When Halo Infinite was first revealed, fans were promised a bold return to the series’ roots. A "spiritual reboot" that would blend the classic feeling of Halo: Combat Evolved with modern mechanics. Hype surged through the community. Halo Infinite was set to revive the franchise. And in many ways, it did.
But it also didn’t.
Because while Halo Infinite is an undeniably solid shooter with tight gameplay and gorgeous visuals, it suffers from one glaring flaw: **its story is broken.** And not in a "twist you didn’t see coming" kind of way. Broken, as in fragmented. Missing. Hollow.
This isn’t just a case of a weak plot. This is a game that forgets to tell its own story, leaving players scrambling to fill in the blanks through books, audio logs, and wishful thinking.
Let’s dive into why the game version of Halo Infinite ultimately feels like an incomplete promise, and what that means for the future of the franchise.
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1. The Disappearing Act of Atriox
When the game opens, we get one of the most powerful cutscenes in the series: Atriox, the Banished warlord from Halo Wars 2, defeats Master Chief in brutal hand-to-hand combat and tosses him into the void. It’s raw, intimate, and sets the stakes immediately.
And then?
Atriox disappears. The game teases he’s dead. Then it hints he’s alive. But we never get closure. He becomes the ghost of a story that might have been.
Instead, the Banished are led by Escharum, a lesser substitute who lacks Atriox’s depth and presence. Escharum rambles about honor and legacy, but without the emotional build-up, it all falls flat. Atriox should have been front and center. Instead, the core villain of the game is sidelined in his own narrative.
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2. Cortana Deserved Better
Cortana's story is the emotional spine of Halo 4 and 5. Her descent from loyal AI companion to rogue galactic threat is controversial, but it sets the stage for an epic confrontation with Chief.
Halo Infinite skips that confrontation entirely.
Cortana is already dead when the game begins. Her "goodbye" is relayed through recordings and exposition. There's no final dialogue with Chief. No meaningful farewell. No confrontation, redemption, or true closure.
The single most important relationship in the series is given a footnote. And unless you've read the books, you wouldn't even understand how or why Cortana made her final choices.
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3. The Harbinger Problem
Enter the Harbinger, a mysterious alien connected to the ancient race known as the Endless. Her design is striking. Her voice acting is eerie. Her goals? Murky at best.
She wants to free her people, apparently. But what does that mean? Why should we care? What are the consequences? The game never tells us.
She arrives in the final third of the story, feels completely detached from the rest of the cast, and exits just as mysteriously. She had potential to introduce a new era of Halo villains. Instead, she feels like a placeholder for a better-written antagonist that never arrived.
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4. Missing Characters, Missing Heart
The absence of key characters is perhaps the most damaging flaw.
* **Where is Captain Lasky**, the human face of the UNSC from Halo 4 and 5?
* **Where is Dr. Halsey**, the morally gray architect of the Spartan program?
* **Where is the Arbiter**, who helped end the Covenant War?
* **Where is Spartan Locke**, last seen hunting Master Chief?
* **What happened to Fireteam Osiris, Blue Team, or even Infinity’s command structure?**
These characters don’t just vanish from the narrative. They vanish from existence.
There’s no explanation. No mentions. No cameos. Not even an easter egg or a data log confirming their fates. It’s like the writers hit a reset button and hoped nobody would ask questions.
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5. The Missing Prometheans
The Prometheans were central to Halo 4 and 5. As Cortana’s AI army and the Forerunners’ legacy, they were visually unique and added a new threat to the universe.
Halo Infinite has none of them.
Not even one. No Promethean Knights. No Watchers. No Crawlers. Nothing.
If you skipped Halo 5, maybe that’s a blessing. But for everyone else? It’s a glaring omission that leaves Cortana’s story thread even more disconnected.
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6. Gameplay Depth Lost in Translation
Halo Infinite’s gameplay is undeniably fun. The grappleshot is a game-changer. Gunplay is crisp and responsive. The open world is beautiful.
But where are the **armor abilities** from Halo 4 and 5?
Jetpacks. Thrusters. Active camouflage. Promethean vision. These added variety and personalization to combat. Halo Infinite strips it all away in favor of a limited equipment system. It feels like a step back, not forward.
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7. Final Fantasy XV All Over Again
This isn’t the first time a AAA game has cut its own story and sold it separately.
*Final Fantasy XV* famously removed massive story chunks, turning its second half into a confusing mess unless you read books or watched anime spin-offs. Halo Infinite makes the same mistake.
The game drops you into a world with history you’re not shown. You’re expected to read novels like *Shadows of Reach*, *Point of Light*, or *Divine Wind* to understand:
* How Blue Team got separated.
* What really happened to Cortana.
* Why Atriox isn’t in the game.
* What the Endless actually are.
This isn't supplemental material. These are **core story beats** that the game refuses to deliver.
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8. Production Mismanagement
It’s no secret that Halo Infinite went through development hell. Multiple delays. Creative leads leaving. Changes in direction. The open-world design, while gorgeous, often feels empty and underdeveloped.
There are hints of cut content everywhere:
* Empty zones.
* Unused dialogue files.
* Lack of biome diversity.
* Unfinished side missions.
You can feel the tension between ambition and reality. Infinite feels like it wanted to be two games: an open-world sandbox *and* a cinematic story. In the end, it delivers half of each.
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9. Lack of DLC or Campaign Expansions
In a post-launch world where story DLC is expected, Halo Infinite has none.
Despite teasing future conflict with the Endless, no campaign expansions have been released. Players who hoped for closure, for a continuation, have been left waiting.
Instead, we get seasonal multiplayer updates and battle passes.
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10. What the Game Could Have Been
Imagine a version of Halo Infinite where:
* Atriox survives and is the primary antagonist.
* Cortana has one last scene with Chief.
* Blue Team, Locke, and Arbiter make appearances.
* Armor abilities return with full customization.
* The Harbinger’s backstory is developed.
* The campaign receives DLC to expand the story.
It would be the Halo we were promised.
Instead, Halo Infinite delivers one of the best-feeling shooters in the series — attached to the most incomplete story ever told in the franchise.
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Conclusion: A Game Without Its Soul
Halo Infinite is fun. It’s polished. It’s got some of the best combat the franchise has ever seen.
But it forgot its soul.
It forgot its characters. It forgot its world-building. It forgot the emotional heart of the story.
And most of all, it forgot to finish what it started.
The Halo name still means something. But if the next installment doesn’t fix what Infinite broke, then this franchise might not have many lives left.
Until then, players are left with questions.
And a pile of books that contain the answers the game refused to tell.
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