343 Industries has recently committed to giving monthly updates on the development of Halo Infinite, and they’ve been faithful to that commitment. In this month’s Inside Infinite series, 343 Industries have revealed some exciting information on the game’s setting; Zeta Halo!

There is a LOT of information to unpack from the Inside Infinite update; that said, we are committed to extracting the most important information for your convenience! So let’s suit up in Mjolnir armour, jump into an ODST drop pod and drop right into this Halo news!

O’ Brave New World Design

Halo Infinite is set to be a spiritual reboot for the franchise; with a goal is to introduce new players to the franchise while welcoming back veterans to a familiar world. Zeta Halo is designed as its own character to assist the team to realize their ambitious goals.

Inspired by the team’s own Pacific Northwest lush backyard; Zeta Halo is designed to look and feel as natural as possible. The resemblance to Halo: Combat Evolved is striking; as the art-style is based on simple and legacy-inspired designs to create a familiar visual experience.

However, there will also be intentional unnatural formations implemented into the world design. As a Forerunner installation that has taken significant damage; large hexagonal pillars erupt through the ground to create a blend of unique styles.

There is also a newfound focus in the ring’s atmosphere; with the introduction of a new time-of-day lighting system that dynamically alters the mood & atmosphere of Zeta Halo. In the end, all of these elements will hopefully tie together to create a familiar but new experience!

Infinite Gameplay Potential

While on the surface the game looks to be “open world”, the game is a sandbox action shooter that takes place in large, vast combat zones. As such, the game’s focus lies within Halo‘s superb sandbox combat instead of hunting animals and crafting gear.

The expanded sandbox is designed to give players the ultimate choice of what they want to do; and more importantly how they want to do it! Banished Strongholds were revealed as an example; they can be approached from almost any direction, and taken down in a variety of different ways.

Additionally, the team focused attention on Halo Infinite‘s new Grappleshot feature; and explained that it’s fluid travel-inspired more diverse environmental level design. This is because it further allows the player to travel anywhere they desire.

On top of Zeta Halo’s level design, and new traversal tools; one thing players will be doing is exploring the world for mysteries & secrets about the world and story. This is just the start of a greater gameplay experience; for both combat and general exploration.

An Ongoing Story

Despite Halo Infinite being a spiritual reboot for the franchise; it still serves as a sequel to Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Wars 2 respectively. The story has always played an important role in Halo, and as many veteran fans know;

Veteran Halo fans may know Zeta Halo has a large significance in Halo’s vast & expansive lore, and its long history & recent events can be further discovered as players explore the ring. Furthermore, there will also be discoveries that reveal implications about what the future holds.

This instalment of Inside Infinite features the first significant namedrop of Cortana in the game’s marketing; who was revealed to be Halo 5‘s primary antagonist. She is hinted to still be a formidable threat; as teased by the secret audio clip hidden in the blogpost.

Halo Infinite‘s story is still under tight wraps, so while we may have to wait a few more months for solid details; these small glimpses hint at an ambitious new story told in new ways!

Infinite Pixels

That does it for the main points on this month’s Inside Infinite! Believe it or not, there are a ton more details in the actual blog itself; as it includes interviews with some of the team there! Be sure to check out the full article here for some more juicy Halo Infinite info!

Halo Infinite is scheduled to release in Fall 2021 on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Game Pass, and PC via Steam & Windows 10! 343 Industries will be coming out with an Inside Infinite on the last Thursday of every month; we’ll be there to break it down when they drop!

For more news on great games, keep it tuned with Informed Pixel! Want to speak to the team and interact with other gamers? You can do so over on the Informed Pixel Facebook page or the Informed Pixel Twitter account!

Listen to my personal project, The Noble-Core Podcast on Spotify and Apple! My Podcast primarily focuses on Halo news and content, but also includes many FPS games such as DOOM, Half-Life & more! Follow me on Twitter @InfiniteGrunt and my Podcast’s account @TheNobleCore for more gaming discussions!