Halo Infinite: finally, a multiplayer shooter for grownups

Fed up of getting destroyed by teenagers whenever you play online? The more tactical, slower-paced combat of Halo Infinite makes older players feel at home again

About 30 minutes into playing the Halo: Infinite online beta last week, I had a shocking, almost unbelievable realisation: I am quite good at the game. I'd just vaporised two enemy players with a grenade, which I'd thrown in a perfect arc to catch them together and totally unaware. The brutalist formality of the level design meant that I could come in at an acute angle, skirting their sightlines until the very last moment. I then took up the flag and ran it all the way back to our base, jumping and dodging around incoming fire. It was my third capture of the evening.

In modern shooter games such as Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite and Apex Legends, older players like me tend to get absolutely destroyed by teenagers. With Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode, it's the other way around. In early interviews around the game, developer 343 Industries talked about how they thought of Infinite as a spiritual reboot of and love letter to the first three Halo titles, which were released between 2001 and 2007. We're playing on our turf now.