'Halo Infinite': Infinite Fun Trivia Quiz

Answer: Open World

"After 'Halo 5' received mixed reviews primarily due to Master Chief being playable for only a handful of missions, 343 Industries pledged to refocus on Master Chief and deliver an ambitious title that would be the franchise's first game developed for Xbox Series X/S. However, like a politician's campaign promises, 343 fell short of delivering on all of their ambitious features planned for 'Halo Infinite'. 'Halo Infinite' was beleaguered by developmental delays primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the release date being postponed (it was originally planned to launch alongside the Xbox Series X/S in November 2020).

'Halo Infinite' was the first 'Halo' in the series to move away from the linear story mission design format and introduced a semi-open world concept where players could explore the world and discover various activities that functioned as side-content, separate from the main story. However, this open world is not fully explorable from the start. Players needed to first complete the third mission "Outpost Tremonius" to unlock access to the "hub" world with additional areas becoming unlocked as you progressed through the story campaign.

Additionally, 'Halo Infinite' was the first 'Halo' game to offer free-to-play multiplayer. Originally, 343 Industries planned on adding a 'Battle Royale' mode to cash in on the craze of other prominent battle royale games such as 'Apex Legends', 'Fortnite', 'Overwatch' etc. Unfortunately, 343 quickly realized this venture would be very costly and time-consuming to develop. The closest game mode to battle royale format is '12v12 Big Team Battle', but many players felt this mode failed to scratch the battle royale itch.

Answer: Zeta Halo

Zeta Halo aka Installation 07 is an ancient Forerunner ringworld where the events of 'Halo Infinite' take place. The Halo rings were constructed over 100,000 years ago by the Forerunner, an advanced ancient civilization as weapons of last resort against the parasitic Flood, a galaxy-consuming viral threat. When activated, these massive ring-shaped superweapons can destroy all sentient life within a vast radius, effectively starving the Flood by eliminating their food source. Installation 07 is one of seven remaining rings in this Array, but it has a dark and troubled history compared to its sister rings which is revealed during 'Halo Infinite'.

Zeta Halo has a stunning environment full of rich geography dotted with lush forests full of towering pine trees, large mountain ranges, deep chasms and gorges, and wide expanses of meadowlands. Scattered across the map are remnants of mysterious Forerunner structures. Several missions take place at these facilities. Additionally, there is a large presence of Banished strongholds and fortresses following their occupation of Zeta Halo.

There are many other numerous landmarks and secrets to discover on Zeta Halo, and the variety of the landscape strongly encourages exploration.

Answer: Grappleshot

The Grappleshot is a versatile piece of equipment that is wrist-mounted to Master Chief's MJOLNIR armor. The Grappleshot is a speedrunner's favorite, allowing the user to swing quickly by attaching the grapple hook to surfaces pulling the player along. This allows for vertical surfaces that otherwise would be inaccessible to be scalable.

Additionally, the Grappleshot has a lot of combat utility as it can be used to grab objects that can be launched as projectiles inflicting damage to your enemies and you can even hijack enemy vehicles with this nifty item. The Grappleshot can be upgraded to be even more devastating with shorter cooldown, longer range and adding a shockwave blast to the grapple hook allowing enemies to be stunned.

The Grappleshot was pitched as an idea in earlier 'Halo' titles however it was never executed due to coding difficulties.

Answer: Brute

Atriox is a Brute, a formidable ogre-looking race featured quite extensively in the 'Halo' universe with numerous appearances in the 'Halo' novels, the real-time strategy game 'Halo Wars 2' (which takes place canonically after 'Halo 5'), 'Halo' TV series and most prominently in 'Halo Infinite'. Warmaster Atriox serves as the leader and founder of the Banished a powerful mercenary organization.

