With Halo Infinite dropping with one of, if not the most expansive campaigns of any game in the franchise, players can expect to spend a lot of time running and gunning as the Master Chief. You will need to approach certain portions of the game’s story with caution, as you likely won’t get a chance to revisit certain locations or story beats—at least at launch.
According to multiple reviewers who have spent time with Infinite ahead of its launch on Dec. 8, players are unable to replay story missions once they have been completed.
A feature like being able to jump back and forth to different points in the story not being included does make a lot of sense for Infinite, seeing as the game is the first in the franchise to utilize a more open-world format rather than a linear, mission-based story progression running through menus. And that fact is hammered home by how 343 Industries have pushed the ability to tackle situations, making it likely that very few players will share the same experience once the world opens up.
Specifically, it looks like this applies to Infinite’s first two missions, which take place before you even step foot on the Zeta Halo ring where a majority of the game takes place. Meaning you won’t be able to replay them unless you start a new game and replay everything, according to a statement Polygon received from a Microsoft spokesperson.
“The postgame does give you the option to keep exploring the wider environment, but for missions like the first two, where you’re not on the ring yet, you can’t replay from the same save file,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Polygon. “You’d be able to get any remaining FOBs, targets, [and] audio logs, but the main story missions would not repeat.”
Players will be able to continue exploring the open world once they complete the game, but the inability to go back to certain moments could impact a player’s ability to collect certain items because the story missions themselves won’t pop up again to trigger certain requirements.
This partially goes against some of Halo’s core design philosophies from past games, which would allow players to go back to older levels, maps, and missions to relive the best moments from each story. It is going to be something that fans of the series need to adjust to after so many years of easy accessibility to previous experiences within each game, however.
If enough fans continue asking for it, 343 will likely attempt to add something to remedy this post-launch, but for now, trek carefully and complete everything you want to before moving on in the story, at risk of not being able to go back.
Update Dec. 7 5:48pm CT: 343 Industries associate creative director Paul Crocker has confirmed some form of replay feature for campaign missions is in the works, however, it did not initially fit the open style of Infinite and the team wanted to focus on the foundation of the single-player first.
No date has been given for when this replay feature will launch.
