Seven story beats to remember before starting Halo Infinite

Halo is over 20 years old, and although there are many lore now, Halo infinite serves as a stepping stone for both new and obsolete players – Halos franchise development director Frank O’Connor was mentioned Halo infinite as a spiritual restart in an interview with Polygon. But even so, there are parts of the campaign that make more sense if you know some light history, or refresh your memory if you haven’t been on the series for a while (or just forgot what happened in the end Halo 5: Guardian).

Well we are here to help. Here are seven quick story questions you need to answer before you get started Halo infinite.

[Ed. note: While this article does operate on some assumptions regarding important story beats based on Halo Infinite trailers, it does NOT contain spoilers for Halo Infinite.]

What is the Master Chief’s story?

The Master Chief’s history is quite a long one, so we won’t go into everything here. (Check out our “Everything You Need to Know About Halo” post for the long version.)

Here’s the gist: Master Chief is a person named John, his code number is 117, and Master Chief is both his rank and nickname. He is the most famous of the Spartans – a genetically engineered squad of super soldiers originally developed by the United Nations Space Command (Earth’s future military) to put down a human insurrection. In the original Halo video game trilogy, he waged a war on behalf of mankind against an alien group called Covenant. Of course he won.

John was kidnapped by the military at the age of 6 because he was both smart and strong for his age. He then went through physical reinforcement and training to become a video game protagonist in the early 2000s.

He is 50 years old at the time Halo infinite.

Who is dr Halsey?

Dr. Catherine Halsey is the founder of the Spartan II program that led to Master Chief. She’s both a brilliant scientist and a war criminal (you know, about child abduction and torture). She’s usually pretty grumpy, despite feeling guilty for what she did to John and the others. She is also the former mistress of Captain Jacob Keyes Halo: Combat Evolved, and the mother of Miranda Keyes Halo 2 and Halo 3.

It is worth noting that Dr. Halsey also developed Cortana, the AI that Master Chief spends all of his time with in the original Halo games. In addition, Halsey Cortana relied on himself.

Halsey is at the time of 69 Halo infinite.

Why is Cortana so important to Chief?

As the lead Spartan of the Spartan II program, Chief was tasked with protecting Cortana.

Because he’d carried it around in his head for so long – during the first two Halo games – the two formed a strong bond.

In the simplest case, they are best friends. But if you want to look deeper, they share headspace for so long that they’re part of each other – a symbiotic relationship where the eager AI attracts a body to explore and the lone soldier a companion. And while that aspect of their relationship doesn’t really show up in the games, the fact that Cortana is a more open and approachable version of Halsey – arguably a maternal figure to Chief – certainly added to their bond.

So when Cortana finally “dies” in Halo 4 and then is revived as the villain in Halo 5: Guardian, it is personally devastating for John. Chief is a devoted soldier so he failed to protect her as he was accused of Fight evolves, weighs on him.

Wait, why are we mad at Cortana?

In Halo 4, Cortana began to suffer from “rampancy,” a form of AI malfunction that occurs when they receive too much information. It often leads to personality shifts, such as an urge for power or violence. AIs like Cortana are supposed to be deactivated after seven years in order to prevent excessive use.

Cortana loses control towards the end of the year Halo 4, and finally sacrifices himself for Chief. But a fragment of her is revived and comes to power in Halo 5: Guardian.

This utterly rampant Cortana is building a new faction called Create, which is essentially just an army of AIs trying to turn the tables on the people who made them. She arrives on earth at the end of the year Halo 5: Guardian, ready to essentially enslave the planet.

This is the last time we’ll see Cortana in game Halo infinite.

What are the halo rings doing again?

a shot of the Halo ring at night in Halo Infinite

The Halo Rings are weapons revered by the Alliance (remember the alien cult Master Chief fought in the first three games?) And created by a progenitor race called the Forerunners. They exist to defeat the tide, zombie-like parasites that can infect almost any living organism. But the halo rings don’t kill the tide; they kill flood food (i.e. every living thing in the galaxy).

Halo rings usually have other abilities as well. They can be used to research species and conduct experiments or bring life back to the universe once the ring has been activated. Each halo is unique and has its own fully functional ecosystem.

There are seven Halo installations, with the first game taking place on installation 04, the second being moved to installation 05 and Halo infinite takes place on the mysterious Zeta Halo.

Who are the Exiles and Atriox?

The Exiles are a renegade faction of the Alliance; they split off from the most important religious cult before its demise. They do not follow the Alliance religion and instead act mainly as a horde of pirates. With the disappearance of the Alliance, the Exiles rose to power by taking some of the Alliance’s resources to expand their operations.

Atriox is the founder and leader of the Exiles. He and his exiles served as the main villains in Halo Wars 2, and Atriox led his army to Zeta Halo before the beginning of the year Halo infinite.

I’ve just played the first hour of the Halo Infinite campaign and I still don’t understand what the hell is happening. Help???

Halo infinite begins in medias res, which means that a story is already underway before the player takes control of Master Chief. To be clear, the story we’re referring to here is a new story, so even players who are all preoccupied with their Halo story will still be confused. That is by design.

Be patient – the game will make more sense over time.