I love Halo Infinite, so when it didn’t turn up at all during the Xbox Showcase this last weekend I was pretty shocked and confused. The multiplayer FPS game had a rocky start, but 343 Industries continues to expand on one of the best shooters of recent years, adding meat to the bones of a responsive and tight shooter. It looks like Microsoft had something big planned too, as Halo Infinite Season 4 is bringing the game back in full force.
I’ve already talked about Halo Infinite’s Xbox showcase omission, and while I’m glad to see the community get the deep dive it deserves now, I’m still a bit lost as to why it wasn’t at the show at all.
Now, in the same interview where he talked about Xbox’s expectations for Starfield, Xbox Game Studios CEO Phil Spencer has addressed the omission, while 343 has done a colossal deep dive into what’s next for the game.
“I wouldn’t say Halo is of lesser importance, but we have over 20 studios now. I’ll go back to the years where I had basically four games – Fable, Forza, Halo, Gears, the four horseman of the apocalypse. We have a lot more games now,” Spencer explains.
While this isn’t what avid Halo fans want to hear, 343 has just put on an hour-long deep dive into Season 4 ahead of its release on June 20, and the multiplayer game is looking great.
For those of you that might be jumping back into Halo Infinite with Season 4, here’s what it’s got: breakdowns of career ranks, forge changes, a sandbox overview, infection details, and multiplayer map details.
On top of a 100-tier premium battle pass, a new ranked progression system similar to the one found in Halo: The Master Chief Collection is coming to Infinite. You’ll work up from Bronze to Onyx, with a grand total of 90 ranks to move up through. Longtime players will likely be displeased to hear your previous match history won’t count, but new players can start afresh with everyone else on June 20.
Forge is also getting some changes, with Forerunner objects, a new water plane, a minigame mode, scalable VFX objects, and more. The Minigame mode is sure to add loads of life, as you’ll be able to take items from Halo matches (skulls, flags, etc) and script them yourself so they can do an array of different things. While most of us won’t be making anything, the Forge wizards making their own maps and modes for us to play will have even more to experiment with.
There’s also new arena map Forest and Big Team battle map Scarr, alongside the return of the Infection game mode, Season 4’s crown jewel. As before, one team of energy sword-wielding infected will kill and turn a team of humans, but now you have stronger Alpha infected, more items to pick up around the map to help you survive, and a series of buffs to help you out too.
While there are going to be loads of brand-new customization options across the battle passes and shop, the biggest news on this front is that, starting with Season 4, all weapon and armor skins will be cross-core and apply to all weapons. This gives you even more opportunities for expression than before and is sure to help make Halo Infinite’s progression systems feel even more rewarding.
If like me you’ve been dipping in and out of Halo Infinite since it launched, I have a good feeling that Season 4 might be the best time to jump back in. With the long-term ranks and improved customization options, these two progression systems should help all the extra content feel even more worthwhile. As, while the core gameplay of Halo Infinite is excellent, I’ve always found that the way 343 dressed it up is what kept me from sticking around for longer.
For those of you jumping into Halo Infinite for the first time, our Halo Infinite system requirements will help you out. Otherwise, you can check out some of the best free games on PC instead.
