Halo Infinite‘s Season 5: Reckoning has arrived, and it brings a variety of new content and general updates with it. Although a Halo Infinite singleplayer campaign can be purchased in the tradition of the series, the online aspect of the game has been free-to-play since its launch in 2021. A steady stream of seasonal updates has expanded the multiplayer from a comparatively bare-bones launch, and Season 5 is no slouch when it comes to offering new opportunities in both gameplay and customization.
Each season of Halo Infinite has arrived alongside a new battle pass, but Season 5: Reckoning shakes things up a bit. Tiers have been slashed from 100 to 50, with the promise of more content included in each tier rather than a reduction in overall material. Coatings and shoulder pads, for example, are bundled into one unlock rather than multiple. As usual, purchasing a premium battle pass means that it will never expire, although bonus XP is available during Season 5 that will cease to be applicable once Season 6 eventually comes out.
New Maps In Halo Infinite Season 5: Reckoning
Two new maps are entering the rotation in Halo Infinite Season 5, Forbidden and Prism, both of which take the game to interesting alien environments. As detailed on Halo Waypoint, Forbidden is an Arena map set on Zeta Halo, the artificial world that acts as the principal setting of the Halo Infinite campaign. Its ancient ruins are more easily associated with the aesthetic of Delta Halo from Halo 2, however, following the model set by Season 4 map Forest in evoking fond memories without actually returning to that location. Long sight lines make this a tempting spot for snipers, while risk-takers might run to grab power equipment from the center of the map.
Prism is an Arena map set on Suban, a moon of Sanghelios that’s home to mines which supply the necessary blamite crystals for needle-based weapons. In line with this concept, Prism features an abundance of vivid purple crystalline structures, setting itself apart strongly from other maps in Halo Infinite. This is the destination for Needler fans, as the Pinpoint Needler from the campaign is a power weapon on the map with an improved magazine and tracking. Blamite crystals can also act as environmental hazards that can potentially explode and damage players.
Halo Infinite Season 5’s New Game Mode
Extraction makes its return in Halo Infinite Season 5: Reckoning, a mode previously only available in Halo 4 that didn’t make a return in Halo 5: Guardians. The Halo Infinite version of Extraction follows a similar overall idea to the Halo 4 implementation, but it follows overall aesthetic and tech cues associated with the current state of the series and story. Planting an Extraction Device within the neutral Extraction Site begins a process that can be interrupted or stolen by enemies, resetting countdown timers. Teams receive a point for successfully completing the process, and different Extraction Sites will continue to appear until the end of the round.
The Arena: Extraction mode features one neutral extraction site at a time, building up to an overall point threshold to determine a victory for either team. In Ranked Arena, an Extraction variant spawns players with a single frag grenade, disables motion-tracker, and enables friendly fire. Like with any of Halo Infinite‘s multiplayer modes, Custom Games make it possible to further tweak or personalize the Extraction mode to individualized preferences.
Halo Infinite Season 5: Reckoning Forge Updates
Halo Infinite‘s Forge is one of the things that helps to set it apart from other FPS games, providing a built-in solution for custom level editing that can help players take the game into their own hands and build interesting maps and scenarios beyond the ones that are officially available. Forge has been a series staple since Halo 3, and Season 5 of Halo Infinite attempts to make the feature better than ever before. Players now have the ability to build PvE scenarios in addition to PvP ones, significantly expanding the possibilities of map and level creation within Forge.
The Halo Infinite Forge AI Toolkit makes it possible to place enemy units onto a custom map in order to create PvE challenges, with a total of 43 units from the Halo Infinite campaign included as options. From classic Grunts and Jackals to powerful Elites and Bosses, the door has been opened wide into populating a Forge creation in an entirely new way. Each type features a number of unique variants to build out the overall library of choices.
- Grunt (5 variants)
- Jackals (4 variants)
- Skimmers (3 variants)
- Elites (5 variants)
- Brutes (16 variants)
- Hunters (2 variants)
- Marines (6 variants)
- Bosses (2 variants)
Enemies are hardly useful if they do nothing but stand around, however, which is where some of the more complex additions to the updated Forge system come in. Settings and node graphs allow enemy behavior to be adjusted, including spawn behavior, hostility, reactivity, and challenge level. Consequently, Forge can be used for more than just a standard PvE deathmatch situation, opening up the possibility for tactical modes and cooperative gameplay. Forge is also receiving general additions like two new canvases — Deadlands and Permafrost — and a snow and ice palette.
Ranked & Balance Changes In Halo Infinite Season 5
The main highlighted balance change in Halo Infinite Season 5: Reckoning focuses on the M392 Bandit, which is being tuned into the new Bandit Evo for ranked play. The new version focuses on making it viable as the starting gun, with an increased scope magnifier and a reduction in bloom and recoil. A slight decrease in rate of fire and the addition of descope offer a counter-balance to these buffs, tooling it to be effective in its ranked role without becoming overpowered. The classic M392 Bandit will still be available in the game, with customization working across both weapons.
Halo Infinite Season 5: Reckoning looks to be another solid addition for a game that has been steadily increasing in content since its launch, and the addition of a new game mode and maps alike beefs up multiplayer yet again. The Forge update could prove particularly excited for custom level builders, and the adjustments to the Bandit should help with balance in Ranked play. Halo Infinite Season 5: Reckoning is available across Xbox platforms and PC until it ends in early 2024.
