of their respective series by implementing an open world in their games. But, while both Gears and Halo have this new element, they operate differently in both games and both aren't true open-world games they still make good use of the mechanic.
While not the biggest open-world games in the Xbox, both of them treat the open-world aspect differently than other triple-A games that have an open-world, while Halo Infinite leans into the traditional style of having an open-world while still being different, Gears' functions a little differently. Both of these games open-world share the same mechanic, however, this list may showcase to players which of them uses it the best.
6 Gears 5 - More Locations
The open-world segment in Halo Infinite is set on one ring called Zeta, so players will spend most of their time there. For players playing Gears 5, they'll notice while there are several linear locations in the story, however, between those locations there are two massive open-world style levels one in a desert and the other in an icy tundra.
The good thing about these open-world segments is that while they are massive there are still things to do, while not on the same level as Halo Infinite it does it justice for a Gears of War game. Mixing in the open-world freedom with Gears being one the better third-person shooters on the Xbox, will allow for some pretty explosive and entertaining moments while exploring these locations.
5 Halo Infinite: Replayability
Gears 5 side missions can be missed, same with Halo Infinite but, the difference is that there's more of those things to do in Halo's world. So, if players don't get everything on their first playthrough they can do it again on the second or the third. Players should note that right now, replaying missions is available but fans have been calling for it, so it could potentially come down the line soon.
While not being able to start the campaign at a specific point right now, restarting the game could be a blessing. Players could re-do all the missions they missed which otherwise they wouldn't be able to do if they restarted at a specific point. Not only does it have more replayability over Gears, but also other games in the series, like Halo Guardians because of those side activities.
4 Gears 5 - Bigger Scope
In terms of the world, Gears does have a bigger scope just by having two open-world areas alone, but for the story aspect, Halo takes the cake in that regard. Having multiple open areas makes up for those linear hallways because now players will spend more time exploring the side things in the open-world which in turn gives them upgrades for Jack.
Halo not moving around kind of limits itself for what players do, so Gears implements other bigger levels that can give a chance for players to get a change of pace from the regular shooting. Halo could have been a bigger game, since it was going for the size of Breath of the Wild but had to cut it down, which in turn makes Gears appealing for having a wider scale.
3 Halo Infinite: More Activities
Halo Infinite has a ton of side activities on the side for players to do, they can be saving stranded UNSC soldiers or recapturing FOBS. All these things add more playtime to the game and make it deeper which shows players that the world around them is alive. These side missions reward players with a bunch of different things that will aid the player in progressing like Spartan Cores which players can level up the abilities they have, or find caches that give players skins for the multiplayer.
Basically, anything that players find, they get rewarded with something. Things like this add replayability and don't limit players in terms of what they can do. Gears' open-world does have side things for players to do but it's not expansive as Halo's, where it matters to the whole story.
2 Halo Infinite: Exploration
The few differences between the two games are how engaging is the world for players, from what they do to how they do it. In Gears, players can go to explore but they'll find that those locations are quite bare, with few things done far between each point.
In Halo things are denser, on top of the activities players can explorer the world which emphasizes that point. It can hinder players if they don't, they could lose out on collecting skulls are other easter eggs that will make the campaign more enjoyable. The Halo games have usually baked the lore within the environment, or the world more so than Gears, and Halo Infinite is still using that mechanic, and exploring the world is one of the many ways players can uncover more of what's going in the world.
1 Halo Infinite: Getting Around
While Gears has a skiff for players to use to explorer the open-world which is great, it doesn't do much else than to transport the player. In Halo, players have a wide range of options to traverse the open world, from vehicles to abilities, everything is there to make the player navigate fast around the world.
The grappling hook is a great tool for getting too out of reach places and the things like mongoose or the warthog can help players travel through the landscape while offering protection, so Halo does make getting from point A to point B a lot faster than Gears 5 does for players.