Halo Infinite in 2022 was a game everyone wanted to love and couldn't. The multiplayer had clean gunplay wrapped in drip-fed content. The campaign ended on a cliffhanger nobody asked for. Ranked arena had a matchmaking system that felt like it was designed by someone who'd never played Halo.
In 2026, that's all different.
What works
The long-promised campaign DLC — Endless Protocol — dropped last fall and it's the Halo game 343 should have led with. Open-zone combat puzzles actually reward movement tech. The new Forge tools have unlocked a UGC scene that's holding the multiplayer population up on its own. Ranked arena with the season 9 MMR overhaul finally feels like Halo 3's skill expression.
What doesn't
You still need to be on Xbox Series X or an RTX card for competitive ranked to feel right — PC perf on mid-range hardware is inconsistent in 4v4 BTB. And matchmaking east-of-dateline is still starved; EU and APAC ping to NA-hosted tournaments.
Verdict
The comeback is real but it took four years. If you left in 2022 swearing off 343, it's worth the re-download. The Master Chief's back. So is the Grappleshot stim.