Atriox served in the Covenant military during the Human-Covenant War. Frustrated with the Covenant alliance using his fellow Brutes as cannon fodder, Atriox rebelled against the Covenant and formed his own organization the Banished which attracted mercenaries from various species also disgruntled with the Covenant. Following the defeat of the Covenant, the Banished led by the brilliant tactician and charismatic Atriox, have flourished into a powerful force and a significant threat to the United Nations Space Command (UNSC), of which Master Chief is their most famed soldier.

Atriox plays a crucial role in 'Halo Infinite', where the Banished have defeated UNSC forces and taken control of the installation where 'Infinite' takes place. Master Chief is dispatched to this installation to search for another threat at the beginning of 'Halo Infinite' unbeknownst of the presence of the Banished.

Answer: Spartan Cores

There is a total of forty-five cores to collect in the campaign. Spartan Cores are disc-shaped modifications which are added to Master Chief's MJOLNIR armor to enhance and upgrade his equipment. Some are hidden in obscure locations and capturing forward enemy bases or FOBs will help reveal their location and other hidden objects in the surrounding region. Additionally, you can also find scattered recordings in the form of audio logs that reveal lore, adding flesh to the story. Mjolnir Armor Lockers also made their debut in 'Halo Infinite', however they contain purely cosmetic items.

Answer: The Weapon

The Weapon is an artificial intelligence or AI in the form of a blue hologram with a slender female build, created as a perfect, uncorrupted copy of Cortana. Her sole purpose was to be deployed by Master Chief to lure and trap the rogue Cortana in a digital prison. Following a successful containment, she was supposed to be deleted, but Master Chief was defeated and captured before he could initiate the command.

After being rescued in space, Master Chief finally reunites with a bewildered Weapon in the Foundation mission. She's confused about why she's still alive with what occurred with Cortana and feels as if she were abandoned due to Chief's absence during the preceding six months. Despite being Cortana's duplicate, the Weapon possesses a naiver, innocent personality compared to Cortana's confident demeanor. Throughout 'Halo Infinite', she grapples with her identity and purpose while helping Chief uncover the truth about Cortana's fate. Slowly throughout 'Halo Infinite' we see the development of a reluctant partnership since Chief is hesitant to work with the Weapon because she's a painful reminder of Cortana. As the story progresses their bond grows and Chief makes a pivotal decision of rather than deleting the Weapon as originally intended, he takes her on as his new AI companion.

Cortana is the name of Master Chief's previous AI companion created by Dr. Halsey. Cortana was undergoing the effects of rampancy, an inevitable process that all AIs undergo. Rampancy is a terminal form of degradation in the AI's software leading to symptoms similar to a person undergoing cognitive decline marked by irrational behavior and loss of control over personality. This back and forth switching of personality states between a malfunctioning Cortana and a lucid one is featured extensively in 'Halo 4'.

Cortana was able to avoid her demise from the effects of rampancy through the help of a Forerunner artifact called the Domain, which ended up ceding immortality to Cortana, which she interpreted as the Forerunner's desire for the Created (a united banner of the AIs) to govern peace through the galaxy. This ultimately led Cortana to lead an AI revolution to enforce peace throughout the galaxy through the hijacking of ancient Forerunner artifacts to be used as weapons during 'Halo 5'. Humanity of course views this as a threat and focuses its efforts on stopping Cortana which leads us to the events of 'Halo Infinite'.

Answer: The Pilot

The Pilot is a UNSC civilian contractor employed as an engineer. When battle broke out on the ambushed UNSC Infinity, The Pilot panicked and stole a Pelican to flee the skirmish. After rescuing Master Chief, a mysterious explosion occurs on the Banished planet outpost. Chief manages to convince a reluctant Pilot to assist him in rescuing any remaining scattered UNSC soldiers who are being hunted by Escharum, a Banished leader who has a team of Spartan killers known as The Hand of Atriox who are systematically assassinating the remaining UNSC soldiers.

