This game is quite commendable. The gunplay stands out as exceptional, providing an unparalleled experience in terms of shooting mechanics. The fluidity of movement adds another layer of excellence to the gameplay. While the campaign holds its own, delivering an adequate experience, it's important to acknowledge the array of positive aspects that come bundled with this game. However, regrettably, there remain a few downsides that continue to cast a shadow over my overall impression.

The campaign does justice to Master Chief's character by expanding his story with somber moments and showcasing why he's legendary. The introduction of the Banished faction adds freshness, offering new weapons and vehicles that harken back to Halo's roots. While enemy designs and the return of marines enhance the experience, pacing issues and unbalanced unique enemies arise as downsides.

However, the campaign's main flaw lies in its storytelling. It relies heavily on exposition, failing to visually immerse players. This weakens the emotional impact and connection to the stakes, as they're told rather than shown. This hinders the campaign from effectively conveying its narrative with the addition of a weak villain. Additionally what irks me personally is that we're told there is an enemy greater than the Flood. Again, told but not shown which is a great disappointment.

Now let's delve into multiplayer, customisation & Forge; A place of great positives and negatives clashing head on. Forge just shines and has brought the community together, creating exquisite maps. The added bonus of AI bot functionality on these maps enhances this. Multiplayer has a plethora of game modes and endless joys to be had in custom games. Then, there is the ugly side we all must face.

Customisation, many steps forwards, but many more back. It's laden with potential, but is constrained, with a significant portion of content locked behind paywalls, looking to squeeze as much money from us as possible. Turning to multiplayer, Australian players will have to endure long wait times. Once a match does begin, frustration sets in as pings escalates to 200+ and occasionally spike to a disheartening 350+. Teleportation replaces the expected smooth gameplay that Halo is known for and the entire experience becomes sour. The enjoyment you want from Halo dissipates.

Overall, the positives and negatives of Halo Infinite are on equal footing. The game feels fantastic to play. Campaign brings a nice story expanding on the human elements of Master Chief, but tells more than it shows. Multiplayer can be great, with many game modes offered to sink your teeth into and Forge/custom games being it's strongest pillar. Unfortunately, if you're in Australia/Oceania, expect long wait times and high ping. Customisation should be better and not lock 80% of it behind a paywall.

I would love to recommend this as a long time fan, but with a heavy heart, I cannot recommend this as an Australian player. The game is solid & still fun to play, plenty of entertainment to be had. Give the game a try if you wish, and if you find more enjoyment than I can, I'm very happy for you.