Halo Infinite 1.0

Download Halo Infinite multiplayer free - the future of FPS

Halo Infinite has just launched, and you can now play the game online against other players completely free. If you want to experience the story and see where humanity’s greatest hero is headed, you’ll need to buy the campaign separately. 

In Infinite, Master Chief is ready to confront the most cunning enemy he has ever faced. The latest game in the Halo franchise can be installed on PC via Steam and is also available for Xbox Series X and Xbox One, as it’s a Microsoft-exclusive title from Xbox Game Studios. 

A 20-year franchise that needs to hit the mark this time

Halo has just celebrated its 20th anniversary, which also kick-started the online beta for Halo Infinite multiplayer. The multiplayer portion has been free-to-play, while the story (campaign) must be purchased. 

This is a smart strategy for both consumers and the publisher, as it lets the publisher showcase some of the game’s best features and gives players the chance to try it before they decide to buy. 

About the online multiplayer (free)

You can play Halo Infinite completely free—as long as you stick to online PvP against other players. This choice may have several reasons, but the most obvious theory is that the publisher and developer want the fan base to grow, especially after a number of misfires over the past decade. 

By introducing the fun combat elements without asking players to spend a lot of money, there’s a greater chance they’ll get hooked—not only on the graphics and gameplay, but on the franchise’s identity as a whole. 

This could potentially generate greater long-term interest, allowing the team to create more—and even better—games within the universe. 

When we tested the game, we played a few CTF (Capture the Flag) rounds, where we had the chance to try various weapons and vehicles. It should be noted that our time in multiplayer took place during the game’s beta testing, so certain elements may change as the game receives patches. 

The vehicles were hard to control, and their collision with the surrounding environment often felt awkward and off, which may be fixed later. It felt like the vehicles lacked some impact that could have made this part of the gameplay smoother. 

On the other hand, the firefights were fun, and it feels like there’s weight behind your weapons. The different maps are also designed so it’s easy to move quickly around the arena, with many opportunities to surprise the opposing team. 

About the story campaign (paid)

The campaign returns to some of the events and techniques that made the earliest games so important. Rather than simply following the protagonist (Master Chief), at times it feels like Master Chief and the player become one—or that we step into his world and role. 

This is supported by an engaging story with a well-judged pace, so you never feel things move too fast or too slow around you. 

Infinite’s world is open-world, but without a resource system like in other games where you have to run around collecting plants or materials to become strong enough to progress. That step is skipped so you can focus on the story and the many fun combat scenarios you encounter. 

The campaign takes place on the seventh installation, called Zeta Halo, which looks stunning on the galactic stage—though we would have liked a bit more variety on this ring. There is some environmental diversity, but not to the same extent as in some of the earlier games. 

Halo compared to other FPS games from 2021

This year—and in fact the last few years—has been disappointing for fans of the FPS genre. There haven’t been as many releases as in earlier years, and those that did hit the market were quickly shot down by fans. 

At the end of the year alone, we reviewed three hyped FPS titles that didn’t really live up to their reputations. Back 4 Blood is a fine game with a creepy atmosphere, but it can quickly start to feel repetitive and clumsy. 

Call of Duty: Vanguard has an exciting story behind it, as well as great graphics, but it can in no way measure up to the perfection of earlier titles. The game mostly feels like a bridge or stopgap between the previous game and a future one, rather than standing on its own. 

Battlefield 2042 is the newest of the three, and it’s also the game that has received the harshest criticism. There can be many reasons for this; among them that it’s exclusively a PvP game with no story campaign. And many of the bugs reported by players have made it difficult or impossible to play others fairly online. 

Hoping this FPS can kick-start the genre again

In other words, there’s more than enough room for a new FPS game to take the stage. And as we wrote earlier in this article, the Halo series itself has also had room for improvement. 

It’s generally acknowledged in the Halo community that some of the early titles were the absolute best (especially Halo 2 and Halo 3 from 2004 and 2007). Therefore, fans have been hoping this game would be able to put both Halo and the FPS genre back on the throne. 

Fans don’t seem blinded—the game feels polished in most cases, both in multiplayer and in the campaign, although in our view the single-player stood out the most. Of course, that’s a matter of taste. Still, it’s nice to know there’s an option to play both if you want. 

Conclusion

Halo Infinite looks like it could become one of the year’s standout video games as the year draws to a close. You could say not all hope is lost for this genre if the beta versions are anything to go by. 

343 Industries has done a great job with a wide selection of weapons to choose from, a generally solid online experience, and a really good open-world Halo Infinite campaign that will surely appeal to passionate fans of the series.