Halo Infinite's surprise multiplayer release this week says one thing, one thing only: Microsoft know that they've got the better product, and they're willing to flaunt it.
There are a few immutable facts of the universe: cats are better than dogs, Mass Effect 2 was the best in the series, Animals is the best Pink Floyd record, Justin Bieber is an abhorrent musician, there are no redeemable features in Battlefield 2042 and Call of Duty: Vanguard, 2020 was an insane year, Hitler was a bad dude, and Halo Infinite's Multiplayer is the best action-shooter of 2021. I am sorry if I have made you angry (yes, Wish You Were Here is an amazing album, but Animals is objectively better), but I am correct and you are wrong. That goes especially if you are about to tell me that Call of Duty: Vanguard is a good game, or perhaps that Battlefield 2042 is not a flaming ball of turds wrapped in a blanked of lies and deceit. Seriously: f**k you to the moon.
I mean, honestly guys. It's getting a bit crazy at the moment, with all this hype around Call of Duty: Vanguard and Battlefield 2042, and all of these disappointed fanboys doing one of two things. The first, and most common thing, is the utter denial that surrounds both of those games. This is also the most baffling. Those bro-shooter freaks crying foul at the criticism. Honestly, at this rate it's less "foul" and more "fowl" (get it, because they're as stupid as f**kin' chicken), with the meaningless points they insist upon making. Who gives a s**t if Vanguard has a slightly more favorable TTK than Black Ops Cold War, when the game acts as a glorified weapon grinder for Warzone, and is creatively bankrupt, and void of any original thought whatsoever?
Then there's Battlefield, which is just as creatively bankrupt, but somehow even more disgusting. At least Call of Duty: Vanguard works. Battlefield 2042 is just chock-a-block full of bizarre design decisions that make no sense and just serve to piss off the fanbase (yet, somehow people are still buying and playing this travesty). Big, empty, bland maps, with poorly designed, badly balanced weaponry, and vehicles that are so supremely over-powered that it borders on the absurd. Honestly, I am glad I am the Call of Duty and Rocket League guy here at EarlyGame, just because I can avoid playing this utter embarrassment of a game.
Luckily we have Halo Infinite, the hero that's here to save the day. With it fantastic map design, great weapons, and insane level of polish, there doesn't seem a thing out of place here. It's actually quite extraordinary: Microsoft recognized the negative feedback, went away, and came back a year after the game was due to launch with a product that is – SHOCK, HORROR! – actually good. It plays well, flows like a motherf**ker, and is by far the most polished game of the season. All that, and it's still in beta. Seriously, Microsoft have really pulled off something special here.
Unlike Battlefield 2042, which proports to be the next generation of Battlefield games, Halo Infinite absolutely is the next generation of Halo games. Where Battlefield 2042's best content is its remakes of old maps, Halo Infinite's new content, weapons, and maps, sores beyond the sails by which it glides. It is a triumph of game design, a triumph of patience, and absolutely worth the long wait. Where Halo 5: Guardians faltered, Halo Infinite is correcting itself, and from what we've played, it's doing a bloody good job at it as well.
It's actually an utter embarrassment to Electronic Arts and Activision that Microsoft chose to do what they did, releasing the multiplayer portion of Halo Infinite by surprise, in-between Vanguard and Battlefield. We don't know whether it was a spur-of-the-moment decision or pre-decided (it was probably the latter, to be realistic), but it felt like Microsoft and 343 Industries were putting their middle fingers up to the behemoths of soul-less plastic games like CoD and BF 2042, and let's be real: it was pretty badass! They clearly believed in the product they were releasing, unlike Electronic Arts and Activision who just wanted to s**t out another average military shooter that would be eagerly eaten up by their legions of brain-numb fans. That might sound harsh, but you have to admit that I'm right.
I will conclude by simply saying this: Halo Infinite is absolutely on the right path, but we should be careful to be definitive about it until the full-game is out. That being said, the beta is here, is more polished than both Vanguard and Battlefield 2042, a whole lot more fun, features better map design than both of those games, an amazing Battle Pass, and much higher quality than all of its competitors combined. The Campaign is not here yet, and sure, it could be a dud. Honestly, though, I doubt it, and would be seriously surprised if that were to happen. If it does happen, though, I'll happily fall on my sword. Honestly, I am thinking of picking myself an Xbox Series S just for this game. It's that good. Halo Infinite is better than Call of Duty: Vanguard and Battlefield 2042 combined. If you don't agree, bite me.
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