Halo Infinite's campaign represents a huge change of pace for the franchise, in the sense that it is not completely linear and has optional side-content you can choose to either tackle or ignore. As a consequence of this open-world design, it does not have a chapter select menu, meaning that you cannot replay any of its story missions.
Almost a month after its multiplayer component launched, the Halo Infinite story campaign is finally here and those with Xbox Game Pass can enjoy it without having to spend a single cent. The game's already been met with rave reviews across the board, sitting at 86 on Metacritic, and has been wholeheartedly embraced by the fans.
Although it has generally been well received, some complaints have been voiced about the campaign. One of the biggest concerns is that you cannot replay missions in the current build. So, if you want to experience any set pieces or story moments again, you will have to start a brand-new save file.
This is quite unusual to say the least, as previous Halo games have actively encouraged you to return to levels and see if you can beat them on higher difficulties, locate the hidden skulls or undertake additional challenges.
Halo Infinite's open-world design makes this feature a little trickier to implement, as the campaign is not as neatly segmented into discrete chapters. That being said, there have been other games with non-linear structures that have managed to include a replay function of some kind, including GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, and the recent Forza Horizon 5.
Halo Infinite Campaign Mission List and How Long To Beat
The prospect of restarting Halo Infinite's campaign, just so you can relive certain moments, is a daunting one. After all, the game's length has been estimated at anywhere between 12 and 25 hours.
Granted those longer projections are meant to reflect how long it takes to beat the shooter on harder difficulties and with a completionist mindset. Still, even if you are just blitzing through the story missions on easy mode, it can take at least a dozen hours.
If you are monitoring your own time to see how far along you might be, it's worth noting that the in-game timer resets to where it was at your last checkpoint whenever you die, so it doesn't necessarily count every second of playtime.
To give you an idea of how much content there is, here is every mission in the Halo Infinite campaign.
- Warship Gbraakon
- Foundation
- Outpost Tremonius
- The Tower
- Excavation Site
- Spire
- Pelican Down
- The Sequence
- Nexus
- The Command Spire
- Repository
- The Road
- House of Reckoning
- Silent Auditorium
In addition to the story missions, there is also a fair bit of optional side content to get through in Halo Infinite. Specifically, there are 12 FOB bases, 7 banished outposts, 20 USNC distress call and 15 high-value targets.
Why Can't You Replay Halo Infinite Campaign Missions?
As initially reported by Polygon, you cannot replay missions in Halo Infinite at launch.
Not only does this mean that you won't be able to experience key story moments again without creating a new save file, but it also means that certain areas (outside of the open-world Zeta Ring) are totally inaccessible once you have left them behind. As such, if you missed any collectibles, then you won't have an opportunity to backtrack and retrieve them. This is mainly a problem for the first two missions, which take place outside of the aforementioned Zeta Ring.
Speaking to Polygon, a Microsoft representative said: "The postgame does give you the option to keep exploring the wider environment, but for missions like the first two, where you're not on the ring yet, you can't replay from the same save file [...] You'd be able to get any remaining FOBs, targets, [and] audio logs, but the main story missions would not repeat."
While this might sound disappointing, 343 Industries has since confirmed that it will be updating the game in the future to implement a replay function. In an interview with Stevivor, the company's associate creative director, Paul Crocker, said: "You cannot replay missions in [the] campaign at this point of time [but] it's part of what is coming later. The main reason is because, being a more open game and a nonlinear game, it became incredibly challenging. It's not that it doesn't work, it's just that it's not finished."
There is currently no word on exactly when the level select feature will be added to Halo Infinite, but there are still several major updates to come. For example, the co-op aspect of the campaign has yet to launch as well, and that's not expected until May at the earliest.
Halo Infinite had a rocky road to launch, experiencing major delays and disruptions because of the Coronavirus pandemic, so it's not too surprising that it's having to come out in piecemeal portions. Still, both its online multiplayer and solo campaign have been praised by critics and the general public.
