Halo Infinite

Play it on: Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows (Steam Deck YMMV)
Current goal: Stop dying, get my chops back
Buy it from: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

Though Starfield has been my digital comfort food of choice lately, this weekend I’ll be revisiting another go-to game of mine: Halo. And upon firing up the game again recently, it’s clear that I probably need to lock in some time with the bots because, jeez, did I get my ass kicked.

Halo has been in a rocky state since…well, for a while. Infinite has had its ups and downs, probably more downs if we’re being honest. But unlike previous Halo games, there’s still something wonderfully faithful to the original formula in Infinite. The additions to the game this past year have only made that chemistry of digital violence better. New equipment makes the game now feel like a kind of fusion between Halo 3 and Reach to me. And the newer maps work exceptionally well for a reliable Halo experience. Add to that the custom game browser (which will hopefully be a bit more dense over the weekend), and there’s a nice offering of experimental game types, absurd shenanigans, and nostalgic throwbacks, such as a round of Slayer I ran through in a remake of Last Resort/Zanzibar.

As I said before, my trip back was rough, with repeat deaths. It was a reminder that in a game with a lower population count, the ones sticking around are usually really good. It can be a little intimidating, but at least that’ll make an eventual victory that much sweeter. — Claire Jackson