While Halo Infinite's multiplayer has left much to be desired, its campaign was actually pretty good. 343 Industries tried to reinvent the Halo campaign formula with the addition of a semi-open world, and it filled that world with numerous activities to complete. The addition of the grappling hook made navigating this world a lot of fun, and the story was not half bad. It felt like a return to form for a series that had struggled to gain traction since Bungie left, but it left behind everything that its predecessors set up.
Halo 5: Guardians set up a pretty interesting narrative, but it feels like Halo Infinite threw much of that out the window. 343 Industries crafted a different type of narrative that felt fresh and served as a great jumping on point for new fans, but it was at the expense of the larger arc that the studio had been setting up. Events that would have been cool to see were glossed over for a new story, and that should be rectified. While the main Halo series may never explore these unseen events, perhaps a third Halo Wars game could.
Halo Infinite Seems to Skip What Halo 5 Set Up
The end of Halo 5: Guardians set up a narrative that painted Cortana as the villain. After pursuing Cortana for most of the game, she is able to escape inside a Guardian. AI across the galaxy end up swearing allegiance to her, and players who completed the game on Legendary difficulty watched Halo Installation 07 power up as she hummed. This set up a sequel that would have forced Master Chief to combat his most trusted ally to save the galaxy, but Halo Infinite practically skipped over that entire conflict.
Halo Infinite starts off with Master Chief getting beaten by Atriox, and he is saved by a UNSC pilot six months later. They travel to Zeta Halo to combat the Banished, and Chief recovers the AI known as the Weapon. The Weapon was designed to take out Cortana, and she apparently successfully did that. The entire galactic AI conflict led by Cortana had been thwarted between games, and the Chief spent all of Halo Infinite focused on beating the Banished. While 343 Industries did give players a look into some of those events throughout the story, the narrative essentially started fresh and scrapped a major conflict.
Halo Wars 3 Could Fill in The Gaps
The Halo Wars series is probably one of the most popular Halo spin-off series, and it has let Halo tell stories that the mainline games never would, but there has been no news on a third Halo Wars. With the changes going on at 343 Industries, a Halo 7 is likely pretty far away. It seems like the franchise does not have anything big looming on the horizon besides the second season of Paramount's Halo, but that could all change with a Halo Wars 3.
Halo Wars tells the story of the crew of the Spirit of Fire, and it would make sense that Halo Wars 3 continues that tale. The first game followed the crew 20 years before Halo: Combat Evolved, and the second game followed them shortly after Halo 5: Guardians. Halo Wars 2 was actually the first time that Atriox posed a threat, and it is probably the biggest look that fans have had into the galaxy post-Halo 5. However, it still only gives players a small glimpse, as the focus is on the Banished.
The third Halo Wars game would hopefully take place between Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite. AI across the galaxy pledging allegiance to Cortana could lead to a pretty interesting RTS where the Spirit of Fire fights desperately against Forerunner technology. It could even show Master Chief's desperate attempt to stop Cortana.
There is no news on a Halo Wars 3, and right now it does not seem like one will ever come to fruition. Halo Wars2 was a surprise itself. There does not seem to be a huge chance that Halo Wars 3 is actively being worked on, but if one ever does see the light of day, then the battle against Cortana would be the perfect setting.
Halo Infinite is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S