Microsoft Explains What Kind Of Game Halo Infinite Is

What kind of game is Halo Infinite? That much isn’t exactly clear–and it still isn’t–but Microsoft’s Joseph Staten has now provided his own answer to the question.

In a blog post, Staten said he himself asked this question when he joined the Halo Infinite team last fall as part of a management shakeup. “What kind of game is Halo Infinite?” he asked.

Now that he’s played the game and understands what it’s all about, Staten said Halo Infinite is a game that gives players a greater level of freedom than ever before in the Halo series. It’s not exactly an open-world game, Staten said, but instead it’s a “sandbox shooter” that has been designed to make players feel powerful and give them a freedom to explore.

“Infinite’s world is incredibly large, and its vast combat zones connect seamlessly to each other. Its vistas are filled with adventures that entice you to stray from the golden path story missions,” he said. “From a distance, it might appear that we’re building an open world game, but that’s not really the case. We’re making a Halo game; a sandbox shooter where our goal is to make you feel like the most powerful actor in a rich, emergent, sci-fi combat simulation.”

Halo Infinite is not an RPG with crafting or hunting mechanics, Staten said, but it’s meant to give players the freedom to be the best super-soldier they can be.

“If you zoom into some of this month’s screenshots, you’ll catch glimpses of the wildlife that inhabits the ring. Halo Infinite’s campaign doesn’t have a crafting system, however, and you won’t spend time hunting and skinning animals to make better gear for Master Chief. Spartans wear Mjolnir assault armor. They don’t need leather boots,” Staten said.

“What you will spend time doing is plummeting from a rocky overlook into the heart of an enemy patrol, eliminating their leader with a well-stuck Plasma grenade, using your Grappleshot to pull his power weapon off the ground and into your hands, and then empty its magazine into the rest of the patrol, scattering the nearby wildlife back into their burrows.”

Staten said Halo Infinite will emphasize strategic gameplay in its large playspaces.

“We’ve designed Halo Infinite so that you’re freer than you’ve ever been to do what Spartan super-soldiers do best: survey a battlespace, plan your attack, engage the enemy, deal with whatever surprises the sandbox throws your way, and then rearm for the next battle,” he said.

That has basically always been the case for Halo, but what’s different with Halo Infinite is that players have even more freedom for how they plan out their battle tactics.

“You have more freedom than ever before to choose your path through the world,” Staten said. “Follow a hidden cave system into a well-guarded fortress, wind your Warthog through a fog-filled mountain pass, capture a Banshee and fly to a floating ring fragment across a gap of stars. A strong narrative remains at the heart of the Master Chief’s adventure, and your journey between story missions is entirely up to you.”

To sum up, here’s how Staten described Halo Infinite:

“So then, what kind of game is Halo Infinite? It’s the most open and adventure-filled Halo game ever. It’s the Halo game we could only dream about making 20 years ago. And we can’t wait for you to explore it.”

Halo Infinite will release in Fall 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and it’s included with Game Pass. The multiplayer element will be completely free-to-play.

Microsoft just released a series of stunning images from Halo Infinite’s campaign–see them here.