Since this is a game with 2 separate components, it's gonna get 2 separate reviews with two separate scores.
CAMPAIGN
Fucking dog shit. Why the fuck is this game open world? There is legitimately not a SINGLE thing about the open world design that benefits the game. All it does is pad out the runtime, because you gotta waste 10 minutes traveling across half the map to get to your next mission. There's also no actual side missions, just Farcry style outposts and even the mildly entertaining radio towers are still just mini bandit camps.
The main missions themselves are so fucking bland and unimaginative to the point where I can't even tell you a single mission that felt different from the others. You walk up to an outpost, kill the enemies, go inside, put some batteries in a slot to open a door, put your dumbass Cortana 0.5 into a terminal and then move on to the next mission. This is made even worse by the fact that every single inch of this game looks identical to everything that came before it. The opening levels are indiscernible from the last levels, to the point where if you put up side by side screenshots, nobody would be able to tell which is which. Halo 2 has more variety in the first 2 missions than Halo Infinite has in it's entire runtime, and Halo 2 came out in 2004!!!
Then we get to the story, which isn't as offensively bad as something like 12 Minutes or The Forgotten City, but it sure as hell is 10 times as boring as 12 minutes and gives The Forgotten City a run for its money in the CORNY department. For the first 3/4th of the game, your two companions are the least helpful dickwads of all time, with the pilot whining like an absolute pussy every 2 seconds, and Cortana 0.5 being utterly useless. I'm not lying when I say that 90% of interactions with her play out with you plugging her into a terminal, her saying "No Problem Chief, I can do that easily!" followed immediately by her fucking up and something going wrong. I cannot believe human beings wrote and tested this game and didn't notice that she does this 90% of the time you plug her into a terminal. 343 also has this weird fascination with the original Cortana, and the whole story revolves around diving back into the past to "learn the truth". Dear 343, GIVE IT UP! Why the fuck are we still talking about Cortana? There were 5 games with her, I think it's time we move on. Which, funny enough, is exactly what the game is about except OH WAIT YOUR DISPSHIT COMPANION IS LITERALLY STILL CORTANA 343 WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN DOING.
Fuck this campaign. Fuck this story. The superb combat mechanics save it from being a completely horrific experience, but its still a trash heap. Grapple hook is good tho. Good job 343.
3/10
MULTIPLAYER
Almost amazing. Core gameplay is fantastic and the best Halo multiplayer has ever felt. But some boneheaded decisions from 343 really hold it back. The lack of a game mode selection is really a killer and I don't understand how the fuck they still haven't implemented a proper playlist feature. People have asked for that since Halo 4 and 343 still has yet to resolve the issue. The cosmetic shop is also possibly the worst in a video game yet, offering amazing deals like giving you a pack of stickers for $7 or turning your vehicles blue for $15 or giving you ONE new shitty AI voice for $20. Again, the gameplay really is the saving grace, as it's so good that I keep returning to play every couple days, despite 343 desperately trying to plummet their playerbase before they even reach the 6 month mark.
Should be a 9/10 but the dumbass shit bumps it down closer to an 8/10.
Giving this an overall rating is a little tricky, as the multiplayer technically is it's own free to play game and it's well worth playing. But the singleplayer is also so fucking bad that it tanks the overall score of Halo Infinite as a complete experience.
IDK 6/10
Just go play the multiplayer and avoid the campaign like the plague.
EDIT: It seems clear that tanking their player base before the 6 month mark was the goal, because that is exactly what they did. Embarrassing management of the multiplayer. Its been out for over a year and all they've added was like 2 new maps, the beta mode for forge, and increasingly terrible cosmetics.
CAMPAIGN
Fucking dog shit. Why the fuck is this game open world? There is legitimately not a SINGLE thing about the open world design that benefits the game. All it does is pad out the runtime, because you gotta waste 10 minutes traveling across half the map to get to your next mission. There's also no actual side missions, just Farcry style outposts and even the mildly entertaining radio towers are still just mini bandit camps.
The main missions themselves are so fucking bland and unimaginative to the point where I can't even tell you a single mission that felt different from the others. You walk up to an outpost, kill the enemies, go inside, put some batteries in a slot to open a door, put your dumbass Cortana 0.5 into a terminal and then move on to the next mission. This is made even worse by the fact that every single inch of this game looks identical to everything that came before it. The opening levels are indiscernible from the last levels, to the point where if you put up side by side screenshots, nobody would be able to tell which is which. Halo 2 has more variety in the first 2 missions than Halo Infinite has in it's entire runtime, and Halo 2 came out in 2004!!!
Then we get to the story, which isn't as offensively bad as something like 12 Minutes or The Forgotten City, but it sure as hell is 10 times as boring as 12 minutes and gives The Forgotten City a run for its money in the CORNY department. For the first 3/4th of the game, your two companions are the least helpful dickwads of all time, with the pilot whining like an absolute pussy every 2 seconds, and Cortana 0.5 being utterly useless. I'm not lying when I say that 90% of interactions with her play out with you plugging her into a terminal, her saying "No Problem Chief, I can do that easily!" followed immediately by her fucking up and something going wrong. I cannot believe human beings wrote and tested this game and didn't notice that she does this 90% of the time you plug her into a terminal. 343 also has this weird fascination with the original Cortana, and the whole story revolves around diving back into the past to "learn the truth". Dear 343, GIVE IT UP! Why the fuck are we still talking about Cortana? There were 5 games with her, I think it's time we move on. Which, funny enough, is exactly what the game is about except OH WAIT YOUR DISPSHIT COMPANION IS LITERALLY STILL CORTANA 343 WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN DOING.
Fuck this campaign. Fuck this story. The superb combat mechanics save it from being a completely horrific experience, but its still a trash heap. Grapple hook is good tho. Good job 343.
3/10
MULTIPLAYER
Almost amazing. Core gameplay is fantastic and the best Halo multiplayer has ever felt. But some boneheaded decisions from 343 really hold it back. The lack of a game mode selection is really a killer and I don't understand how the fuck they still haven't implemented a proper playlist feature. People have asked for that since Halo 4 and 343 still has yet to resolve the issue. The cosmetic shop is also possibly the worst in a video game yet, offering amazing deals like giving you a pack of stickers for $7 or turning your vehicles blue for $15 or giving you ONE new shitty AI voice for $20. Again, the gameplay really is the saving grace, as it's so good that I keep returning to play every couple days, despite 343 desperately trying to plummet their playerbase before they even reach the 6 month mark.
Should be a 9/10 but the dumbass shit bumps it down closer to an 8/10.
Giving this an overall rating is a little tricky, as the multiplayer technically is it's own free to play game and it's well worth playing. But the singleplayer is also so fucking bad that it tanks the overall score of Halo Infinite as a complete experience.
IDK 6/10
Just go play the multiplayer and avoid the campaign like the plague.
EDIT: It seems clear that tanking their player base before the 6 month mark was the goal, because that is exactly what they did. Embarrassing management of the multiplayer. Its been out for over a year and all they've added was like 2 new maps, the beta mode for forge, and increasingly terrible cosmetics.