Halo Infinite's free-to-play multiplayer mode is available now

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Highly anticipated: Halo Infinite got off to a rocky start with its first gameplay reveal, but developer 343 Industries has turned things around now. Fans who've participated in its various closed beta events have praised the gameplay, art style, and weapon variety, among other things. Now, you don't need to get lucky to join in the fun: Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode is available now for all Xbox and PC users at no cost.

You can snag it on Steam, the Microsoft Store, and Game Pass. The full singleplayer (or coop) campaign experience is still launching on December 8, so if you're not too keen on PvP, you might prefer to wait for that.

Still, the multiplayer download is only 26GB, so it's probably worth a shot. At worst, you'll kill a few hours, and at best, you might come to love it. I haven't tested the full multiplayer mode yet, but I participated in a couple of the pre-launch "test flights," and I had a great time. Halo Infinite feels modern but still faithful to its roots. The way you move, the way vehicles handle, and the way the guns handle manage to be both familiar and fresh.

After a string of controversial Halo releases, Infinite is one 343 can finally be proud of. At least, from a gameplay standpoint -- as previously stated, the campaign won't launch till next month, so there's still time for the studio to disappoint. It does seem unlikely, though.

Anyway, Halo Infinite's multiplayer beta has launched with Season 1 of its Battle Pass, which includes a handful of maps and modes. Future seasons will presumably bring more ways to play, as well as new cosmetics and items for players to unlock.

As of writing, the multiplayer mode is sitting at "Mostly Positive" reviews on Steam, with 78 percent of players recommending the game. Top complaints seem to be the lack of an exclusive fullscreen mode and poor optimization.

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So far, kinda iffy. There's no ability to chose which game mode you want to play, just "quick game" or "ranked". Every game mode is wrapped together, which is odd, considering no halo game before this has done something like this (heck no SHOOTER Ive ever played has done this). The guns are sort of hit or miss on if they feel like proper halo guns or COD guns. Also still has halo MCC bugs, like if the game crashes on you during a match you get banned for 10-15 minutes.

It has promise, however this being 343 its likely going to take years (if ever) to get the bugs and optimizations fixed. And dont count on that fullscreen mode ever being added.
 
Never really played much Halo before, but I quite liked the movement and pacing of this game. However, I am not a fan of how much damage it takes to kill someone, or to kill me for that matter. I feel like this will prohibit me from spending any real time playing this game.....also the lack of XP awarded for finishing a round, but only given for obscure achievements, is gonna make the advertised battlepass a real chore to complete.
 
I'm really enjoying it so far, I'm sure (hopefully) they'll give the option to choose the specific game modes you want to queue for, but even despite that, I love Halo - and this one is FREE! I rarely spend money for new games so this is a huge blessing to an old Halo fan like myself. Feels pretty damn smooth on a GTX 1080.
 
Never really played much Halo before, but I quite liked the movement and pacing of this game. However, I am not a fan of how much damage it takes to kill someone, or to kill me for that matter. I feel like this will prohibit me from spending any real time playing this game.....also the lack of XP awarded for finishing a round, but only given for obscure achievements, is gonna make the advertised battlepass a real chore to complete.
I like how much damage it takes to kill a player, its refreshing, kinda nice to be in a firefight unlike cod where just pointing the crosshair can kill a guy.
 
Never really played much Halo before, but I quite liked the movement and pacing of this game. However, I am not a fan of how much damage it takes to kill someone, or to kill me for that matter. I feel like this will prohibit me from spending any real time playing this game.....also the lack of XP awarded for finishing a round, but only given for obscure achievements, is gonna make the advertised battlepass a real chore to complete.
One of the defining characteristics of halo is that the Kills Per Second is and has been far lower then CoD/Battlefield's. Getting high K/Ds relies more on skill placing shots and controlling the map VS twitch reflexes and speedy sonic movement.

Battlepass is another animal, but if you place headshots well it doesnt take long to fill it. Getting multi kills, running riots (multiple kills without dying), assassinations, and headshots raise the XP you get per match VS straight killing other players.
 
One of the defining characteristics of halo is that the Kills Per Second is and has been far lower then CoD/Battlefield's. Getting high K/Ds relies more on skill placing shots and controlling the map VS twitch reflexes and speedy sonic movement.

Battlepass is another animal, but if you place headshots well it doesnt take long to fill it. Getting multi kills, running riots (multiple kills without dying), assassinations, and headshots raise the XP you get per match VS straight killing other players.
you don't get any xp per match for those things anymore...only the specific challenges, that's why reddit has blown up with criticism of the battlepass formula
 
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