Halo Infinite does a lot of things that Halo 5 tried and failed to do, from the more open world sections of the game to the absolute great movement system, there's something in Halo Infinite that just grabs you. Unfortunately, the story and actual things to do in the environment are convoluted and barren. Even multiplayer suffers from poor monetization and lack of content. For a game that is supposed to have a 10 year plan, there isn't much to do even a year after release.
The campaign of Halo Infinite tries to do so many things, some of which succeeds and other times fails. The story centers around Master Chief trying to get a foothold on a new Halo ring after being beaten down by the Banished, the main enemy faction of the game. I'm not going to spoil what happens, but the ending feels a bit rushed. The ending feels like 343 were told that there wasn't enough time to finish the game, so they just shipped it off as is. Throughout the campaign there are sections where you are free to explore a section of the map and everything it has to offer...Which is not a lot. The open world consists of bases you have to liberate from enemies and such, there's also some intel data pads you can find to give you some backstory on other soldiers. And that's about it. The open world feels lifeless and just too empty to be worthwhile to go out and explore. It seems Halo Infinite would have faired better if it stuck to its original linear progression.
The multiplayer is the main portion of Halo Infinite and probably the place you're going to spend the most time in. All the core aspects of the multiplayer are fantastic, you'd be hard pressed to find a game with better gunplay than Infinite... But, that's where the good aspects of the multiplayer end sadly. The egregious monetization practices in the multiplayer is probably the worst example I have ever seen in any game. The fact that some skins are almost identical and of different rarities screams Laziness. You'd think you'd get more for your money, but sadly you don't. The lack of content in the multiplayer is also frustrating. You have a total of 12 maps in multiplayer and a hand full of modes, when you compare Infinite to other Halo games of the past it is dwarfed in comparison. With no Forge, co-op campaign, no social game modes, theatre, and no option to choose your own colors for your Spartans, it's is a wonder how 343 thought this 10 year plan would work.
Halo Infinite on its own does what a lot of Triple A games would love to do, reinvent the wheel while bringing in new systems. Still, there was an ever present lack of final polish and it shows. From the patchy campaign to the lack luster multiplayer, Halo Infinite does a lot of things but most of those things they do wrong. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't necessarily mean that Halo Infinite is a bad game, it just means 343 tried too much without a sense of direction. Though, there still is time for them to reconcile and improve on the game. After all, it is a "10 year old" planned game.