Halo Infinite’s free-to-play multiplayer mode is launching alongside its single-player campaign sometime later this year, “Holiday 2021” specifically. We finally got a look at the multiplayer gameplay during the E3 showcase today, and it’s looking pretty flashy. We also got a sneak peek of the story campaign, which is apparently going to focus on something related to Cortana again.
We got a look at Arena and Big Team Battle modes during the multiplayer demonstration. The teams are also taking each other on with a number of different weapons and gadgets, including the grappling hooks we saw in the previous gameplay footage. It all goes so fast that I couldn’t spot a huge number of details — I leave that to the huge fans who are no doubt going to pick apart the footage in detail. But it looks amazing.
We also got a tease of the story, though admittedly not much of one. We see Master Chief fighting through an army with one bullet — “It’s enough,” he says, because of course he does — and eventually consulting with an AI who is not Cortana. In fact, she says Cortana has been deleted, but she’s not sure. The Chief takes her with during the mission, as he says the mission’s changed. “They always do,” he says, because of course he does.
After Halo Infinite has been delayed and the initial fan response was tepid, it’s a treat to see the game looking so good. We got a panorama of the world Chief will be exploring during the campaign, and it looks incredible. It’s also good to see the game’s release date getting even more narrowed down. Give it another month or so, and we might even get a specific month, let alone a specific day. Still, holiday’s a good time, as it’ll no doubt drive some of Xbox’s critical holiday sales, particularly if next-gen Xboxes come back on sale then.