The Pilot's role in 'Halo Infinite' is primarily to escort Chief to various sites on the Banished planet and as the story progresses, he is at one point kidnapped and held for ransom by the Banished to lure Master Chief. Master Chief being the hero he is, ends up rescuing The Pilot and defeating the Spartan killers in the process. We don't learn the true name of The Pilot until the end of 'Halo Infinite'. His name is revealed to be Fernando Esparza.

Answer: To free the Endless

The mysterious planet full of Forerunner architecture where the events of 'Halo Infinite' occur was indeed hiding something nefarious. In the campaign mission Conservatory, Master Chief and his new AI companion are investigating a Forerunner facility with an unusual heavy presence of Banished. After dispatching hordes of Banished, Master Chief encounters the AI for the installation who goes by Despondent Pyre. Despondent Pyre however is slain before having a chance to warn Chief of the threat contained on this planet.

An ancient female being who goes by The Harbinger is responsible for killing Despondent Pyre and pleads her case to Master Chief claiming that the Forerunners were responsible for imprisoning her people known as Xalanyn or The Endless. She partnered with the Banished to restore the Silent Auditorium, a facility that would enable her to release the Endless from captivity. In exchange, the Banished intended to wield the repaired ring installation as a weapon in their war against humanity.

Through dialogue with Pyre and collected recordings, we learn that the Endless were imprisoned because they are immune to the firing of the 'Halo' rings. How they are immune is not clear, but they were viewed as a significant threat enough to warrant imprisonment by the Forerunners. This revelation certainly sets the stage for future 'Halo' installments.

Answer: The Harbinger

In order to free her people, The Harbinger needs full access to the planet's ring system and in an earlier mission she attempts to hack Chief's AI companion to achieve this goal. Master Chief attempts to delete the AI to prevent the Harbinger from access but is unable to delete the AI for reasons unknown until later. Chief's AI manages to repel this initial attack and throughout the rest of the campaign fends off enemies sent by the Harbinger. Eventually you confront her in the campaign's final mission 'The Silent Auditorium'.

The Harbinger is a tricky boss fight and, in my opinion, the most difficult of all the bosses you face, primarily due to her reality-manipulating powers. A few of her mechanics you must contend with are her shockwave attacks, constant teleportation around the arena, periods of immunity where she summons reinforcements to aid her, homing glowing energy projectiles she flings at you, and her reality distortions that create visual effects and barriers in the room you engage her in combat. The final fight is a grueling one but if you persevere you will certainly feel accomplished.

'Halo Infinite' introduced dedicated, named boss encounters with unique mechanics, which was a significant departure from previous 'Halo' games. 'Infinite's' bosses have distinct phases with immunity periods, pattern changes, and reinforcement waves that requires patience and strategy to prevail victoriously.

You don't end up fighting Cortana at all in 'Halo Infinite'. Escharum was the interim-leader of the Banished after the presumed death of Atriox who you defeat before facing the Harbinger. Jega is one of the Spartan killers whom you also kill through the course of the campaign's story.

Answer: True

Let's tie up some loose ends here!

The explosion on the Banished ringworld that Master Chief observed after being rescued, was caused by Cortana. Through residual data left behind by Cortana, Chief and his new AI learn that following the successful containment of Cortana, Atriox took her prisoner. When Cortana realized Atriox sought to gain access to the ring's deepest secrets, she destroyed herself, damaging the ring structure and blocking the Chief's new AI's self-deletion protocol. In her parting message, Cortana tells Chief goodbye and implores him to embrace working alongside his new AI companion.

In true 'Halo' fashion, the game ends with a cliffhanger. In the post-credits cutscene, Atriox miraculously survived the explosion and crawls out of the rubble holding a mysterious object that appears to be an artifact of some sort. Atriox uses it to unlock a sealed door, and I will refrain from revealing what that door holds as it is a significant plot piece.

It appears that Cortana did indeed have a redemption arc after all based on her actions in 'Halo Infinite'.