Microsoft Corp said “Halo Infinite,” the latest edition of the best-selling Xbox alien-shooter game, will be available starting Monday for multiplayer gaming.
The company, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of the original Xbox console and the first Halo game, said the first season of the game’s multiplayer mode, titled “Heroes of Reach” will begin Monday with a public test version on personal computers and consoles, a Bloomberg report explains.
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The title was delayed from last year when it was supposed to go on sale with the new generation of Xbox consoles, the Series X and Series S. The retail version of the game with campaign mode goes on sale this December.
The first installment of the highly successful Halo gaming franchise was released almost two decades ago. Halo: Combat Evolved, which was unveiled alongside the original Xbox gaming console in 2001, kickstarted one of the highest-earning video gaming franchises ever.
“Unfrigginbelievable!”
— Xbox (@Xbox) November 15, 2021
Play the @Halo Infinite multiplayer beta now. And yes, your progress will carry over on launch day: https://t.co/FhUeWpC15l | #Xbox20 pic.twitter.com/VdRnU0Co99
Set in the 26th century, Halo follows the journey of cybernetically enhanced supersoldier Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, as he attempts to learn more about the massive ring-shaped artificial worlds, called Halo. In Halo Infinite, Master Chief will come face to face with a new faction of the enemy, the Banished.
In July last year, Microsoft had also revealed an 8-minute gameplay preview demo of Halo Infinite. In a post explaining the game’s campaign mode, Chris Lee, studio head for ‘Halo Infinite’ at video game developer 343 Industries, had said the demo takes place several hours into the story of ‘Halo Infinite’ and that the Banished, led by the character war chief Escharum, are the Master Chief’s “most formidable opponent yet.”
An initial look at the gameplay and in-game graphics suggests that Halo Infinite might take the experience of the Halo universe a step further. Halo Infinite is designed on the Slipspace gaming engine, which, Lee explained in his post, has let them pack in “10 times the processing per pixel, creating the most visually rich game” the studio has ever made “to go with the most open and expansive environment to appear in a Halo game.”
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