When you first land on Zeta Halo, it quickly becomes obvious that Halo Infinite’s campaign is going to be a completely different trip from its multiplayer. It may take some time to unlearn a lot of the strategies you’re used to when taking on other players (like getting in close to melee after weakening them, at least without the Grappleshot’s upgrade). However, the campaign offers a range of different options and strategies that can be very, very fun to embrace.
First things first – Master Chief’s shields aren’t exactly very strong at the beginning. These can be upgraded with the use of Spartan Cores which are found in FOBs, Strongholds, different story missions and so on. Even if you’re playing on Normal, the damage can pile up fairly quickly so investing in shields initially is a good idea. From there, you’ll want to put Cores into the Grappleshot. It’s the first ability you’ll get and though options like the Drop Wall are decent for mitigating damage, the Grappling Hook provides much more mobility, stuns enemies, the ability to grapple weapons and Fuel Cells that can be thrown at enemies, and quick traversal of the map. Plus it’s cooler.
As you unlock FOBs and take down Propaganda Towers, you’ll notice something called Valor. This will unlock new weapons, vehicles and even Marines at a FOB. It may not seem like much at the beginning but you’ll eventually pick up some pretty strong Marines, weapons like the Rocket Launcher and Sentinel Beam, and much more. Also, you can equip the Marines with different weapons, thus allowing for later bases to be a walk in the park to clean up. There’s also the benefit of vehicles like the Gungoose which is great for defeating bosses and named foes.
Another thing to note – while FOBs will reveal a number of key points of interest on the map, they won’t showcase everything. It’s a good idea to explore on your own whenever possible to see what can be dredged up. You may find a target that drops a powerful unique weapon that can be equipped later, for example. FOBs and some mission locations can also be fast-traveled to, making it that much easier to revisit locations.
If you’re hunting for Skulls and other collectibles, note that some of them are found in story missions and can be missed. Story missions can’t be replayed at present (though 343 Industries is working on a fix) so if Skulls are important, check out our guide here for how to get them all. There’s also a mission called “Nexus” that closes off access to the open world for a good long while. So if there’s anything you need, then it’s a good idea to clean that up before starting the mission. Going out at night also isn’t so bad if you’re looking for Audio Logs and Armor Lockers since they light up (and some enemies will be asleep at night).
Marines can’t exactly be controlled but they’re fairly intelligent in a number of other ways. Honking while in a Razorback or Warthog causes them to hop aboard, even manning the gunner spot. Pinging Marines will also see them joining you so if you’ve rescued several while exploring the open world, it’s a good way to roll into the next spot with some backup. Just try not to get too far away from them since they’ll despawn. Marines also won’t enter into tunnels or caves so keep that in mind.
Finally, if you’re having trouble with whatever difficulty has been selected, quit out of your current game and go to the Campaign menu. Select Load Game and change the difficulty there. Alternatively, this works for adding any Skulls that have been unlocked or to increase the difficulty of your current playthrough.
Halo Infinite is currently available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Check out our review of the campaign here.
