Xbox’s July event: Halo Infinite finally has some first-party company

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  Master Chief is back, alongside the man who saved his life.

As the not-quite-E3 season of sizzle video trailers comes to a close, Microsoft unveiled its biggest show of first-party force for its upcoming Xbox Series X console on Thursday. Hype began building for this one as soon as Microsoft confirmed plans to reveal Halo Infinite campaign gameplay, but the story was just as much about which new and familiar game series did (and didn't) show up alongside Master Chief.

The event wasted no time with all things Halo, complete with a voiceover from the popular character Cortana narrating the recontsructing of the Master Chief armor set: "Liquid crystal cannot rise on its own." Shortly after, we see Chief in a spaceship, piloted by the man who discovered Chief in last year's cinematic trailer, as they argue about what to do next. "You'd still be out there if it wasn't for me," the man says. "I thought I was going home."

"There won't be a home if we don't stop the Banished," Chief replies. This detail is the first potential confirmation that a 4chan leak from last night was actually accurate, and second indication came shortly after, once the reveal switched to live gameplay—and Chief is seen brandishing a grappling hook, which he uses to hook to a foe from a distance, zip directly into its face, and smack it with his fist. We also get a first glimpse ever at a Halo game with a built-in map, complete with marked mission locations—proving out years of rumors that Halo Infinite is likely an open-world adventure in the Halo-verse.

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