Last weekend, I published a review of the previous six months of Halo Infinite updates. In the interests of space, I cut a few items from that article: a review of the new mode Covert One Flag and longer assessments of the original Forge maps Argyle and Detachment. Here those sections are in all their mostly-finished glory:
Covert One Flag
In Covert One Flag, the team attempting to capture the flag is armed with Active Camo and Energy Swords, while the team defending the flag straps on Threat Sensors and long-range firearms. It’s a party minigame that can get you and your friends leaping up in your seats, but it lacks the depth to fuel the sustained interest a Strongholds or even Fiesta Slayer does. You’ve never fought an enemy like a whole team of invisible swordsmen before, and you can really feel like the Predator or Major Dutch. Yet, the rigid equipment assignment means that most strategic decisions are made for you and matches quickly become repetitive. If you’re on the defending team, you just keep spamming the entrances to the flag room with the Threat Sensor, and if you’re on the attacking team, you skirt around the sensor bubbles. It’s not much more cerebral than that.
Argyle
Argyle has an open channel running right down the middle, letting Spartans in CTF make a beeline from one base to another at the risk of being sniped. Yet, no sniper can get too comfortable, as they must sometimes watch a platform hanging over the trench, which spawns a power-up, and alcoves in the walls provide an opportunity to take glancing shots at the enemy base. The thoroughfares at the edges of the level provide relative safety but can trap you in tight areas or cut you off from enemies with their multi-story nature. Argyle has the unusual distinction of having two Snipers and two Shotguns available. The “elbows” pivoting off of the bases are a cute homage to Halo 2’s Lockout.
Detachment
Detachment is nothing like I’ve seen in a shooter. It thrives on diversity between its three areas. On one side, you have a tiered indoor area like the outskirts of Argyle, down the centre you have an outdoor area broken up by a divider in the centre, and then on the other edge, you have a floating island. You can reach that landmass via a man cannon and use it to exchange long-range fire with the mainland.
___
Thanks for reading.
